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Dr. Mary Sickels is both a Presbyterian Pastor, and a member of the VOW network.  Several weeks ago, she invited me to read her doctoral dissertation entitled Why Women Leave Ministry:  A Study of Pittsburgh Theological Seminary M.DIV. Graduates, 1975-2000.  In a word, I found it fascinating. 

Mary has graciously given VOW permission to reprint Chapter 2 in its entirety.   Chapter 2 is an historical and theological "reflection" on the role women have played in ministry since the time of Jesus.  In my opinion, even though it is longer than most of the things we publish on this page, the document is well worth the time it will take to read..

This year, 2005, marks the 75th anniversary of the ordination of women elders in the Presbyterian tradition.  Next year, 2006, we will celebrate the 100th anniversary of the ordination of women deacons.  2006 will also be the 50th anniversary of the ordination of women as Minister of the Word and Sacrament. 

As Mary puts the matter:

“The question of women’s ordination has been a source of controversy throughout the history of Christianity. On what basis, and by what authority, are women ordained?  Should women be ordained at all?  What is the teaching of Scripture concerning the ordination of women?  Over the centuries Christian denominations have come to various conclusions about these questions.  Since a theological examination of these questions cannot be separated from the historical context of women’s ordination, we will examine these questions by way of a journey through time.” 

 Sylvia D. Dooling
 

The first woman to be ordained in a Protestant church in America was Antoinette Brown, who was ordained by the Congregational Church at South Butler, New York in 1853.^.i  Antoinette’s journey toward ordination was one of great struggle and intense determination.   After graduation from Oberlin College, she sought admission to Oberlin’s School of Theology.  The theology department faculty, uncertain of how to handle this request, permitted her to take classes but did not consider her an official student.  She successfully completed the theological course in 1850, but the faculty refused to grant her the degree. ⁱⁱ   After three years, with no prospects of ordination, she again requested help from Oberlin but received no assistance.  She was, however, an accomplished public speaker and spoke frequently on the topics of women’s rights, temperance, and abolition, although reaction to a woman speaker was often mixed.  When she attempted to speak at the World Temperance Convention in 1853, she was outshouted by male clergymen.  On other occasions, male attendees at her lectures  walked out in protest.  Antoinette Brown, however, was convinced that the Bible granted authority for women’s ordination.  Proving that conviction became her life’s mission, and for years she pursued biblical studies and exegesis toward this end. 

Antoinette Brown finally found a congregation willing to ordain her, a tiny Congregational church in upstate New York.  (In the Congregational system, pastors were ordained not by the denomination but by an individual church.)  Although some influential members of the congregation questioned the need for ordination, Brown argued that it would advance the cause of women’s rights, and she was ordained on September 15, 1853.  Even the farmer who spoke on behalf of the congregation questioned the event:  “This church does not believe in the necessity or ordination as a qualification to preach the gospel.  Why then have an ordination? . . . We have invited a few friends to be with us to recognize the relationship between pastor and 
people.” ⁱⁱⁱ   But the ordination proceeded, and Antoinette Brown was officially ordained.

Brown had invited Luther Lee, a Methodist pastor and friend from the temperance movement, to deliver the sermon at her ordination.  His message focused on the story of Pentecost and on Peter’s quotation from Joel 2:28: “I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh, and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy.” (Acts 2:17)   He pointed out that both men and women had received the Holy Spirit at Pentecost, thus giving both men and women authority to preach the gospel.  “When it is said, ‘Your sons and your daughters shall prophesy,’ the meaning is, your sons and daughters shall become teachers, or gospel ministers.” ^iv   Rev. Lee also stated that ordination is a recognition of God’s call to ministry, a work of God rather than a work of man.  “We are not here to make a minister.  It is not to confer on this our sister, a right to preach the gospel.  If she has not that right already, we have no power to communicate it to her.” ^v   Lee stated his belief that it was God’s call to Ms. Brown to preach the gospel, rather than any human intention or action, that qualified her for ordination.

