Marion Kline

Decisions Decisions Decisions Marion Kline

The early decisions made in Marion Kline's life set the focus for her development. The actual "call" was to general Christian service while a Baptist. It was when she was a Youth Worker in a Methodist Church that the pastor recognized her potential and persuaded the Bishop, and her, to take a church on her own. She graduated with a Master of Divinity Degree in l950. She waited 6 years for that memorable day at General Conference in l956 when women were given full clergy rights. She joined the Detroit Conference that year where she was a Field Worker for the Detroit Conference Board of Christian Education. Later as a missionary in the Philippines, she taught Christian Education at the Union Theological Seminary, Manila. After retirement she served 8 years as an Associate Pastor at the First Methodist Church in Olympia. After her second retirement she continued to volunteer for community projects, such as a peer counselor for a gero-psych unit, and also with a church for the homeless women in Seattle. At age 90 she decided she wanted to do something she had never done before, so she is learning to ring bells.