PRINTMaureen Dickmann: The progressive pastor
Reverend
John Schreiber
Maureen Dickmann has been a pastor at Rock Bridge Christian Church since 1987.
November 12, 2009 | 12:00 a.m. CST
Age: 61 | Time spent in Columbia: 22 years
When Maureen Dickmann was little, she wanted to be a priest or play ball for the St. Louis Cardinals. As a woman, she had better odds of being drafted by the baseball team than working for the church.
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Dickmann grew up in a devoutly Catholic home in St. Louis. She enjoyed attending daily mass at Catholic school, but she was always annoyed at the church for its refusal to ordain female priests. “It seems like (the Catholic church’s) attitude is you don’t have to be like Jesus, you have to pee like Jesus,” Dickmann says.
By the time Dickmann entered college, she was disillusioned with church and stopped attending. She completed law school and worked for seven years as an attorney.
Eventually, Dickmann felt a spiritual void and attended the Episcopal church. She gave up her law career and enrolled in Yale Divinity School. After graduating, she became part of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) because of its progressive attitudes and promotion of social justice.
Dickmann originally had no desire to come to Columbia after finishing divinity school. But in 1987, when Rock Bridge Christian Church offered her a job as pastor, she accepted.
The church has an Open & Affirming policy that “got in the church’s DNA from the start,” Dickmann says. Rock Bridge’s congregation has a sizable number of gay or lesbian attendees and developmentally disabled persons. “I take my cues from Jesus, who welcomed everyone,” Dickmann says.
Sexism, homophobia and racism have divided faith communities Dickmann says. She is a member of the Regional Anti-Racism Team of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) and has helped other churches make their congregations more inclusive.
Dickmann is working to obtain political reform. She’s held a vigil for health-care reform, met with Kenny Hulshof and protested in front of his office after he voted in favor of the Iraq War.
For Dickmann, who is a lesbian, living the Christian life isn’t about focusing on personal salvation and the afterlife. It’s about breaking bread with strangers and embarking on a spiritual journey. As Dickmann puts it, it’s about “understanding that the Kingdom of God is within you.”
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