Religious sexism: when faith groups
started and stopped ordaining women
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Definition of "sexist:"
We define a religious organization as sexist when it refuses to accept an
otherwise competent individual as a group member or leader solely because of
that person's gender.
Some visitors to this site are distressed at the use of harsh word such as
"sexist," "racist" and "homophobic" because they feel that their holy book
requires that they discriminate against individuals on the basis of their
gender, race or sexual orientation. However, we define these terms by the faith
group's impact on people, not by the source of the discrimination.
Formal discrimination against women in positions of authority has been
gradually eliminated in Western societies, with the exception of some
assignments in the military, and positions of power in many conservative
religious institutions.
A partial list with
the approximate dates of either:
the approval of female ordination in principle or
the ordination of their first women clergy by Christian and Jewish
10
faith groups
appears below. We are attempting to add to this list and firm up the dates shown:
Early 1800's: A fundamental belief of the Society of Friends (Quakers) has always
been the existence of an element of God's spirit in every human soul. Thus all
persons are considered to have inherent and equal worth, independent of their gender.
This led naturally to an opposition to sexism, and an acceptance of
female ministers. In 1660, Margaret Fell (1614 - 1702) published a
famous pamphlet to justify equal roles for men and women in the
denomination. It was titled: "Women's Speaking Justified, Proved and
Allowed of by the Scriptures, All Such as Speak by the Spirit and Power
of the Lord Jesus And How Women Were the First That Preached the Tidings
of the Resurrection of Jesus, and Were Sent by Christ's Own Command
Before He Ascended to the Father (John 20:17)."7In the U.S., "In contrast with almost every other organized
religion, the Society of Friends (Quakers) have allowed women to serve
as ministers since the early 1800s." 8
1853: Antoinette Brown was ordained by the Congregationalist Church.
However, her ordination was not recognized by the denomination.
She quit the church and later became a Unitarian. The Congregationalists later
merged with others to create the United Church of Christ.
5,6
1863: Olympia Brown was ordained by the Universalist denomination
in 1863, in spite of a last-moment case of cold feet by her seminary
which feared adverse publicity.
She later became a Unitarian. After a decade and a half of service as
a full-time minister, she became a part-time minister in order to devote
more time to the fight for women's rights and universal suffrage. In 1961, the Universalists and
Unitarians joined to form the Unitarian Universalist Association
(UUA). The UUA became the first large
denomination to have a majority of female ministers. In 1999-APR, female
ministers outnumbered their male counterpart 431 to 422.
1865: Salvation Army is founded and has always ordained both men and women.
However, there were initially rules that prohibited a woman from
marrying a man who had a lower rank.
1871: Celia Burleigh became the first female Unitarain
minister.
1880: Anna Howard Shaw was the first woman ordained in the
Methodist Protestant Church, which later merged with other
denominations to form the United Methodist Church. 12
1888:Fidelia Gillette may
have been the first ordained woman in Canada. She served the Universalist
congregation in Bloomfield, ON during 1888 and 1889. She was presumably
ordained in 1888 or earlier.
1889: The Nolin Presbytery of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church
ordained Louisa Woosley. 1
1889: Ella Niswonger was the first woman ordained in the
United Brethren church, which later merged with other denominations
to form the United Methodist Church. 12
1892: Anna Hanscombe is believed to be the first woman
ordained by the parent bodies which formed the Church of the Nazarene
in 1919. 11
1909: The Church of God (Cleveland TN) began ordaining women in
1909.
1911:Ann Allebach was the first Mennonite woman
to be ordained. This occurred at the First Mennonite Church of
Philadelphia.
1914: Assemblies of God was founded and ordained its first woman clergy
1917: The Congregationalist Church (England and Wales)
ordained their first woman. Its successor is the United Reformed Church.
They now consider it sufficient grounds for refusing ministry training
if a potential candidate is not in favor of the ordination of women.
1920's: Some Baptist denominations.