It is a strange irony that Rev. Lee, when asked to provide a certificate of ordination for Ms. Brown two years later, refused to do so.  Perhaps the storm of protest that followed her ordination dissuaded him.  But her ordination stood, and her name is recorded in history for all time.  Unfortunately, Brown’s tenure as pastor of her small congregation lasted less than a year.  Her theology of a loving and compassionate God conflicted with that of her congregation, who wished her to proclaim fire and brimstone, even to the dying. ^vi   Her perceived failure in this small congregation shook her faith and convinced her that she would never again serve as a parish minister.   She continued to write and speak, but more than twenty years passed before she again considered affiliation with a denomination.  She was recognized as a Unitarian minister in 1878, but her search for a parish of her own proved futile.  She had no pastoral position until her old age, when she helped to establish a Unitarian Church and was invited to be pastor emeritus.  She preached her last sermon when she was 90 years old. ^vii

The question of women’s ordination has been a source of controversy throughout the history of Christianity.   On what basis, and by what authority, are women ordained?  Should women be ordained at all?  What is the teaching of Scripture concerning the ordination of women?  Over the centuries Christian denominations have come to various conclusions about these questions.  Since a theological examination of these questions cannot be separated from the historical context of women’s ordination, we will examine these questions by way of a journey through time.  We will journey from the ministry of Jesus to the present day, seeking to understand the theological basis for the evolving attitudes toward women in ministry.  The starting point of our journey is an exploration of the meaning of ordination itself.

Luther Lee’s sermon on the occasion of Antoinette Brown’s ordination contained a profound and foundational theological proposition: ordination is not a work of human origin, but it is a work of God.  Rev. Lee stated that through her call to ministry, Ms. Brown had been authorized by God, not by man, to preach the gospel.  The human action of laying on of hands in ordination simply confirmed what God had already willed.   He affirmed that Ms. Brown was “one of the ministers of the New Covenant, qualified and called of God to preach the gospel of his son Jesus Christ.” ^viii   This understanding of ordination as the call of God will provide the cornerstone for the discussion that follows.

When discussing the ordination of women, the question of women’s authority to preach is often brought into question.  However, the New Testament church did not ordain persons to positions of authority, but rather to positions of service.  When the church at Antioch laid hands on Paul and Barnabas (Acts 13:1-3), they had already been serving the Lord for some time.  They were being commissioned to a new task, rather than being given any right or authority. ^ix   The symbolic act of laying on of hands in designating persons for service is not uniform in Scripture.  Jesus did not lay hands on his disciples as he sent them out.  In Acts 6:1-6 hands are laid on Stephen and six others, not to send them forth to teach, but to commission them for the care of widows and those in need.   Thus the laying on of hands in Scripture generally did not confer authority, but rather symbolized the conferral of the Holy Spirit in preparation for service. 

Understanding ordination in the sense of service in answer to God’s call, rather than conferral of authority or superior rank, makes the question of women’s ordination not a political issue but a theological one.  The status of women in society has been in great transition in modern history.  Women fought hard in the 19th century to achieve the right to vote as American citizens.  The women’s liberation movement of the 1970’s emphasized equality in the workplace as well as in the home.   The question of women’s ordination is of a different order than these human efforts: women’s ordination is not a right to fight for, but a grace given by God.  God created human beings male and female, and God calls humans to into service, in the name of Jesus Christ, as empowered by the Holy Spirit.   God’s call to service comes first.  Ordination is simply a recognition of God’s call and our faithful response.

When Jesus commissioned his followers to make disciples of all nations (Matthew 28:16-20), he was referring not to disciples of male gender, but all persons created in the image of God.  (In Acts 1:14, Luke makes a special point of mentioning that both men and women were among those devoting themselves to prayer in Jerusalem following the ascension.)  Countless millions of men and women have heard the gospel of Christ in the twenty centuries since Jesus first spoke the words of the great commission; some, both men and women, have felt God’s call to continue to fulfill this commission.  Were it not for the faithfulness of those who obey this call, the gospel message would fall silent.   As both men and women have been baptized into Christ over the centuries, proclaiming their faith in his Lordship, both men and women have offered their lives in service.  The ordination of women and men should not be viewed as a quest for power or prestige, but rather as a humble act of servanthood in response to the call of God.

