Each Sunday at 10 a.m., the lively congregation gathers at the United Church of Paducah on Buckner Lane to hear the Rev. Karen Winkel’s good word. She joined the church as minister in February 2005, moving to Paducah from southwestern Colorado. What’s it like to date when you’re a woman of the cloth? Well, when you’re a holy hottie like Winkel, men are certain to flock!
iList Paducah: Karen Winkel, you are just cute, cute, cute, no doubt about it! How did Paducah get so lucky to have you?
KW: Thank you! I think I was blown here from the West by the winds of the Spirit. Of the 10 churches I considered, only United Church of Paducah seemed even remotely interesting. After meeting with the search committee here, it was clear that this was where God wanted me. So God and I argued some, and God won!
IL: Where were you before?
KW: I was living in my idea of heaven: southwestern Colorado. Every direction featured a different kind of landscape, each one incredibly beautiful.
IL: When did you realize you wanted to go into the ministry?
KW: I’ve always been what my priest-friend Ellen Ekevag (of Grace Episcopal Church) calls a “God geek.” Even as a child, I had a theological bent and was very interested in the life of the spirit. When my job at California State University-Fresno was eliminated in 1992, I asked God to show me what to do next, and to make it obvious. This was at a time when I’d left the church, so feeling a call to ordained ministry was the last thing on my mind.
When I went to visit Pacific School of Religion in Berkeley, it was to confirm my sense that ministry was the last thing I’d ever do. Within 24 hours, I did a complete turnabout.
IL: Wow, what could possibly happen in just 24 hours to change your mind?KW:The kicker came in the last hour when I listened to the financial aid gal talk about how much the school would cost — mucho dinero — and I heard God encouraging me to let money be the last of my concerns. I'd never say that to myself, so knew this was what needed to happen. God wasn't kidding about the money thing I discovered later: A very generous scholarship kept my debt-load low.
IL: Tell us a bit about your ministry today. When folks come to your church, what can they expect?
KW: United Church of Paducah is arguably the most progressive thing going right now. We’re the church for folks who think of themselves as allergic to church but who can’t seem to shake the desire to be part of a worshipping community. Ours is a church that welcomes hard questions, values independent thinking and which extends hospitality to all — including those who are gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgendered.
We’re far more concerned with what we can do for the human family in the here and now, than we are worried about what will happen to us in the hereafter.
IL: Rock on! Do you all still offer yoga classes?KW: Yes, True North Yoga’s classes meet Monday and Thursdays at 5:30 p.m. Integrating body, mind and spirit is always a good thing.
We also sponsor a monthly support group for those who’ve survived the loss of someone to suicide. There is no other grief like this and none so fraught with needless shame.
IL: And you’re so famous now with your Channel 2 program!
KW: That’s a lot of fun. I co-host Reflections with Gregory Waldrop. He pastors Fountain Avenue United Methodist Church. The program serves as a forum for faith’s varied expressions.
IL: What role do you think your church plays in the community?
KW: Who knows how many folks in western Kentucky are hungering for something real spiritually who have been hurt or excluded or turned off by organized religion? Our church is the place for folks who think there’s no church out there that could possibly embrace them for being this or thinking that — fill in the blank. Our theological hospitality is every bit as compelling as our radically warm welcome.
IL: And how about your role, personally, as a minister here in our community?
KW: I know what it’s like to be spiritually hungry and searching and certain that the church will never be big enough to hold me. My passion in ministry is in reaching out to the spiritually alienated to say that every question, every hesitation, every yearning is worthy of respect. Being ordained in general, and having a pulpit in particular, enable me to share this message in ways I couldn’t when I was working in a secular setting.
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United Church of Paducah 4600 Buckner Lane 442.3722 uccpaducah.org Sunday Service 10 a.m. Refreshments & Fellowship 11:15 a.m. Christian Education For All Ages 11:20 a.m.-Noon Nursery Services Provided Handicap Accessible All Are Welcome! True North Yoga Mondays and Thursdays 5:30 p.m. truenorthyoga.com Survivors of Suicide Support Group First Tuesday of each month 7 p.m. |
KW: My joke is that I wasn’t called to the ministry on the basis of my virtue! I’m aware that my role comes with all kinds of associations — not all of them working in my favor. Men who are OK with who they are don’t seem to have much trouble approaching me, even when their beliefs differ from mine.
IL: What do you think is the No. 1 misconception when it comes to ministers and dating? Or is there one?
KW: Hmm…probably that we’re not like everyone else. So not true.
IL: Do you have to be extra cautious? It’s one thing to bring a date home to meet your parents — quite another to meet your congregation!
KW: I’m fortunate that my congregation is very open-minded and open-hearted. I never worry about their response to men I’m dating because I know it will be wildly loving. That said, I wait for the right time to make introductions. It’s asking a lot of a guy to come to church with me that first time.
IL: Well Karen Winkel, I suspect lots of fellas are just hoping for your invitation to some churchin’. Congratulations on all your good work and important outreach! Preach on!
