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Ruth Tonn + A Big Announcement! · Called to Serve

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Hello and welcome back. If you're new to Call to Serve,
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this is a podcast where we share weekly stories from women who
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have been ordained by the Canadian Baptists of Atlantic
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Canada. We have spoken with almost 100
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of these pastors, chaplains, missionaries, and community
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leaders as we learn what it's like to be a woman in ministry.
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Before we get to this week's story, however, we have a big
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announcement to share. Called to Serve will be
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publishing a book through Whip and Stock in the spring.
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We are so excited to be able to share a selection of stories
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from diverse women in ministry, along with some discussion
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questions and introductory material.
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This book is going to encourage and challenge you, and we hope
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it will inspire both women and men to go further as they
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consider their own call. We will be sharing updates on
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the book through the podcast and our social media, but if you
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want to make sure you don't miss when the book comes out, please
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head over to our website and Scroll down.
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You can send us an e-mail there, or you can e-mail us directly at
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Called to Serve at acadiau.ca and we'll put you on a list to
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receive updates about when the book is available.
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Today you'll hear from Ruth Ton. Ruth was ordained in 2019
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following her 20 year career as a semi truck driver.
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She most recently served as Pastor of Families and Community
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Outreach at Wolfeville Baptist Church in Nova Scotia.
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Ruth talks about the difficulty she faced in securing A pastoral
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position despite feeling a lifelong call to ministry and
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serving in churches extensively throughout her career.
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My name is Ruth Tawn. My first time in church was when
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I was ten days old, and I don't think I've ever left.
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Raised in the Pentecostal church, I always knew from my
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earliest recollections that I loved Jesus and that he loved me
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and I was going to serve him my entire life.
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I'm one of the people who were nurtured into faith.
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When I was 14, I was teaching at church camp, and one of the
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little boys asked me how old I was.
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And I said, how old do you think I am?
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And he said, 30. But the other thing that stands
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out is when I was kind of cleaning up and praying about,
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you know, what had happened that day and, you know, for the kids
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and other things in general, I very distinctly heard God tell
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me that this is what I was going to do for the rest of my life.
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And when anybody asks me about my call to ministry, that's what
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I point to. Now.
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Over the years, I have been involved with different
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denominations, of course, the Pentecostal Church and the
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Mennonite Brethren Church. Being from Newfoundland, of
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course, she also grew up with one foot in the Salvation Army.
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I didn't actually become a Baptist until 2007 and so I'm
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new to the Baptists. And my dear sweet 91 year old
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Pentecostal mother continually says to me, so how come you're a
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Baptist pastor, not a Pentecostal pastor?
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And I tend to say, hey, well mom, that's where God sent me.
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I think they needed me, but that seems to satisfy her.
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When I was growing up in church and as I say, 1 foot in the
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Pentecost and 1 foot in the Salvation Army, I had no lack of
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female role models behind the pulpit.
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Until I graduated from high school and went to Bible
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college, I didn't know that women couldn't be pastors.
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I had never seen that, never heard it, was totally
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flabbergasted when I was told that the Bible said a woman
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couldn't be a pastor. I didn't do so well in Bible
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college. I mean, academically I did well,
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but I didn't do so well with some of the staff because they
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just kind of refused to accept that announcement.
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The men got to go to homiletics class.
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The women went to visual aids. I don't have a creative bone in
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my body. And I knew I'd been called the
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ministry. I knew that at some point I was
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going to be behind a pulpit and I just, I guess maybe I had a
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little bit of an attitude problem or accurately, they had
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a problem with my attitude. I went to New Brunswick Bible
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Institute, you know, they're, they're a very strong missionary
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college. So we had missionaries come in
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weekly from different groups. I guess I could have probably
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interpreted that God was calling me to be missionary, but I
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didn't. And I've always kind of
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wondered, you know, for people who say women can't be pastors,
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I always wonder what they think female missionaries are doing.
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Now. After I had left to go to Bible
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college, I had told that Pastor Noble took my dad aside and
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said, why is she going to that college?