In the Jewish society in which Jesus carried out his ministry, women had little formal status, and were regarded as the property of their husbands.  The value of a woman lay for the most part in her role as wife and mother. ^x   In contrast to this status, women had considerable prominence in the life and ministry of Jesus.   It is clear in Scripture that many women ministered to and with Jesus (Mt. 27:55, Lk. 8:1-3).  When Mary sat at the feet of Jesus, she was not avoiding helping Martha set the table, but rather she was taking the position of a disciple. ^xi   Even the twelve were stunned at Jesus’ willingness to engage in significant conversation with the woman at the well (John 4:7-30), since men as a rule did not converse with women in public (not even their wives), and particularly not with a Samaritan woman.  But this woman in a sense became an evangelist, telling the people of her city of Sychar, “Come and see a man who told me everything I have every done!  Can he be the Messiah?”  Many left the city and sought to find Jesus in response to her message (John 4:30). 

The shining example of a female evangelist is Mary Magdalene, who was given the supreme privilege of being the first human to proclaim the resurrection of Jesus.  She runs to tell the disciples of her transforming encounter with the risen Savior:   “I have seen the Lord!”  (John 20:18).   The sum of twenty centuries of Easter sermons cannot begin to touch the power of those five words spoken by Mary, as she stood breathless and in tears before the disciples.  Mary had no certificate of ordination, no clerical robes or ecclesiastical status, but she was following God’s overwhelming call to proclaim that Jesus was alive.

Much controversy has surrounded the interpretation of New Testament scripture concerning women.   However, there can be no doubt that women played a very active role in the functioning of the early church.   Every “house church” identified in the book of Acts met in the house of a woman. ^xii   The list includes Lydia, Chloe, the mother of Mark, Nympha, and Priscilla with her husband Aquila.  The importance of women is also indicated in Acts 9:2, when Saul seeks letters to imprison those following the gospel, “so that if he found any belonging to the Way, men or women, he might bring them bound to Jerusalem.”  The participation of women in the martyrdom of the early church was an important factor in the establishment of their authority.  Peter Richardson of the University of Toronto has found that in every instance in the New Testament that a man’s name is mentioned for a church office, a woman’s name can also be found for that same office.^xiii

Many women are discussed by name in the New Testament.   Dr. Helmut Koester, formally of Harvard Divinity School, points out that out of 40 people of the early church named by Paul in the epistles, 16 are women. ^xiv  This is a considerable percentage of active participants in the church.  Among those mentioned in Paul’s letter to the Romans is Phoebe, who is described in Greek as  “diakonos,” a deacon.   This same Greek word is used to describe six men in other parts of the New Testament, and in describing men it is usually translated “deacon” or “minister,” but referring to Phoebe it is usually translated “servant” or “deaconess.”   This unjustified discrepancy in translation is apparently due to Phoebe’s female gender.  Phoebe is also called “prostasis” in Romans 16:2, which means “leader, one who presides, stands before, a patron.”  ^xv  Thus Phoebe had been called by God to considerable leadership within the early church.   Helmut Koestler goes so far as to describe her as functioning as a female minister among early believers. ^xvi

In Romans 16 Paul also mentions Junia as an apostle.  Junia is a feminine name, and attempts have been made to change the name to Junias, but there is no record in Greek or Latin literature of men being called by that name. ^xvii   Nearly every commentator before the thirteenth century regarded Junia as a woman.   The fact that a woman is named by Paul as an apostle has usually been distorted, denied, or ignored.  Alvera Mickelson points out that Paul is tremendously affirming of women in Romans 16:  “What this list shows is that in a single setting, and in a coherent list of greetings, women are honored more than men despite their fewer numbers, and are attributed more influential roles!” ^xviii

