Lyn Brakeman, M.Div.

Class of 
1982
Denomination: 
Episcopal

Being a student at YDS from 1978-1982 was, according to one member of the diocesan (Connecticut) screening committee for postulancy, "an act of defiance against church authority." Although only one of my many such acts, going to seminary as a mere aspirant was among the most transformative experiences of my life—intellectually, physically, emotionally, religiously, and spiritually. I can still hear the echo of the opening statement in the first lecture in my first course, Old Testament: "In the beginning God potentiated . . ." I'm not sure if those were Professor Robert Wilson's exact words, but that's what I wrote down, and that's what I felt—potentiated. It's been 36 years since I graduated and I'm still potentiated. I am now retired, approaching 80 and gratefully healthy, Episcopal priest associate in a parish, mother of seven adult children and stepchildren and twelve grandchildren, author of two books of midrash, a memoir, God Is Not a Boy's Name. Becoming Woman. Becoming Priest, 2016 Wipf and Stock, and a blog: spirituallemons.blogspot.com. My priest spouse Richard Simeone and I are currently offering retreat events or workshops on the topic: Words Matter: Theological Language and Its Impact. It's exciting to us both that the Episcopal Church is taking up this topic with a focus on gender-expansive language in a proposed prayer book revision. This will include for the first time language about God. I am potentiated! And I dare say God's image is too.