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They'll ruin her. They'll teach her the wrong
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things. And dad's response was, well,
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she sat 17 years under your teaching, so they can ruin her
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in three years. Then you haven't done your job.
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Life took me back to Halifax And in Halifax I enrolled at Saint
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Mary's working on a degree in Sociology.
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I had a short lived marriage in the middle of my late 20s.
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Wasn't my finest hour or my best call.
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I'm not sure what I was thinking at that point in time, but it
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was bad. I was raised in the tradition
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that if you were divorced, then you weren't fit for ministry in
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any way, and I really believe that.
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So I didn't know what to do with the call and a divorce.
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And it took me probably four or five years to figure out that
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God doesn't hold your mistakes against you when you are
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repentant and He doesn't remove the call just because you did
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something stupid. I actually spent some time
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traveling across Canada back in those days.
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You could still hitchhike safely.
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So I hitchhiked across Canada a couple of times, ended up in
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Winnipeg. And in Winnipeg I fell in with
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the Mennonite Brethren and started going to a Mennonite
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Brethren church plant. And it was great contemporary
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and women were serving alongside the men.
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Men and I, brethren, at that point we're just starting to
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vote on women in ministry, ordaining women.
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So I was quite hopeful that they would go positively on that.
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I ended up driving semi trucks for a living and I did that for
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20 years. I met my husband while I was
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driving. We ended up moving to Calgary.
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My husband came with two children, so when they were
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there I was off the road looking after them and when they went to
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spend time with their mother, I was on the road but very active
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in our local church. I was leading parts of the
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children's ministry, doing some other things there, some small
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group stuff involved in the Alpha program.
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Still thinking some point here I am going to be in full time
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ministry. I never carried the title pastor
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there, but by any measure, pastoring was exactly what I was
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doing. I'm going to have to mention
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Gwen Reimer. Gwen was the director of the
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children's ministry there, and she was also the pastor's wife.
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She was also 20 years younger than I was.
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But why is beyond her years. Not afraid to tell you which way
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was up and just absolutely grounded in faith in Scripture.
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And she taught me an awful lot about living out my faith in
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front of other leaders, how to get along when people were not
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quite convinced that, you know, your next step was going to be
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worthwhile. And I remember one time when I
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was really, really discouraged, she took me aside and she said,
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Ruth, God smiles on you. As a matter of fact, he sings
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over you and rejoices over you. And, and, and she was just so
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encouraging. So a full time ministry position
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came up and I applied for it at the church.
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I, when I went to be interviewed at this table full of men, I was
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informed that while I do really good work, my leadership skills
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could use some work and, you know, maybe I should get some
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further education. I was a little upset and then I
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enrolled at Alberta Bible College, got my degree in
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leadership and ministry there, and I have never regretted that
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that was a good decision. I graduated from there and then
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we moved here to Nova Scotia. Our boys had grown up and were
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gone. So my husband and I talked about
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it and I wanted to move here. He wanted to move West.
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So we argued a little bit about it and then I finally said, OK,
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Lord, make him change his mind. I'm not going to say any more
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about it. So about six months later, he
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says to me, I've been thinking we should probably move east.
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And I said thank you, Lord. So we moved to Nova Scotia in
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order for us to have a relationship with the nieces and
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nephews. My sister lives in Truro and she
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was attending Emmanuel Baptist Church and at that time my
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mother was living with us because my dad had passed away.
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So my husband Ivaldo was on the road.
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Mom and I were travelling around on Sundays looking for a church.
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And I mean, in Truro, you can't swing a cat without hitting a
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church. The one I felt the most
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comfortable in was Emmanuel. But because my sister goes there
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and she was pretty involved and high profile, I felt
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uncomfortable going there because I tend to take over a
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room and I just really didn't want to rain on her parade.
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And anyway, I finally sat down and chatted with her about it
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and told her how I was feeling. And she was like, Nah, go right
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ahead. Before I got to Truro, Emmanuel
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had been advertising for a pastor of seniors.