1920's: United Reformed Church in the UK
1922: The Jewish Reform movement's Central Conference of
American Rabbis stated that "Woman cannot justly be denied the
privilege of ordination."
1922: The Annual Conference of the Church of the Brethren granted
women the right to be licensed into the ministry, but not to be ordained
with the same status as men.
1930: A predecessor church of the Presbyterian Church
(USA) ordained its first female as an elder
1935: Regina Jonas was ordained privately by a German rabbi.
1936: United Church of Canada.
1942: Anglican communion, Hong Kong. Florence Li Tim Oi was ordained on an emergency
basis. Some sources say it happened in 1943.
1947: Czechoslovak Hussite Church
1948: Evangelical Lutheran Church of Denmark
1949: Old Catholic Church (in the U.S.)
1956: A predecessor church of the Presbyterian Church (USA)
ordained its first woman minister.
1956: Maud K. Jensen was the first woman to receive full
clergy rights and conference membership in the Methodist Church. 12
1958: Women ministers in the Church of the Brethren were
given full ordination with the same status as men.
1960: Evangelical Lutheran Church in Sweden
1967: Presbyterian Church in Canada
1968: We suspect that the Metropolitan Community Church
hasaccepted women ministers since its founding in 1968. We are
attempting to confirm this.
1971: Anglican communion, Hong Kong. Joyce Bennett and Jane Hwang were the first
regularly ordained priests.
1972: Reform Judaism
1972: Swedenborgian Church
1972: Sally Priesand became the first woman rabbi to be
ordained by a theological seminary. She was ordained in the Reform
tradition.
1970's: Evangelical Lutheran Church in America
1974: Methodist Church in the UK
1974: Sandy Eisenberg Sasso became the first woman rabbi to
be ordained within the Jewish Reconstructionist movement. 9
1976: Episcopal Church (11 women were ordained in Philadelphia before church laws were
changed to permit ordination)
1976: Anglican Church in Canada ordained six female priests.
1976: The Rev. Pamela McGee was the first female ordained to the
Lutheran ministry in Canada.
1977: Anglican Church of New Zealand ordained five female
priests.
1979: The Reformed Church in America. Women had been
admitted to the offices of deacon and elder in 1972.
1983: An Anglican woman was ordained in Kenya
1983: Three Anglican women were ordained in Uganda.
1984: The Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day
Saints authorized the ordination of women. This is the second largest
Mormon denomination; it is now called The Community of Christ. 2
1985: According to the New York Times for 1985-FEB-14: "After
years of debate, the worldwide governing body of Conservative Judaism has
decided to admit women as rabbis. The group, the Rabbinical Assembly,
plans to announce its decision at a news conference...at the Jewish
Theological Seminary..." 14 Amy Eilberg became the first female rabbi.
1985: The first women deacons were
ordained by the Scottish Episcopal Church.
1988: Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland
1990: Anglican women are ordained in Ireland.
1992: Church of England
1992: Anglican Church of South Africa
1994: The first women priests were
ordained by the Scottish Episcopal Church.
1995: Seventh-day Adventists.Sligo Seventh-day Adventist Church in Takoma Park VA
ordained
three women in violation of the denomination's rules.
1995: The Christian Reformed Church voted to allow women ministers,
elders, and evangelists. In 1998-NOV, the North American
Presbyterian and Reformed Council (NAPARC) suspended the CRC's
membership because of this decision. 3
1998: General Assembly of the Nippon Sei Ko Kai (Anglican Church in Japan)
1998: Guatemalan Presbyterian Synod
1998: Old Catholic Church in the Netherlands
1998: Some Orthodox Jewish congregations started to employ
female "congregational interns" "Although these 'interns' do not lead
worship services, they perform some tasks usually reserved for rabbis,
such as preaching, teaching, and consulting on Jewish legal matters." 9
1999: Independent Presbyterian Church of Brazil (ordination
as either clergy or elders)
2000: The Baptist Union of Scotland voted to allow their churches to
either allow or prohibit the ordination of women.
2000: The Mombasa diocese of the Anglican Church of Kenya.
