By Beckie Supiano, DisciplesWorld contributing writer

(11/14/07) — Katherine Willis Pershey says she feels supported at South Bay Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) in Redondo Beach, Calif., where she has been the pastor for nearly two-and-a-half years.

But in the greater community, Pershey says, “lots of people don’t know that women can be pastors at all.”

Young women clergy often have two strikes against them when it comes to being taken seriously: their age and their gender.

This makes for a lot of explaining, says Associate Rector Ann Bonner-Stewart of St. Paul’s Episcopalian Church in Greenville, N.C.

She finds herself saying: “Yes, I am old enough to be a pastor. Yes, in my denomination, women can be pastors,” Bonner-Stewart says.

Susan Olson remembers what it felt like to be a young pastor. Olson, who was ordained in 1993 and is now director of career services at Yale Divinity School and assistant chaplain at Yale College, wrote a magazine article about her own experiences. Feedback from her piece led her to interview half a dozen women who are currently young pastors.

That work led Olson to begin the Young Clergy Women Project, an organization funded by the Louisville Institute that researches and supports female pastors from a variety of denominations ages 39 and under.

The project includes a password protected blog where pastors can share their experiences with other women in similar circumstances. A companion online magazine called Fidelia’s Sisters recently launched.

These online interactions help encourage young women clergy, especially those who live in isolated areas, the women involved in the project say.

In addition to sharing the questions of authority and sexism they often face as young women pastors, the website’s users discuss other concerns. Many of them are making decisions about getting married and having a family very publicly. This sets them apart from an earlier generation of women clergy, many of whom became pastors as a second career having already made those life choices.

They also discuss the usual ups and downs of ministry, and encourage each other through late night sermon writing and church financial problems, the women say.

The online community provides a safe place where the young women clergy can interact with a peer group they may not have in their own community.

The group held a conference in Washington, D.C. this past summer. The original plan was to hold only one conference, so they spent all the money budgeted for conferences on it. But it was so successful, they might try to do another, she said.

“It’s just helpful to have a place you can talk where you have to do a little less explaining,” said Episcopalian rector Ann Bonner-Stewart, who is also the managing editor of the magazine.