Breaking the Stained-Glass Ceiling

Women and nonbinary people are warmly invited to attend. This will be a hybrid in-person and livestreamed panel event and Q&A on navigating first ministry jobs and the early stages of a career during and after seminary. Panelists from the Women in Ministry network will share their firsthand experiences and answer questions about the unique challenges and opportunities that emerge in negotiating jobs during the first few years of ministry.

We particularly invite people from other seminaries within travel distance to come in person so that they can enjoy a time of refreshments and networking at Princeton Theological Seminary at 7:30 p.m. immediately after the panel.

Rev. Ellen Williams Hensle is the associate pastor for youth and discipleship at Westminster Presbyterian Church in Austin, Texas. In addition to leading Westminster’s youth ministry and mission activities, she serves as chair of Mission Presbytery’s Youth Connection Committee, which gives youth a voice in shaping the future of the church. Hensle also serves on the board of Princeton’s Women in Ministry Initiative, helping to plan and lead a variety of conferences and workshops addressing the unique challenges and opportunities for women leaders in the church. She is a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania and Princeton Theological Seminary, wife to Tom and mom to 18-month-old Albert. In her spare time, she plays French horn in the Austin Civic Wind Ensemble.

Jess Winderweedle is a commissioned elder in the United Methodist Church of Greater New Jersey, where she has served a leader within Methodists for Full Inclusion, a group that advocates for the full participation of LGBTQ+ persons in the life of the UMC. Winderweedle is also pursuing a PhD in Practical Theology/Homiletics at Princeton Theological Seminary. Her research interests include the vocational formation of queer preachers and the impact of queer presence in the Mainline pulpit.

Rev. Lana June Hurst is passionate about facilitating experiences that enable people to feel more connected to each other, themselves, and the Sacred. Although she is originally from a small town in North Florida, Hurst has lived up and down the East Coast and the UK. She has worked in various church roles in Lakeland, Florida; Trenton, New Jersey; and New York City since graduating from Southeastern University with a BS in Practical Theology and an MA in Ministerial Leadership, as well as Princeton Theological Seminary with an MDiv. Hurst now serves as the first openly transgender pastor of First Presbyterian Church of Glen Cove on Long Island. She's also in her final year at Fordham University, pursuing an MA in Mental Health Counseling with Spiritual Integration while working at Psychotherapy & Spirituality Institute as a counseling intern.

Rev. Jacqueline J. Nelson is an ordained National Baptist minister. She earned a B.A. in Africana Studies from Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey, and both an MDiv (2016) and ThM (2017) from Princeton Theological Seminary. Upon graduation, Nelson received a Certificate in Black Church Studies; a Certificate in Women, Theology, & Gender; and the 2016 Bryant M. Kirkland Award for Excellence in Practical Theology.

Immediately following graduation, Nelson served as the minister for outreach at Asbury First United Methodist Church in Rochester, NY, where she provided pastoral leadership to the outreach ministry areas, worked to develop and sustain partnerships with other churches and organizations, and educated the congregation around injustice and poverty and the necessity of Christian response. In September of 2021, Nelson began a new role at Colgate Rochester Crozer Divinity School as the director for student support services and coordinator for spiritual care; and remains on the pastoral staff at Asbury First. As a pastor and scholar, Nelson’s passions are centered on engaging difficult conversations and fostering safe space to center the voices and stories of the disenfranchised. When she’s not studying or working, Nelson enjoys traveling, reading, and spending time with loved ones.

The Rev. Nicole Cruz-Talkington has worked as a chaplain for 15 years. For the last seven years, she has worked as the sole chaplain at several psychiatric hospitals in the Austin, TX area and has created pastoral care programs at hospitals that have not had them previously. As someone who is biracial (a white, Mexican-American), has anxiety, who experienced homelessness growing up, and who was the first person in her family to graduate from college, she understands how the intersection of several different issues can lead to real barriers in opportunities for marginalized people and women. Nicole is an ordained minister of Word and Sacrament with the Presbyterian Church USA and works with Mission Presbytery’s Mission Outreach and Justice Committee. She is also a newly elected member to the PC(USA) General Assembly's Committee on Representation. She graduated from Princeton Seminary in 2009 with an MDiv degree. She is a Board-Certified Chaplain through the Association of Professional Chaplains, and she is a certified suicide prevention trainer for non-practitioners through the Ask About Suicide to Save a Life program, a program with the Texas Suicide Prevention Collaborative.

There is no cost for this event but registration is required.

All guests are expected to adhere to the Seminary’s current health and wellness guidelines, including being fully vaccinated and boosted, if eligible. Our health and wellness protocols regarding COVID-19 change based on the guidance of our local health departments officials and numbers of cases in our region. As a result, protocols are fluid and requirements regarding the use of face coverings, distance, and testing may change. For the latest guidelines, click here.