The Hardwick Church: Zion Lutheran

Before we can finally dive into the cookbooks themselves, it's important to understand the institution responsible for their publication.  

Over the course of its history, Hardwick has been home to 5 different congregations, but only 3 of them have ever owned their own building or met on a regular basis.¹ The first to have its own building was the Hardwick Presbyterian Church which was built in 1898 and disbanded in 1930.² The Hardwick Community Church was founded in 1939, but it too disbanded and its building was sold to the city in 1953.³ The Zion Evangelical Lutheran Church, or just Zion Lutheran for short, has been the only congregation in Hardwick ever since. It is now part of the Lutheran Church Missouri Synod (LCMS) denomination. 

The LCMS is generally considered a rather Conservative denomination. This does not mean conservative in a political sense but in a theological one. To put it simply, this means that Zion adheres to what can be considered a traditional view of Biblical authority. Concerning women in the church, for example, LCMS' official policy on women's roles in the church (as of 2024) explains that: 

“women, on the basis of the clear teaching of Scripture, may not serve in the office of pastor nor exercise any of it distinctive functions, and...may serve in humanly established offices in the church as long as the functions of these offices do not ...carry out official functions...of the pastoral office."⁴  

This official policy leaves room for interpretation. While it is clear that women cannot be ordained or serve as clergy in LCMS churches, some congregations allow them to serve as church elders. Other congregations, which believe that this role overlaps too much with the role of pastor, do not. While their official policy is not published, Zion has never allowed any woman to serve as a voting member of the church's elder council. Women may vote on church affairs and attend elder board meetings as non-voting members. In accordance with LCMS teaching, Zion opposes same-sex marriage and abortion.

Zion's conservative theology, especially as it relates to gender, is important to note because it shows how church cookbooks can shine new light on otherwise underrepresented stories. In a church structure where women’s leadership roles are limited, cookbooks provide a realm where the tables are turned, where women are the authoritative voices. To write these books off as simple holders of recipes is to discount a great record of women's history available in communities across our state, especially in the Southwest.