Newly appointed Sewickley UMC pastor reflects on female leadership, pastoring during pandemic

Hannah Loughman used an array of words to describe what it’s like being Sewickley United Methodist’s new pastor during covid-19.

Different. Opportunity. Draining. Hurt.

The 36-year-old mother of two was recently ordained as the church’s first female and youngest pastor ever. She’s also — in her words — the “bonus mom” of a 13-year-old stepson. Since her July ordination, she has not preached a single word.

In person, that is.

When pandemic-related shutdowns began in April, the Western PA United Methodist leadership sent out recommendations to its nearly 700 churches to follow federal, state and local guidelines. It was then up to church pastors and clergy to decide whether to open or not, said Bishop Cynthia Moore-Koikoi.

Sewickley United Methodist Church has not reopened since April, said Dawn Hand, district superintendent – Loughman’s direct supervisor.

“That’s been tough,” Hand said. “I mean, part of the calling when serving in a church setting is to preach. It’s among their spiritual duties.”

So Loughman said her new role as a pastor during the pandemic has been, well, different.

“It has felt, on one hand, like an opportunity to re-envision church and what it’s all about,” she said. “On the other hand, it’s felt very draining.”

She said part of being a pastor, and thus a part of her, is being with people. Meeting the sick in the hospital, being with the grieving at a funeral – or just shaking the hands of her congregants on a Sunday morning.

“That’s been the biggest headache,” she said. But the forced isolation has brought with it creativity with how church remains church.

Then, beginning in October, she gave birth to her second biological child, a son. Since then, she has been on maternity leave and has passed her pastoral duties onto the Rev. Beth Nelson.

“It’s not about the building. It’s the people,” Loughman said in the parsonage next to the church within which her family now lives, works and learns. “We’ve always known that, but now we can really put some meat behind that. We can still be the church where we are. Covid brought that to light.”

Moore-Koikoi has no doubt Loughman can bring that perspective to life in Sewickley.

“She has a way of pulling out the best in people,” Moore-Koikoi said. “She’s not authoritarian or a dictator type of leader, she works collaboratively … and she’s a great listener and good at helping folks going through difficult situations.”

Moore-Koikoi knew about Loughman’s work before appointing her. In a prior role as pastor at a Butler UMC church, Moore-Koikoi said she took note of Loughman’s work to unify the congregants with church neighbors struggling with addiction.

“She was able to connect with those folks. She helped the church in Butler become even more effective in integrating folks into the community,” she said.

As a woman who has served in various leadership roles within the United Methodist Church for around 15 years, she has experienced her fair share of push back from people who have differing views on women serving in formal ministry positions within the church.

In a prior role as pastor at a Butler church, she was scheduled to lead a funeral service at a parlor she hadn’t worked with before. When she got there, she walked into the male funeral director’s office to introduce herself.

“He asked me, ‘where’s the pastor?’ When I told him that was me, he said, ‘Oh. Well, you’re a female.’ And I just said, ‘Thanks for noticing,’” Loughman said, chuckling.

Her own family has expressed differing views in the past. Her father is a pastor and two of her three brothers are also pastors.

“My dad and one of my brothers didn’t believe in the ordination of women – and we’re all part of the same denomination. So I can deal with the push back,” she said. But eventually, her father’s and brother’s perspectives changed.

Over the years, Loughman said she has learned to take people’s differing views “with grace” and a little humor — she said she finds situations like the one at the funeral parlor funny. And if a person genuinely wants to argue their perspective by quoting scripture, she’d be happy to do that, too.

“I respect that people view scripture differently and have different interpretations,” Loughman said.

She hasn’t experienced anything like that in Sewickley, where she said the church has a “gift of hospitality and inclusion.”

“I forget that I’m the youngest and first female pastor here,” she said. “I forget that because of how hospitable they are.”

The caveat, of course, is she hasn’t met many congregants in person because the church has only offered virtual worship experiences. “I haven’t gotten the full experience yet,” Loughman said.

Loughman said she is eager to return to her role as pastor. She returns from maternity leave Dec. 14.

She’s also eager to see and meet everyone she has pastored from afar. But she doesn’t think in-person worship will happen very soon. Loughman referenced a letter written by Moore-Koikoi on Nov. 25.

In the letter, Moore-Koikoi makes it clear the decision to hold in-person worship services over the holidays is still up to individual churches. But she encourages leaders to strongly weigh the risks.

“Remember, God saw you through Easter during (covid-19). I am confident God will see us all through this season too,” she wrote.