Paul describes women in leadership not only in Romans 16, but in numerous other references as well.  Philippians 4:2 and 3 describe Euodia and Syntyche, “fellow workers who fought by my side in spreading the gospel.”  Paul urges Christians to  “be subject to every fellow worker and laborer” (1 Cor. 16:16), using the same Greek words used to describe Euodia, Syntyche, Priscilla, Phoebe as well as a number of men in leadership in the early church.  We can conclude that Paul encouraged Christians to recognize the leadership of both men and women who were called to serve. ^xix

It is a strange irony, therefore, that Paul’s writings are often quoted as restricting the leadership of women in the church.  Helmut Koestler has described Paul as “a great champion of women,” ^xx and believes that Paul’s attitudes toward women have been greatly misinterpreted.  Paul clearly expected women to participate actively in worship, to prophecy and to pray, as is demonstrated in 1 Cor. 11 where Paul gives specific instructions for both men and women in worship.  How is it, then, that Paul has been so often cited as a reason to silence women and even deny their ordination?

The reference to women being silent in church is found in 1 Cor. 14:33-36 and reads as follows (NRSV): “As in all the churches of the saints, women should be silent in the churches.  For they are not permitted to speak, but must be subordinate, as the law also says.  If there is anything they desire to know, let them ask their husbands at home.  For it is a shameful thing for a woman to speak in church.”  This passage is found within the context of a discussion about order within worship services.    Paul is writing about specific behavior during the worship service, and he wishes the services to be conducted decently and in order.  Paul is also addressing the concerns of Christians living in Corinth, a major metropolitan center, and a center of vice and immorality.  Paul is therefore instructing the Corinthian Christians about how to live and worship in ways that would avoid the immoral customs of the culture.  For a woman to speak in public in an undisciplined or disorderly way would be viewed as behavior similar to that of a prostitute.  (In a similar vein Paul spends much of 1 Cor. 11 discussing hair styles, because uncovered long hair on a woman was viewed as a sign of prostitution, a short hairstyle on a woman was common to lesbians, while homosexual men often wore long hair.)   Paul did not want to bring dishonor to the church and to Christ by misinterpreted behavior on the part of the early Christians. ^xxi

For Paul to command women to be silent in church, while within the same writings commending many women who are clear leaders within the church  (deacons, leaders of house churches, and even apostles) makes little sense.  We need to understand this command to be silent to refer to specific behavior within the context of a worship service, rather than a generalized prohibition against any verbal participation of women within the life of the church.  Paul wanted women to behave in an orderly way during worship, so that they would not be mistaken for prostitutes, thus disgracing the church.  In a similar way he tells men in 1 Cor. 11 that wearing long hair would also disgrace the church.  Would we refuse ordination to a man today because of his hair length?  In today’s culture, the reference to long hair for gentlemen no longer applies; and the proscription concerning women’s “silence” should be understood within the same context.

Thus it is clear that God called women into very active service in the early church.   Formal “ordination” is not described in Scripture, but there were clearly many women who devoted their lives to Christian work.  Other women not mentioned in the Bible are described by the early church fathers.  These include Thecla (called an apostle in early Christian literature), who apparently traveled with Paul in Asia Minor.  Basil declared that she won many to Christ, and also baptized them.   Catherine of Alexandria was a brilliant defender of the faith to the philosophers in her home city, and was executed by emperor Maxentius.  Another gifted woman was Marcella, who lived in Rome from 324 to 410 and established in her home a center for Bible study, prayer and teaching.  It is claimed that she studied the Old Testament in Hebrew.  Stories of many other women leaders in the Christian church have been 
documented. ^xxii With the reign of Constantine, Christianity became the official religion of the Roman Empire, and the Christian church had to adapt to the Roman cultural norms of the time.  This included the “patria potestas” concept that gave fathers total and absolute control over their households.  This concept began to restrict the freedom women had initially enjoyed in exercising leadership in the church. 

As we continue to journey through history, we will review the ongoing story of women who sought to follow God’s call in Jesus Christ.  The journey from New Testament times becomes a difficult road as women’s roles are restricted within society in general, as well as within the church.  The chronology of women’s involvement in spreading the gospel shows us that even in the midst of intense persecution and discrimination, women have continued to faithfully follow God’s call to service.

