By Martha Ligas

They didn’t have synods, back then.
But even if they did, she wouldn’t have been there anyway.
I bet she would have wanted to–
To speak truth to power,
To proclaim the resurrection,
To be the church,
Like she was all those years ago. 

But she wouldn’t have been there.
A woman’s place wasn’t in the meeting rooms,
or in the places where decisions were made.
It was in the kitchen. Or at the water well.
Or in the yard, hanging the laundry.  

Some things have changed since then.
There are women in the room now– 54 of them, actually.
They are speaking truth to power
Proclaiming daily resurrections
Taking up the space that they have never before been given. 

But much, sadly, remains the same.
Most of the women will not be in the room.
We will be outside– praying for more space at the table.
Shouting for more voices at the pulpit.
Singing for more women in the room. 

I don’t know if they do a roll call on the Synod floor.
But out on the streets of Rome, we’ll be doing our own.
Because this year, at this synod, the excluded woman will not be forgotten.

“Mary Magdalene?”
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