Mary Lynn Tobin

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Mary Lynn Tobin grew up in New Wilmington, Pa., in a rural pocket of Amish country. Now 2,500 miles away, Tobin is the pastor and head of staff of Davis Community Church, a Presbyterian ministry that accepts homosexuality and adds PowerPoint visuals to worship services.

The church has deep roots in Davis dating back to 1869, and the Spanish mission style sanctuary building at the its current location downtown was built in 1926, a historical monument by Davis' standards. It is the oldest Protestant congregation in the city and has about 790 members.

Tobin, 53, calls herself "progressive" and in this liberal city, the Davis Community Church fits right in. At least, in theory. Since she became associate pastor of the church in 1989, Tobin has been in a Jericho-like battle, breaking down the walls of any religious principles that teach intolerance.

"There's so much pressure to keep narrowing the gate," says Tobin, who is married and has a 20-year-old son. "It's frustrating. I feel like I've been in the battle for 20 years."

But such a struggle is old territory for Tobin and for her, the fight is personal. Growing up in male-dominated churches, she felt many times like an outsider. Her outlook evolved in the early 1980s after she had been going to a church in Eugene, Ore., where they had crossed out the word "men" in all the hymn books and wrote the word "people." "When I read that for the first time, it was earth-shattering," she says.
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