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One of my friends said, well, what could be better?
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Ruth being paid to be social with people?
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Anyway, I applied for that position.
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I did not get it. But word kind of got around to
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some of the people that I was Andrea's sister and that I came
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fully trained and equipped. So within six months of getting
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there, I was the interim director of children's ministry
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at Emmanuel. Now that is a titled pastor
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position. Back in 2006, it was not.
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They had a pastor of youth who was male, but the leader of the
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children's ministry was a director.
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So I did that for six months, but I felt like God was calling
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me to more education, so I applied to Acadia Divinity
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College. I'm not sure why Acadia.
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I could drive up there in two hours and it was reasonably
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priced. And people at Emanuel were
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highly supportive. Many people.
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Many people at Emanuel were affirming of my leadership and
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my pastoral calling and my husband right from the get go.
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You know, when we first married, I had told him that I at some
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point I was going to enter the ministry.
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And he was like, all right, then he was way supportive of that.
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Just thought it would be the perfect thing for me to be doing
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so. Yeah.
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Went to ADC Anna Robbins, of course, I I didn't do
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particularly well in her classes, but that's not her
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fault. That's mine.
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She just called me and everybody in the class to work harder.
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Sinclair, you know, to process. And really the fact that she's,
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you know, the president of a, a well respected seminary gives me
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hope for women in ministry in the Baptist Convention.
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But when it came time to go into mentored ministry, I went to
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Corey at Emmanuel and told him, you know, that I'd like to do
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mentored ministry at my home church.
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And he said, yeah, that's great. Love to I'll just, I'll take it
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to the deacons. So the deacons called me in and
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interviewed me, and then I didn't hear from them.
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So mentored ministry was starting in September.
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So probably at the beginning of July, I stopped the lead Deacon.
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And I said, you guys haven't gotten back to me about whether
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or not I can start mentored ministry.
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And he looked at me and he said, yeah, Ruth, you're just going to
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go have to do that somewhere else.
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We're not going to take you on here.
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Imagine how crushed I was. And I didn't understand.
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And he didn't explain me further and I went back and told Corey
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and he just couldn't believe it. So I took it to God and I was
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pouring my heart out to him as I was walking around downtown
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Truro. And as you walk through downtown
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Truro at the time, First Baptist Church was there.
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And as I was walking past, God stopped me and pointed a finger
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and said go. I knew absolutely nothing about
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them. Paul Warden was the pastor
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there. I went in the next day to see
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him, and Paul sat me down and he talked to me for two hours,
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grilled me hard, showed me a couple of Bible passages and
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asked me to interpret them. One of them was a trick
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question, and I guess he was satisfied.
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So he arranged for me to talk to the deacons, female deacons by
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the way, and they were highly enthusiastic.
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So they endorsed me to come on as the mentor ministry student.
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I started there in the 2015 and I actually stayed at First
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Baptist for five years. They they actually employed me
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for pay during the summers and when I graduated with AM
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division, they called me as the family pastor in my last year of
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division college. So 2018 my husband got sick and
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passed away. I was really glad that my
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husband got to go to my graduation as it was as much his
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graduation as it was mine, but he did not live to see me
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ordained. I like to think he was watching
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from heaven and I knew he'd be proud because that was his hope
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and dream for me as much as it was my hope and dream for
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myself. I was ordained in 2019.
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The CDAC started giving out T-shirts when they come in to
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give you the decision. If it's a positive decision,
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then you get a T-shirt in. In my cohort, it was a black
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T-shirt that said you're calling is calling.
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And it was huge party and just really felt so affirmed by God
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that I was in the spot where I was called to.
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I, I preached on a regular basis.
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I did visitation. I did all the things that
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pastors do as well as work with the children and youth and and
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we had a huge ministry with the homeless that just makes my
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heart sing. I love that ministry like this
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was just where I wanted to be. So when the church closed, I did
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apply for several positions that came open in various places.
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Many of them did not even acknowledge my application.
