Ordination of women

Female clergy in Eastern Orthodox churches,
Protestant denominations, & other religions

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Eastern Orthodox churches:

There are individual, national, Christian Orthodox churches within many of the countries of eastern Europe. The Catholic Church in the 11^th century formally split into two groups: the Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox. Both churches believe that they represent the original Christian church, and that they other church broke away from them.

Orthodox churches do not allow women to enter the priesthood or to be ordained as a deaconess. The late Dr. Alexander Schmemann, once Dean of St. Vladimir's Orthodox Theological Seminary in Crestweed, N.Y., commented in a letter that: "...the Orthodox Church has never faced this question, it is for us totally extrinsic, a casus irrealis for which we find no basis, no terms of reference in our Tradition, in the very experience of the Church, and for the discussion of which we are therefore simply not prepared...the ordination of women to priesthood is tantamount for us to a radical and irreparable mutilation of the entire faith, the rejection of the whole Scripture, and, needless to say, the end of all 'dialogues'." Later in his letter he explained: "This priesthood is Christ's, not ours...And if the bearer, the icon and the fulfiller of that unique priesthood, is man and not woman, it is because Christ is man and not woman." ₁

An article in a mid-1998 issue of The Greek American contained a transcript of a call-in radio program; it included a query by a listener to Archbishop Spyridon about women's ordination. He replied: "...the Orthodox Church does not know of anything of an institution of priestess. But it does know about the institution of deaconesses." He mentioned that such a post existed until the 11^th or 12^th century and that there are currently active discussions of  "revitalizing that in institution today."

The general secretary of the World Council of Churches (WCC) considers that the ordination of women in Orthodox churches is not a closed matter. At their 8^th assembly in Harare, Zimbabwe, women's ordination and the use of inclusive language have surfaced as key issues. Most of the member denominations of the WCC are Protestant churches; most of them ordain women as ministers and priests. "Vsevolod Chaplin, an official of the Russian Orthodox Church described the ordination of women and inclusive language as 'blasphemy.' " Dr. Raisner, commenting on Chaplin's statement, noted that two respected Orthodox theologians, Bishop Kallistos Ware and Elisabeth Behr-Siegel, had concluded "there are no essential or ecclesiological reasons preventing the ordination of women in the Orthodox tradition." Dr. Janice Love, of the United Methodist Church (USA) and a 23 year veteran of the WCC's outgoing central committee, described Chaplin's speech as "one of the saddest I have ever heard." _2,3

Liberal and Mainline Christian Groups:

Most liberal and mainline Christian denominations (e.g. Congregationalists, some Lutherans, the Presbyterian Church-USA, the United Church of Canada, United Church of Christ, United Methodist Church, etc.) ordain women and give them access to other positions of power.

A study by the Hartford Seminary, ₄ commented upon by the Boston Globe, ₅ has examined the Christian denominations which do ordain women. The study shows that the number of clergywomen in 15 large Protestant denominations has skyrocketed over the past two decades. For example, between 1977 and 1997, female clergy:

However, they remain in a minority in those denominations that permit women to be ordained. According to Time magazine, the liberal Unitarian Universalist Association, has the highest percentage of female clergy -- over 50%. (The UUA is regarded by many as a non-Protestant, non-Christian denomination.)

The study found that clergywomen are paid 9% less on average when compared to men working in similar jobs within the same denomination and the same sized church. Few women serve as senior pastors. Female clergy more often serve as assistant or associate pastors; this will probably change with time as women gain more seniority on the job.

President of Hartford Seminary, Brown Zikmund, commented: ''Women are finding that even though a lot of doors are open there is still a lot of difficulty. There is still a lot of resistance and uneasiness. And it may not always be malice, as much as a lack of experience and uneasiness by some members of the laity. Some people are still not used to seeing a woman in the pulpit.''

