100 years of milestones in the PC(USA)'s efforts to achieve full equality in ministry

by the Rev. Eunice Blanchard Poethig    [10-24-06]

This story has been distributed by Presbyterian News Service. You can find it also at http://www.pcusa.org/pcnews/2006/06538.htm
CHICAGO — October 23, 2006 – During 2005 and 2006 the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) has been celebrating turning points in the journey toward women's ordination in the Presbyterian Church: the 100th anniversary of the ordination of women as deacons in the United Presbyterian Church in North America (UPNA), the 75th anniversary of the ordination of elders in the Presbyterian Church in the USA (PCUSA), and the 50th anniversary of women as ministers of Word and Sacrament in the PCUSA.

The celebrations have sent clerks scurrying through old records. Worship committees have developed liturgies and introduced new hymns celebrating the ministries of women. Across the church "Firsts" and "Leaders" have been honored.

Lines from A Brief Statement of Faith have become popular. The Spirit ... "calls women and men to all ministries of the Church" and "gives us courage ... to hear the voices of peoples long silenced." In Shall Women Preach (1891), Louisa Woosley summed up women's feelings: God's call is "A Flame in our hearts; a Fire in our bones ... "

Turning Points and what they accomplished

1906—Deacons

The first turning point came in the 1906 vote to ordain women as deacons in the United Presbyterian Church in North America (UPNA). The vote occurred as women across the United States were preparing a mighty 50th anniversary celebration of the independent women's boards of mission.

Women, dissatisfied with their denominations' refusal to send single women out as missionaries, had begun to organize their own mission boards in the 1860's. These single women missionaries founded schools and hospitals and ministered to women and children.

The UPNA approved the ordination of women deacons to do the same things in their own communities.

1930—Elders

The second turning point around the ordination of women occurred in the Presbyterian Church in the USA (PCUSA) in 1930 after a decade of rigorous theological debate and controversial organizational decisions.

In May, 1920, the conservative publication, The Presbyterian, editorialized emotionally: "The question of woman is one of the most pivotal questions in the human race and in the Holy Catholic church. Error here has caused the collapse of civilizations, and may mean the apostasy of the church."

The "question of woman" occurred as the PCUSA wrestled with modernist-fundamentalist controversies on the interpretation of Scripture. At the same time, in 1920, the nineteenth amendment to the Constitution was approved that permitted women to vote — a victory after 75 years of struggle by the women's suffrage movement.

To test matters further, in 1922 the PCUSA General Assembly — without consultation with the women — merged the women's mission boards into the denomination's Boards of National Missions and Foreign Missions.

The drive toward ordination as elders was a direct result of these movements as Katharine Bennett and Margaret Hodge, the former leaders of the women's boards, led the argument for equality in the church.

In 1930 the presbyteries approved the ordination of women as elders — a major turning point in the church away from fundamentalism and toward equality and respect for women's contributions to the church.

But change does not come quickly. In Chicago Presbytery from 1930 to 1950 an average of only one woman elder a year was ordained. It seemed the men were willing to open the door, but didn't expect women to enter their ecclesiastical world.

1956—Word and Sacrament

By the third turning point in 1956, the church was led by a new generation of young pastors serving a rapidly expanding denomination. The ordination of women as ministers of Word and Sacrament was now a movement whose time had come.

The overture to that effect passed by a large majority and Margaret E. Towner was ordained. The 1958 merger of the PCUSA and the UPNA brought women's ordination to that combined tradition (UPCUSA). In 1964 the Presbyterian Church in the United States (PCUS) approved the ordination of deacons, elders, and clergy, and Dr. Rachel Henderlite was ordained as a clergywoman.

In September of 1959, Mary Ann Gehres interviewed sixteen pioneer clergywomen in the PCUSA for Presbyterian Life. Three of them, still active, were honored as "Torchbearers" in 2005: Margaret Towner is a leader in Peace River Presbytery and frequent preacher; Carol Rose Ikeler was recently elected to the Alumni Board of Yale Divinity School; Peggy Howland is the president of the International Association of Women Ministers.