         Although the feudal system in Europe greatly restricted opportunities for learning and personal enrichment, there is still evidence that women were called by God to preach the gospel.   The Roman Catholic Church gave little opportunity for women to preach, but the Waldensian movement allowed both male and female preachers of the gospel.  This movement began in 1173 when Peter Valdes decided to follow Matthew 19:21 literally, sold his possessions and renounced worldly life, and was followed by others who wished to follow a life of poverty and preaching.  Pope Alexander III, however, did not permit them to preach without authorization, but the Waldensians continued to preach, saying that their obedience was to God alone.  In 1184 Pope Lucius III condemned them as heretics for their unauthorized preaching, which they encouraged for all their followers, including women. ^xxiii  The Waldensians had translated gospel passages into the vernacular and thus were able to read Scripture in the language of those who heard them.

A Dominican priest, Moneta of Cremona, reveals in his writings information about these “heretical” woman preachers:

Their women preach in church, if their assembly should be called the church, which in truth it is not.  They have said in response to this that Christ sent Mary Magdalene to preach when he said in John 20:17, ‘Go to my brethren and say to them: I am ascending to our Father and your father, to my God and your God.’ Mary Magdelene went and said to the disciples, ‘I have seen the Lord.’  Now, whenever a woman is sent to announce something good to a church, should it be said that she preaches to the church? No. ^xxiv

Another who gave all to serve God was Julian of Norwich (1342-1379), a British mystic whose real name is unknown.  She took the name Julian when she became a hermit within the church of St. Julian.  The fourteenth century was a time of plague, death and fear in Europe, and Julian brought comfort and hope to many through her teachings and counsel.  She also was the first woman to publish a book in English.  Her writings are still well known today.

Catherine of Siena also lived during the time of the Black Plague, and felt called as a child to evangelism and ministry.  She nursed many who were ill and dying during the plague, and won thousands to Christ.  She brought much revival to the Roman Catholic Church. ^xxv

Since women received little formal education during the middle ages, their ability to preach was often attributed to miraculous prophetic gifts.  Rose of Viterbo (d. 1252) and Umilta of Faenza (d. 1310), both believed they had been given the gift of prophecy, and preached the gospel publicly.  A contemporary wrote that Umilta composed “sermons and lovely tractates on spiritual things, in which there appeared profound doctrine, very skilled verbal expression, even when speaking of the more sublime mysteries of sacred theology.” ^xxvi  Umilta realized that she had a gift from God: “The divine words that I speak are not mine, but come from the Father and God most high.” ^xxvii

Hildegard of Bingen, a Catholic nun living in Germany in the twelfth century,  also described her mystical experiences as a gift from God.  She produced writings on the Bible, theology, poetry, music, and many other subjects.  She traveled, went on preaching tours, corresponded with the Pope, and served God with privileges accorded very few women during the Middle Ages. ^xxviii

During the fourth century, the Catholic Church developed a view of ordination based on the Old Testament priesthood. ^xxix  Men ordained as priests became members of a special class removed from the laity.  Because there was no precedent for women serving in the priesthood in the Old Testament, women were not permitted to become priests, and were allowed little active participation in church leadership other than life in the convent.

The understanding of Christian ordination began to change during the Reformation.  Martin Luther introduced the concept of the priesthood of all believers, challenging the idea that any elite group could mediate between God and humanity.  This new view began to give new opportunities for women.   These opportunities developed slowly, for Lutheran and Reformed (Calvinist) Protestants did not initially allow women to serve as ordained ministers.^xxx  Luther taught that if a man was unavailable, a woman could be allowed to preach and carry out her priestly function.  Calvin regarded the participation of women in worship as a matter of human opinion, not basic doctrine.  However, both Luther and Calvin taught that women should be in subjection to men.

