Barbara Louise Andrews (May 11, 1935 – March 31, 1978) was an American Lutheran pastor. A native of

Minneapolis Minneapolis () is the largest city in Minnesota, United States, and the county seat of Hennepin County. The city is abundant in water, with thirteen lakes, wetlands, the Mississippi River, creeks and waterfalls. Minneapolis has its origins ...

, Andrews was born with

cerebral palsy Cerebral palsy (CP) is a group of movement disorders that appear in early childhood. Signs and symptoms vary among people and over time, but include poor coordination, stiff muscles, weak muscles, and tremors. There may be problems with sensa ...

and used a wheelchair throughout her life. In 1964 she became the first woman accepted as a full-time student to the Lutheran Theological Seminary, from which she graduated in 1969. She took a job on the staff of the Lutheran Campus Ministry of the

University of Minnesota The University of Minnesota, formally the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities, (UMN Twin Cities, the U of M, or Minnesota) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in the Minneapolis–Saint Paul, Tw ...

while in seminary. She was ordained on December 22, 1970, two months after the ordination of women had been approved by the

American Lutheran Church The American Lutheran Church (TALC) was a Christian Protestant denomination in the United States and Canada that existed from 1960 to 1987. Its headquarters were in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Upon its formation in 1960, The ALC designated Augsburg ...

Elizabeth Platz Elizabeth Alvina Platz is an American Lutheran pastor and was the first woman in North America ordained by a Lutheran church body. She was ordained in November 1970 into the Lutheran Church in America (LCA). The ordination of women, approved earl ...

had been ordained one month earlier, and the two were the first women ordained as Lutheran pastors in the United States. Two months after ordination, Andrews joined the Edina Community Lutheran Church in

Edina EDINA is a centre for digital expertise, based at the University of Edinburgh as a division of the Information Services Group. Services EDINA front-end services (those accessed directly by the user) are available free at the point of use for ...

Minnesota Minnesota () is a state in the upper midwestern region of the United States. It is the 12th largest U.S. state in area and the 22nd most populous, with over 5.75 million residents. Minnesota is home to western prairies, now given over to ...

as its pastor. She remained there until 1974, when she became chaplain of the Luther Haven Nursing Home in

Detroit Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at th ...

. After two and a half years, she resigned to become interim pastor of Detroit's Resurrection Lutheran Church. During this time, she also served as a chaplain for Lutheran Social Services in Michigan. Andrews died in a fire in her Detroit apartment. For her contributions to ministry, she was posthumously awarded the Faithfulness in Ministry Cross by the Luther Theological Seminary on January 5, 1995.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Andrews, Barbara 1935 births 1978 deaths Accidental deaths in Michigan 20th-century American Lutheran clergy 20th-century American women Women Lutheran clergy Clergy from Minneapolis Deaths from fire in the United States Luther Seminary alumni People with cerebral palsy Clergy with disabilities Wheelchair users