Ordained Pret 2013
Ordained Deacon 2012
Martha Sherman
Master of Arts Theology
Bachelor of Arts English and Theology
Master of Science Anthropology
I grew up in St. Charles, MO, across the street from my parish and school. As the youngest of seven, I grew up quickly, competing academically with my older siblings and eager to please my mom, a registered nurse, and my dad, a retired Army officer. I met the high expectations they had of their children. Life around the dinner table or kitchen sink was enriched by conversion and the songs we sang together as a family.
My father had a massive stroke when I was 12 and I spent more and more time around school and the convent taking piano and vocal lessons. The sisters became my main support as my mom cared for my disabled father. They were the women who had listened to my teen angst and taught me to pray. They were the ones who had encouraged me to study theology, to know God in greater depth. In fact, I loved studying theology. Because the School Sisters of Notre Dame strongly influenced me during elementary and high school, after graduating from St. Louis University with BA in English and Theology, I entered the SSNDs. The degree in English was convenient, but in Theology things always came back to God, who is LOVE. In English, the professors wanted us to repeat the great minds, while in Theology I could explore my passionate love for God. I knew God was calling me to something and religious life seemed the obvious choice for a young Catholic woman. Though I left after just four years, I continued to teach religion in an SSND run school for eight more years. I knew religious life was not where I was supposed to reside; I was very restless, as I could not see where I was to go.
On my meager Catholic school teacher’s salary, I always budgeted for the National Catholic Reporter. It was with great interest that I read about the women ordained on the Danube in 2002. I kept track of these womenpriests and then one day an appeal arrived from the Women’s Ordination Conference. The card asked, “Do you feel called to the priesthood?” I began to cry and it was all so clear. I wrote to RCWP and asked if they might consider accepting me to their program of preparation and discernment. My heart soared when I was accepted in 2010. I had begun my Master of Theology at St. Louis University years before, but I completed my Master of Theology from Global Ministries University as I prepared for ordination.
I am a child of the Second Vatican Council. I spent 16 years in Catholic Schools and then taught in them for another eight. By the time I was in second grade I had memorized the Eucharistic Prayers at Mass. When the priest would invite us to encircle the altar during the liturgy of the Eucharist I felt like I was concelebrating with the priest, even though I was still in elementary school. When I was entering the convent in the 1980s, my then 70-year-old aunt suggested that I was better suited for the priesthood. I laughed and then tried to be a good sister. But avoiding God’s call was not an option for me and hundreds of other women. I was ordained a deacon in Indianapolis in 2012 and a priest in St. Cloud, MN in 2013. I trained as a hospital chaplain in Sioux Falls, SD over two years while pursuing my MTh.
I was ordained a deacon on April 15, 2012 in Indianapolis, IN and a priest on June 23, 2013 in St. Cloud, MN. I served the Midwest as Regional Administrator for 6 six years, 2013-2020 and currently as part of the Program Coordinator team, as well as briefly in 2013.
From 1995 to 2018 my wife, Marie, and I owned and operated Camp America Campground in Salem, SD. We considered this a ministry of hospitality. I formed a small house church in Salem and celebrated with people from a wide range of faith traditions from 2012-2018 during the camping season. I found my priesthood involved listening to many people who had been hurt by the church, who found me approachable. I always asked their forgiveness on behalf of the Church and reminded them that the institution is not the Church, the people are the REAL church.
Now, having retired from the camping industry, we moved to IA to be closer to my family in the St. Louis area where, in my spare time I am renovating a house built in 1880 and enjoy reading mysteries, playing my guitar and growing flowers that bring smiles to others. I pray with the RCWP led Full Circle Catholic Community, in Coralville, IA, pastored by Mary Kay Kusner. I do preside when needed. I also do a “coffee house ministry” in Washington, IA. I set out a sign to let people know I am a Catholic priest willing to chat and have met some nice folks.
After six years in leadership within RCWP, I am currently in a two-year program to become a spiritual director. It is my hope that this program might re-engage my heart and help me to rest with God and eventually help others on their spiritual journey.
Parishes close or consolidate while women priests gather with Catholics in homes and Protestant churches across the globe to celebrate the Eucharist. Some people say that I, a Roman Catholic woman priest, should just join the Episcopal Church to be a priest. My response is, “I am Catholic, the Church is the people of God, it is my church. God called and I answered with my whole being.” Who are we to say no when God calls?
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