Elizabeth Eaton ’77

First female bishop of the Northeastern Ohio Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran church

by Karol Crosbie

In preparation for her new job as bishop, it was time for Elizabeth Eaton to say goodbye to her congregation at the Messiah Lutheran Church in Ashtabula, Ohio, where she had served as pastor for 15 years. High on her list of folks she would miss were the Messiah Messengers (called the M&Ms), members of the children’s choir. She told them that they would be in good hands with their new interim pastor, the Rev. Rod. … But here she was interrupted by a child who squawked, “What!? Our new pastor is a boy?”

Eaton remembers giving the same kind of internal squawk when she arrived at Wooster in 1973—the same thing, except very different. She had been brought up a Lutheran, a denomination that did not begin ordaining women until 1970, and had no experience with women ministers. The associate pastor of the Westminster Presbyterian Church on campus was Cindy Jarvis, a minister who would have a profound effect on Eaton not only because of her gender, but also because of her modus operandi.

“I had this long list of existential questions for Cindy, and I remember being so impressed with the fact that she didn’t answer any of my questions, but instead allowed me the space I needed to come to my own, deeper understandings. That was when I started to think that maybe I wasn’t supposed to be a band director,” said Eaton who earned a bachelor’s from Wooster in music education.

Eaton is blunt about her discomfort with questions about breaking through the stained glass ceiling to become one of only seven female bishops in her denomination in the United States. “It’s my least favorite question,” she says. Like any underrepresented minority, she says she wants to be valued on merits apart from her gender. She was surprised, she says, at the attention her appointment received. She has always felt supported in her career by her family (she is married to an Episcopalian priest) and by the Lutheran denomination. Apparent Biblical contradictions regarding women in the ministry are not problematic for her denomination, she says, because “Lutherans have never insisted on holding up a standard of Biblical inerrancy. The Bible’s text must considered in its entirety.”

For example, there is more scriptural text to support slavery than passages that preach against it. “But when you look at all scripture and its message that all humanity is created in the image of God, it’s not possible to say that one person has the right to own another.”

Using male language to describe God does not bother her, says Eaton. “Humans are not capable of understanding who God is. Certainly, our language—particularly English—is too small.

“When people use the maleness of God as a bludgeon or use specific scripture to out-argue somebody else, it’s just a sign of human brokenness.We’re not going to understand this, and if we try to use scripture as a weapon against each other, we’ll fail. It’s unhelpful. I mean, who was the best at that in the New Testament? Satan! He could quote scripture, pretty accurately, too, as it turns out.”

Her six-year appointment as bishop will not be without its challenges, she says. For example, in keeping with goals of ecumenical cooperation, she meets with bishops from local Catholic and Orthodox districts. “They seem like wonderful men, and they treat me with respect. But here’s the problem: The bishop is supposed to be a unifying symbol for the whole church. Their denominations don’t ordain women or recognize that women can be priests, so clearly a woman bishop is not a unifying symbol for them. They’re bound by their vows to uphold the teachings of their church, and I’m bound to uphold mine.”

She has the greatest respect, Eaton says, for people who remain in their congregations, despite theological conflicts and doctrinal disconnects. “The Church isn’t a democracy, and that’s a tough thing. I have tons of respect for folks who find themselves denied something that they’ve been called to do, but still keep working and praying in their denomination. I didn’t have to do that. I don’t know what that would be like. But there is a huge amount of integrity to people who say, ‘This denomination is my home, and whether I agree with everything it has to say or not, it’s still my home.’

“That’s a hard thing to do.”