Called— again & again—to serve
Muriel Spurgeon Carder lived with a kind of joyful determination that made it hard to confine her to any single role. From the time she was a child, she sensed what she would later call her first calling—a deep, persistent desire to serve as a missionary. It wasn’t dramatic or sudden. In fact, that troubled her. She went looking for a “proper” call—visions, certainty, something unmistakable—but instead discovered that faithful desire itself could be enough. Over time, that quiet conviction grew steady: there was, for her, “no other path than the road to India.”
At just twenty-five, she stepped into history as the first woman ordained in CBOQ and soon after set sail for India. There, her spirited personality flourished. She preached—her “first love”—taught, translated Scripture into Telugu, led schools, cared for the sick, and helped shape theological education. She once described her work as “everything from soup to nuts.”
But Muriel’s story didn’t end with her decades overseas. Her second calling emerged later, unexpectedly, out of disappointment and loss when a hoped-for opportunity fell through. In that vulnerable space, she discerned a new direction: ministry among those with mental and physical challenges. Here, too, she brought imagination and compassion—reshaping chaplaincy to engage the whole person, body and spirit, and asking profound theological questions alongside those often overlooked.
Muriel’s life opened doors for others. Though decades passed before more women were ordained, many later pointed to her as an inspiration.
Across both callings, Muriel was marked by the same thread: a courageous willingness to follow where God led, even when the path was unclear. Her life reminds us that calling is not always a single moment—but a faithful response, lived out again and again.