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Barker, Paula S. Datsko
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PerS<nal Informatinn Sheet
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Fem"ni "ty ever a problem
fo Oa and Twp ~ rrf nister
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By MARNEY RICH
Press Speclal Wrlter
OAKLAND TWP. -She does not have a
Roman collar bound around her neck.
There is no black veil shrouding her face
or rosary beads dangling from her
ringers.
There is, however, something that
pervades through her large, luminous
brown eyes - something spiritual and
deeply moving.
The Rev. Paula Barker, at the age of 26,
is a minister - a confident leader and .an
inspiration to the parlsboners at Pamt
creek Methodist Church in Oakland
Township and Mount Vernon United
Methodist Church on Twenty-two Mile
Road.
Mrs. Barker came to Oakland Township
In June, after receiving her master's
degree from Yale Divinity School. Since
tben, parishoners say, church life has
never been better.
"She does such innovative work," says
E:Uzabeth Many at the close of a Sunday
orning service. "She is so dedicated.
r.ve been in this church for 17 years and
she's the best we ever had.''
Fellow parisboner Carnie Armstrong
·mes in, "It's her insight. Her services
hi
cre reallY creat'1ve."
8
Sitting in Mrs. Barker's modest office
t paint Creek Church, an electric heater
~attling noisily o.n the floor, the female
·nister is anything but the solemn, stole
·~~c the clergy often characterizes.
Jet black f.rizzy hair frame~ a
mpulsive s!lllle as she breaks mto
~ughter. She reminesces of childhood
~ternoons In Ann Arbor spent playing
rch serving communion to her dolls
chd using her father's necktie as a stole.
an.. 1 was always hanging around the
urch library," she says, "memorizing
ch mons Of course I never knew what the
ser
·
Mrs. Barker speaks from the pulpit
words meant."
Manning two parishes consisting of 150
parishoners keeps Mrs. Barker on the go.
Besides her Sunday services at both
churches, she organizes worship services,
groups who visit the sick, and three adult
classes : Bible study, the life and
teachings of Jesus, and prayer and
meditation.
During the summer, family camp
weekends are planned where parlshoners
experience fellowship and togetherness.
Then there are the critical times - a
family in need of reconciliation,
consolation through death, guidance
through crisis. All look to the minister for
hope. "I do not pretend to have the
answers," she says. "I am only a vehicle
to let the spirit move through."
Being a woman never struck Mrs.
Barker as an obstacle in persuing her
goals. "I never had the feeling I couldn't
be a minister because I was a woman,"
she says.
· But it did strike some odd notes in her
parishoners at first. "When I heard we
were going to have a woman minister,"
says Shirley Reuter, "I thought 'ugh'· .. .
but she's so wonderful. The children just
love her. "
In ·fact, Mrs. Barker says, being a
woman enhances her profession. "It is
difficult to relate to a woman who is a
harsh authority, a dictator. Women tend
to have an intuitive sense towards people.
"Women do well In church because of
that. I want to be the enabler, to 8ense
gifts in people and bring that out. That's
just what mothers do. Keeping a family
together is a lot like keeping a church
together."
The ministry was not always a life-long
ambition for Mrs. Barker. In fact. high
school thwarted the desire. " I was still
profoundly involved with my spiritual
development," she says. "But I was into
this thing where the church was a bunch
of hypocrites and what do you need that
for."
But the attraction to the ministry was
never completely buried. As a music
major at the University of Michigan, she
studied piano and composition, thinking
she might become a concert pianist. But
music students seemed shallow, without
convictions, she says.
"People were interested in music for
music and they really didn't think about
much else,'' she says. " I felt myself
alienated on a deeper level from the
students. I was Interested In life, in the
issues, how people grow. I needed to get
into the bub of what my interests were. I
needed something to stimulate my own
growth. This (the ministry) really does."
And her parishoners take an active
interest in her welfare. "We worry about
her," says Mrs. Many. "She works so
'hard and we worry about her home life."
Coupled with the busy schedule of her
attorney husband Charles, Mrs. Barker
admits It is easy for both of them to get
swamped. " We get drained at the same
time a lot, and we both look for support
from each other. We really have to work
at finding time for each other.'·
The year bas passed quickly for the
young minister. Fondly she remembers
her first Sunday service at Paint Creek
Church.
"There was so much anxiety and
uncertainty in me," she says. "I was
feeling it for both of us. And then I came
from behind the podium and sat on the
altar steps and called the children around
me for the story of the prodigal son.
. "It was like a sigh of relief for all of us.
They (the parishoners) said, ' Ahah, she's
human." '
Mrs. Barker preaches at Pai~t Creek Methodist Church
Mrs. Barker laughs with Judy Smith, Carl Mancier and Shirley Reuter after a service
"I 1uant to be the enabler,
to sense gifts in people
und bring that out. T_hat 's
j ust Lolza-t rnothers-do.
Keeping a .family togeth er
is a lo t like keeping a
ell urch together.''
_ The Rev. Paula Barker
I "
~RIESS ~IELIEASIE
THE UNITED METHODIST CHU RCH
DETROIT CONFEREN CE HEADQUARTERS
CO MM ISSION ON PUBLIC RELATIONS
Con ference Press Room
Adrian College
Adrian, l'lichigan
Phone (313) 263- 0 1 80
2111 WOODWARD AVENUE
DETRO IT, M ICHIGAN 48201
Phone 313,'961-8340
By:
Doug Olsen
June 6, 1975
FOR IM11EDIATE RELEASE, PLEASE :
The Rev . !'Is . Paula Suzanne Datsko Barker was elected to Deacon ' s Orders,
and recieved as a Probationa0; member of The Detroit Annual Conference of The
Uni ted Hethodist Church on vlednesday afternoon, June 4th, as the 134th consecutive annual sess ion began i n Dawson Auditorium on the campus of Adrian College,
Adr ian, Hichi gan.
On vlednesday evening , she was ordained a Deacon in the United Hethodist
Church by Bishop Dwight E . Loder, Resident Bishop of The l·lichigan Area o f The
United !'lethodi st Church.
Daughter of Hr. and Mrs. Joseph DaLsko of Ann Arbor,
Michig~1 .
The Rev. Hs.
Barker was graduated from Pioneer High School in Ann Arbor , Michigan .
She r ece ive d B . Husic degree from University of Hichigan in Ann Arbor in 1974;
and is present ly enrolled as a studen t at Yal e Divinity Schoo l in New Haven, Connccti cut.
Recommended for a License to Pr e ach by the Charge Conf e r ence of First United
Methodi st Church , Ann Arbor , t1ichigan.
The Rev. Ms. Barker is pursuing the course
o f study require d for full membership i n th e De tr o i t Annual Confere nce.
Ms. Barke r i s the daughter o f Mr. and Mrs. Lesse l Barker of De arbor n, Michigan.
Barker, Paula S. Datsko