This continuing subjection did not prevent women from following their call to serve Christ.  Katherine Zell (d. 1562) of Strasbourg married a priest, resulting in his excommunication.  She then wrote to the bishop, “You remind me that the apostle Paul told women to be silent in church.  I would remind you of the word of this same apostle that in Christ there is no longer male nor female (Gal. 3:28) and of the prophecy of Joel (2:28-9): ‘I will pour forth my spirit upon all flesh, and your sons and your daughters will prophesy.’ I do not pretend to be John the Baptist rebuking the Pharisees.  I do not claim to be Nathan, upbraiding David.  I aspire only to be Balaam’s ass, castigating his master.” ^xxxi  She had the courage to speak as a prophetic voice.

Katherine took on many pastoral roles, visiting prisoners and the sick, and caring for refugees.  She accompanied ministers who were visiting troops during the Peasants’ War, and just before her own death conducted a funeral at the request of a
family. ^xxxii

Marie Dentiere, a former nun, preached during the early years of the Reformation, urging Catholics to understand the Reformed concepts of salvation by faith and reliance on the word of God.  She also wrote several books, including the first Protestant history of the Geneva reformation. ^xxxiii    Marie was very bold, in one of her books, to defend the right of women to interpret the scriptures.  She wrote,

If God has given graces to some good women, revealing to them something holy and good through his Holy Scripture, should they, for the sake of the defamers of the truth, refrain from writing down, speaking, or declaring it to each other?  Ah!  It would be too impudent to hide the talent which God has given to us, who ought to have the grace to persevere to the end . . . Do we have two Gospels, one for men and the other for women?  One for the educated and the other for the multitude?  Are we not all one in our Saviour?  In whose name are we baptized, in that of Paul or of Apollo, in that of the Pope or of Luther?  Is it not in the name of Christ? ^xxxiv

 During the seventeenth century, the major Protestant denominations remained firmly opposed to the ordination of women.  However, sectarian movements such as the Quakers and Baptists gave opportunity for women to share the gospel.  One prominent Quaker wrote, “Because everyone is illumined by the Holy Spirit, the spoken ministry is, of course, not limited to men.  All Friends, men or women, are welcome to stand up and speak.”  ^xxxv  A Baptist congregation in London had services in which women could preach, and these services sometimes drew crowds of over 1,000 people.  Participation of women in sectarian movements such as these led to the first book in English defending women in ministry.  Written by Margaret Fell, it was entitled Women’s Speaking Justified, Proved and Allowed of By the Scriptures.  Fell based her argument on Paul’s statement in Gal. 3:28, “There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male or female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.”  She claimed that Paul’s statements concerning women’s silence in the church were directed against the heretical women that Paul is discussing in the context of the passage. ^xxxvi

The Pietist movement, beginning in the 17th century in Germany, emphasized personal conversion, holiness of life, and a challenge to see Christ as a model for living.  The Pietists emphasized internal rather than external aspects of faith, and gave more opportunity for women to serve in leadership.  By the 18th century Pietism had become associated with the Methodist revival led by John Wesley.  A Methodist historian describes Wesley’s personal struggle about whether women should preach:

At first he was startled at the thought that an unordained layman might engage in leadership of a congregation to whom he preached.  Wesley squirmed and hedged, allowing witnessing in informal groups but not preaching (that is, from a text).  Yet he soon discovered that his lay “helpers” or “assistants” were good preachers, though not ordained.  Hence the distinction between “preacher” (Methodism) and “priest” (Church of England).  One more step naturally led to the recognition of women as lay preachers.  Although Wesley resisted the evidence for a long time, he finally admitted that women too could have an extraordinary call to do that which was traditionally prohibited, to speak in meeting, to testify in faith, to instruct—yes, finally, to preach. ^xxxvii

One of these women preachers was Sarah Osborn.  When the revival came to her state of Rhode Island in 1766, she led a worship service in her home.  Her home gatherings became tremendously popular, with hundreds in attendance.  When she was criticized for holding these events, she could only reply that God had called her to do so.  She also stated that she had attempted to recruit men to lead the services, but none were willing. ^xxxviii

