Narrative Summary
Interview with Laura Fregin by Paulina Kacprowicz
As with most things in life, experience counts. In Laura Fregin’s case, she is a welleducated woman in her fifties, who is well-traveled and has managed a family of seven as the
wife of an equine cardiologist. She also maintained a business career prior to graduating with a
Masters of Divinity and becoming the first female minister at the well-established National
Avenue Christian Church.
Words that come to mind when describing Laura would include: calm, reassuring,
inclusive, welcoming, constant, consistent, open-minded, and ever-expanding acceptance. In
picturing an ideal world, she said, “I would make people more open to other religions and to the
paths that other people travel, that we would see the beauty in diversity and in the differences,
rather than finding all the problems that go with those.”
Laura’s own religious background is quite diverse; her paternal great-grandmother was
“actually one of the pioneer women who, when she was nine years old, came from Indiana to
Utah in the great Mormon move across the United States.” Her maternal grandfather was a
Southern Baptist preacher. In the interview, she recalls her early longing to enter ministry, saying
that she knew:
From the time I was a child—that this was something I wanted to do, but as a child in a
Baptist church, being a senior minister, a pastor, was not exactly a path that was open.
Although, I will say that the people in my church and especially the minister, gave me
many opportunities to lead and to—from the time I was a very small child, I read
scripture in worship. I closed Wednesday night prayer meetings with the final prayer. I
was given a lot of opportunities to do that, and in my mid-30s some things happened in
my life where I had an opportunity to come back and reclaim what I had always felt I
Missouri State University
Fall 2010
Religious Lives of Ozarks Women
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wanted to do and I was supposed to do[. . . .] In business I never encountered a glass
ceiling, but when I got to the church I encountered a stain—glass ceiling, and [it was]
very difficult to break through. And I think in some ways, the harder I tried, the worse it
was.
She says that it is gratifying to know that now there are, “many of us who are standing and
holding these doors open with all our might, so that younger women will be able to walk through
them.”
Today, she remains positive and even states, “Our church is open and affirming, so we
believe that everyone has been created in the image of God, and that image is good. So we are
entirely open to diversity, and all its forms.” She believes strongly in the power of women,
saying, “I think that women hold the key, in many ways, to religious and spiritual life [. . . .] We
see it in a lot of countries where women are not allowed to have as much freedom, and I think
that women make a huge difference in the way a culture comes together.”
Laura Fregin’s life has been a blend of religions, giving her a wide belief base that she
will certainly continue to use in her endeavor to be an important inspiration to the people in
Southwest Missouri—especially during these troubled times. If her message could be heard and
accepted, the world would be a more peaceful and safe place for us all.
Missouri State University
Fall 2010
Religious Lives of Ozarks Women