The Rev. Jennifer Sowell Glover grew up with the belief that women simply could not become ministers.

It's no surprise, then, that Glover had moments of doubt on her journey to becoming the first woman to serve as senior minister at St. John's United Church of Christ on South Rolling Road.

Glover, 35, was raised as a Baptist in Newport News, Va., and attended church regularly as a child.

When she was 15, she said, she contemplated what it would be like to lead a life centered on God.

"I was listening to some people who came to our church who were missionaries," she said. "I thought it was so neat that their lives were kind of wrapped up in serving God."

But it did not occur to her that she could become a minister. Growing up, she said she never heard of a woman being ordained as a Baptist minister.

As a young adult, Glover channeled her passion for religion into academic pursuits.

She majored in English and religion at the University of Richmond, then went on to seminary school. She said she switched to Methodism while in college, saying she identified more with that faith.

But Glover said she had no plans then to become ordained. She instead wanted to get her doctorate.

"Theology and history of the church really fascinate me, so I thought, 'Well, I'll take it from the academic angle,'" she said.

After graduating from the multi-denominational Union Theological Seminary in New York, Glover decided to take some time off before delving into graduate school applications, and began working with groups that provided services for the disabled.

On 9/11, Glover would revisit the calling she first heard at 15.

She recalls seeing clergy out in the streets of New York comforting people, trying to repair the emotional and spiritual damage caused by the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center.

"It just became crystal clear to me," she said. "I thought, 'That's what I'm supposed to be doing.'"

A few months later, Glover started on the ordination track.

After serving as interim pastor for a small church in Long Island, Glover worked for three years as associate minister at Pass-A-Grille Beach Community Church in St. Pete Beach, Florida.

But with the recession hitting Florida hard, Glover began looking for work in a more economically stable climate. That's when she discovered St. John's.

Jan Bauer, co-chairwoman of the eight-person search committee charged with hiring a new pastor, said she "absolutely loved" Glover from their first contact when Glover applied for the open position in Catonsville.

"She has an idea that before we can build the church, we have to be a very unified church," Bauer said. "She will be leading us in getting to know each other better."

Last month, Glover moved from Florida with her husband and two sons. Her first official sermon as senior pastor was this past Sunday.

Glover replaces David Wild, who retired in January 2008.

LoisAnn Furgess-Oler served as interim senior pastor.

Bauer said that Furgess-Oler prepared the congregation for a woman to serve as their senior pastor.

Bauer said that she believes Glover will bring maternal qualities to the church such as caring, healing and welcoming.

"But I think men can do that too," she said. "I'm not sure that I want to look at a pastor as male or female."

Glover said she is just getting settled into the position and needs to get better acquainted with the congregation before she constructs a plan for the church.

"You can't decide, as an outsider coming in, where a church will go," she said. "You get to know the people, and you see who they are and where they want to go, and where God wants them to go, and you kind of steer them toward where God is calling them to be."

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