2000: The Church of Pakistan ordained its first women
deacons. It is a united church which dates back to the 1970 local
merger of Anglicans, Methodists, Presbyterians, Lutherans and other
Protestant denominations.
2007: The Worldwide Church of God, a denomination with about 860
congregations worldwide has decided to allow women to serve as pastors and
elders. This decision was reached after several years of study. 15
Some Protestant churches have allowed women to become bishops:
1980: United Methodist Church
1989: Episcopal Church in the U.S.
1992: Evangelical Lutheran Church in Germany
1996: Lutheran Church in Sweden
1997: Anglican Church of Canada
Unknown: Evangelical Lutheran Church of Denmark
Unknown: Anglican Church of New Zealand
1998: Presbyterian Church in Guatemala
1998: Moravian Church in America
1999: Czechoslovak Hussite Church
Many faith groups still refuse to consider women for ordination. Many
teach that women have very specific roles, both in the family and in
religious organizations where positions of authority and power are reserved for males.
This list includes the Roman Catholic Church, all
Eastern Orthodox churches, a minority of
provinces within the Anglican Communion, the Church of
Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (the Mormons) and many Fundamentalist
and other Evangelical Protestant denominations.
On the other hand, the Unitarian Universalist
religion is the first major faith group which has a majority of female
clergy. Women have had equal and sometimes superior roles within
Wiccan and other
Neopagan
groups.
Recent developments:
2000-NOV-16: Australia: The Australian Anglican Church
issued draft legislation covering the consecration of women as bishops.
2001-JUL-23: Australia: The Australian Anglican Church's
General Synod accepted a bill for debate which, if passed, would have
allowed female consecrations as bishop. It was a very controversial step.
Included in the debate was a resolution which said:
"In a Diocese in
which a woman is appointed bishop, the bishop of the diocese must ensure
that appropriate episcopal pastoral oversight and ministry is provided for
persons whose conscience precludes them from accepting the ministry of a
bishop who is a woman."
Interestingly, there was no provision for persons "whose conscience
precludes them from accepting the ministry of a bishop who is a man." The resolution failed.
2004-OCT-06: Australia:
At Australian Anglican Church's
General Synod, the House of
Clergy and the House of Laity voted in favor of female
consecration, but not by the required 2/3rds majority. The next synod is
scheduled for 2007. More details.
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When some denominations stopped ordaining women:
We are aware of only two denominations in recent history which once ordained
women and have since stopped. Both were unusual situations in which
Fundamentalists took over a previously more moderate denomination:
1991: Australia: The Presbyterian Church of Australia
began ordaining women in 1974. However, most Presbyterians in that
country merged with other denominations to form the Uniting Church in Australia
in 1977. This left a small number of Fundamentalist Presbyterians
behind. They voted to stop ordaining women in 1991. 4
2000: USA: The Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) had
undergone a struggle between fundamentalists and moderates which ended in the late 1990's with a
fundamentalist victory. The Baptist Faith and Message Study Committee of the SBC,
issued a statement on 2000-MAY-18 recommending that "While both
men and women are gifted for service in the church, the office of pastor
is limited to men as qualified by Scripture." The SBC currently
has about 1,600 ordained women among their 41,099 churches. About 30 of their senior
pastors are female. The recommendation was
approved at their annual meeting on 2000-JUN-14. Their existing female
pastors are allowed to remain, but no new pastors will be ordained. The SBC is the largest Protestant
denomination in the U.S.; they have about 16 million members.
More
details.
D. Burke, "The Presbyterians in Australia," Bureau of
Immigration, Multicultural and Population Research, (1996).
Elizabeth Cazden, "Antoinette Brown Blackwell: A Biography." The
Feminist Press, (1983).
Luther Lee, "Woman's Right To Preach The Gospel: A Sermon
Preached at the Ordination of the Rev. Miss Antoinette L. Brown, at South
Butler, Wayne County, NY, Sept. 15, 1853," Syracuse, NY, Published by the
Author, 1853.