The executive summary of the report states, in part: "The study argues that churches need to give greater attention to the need for systemic change. If denominational leaders are actively hostile, or insensitive to finding the right ministry settings for women, women get discouraged. When this happens, it is not because women are failures - rather, it is because the system is failing women...The experience and sense of calling among clergy women in the 1990s shows that clergywomen are not merely survivors, nor are they breaking down old barriers simply to get into a vocation shaped and still dominated by male perspectives. Rather, clergywomen are reinventing ministry for the future. Clergywomen are expanding the very essence of Christian ministry and guiding the whole church to rethink and renew its leadership and membership."

Conservative Christian Groups:

"with the issue of women in the pastorate [at this time because they] were driven by biblical authority, a sense of urgency, and the near unanimous verdict of our churches....There is no biblical precedent for a woman in the pastorate, and the Bible teaches that women should not teach in authority over men... Far less than one percent of churches cooperating with the Southern Baptist Convention have ever called a woman as pastor."

The committee recommendation was ratified at the SBC annual meeting on 2000-JUN-14.

An unknown Methodist minister in Charlotte NC concluded that the root cause of the SBC prohibition against ordaining women was traceable back to Genesis where Eve is said to have brought sin into the world. The minister said:

"Men can be ordained because Adam blamed Eve; however, women can also be ordained because Eve blamed the serpent; But under no circumstances should we ordain snakes."

To which Bernie Cochran of Pullen Memorial Baptist Church said:

"Especially, I would add, since they speak Hebrew with a forked tongue and tend to lisp -- terribly." ₁₁

A resolution which expresses concern for the status of women in the SBC was presented to the 2000-JUN General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (USA). Resolution 00-25 was referred to their Catholicity and Ecumenical Relations committee. 

On 2000-OCT-21, Jimmy Carter, former President of the U.S. and a Sunday school teacher with the Southern Baptists since the age of 18, has severed ties with his denomination. He and his wife Rosalynn have felt "increasingly uncomfortable and somewhat excluded, in recent years." The denomination's statement that prohibits women from serving as pastors and which requires women to be submissive to their husbands was the final straw. Carter said: "I think there ought to be the ability for Baptists who have slightly different commitments to Christianity to get along, work together and love each other." ₉

Baptist commentator Mark Coppenger has written a defense of the SBC decision. ₁₀

Other Religions

Recent developments

References used:

1. Rt. Rev. Alexander Schmemann, "Concerning Women's Ordination - a letter to an episcopal friend," available at: http://www.episcopalnet.org/TractsForOurTimes/
2. "Raiser raises possibility of women's ordination in Orthodox churches," Ecumenical News International, 1998-DEC-8
3. "Raiser raises possibility of women's ordination in Orthodox churches," Ecumenical News International, 1998-DEC-9
4. B.B. Zikmund, A.T. Lummis, P.M.Y. Chang, ''Clergy Women: An Uphill Calling,'' Hartford Seminary, Hartford CT (scheduled to be published in 1998-MAY)
5. Diego Ribadeneira, "The Spiritual Live, Still facing resistance, women ministers expand
   clergy's role," Boston Globe, Boston MA, 1998-FEB-07, Page B02
6. John Wimber, Article in Vineyard Reflections, 1994-MAR/APR
7. Council on Biblical Manhood and Womanhood maintains a web site which promotes male leadership. See: http://www.cbmw.org
8. "Baptist Faith and Message Committee: Response to feedback since report release," at: http://www.sbc.net/response.html 
9. News item posted by Covenant News. They disseminate "Today's news for today's church." See: http://www.CovenantNews.com/index.html 
10. Mark Coppenger, "Women Pastors and the SBC," at: http://www.comeletusreason.com/
11. Bernie Cochran, "On serving God with mirth," 2001-JUN-10, at: http://www.pullen.org/

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Copyright © 1998 to 2008 by Ontario Consultants on Religious Tolerance
Latest update: 2008-JAN-15
Author: Bruce A. Robinson