The 1800’s in American brought an increasing awareness of the need for social change.  Conditions within industry, including child labor, became the focus for reformers; the issue of slavery was also of primary concern within the nation.  Women had opportunity to speak and to preach concerning these issues.   Frances Willard, founder of the Women’s Christian Temperance Union, began her speaking career as an evangelist with Dwight Moody.  She was also very influential in working toward voting rights for women.  She was also one of the first to encourage inclusive language, pointing out, “Preachers almost never refer to women of their audiences, but tell about ‘men’ and what ‘a man’ is to be.” ^xxxix

Other nineteenth-century women were not led to preach through social reform, but through sectarian groups and organizations such as Quakers, Baptists, Free Methodists, Christian Missionary and Alliance, and Brethren.  Some of the best known of these women are Phoebe Palmer, Catherine Booth (co-founder of the Salvation Army) and Hannah Whitehall Smith.  Smith’s book The Christian’s Secret of a Happy Life is still widely read today.

The nineteenth century also saw significant contributions in the mission field by women.  However, these women were often regarded as second best to men.  Gladys Aylward, a pioneer Brethren missionary in China, confessed:

I wasn’t God’s first choice for what I’ve done for China.  There was somebody else . . I don’t know who it was—God’s first choice.  It must have been a man—a wonderful man.  A well-educated man.  I don’t know what happened.  Perhaps he died.  Perhaps he wasn’t willing. And God looked down, and saw Gladys Aylward. ^xl

Mark Chaves points out that the sudden onset of women’s rights to ordination corresponded with society’s recognition of women’s rights in general, for example the right of women to vote.^xlii   However, opening the doors to women did not result in a great rush of women seeking to be ordained.  On the contrary, the percentage of women clergy in American Protestant churches remained below 5 percent until the 1970’s. 

Increased awareness of the rights of women, beginning in the 1960’s and 70’s, opened the door for more women to respond to God’s call to serve.  By the 1980’s enrollment by women in Protestant seminaries averaged thirty percent, with some seminaries reporting enrollments of fifty percent or more in the 80’s and 90’s.

Throughout Christian history, women who follow Jesus Christ have struggled to find avenues of expression and service, never giving up their great desire to follow God’s call to ministry.  Over the centuries women have witnessed to the living Christ through many avenues of mission work, teaching, and preaching.   Although they were turned away and discouraged in myriad ways, women would not be silent.   Formal ordination status for women was granted only after eighteen centuries of Christian history.

Women who serve Christ have found much confirmation of their call in the words of Scripture, and have declared their belief that the whole of Scripture abundantly affirms the ministry of both women and men.  Reading all of scripture in its historical and cultural context shows us God’s tremendous love for his creation and his call to service for all his beloved children, male and female alike.  Through many generations, women have made these words of Paul their heart’s cry:  “There is no longer Jew or Greek, there is no longer slave or free, there is no longer male and female; for all of you are one in Christ Jesus” (Gal. 3:28).

On what authority are women ordained?  They are ordained only through the gracious call of God in Jesus Christ our Lord.  Their ordination is not a sign of privilege or power, but a sign that they have been commissioned for service, that Jesus may be honored.   This call of the Spirit, so real and deep for women over the centuries, cannot be ignored.  Catherine Wessinger shares this moving story about a woman during the Civil War who responded to God’s call in her life:

 Mother Bickerdyke was found, carrying system, order and relief wherever she went.  One of the surgeons went to the rear with a wounded man, and found her wrapped in the gray overcoat of a rebel officer, for she had disposed of her blanket shawl to some poor fellow who needed it.  She was wearing a soft slouch hat, having lost her inevitable Shaker bonnet.  Her kettles had been set up, the fire kindled underneath, and she was dispensing hot soup, tea, crackers, panado, whiskey and water, and other refreshments, to the shivering, fainting, wounded men.

 “Where did you get these articles?” the officer inquired, “and under whose authority are you at work?” She paid no heed to his interrogatories, and indeed, did not hear them, so completely absorbed was she in her work of compassion.  Watching her with admiration for her skill, administrative ability, and intelligence—for she not only fed the wounded men, but temporarily dressed their wounds in some cases—he approached her again.