The ordination of women as ministers of Word and Sacrament was indeed a turning point. Yet the way has not been easy. Acceptance of clergywomen has been even slower than acceptance of elders.

Chicago researchers discovered that from 1956 to 1970 only six clergywomen had served in Chicago Presbytery. Six women in 14 years.

Today, nationally, women are about 30% of active (non-retired) clergy in the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.). About half serve in congregations and half in specialized ministries. Women still face issues of discrimination, unequal pay, and limited calls to congregations. However, they are creating new styles of worship, energizing dying congregations, serving as chaplains, and developing new ministries of justice and love.

In Clergy Women: An Uphill Calling (1998)Barbara Brown Zikmund says women have been "reinventing ministry for the future ... expanding the very essence of Christian ministry and guiding the whole church to rethink and renew its leadership and membership."

More Turning Points

The journey toward real equality in the church between men and women was not completed by votes to ordain women as deacons, elders, and clergy. Three more turning points continue the movement toward the affirmation of women in ministry and leadership.

1971—183rd General Assembly, UPCUSA

At the 183rd UPCUSA General Assembly (1971) in Rochester, NY, Elder Lois Harkrider Stair was elected moderator. That in itself was a turning point toward equality, but more was to follow.

The Task Force on Women Report urged equal representation of women on sessions, on presbytery, synod and General Assembly committees; recommended inclusive language in worship; asked that pastoral search committees be required to interview women; and noted the inequalities endured by church employed women in terms of salaries, benefits, and promotion. Though some greeted the report with derision, it set the agenda for the church in achieving equality for women.

1990 — A Brief Statement of Faith

The adoption of A Brief Statement of Faith in 1990 was a theological turning point. For the first time a Confession of the church affirmed the call to both women and men in all the ministries of the church. It also affirmed "listening to voices long silenced," which women took as a reference to the silencing they, like others, had experienced.

That statement was set in a world context which focused on women. A Brief Statement of Faith was adopted during the World Council of Churches' "Ecumenical Decade: Churches in Solidarity with Women 1988-1998" which called attention to the ministry of women in churches around the world.

The United Nations' Fourth World Conference on Women in Beijing, China in 1995 also called attention to the world's women, their needs and their gifts.

2005-2006 — Celebrating the Ordination of Women

The 2005-2006 Celebration of the Ordination of Women in the Presbyterian Church ("Tending the Flame: Women Called to Lead") is also a turning point in the journey toward the beloved community for which Jesus prayed. Women's Ministries of the General Assembly Council organized celebrations in Princeton, NJ; Chicago, IL; Atlanta, GA; and San Francisco, CA. Seminaries, presbyteries, synods, the General Assembly, and other organizations have held celebrations. All the denomination's magazines have published feature articles on women's ordination. A number of presbyteries and other entities have produced anniversary books featuring their first women deacons, elders, and clergy.

Celebrating Our Call: Ordination Stories of Presbyterian Women, edited by the Rev. Patricia Lloyd-Sidle was published by Geneva Press this year. The Women's Biography Project of the Presbyterian Historical Society will add to earlier collections of women's stories. A two-disc DVD, "Women's Ordination: Past, Present & Future," produced by Chicago Presbytery, is both a curriculum resource and an inspiring historical document.

This evolving vision includes justice for all the women of the world, as well as in the parts of our church where women still encounter sexism and disrespect. The issue of women's ordination is very much alive in the Roman Catholic Church, the Orthodox tradition, and various Protestant communions. The role of women in religious traditions is being examined in new ways in the academic world.

It is good news that many women are being called to positions of leadership. However, the struggle is not over in the Presbyterian Church. In fact the DVD, "Women's Ordination: Past, Present & Future" got its initial funding from the Presbytery of Chicago because the presbytery recognized the need for a resource that could be used with groups that resisted the leadership of women in the church and community.

The celebration in 2005-2006 will be another turning point — as Presbyterians rededicate themselves to God's call for a household of faith where the gifts of all are welcome.

The author:

Eunice Blanchard Poethig is moderator of the Women's Ordination Mission Team in the Presbytery of Chicago; former executive presbyter for Western New York Presbytery; and former director of the Congregational Ministries Division of the General Assembly Council.