The female pastor of a local church has often been the first woman to occupy a number of positions but is grateful for the women who have gone before her.

Cheryl Braun is the interim pastor at Glenlea Mennonite Church, becoming the first female lead pastor the church has had in their long history. Before that, she was the first female principal and vice-principal of Mennonite Collegiate Institute, and a leader in the Gretna church, which had never seen female leaders or speakers before.

Despite often being considered the first women, Braun is grateful for the women who paved the way for her.

"When I come into those roles, I can see the women who have done lots of the groundwork and have come before me and have prepared a place for me to step in," Braun said. "(To) be the public face of the first women in that kind of role."

Becoming the first female pastor of a church was never her goal. In fact, becoming a pastor wasn't her goal either. When she was growing up, the conversation of women in leadership wasn't even happening. But Braun says that some good mentors, including some men in church leadership, helped her find that calling.

"I think God placed people in my life to nudge me in a direction that I wasn't anticipating," Braun said.

Braun says that being the first is both nerve-wracking, feeling like the weight of women rests on your shoulders, and also very exciting, getting to show people what women are capable of.

"I need to be myself, I want to be myself, and I want to do the best job I can," Braun stated. "And one of the things about me is that I'm a woman."

When she became principal, the thing that surprised Braun most was that parents, especially mothers, were really excited about her being there because of their sons, not their daughters. The parents wanted their sons to see a competent and confident female in a leadership role.

On International Women's Day, Braun was quick to say that it isn't about women being above men, but rather quality, and both women and men getting a chance to do what they are good at.

"When I think of how far we've come in my lifetime in terms of doors that are open to women that weren't open when I was a teenager," Braun said. "I think it's exciting to see what is happening."