“Madam, you seem to combine in yourself a sick-diet kitchen and a medical staff.  May I inquire under whose authority you are working?”  Without pausing in her work, she answered him, “I have received my authority from the Lord God Almighty; have you anything that ranks higher than that?” ^xliii

_____________________

i.          Schneider and Schneider, 61.

ii           Ibid., 60.
          
iii          Schneider and Schneider, 62.

iv          Rosemary Ruether and Rosemary Skinner Keller, eds., Women and Religion in America (San Francisco: Harper & Row, 1981), 216.
          
v          Ibid.

vi         Schneider and Schneider, 62.

 vii       Ibid., 63.
         
viii       Ruether and Skinner, 195.
         
ix       Walter Liefield in Bonnidell Clouse and Robert Clouse, eds., Women in Ministry: Four Views (Downers Grove, Illinois: Intervarsity Press, 1989), 144.
          
x        Walter Liefield in  Clouse and Clouse, eds., 135.

xi        Ibid.
          
xii       Alvera Mickelson in Clouse and Clouse, 189.

xiii       Ibid.

xiv      Transcription of address given by Dr. Helmut Koestler on 9/13/97 at the meeting of the Foundation for Biblical Research, Charleston, NH, “St. Paul: His Mission to the Greek Cities and His Competitors.”  Accessed on web site Bibletexts.com, 2/27/03.

xv      Alvera Mickelson in Clouse and Clouse, eds., 189.

xvi      Helmut Koestler, Bibletexts.com.

xvii     Mickelson in Clouse and Clouse, eds., 190.
     
xviii    Mickelson in Clouse and Clouse, eds., 191.

xix      Ibid.

xx       Helmut Koestler, Bibletexts.com.
    
xxi     Walter Liefeld in Clouse and Clouse, eds., 142.
     
xxii    Alvera Mickelson in Clouse and Clouse, eds., 175. 
     
xxiii    Beverly M. Kienzle, “The Prostitute-Preacher: Patterns of Polemic Against Medieval Waldensian Women Preachers,” in Beverly M. Kienzle and Pamela J. Walker, eds., Women Preachers and Prophets Through Two Millennia of Christianity (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1998), 99-100.

xxiv    Ibid, 106.

xxv     Alvera Mickelson in Clouse and Clouse, eds., 175. 

xxvi    Kienzle and Walker, eds., 148.

xxvii   Ibid.

xxviii  Jane Dempsey Douglass, “Glimpses of Reformed Women Leaders From Our History,” in Ursel Rosenhager and Sarah Stephens, eds., Walk, My Sister: The Ordination of Women, Reformed Perspectives (World Alliance of Reformed Churches, 1993), 102.

xxix    Clouse and Clouse, eds., 10.

xxx     Ibid, 11.

xxxi    Roland Bainton, Women of the Reformation in Germany and Italy (Minneapolis: Augsburg Press, 1971), 55.

xxxii    Rosenhager and Stevens, eds., 103-104.

xxxiii   Ibid., 104.

xxxiv  Katharine Wilson, ed., Women Writers of the Renaissance and Reformation (Athens, Ga., University of George Press, 1987), 278.

xxxv   Robert J. Leach, Women Ministers, A Quaker Contribution (Wallingford, Pa., Pendle Hill Publications, 1979), 6. 

xxxvi   Robert Clouse in Clouse and Clouse, eds., 12.

xxxvii  Frederick A. Norwood, “Expanding Horizons: Women in the Methodist Movement,” in Richard L. Greaves, ed., Triumph Over Silence, Women in Protestant History (Westport, Conn., Greenwood Press, l985), 152.

xxxviii Robert Clouse in Clouse and Clouse, eds., 15.

xxxix   Alvera Mickelson in Clouse and Clouse, eds., 175. 

xl        Phyllis Thompson, A Transparent Woman: The Compelling Story of Gladys Aylward (Grand Rapids, Mich.: Zondervan, 1971), 182-83.

 xli      Chaves, 16.

xlii       Ibid., 183.
    
xliii      Catherine Wessinger, ed., Religious Institutions and Women’s Leadership (Columbia, S.C.: University of South Carolina Press, 1996), 7-8.