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A couple of them, you know, sent me back a letter saying that I
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just wasn't the right candidate, which was very discouraging
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because come to find out, as other friends got some of those
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positions that they were mostly complimentary in churches
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anyway. It wasn't me my my resume they
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were objecting to. It was just my sex that was
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actually comforting. Wilful Baptist called me and
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asked me if I was interested in their Pastor of families and
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community outreach position. But of course, coming to Wilfeld
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meant moving. I had a house in Truro.
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I had a life in Truro. I had good friends in Truro.
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I had a sister in Truro. No, I don't want to leave Truro.
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We talked for about 3 months, going back and forth with their
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search committee. I asked them hard questions
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because at this point I've been in ministry long enough and I've
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lived long enough to know what to ask and to understand that
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search committees lie all the time.
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They don't mean to, but they do, you know.
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So trying to read behind the lines.
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And they invited me to preach for the call.
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I got unanimous approval, which apparently never happens.
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Actually, I'd already known that God was calling me there, not
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necessarily for the reasons that the church thought that God was
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calling me there for a different reason.
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And I'm really amazed at what God is doing in that church.
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They actually don't understand how much they are changing.
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There's still lots of people who look around and go, you know,
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well, you know, we got to change and we got to do this.
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We got to do that. And I think, yeah, no, you guys
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have actually come a long way, but you don't know it yet.
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Scott Kidred Burns is the pastor there.
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We work as a team. We make decisions together and
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we plan everything together. And I don't carry the title
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associate pastor. I'm just pastor of and he is
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pastor of. So I feel like I'm using all of
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my gifts. I was at convention when Renee
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was elected the executive minister.
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The when the announcement came back the the result of the vote,
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the ripple of excitement that went through the room was just
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amazing. People started to spontaneously
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sing. When Renee came into the room,
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everybody got to their feet in applause.
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This past year I was on examining council.
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I hope to stay on that for the term of my appointment.
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I love seeing women come through to see women follow God's call
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for their life and, you know, to get the education and to make
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the steps, you know, I applaud them all day long.
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And that's how it should be. God's people affirming God's
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call on other people's lives, men or women, and just saying,
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yes, Lord, use them to the best of their ability.
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I actually would not consider myself a feminist.
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Definitely an egalitarian. I was in high school in the 70s,
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probably the height of feminism, and back then, of course they
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were referred to as the women's livers and it was the derogatory
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term. I had a very bad image of
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feminism at that point. I understand that the world is
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still not an egalitarian place. I've run into my fair share of
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misogyny. You have to remember I was a
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truck driver for 20 years. So I mean, I understand the
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world is not fair to women in general.
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I mean, even within ministry, women tend to be lower paid,
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especially if you're in like family ministry or children's
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ministry and it's, you know, pink collar ghetto.
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In those jobs. I think of you, if you're a
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woman and you've got a seat at the table and you need to invite
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other women to the table and if at all possible, roll the chair
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in and sit it beside you and take them under your wing.
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I firmly believe that men are equally as responsible as women
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to provide seats at the table. I constantly look for male
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allies. I, you know, I AM 60 years old.
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I have nothing to prove. I don't mind having my say about
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what I see that's wrong. The women and girls in my sphere
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of influence, I don't let anybody give them crap,
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especially when it comes to their call.
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Over the course of my career, yes, as a woman, I have hit some
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bumps along the road. There have been people who have
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been discouraging. There have been discouraging
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things happen, but in the grand scheme of things, they don't
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mean diddly because God had his people along the way cheering me
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on from the time I was 14. The sense of call never wavered
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1 little bit. I hope that I have many long
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years of ministry still ahead of me.
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I hope that God keeps me healthy enough to do it.
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Pastors never really retire. You just go on the supply list.
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There's always going to be a place where I can serve.
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I very distinctly heard God tell me that this is what I was going
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to do for the rest of my life. Thank you, Ruth for sharing your
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story with us. If you've been enjoying these
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podcasts, please spread the word.
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date with our latest news at Call to serve.ca.