Methodist views on the ordination of women in the
rite Rite may refer to:
* Ritual, an established ceremonious act
* Rite of passage, a ceremonious act associated with social transition
Religion
* Rite (Christianity), a sacred ritual or liturgical tradition in various Christian denominations
* Cath ...
of
holy orders are diverse.
Historically,
as in other Christian denominations, many
Methodist
Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a group of historically related denominations of Protestant Christianity whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and John's ...
churches did not typically allow women to
preach or exercise authority over men. However, in the 18th century, Methodist founder
John Wesley did authorise a number of women to preach, including
Sarah Crosby
Sarah Crosby (6 October 1729 – 29 October 1804) was an English Methodist preacher, and is considered to be the first woman to hold this title. Crosby, along with Mary Bosanquet, are the most popular women preachers of Methodism. Scholars suc ...
.
In Britain, the
Primitive Methodist Church
The Primitive Methodist Church is a Methodist Christian denomination with the holiness movement. It began in England in the early 19th century, with the influence of American evangelist Lorenzo Dow (1777–1834).
In the United States, the Primit ...
always allowed the ordination of women. The Primitive Methodists had full equal roles for men and women, but the
Wesleyan Methodist Church only ordained its first
deaconess
The ministry of a deaconess is, in modern times, a usually non-ordained ministry for women in some Protestant, Oriental Orthodox, and Eastern Orthodox churches to provide pastoral care, especially for other women, and which may carry a limited l ...
in 1890, and after
Methodist Union
Methodist Union was the joining together of several of the larger British Methodist denominations. These were the Wesleyan Methodists, the Primitive Methodists, and the United Methodists. In 1932 a Uniting Conference met on 20 September in the R ...
, the Methodist Church only started to ordain women again in 1974.
Today, some Methodist denominations practice the ordination of women, such as in the
United Methodist Church
The United Methodist Church (UMC) is a worldwide mainline Protestant denomination based in the United States, and a major part of Methodism. In the 19th century, its main predecessor, the Methodist Episcopal Church, was a leader in evangelic ...
(UMC), in which the ordination of women has occurred since its creation in 1968, as well as in the
Free Methodist Church
The Free Methodist Church (FMC) is a Methodist Christian denomination within the holiness movement, based in the United States. It is evangelical in nature and is Wesleyan–Arminian in theology.
The Free Methodist Church has members in over 100 ...
(FMC), which ordained its first woman deacon in 1911.
In the USA the
Allegheny Wesleyan Methodist Connection
The Allegheny Wesleyan Methodist Connection (AWMC), originally the Wesleyan Methodist Church (Allegheny Conference), and also known as the Wesleyan Methodist Church (WMC), is a Methodist denomination within the conservative holiness movement prim ...
, which ordained its first female elder in 1853,
as well as the
Bible Methodist Connection of Churches
The Bible Methodist Connection of Churches is a Methodist denomination within the conservative holiness movement.
History
The movement which would become Bible Methodist Connection of Churches began in the mid-18th century within the Church o ...
, which has always ordained women to the presbyterate and diaconate. Other Methodist denominations do not ordain women, such as the
Southern Methodist Church
The Southern Methodist Church is a conservative Protestant Christian denomination with churches located in the southern part of the United States. The church maintains headquarters in Orangeburg, South Carolina.
The church was formed in 1940 b ...
(SMC),
Evangelical Methodist Church of America,
Fundamental Methodist Conference,
Evangelical Wesleyan Church
The Evangelical Wesleyan Church, formerly known as the Evangelical Wesleyan Church of North America, is a Methodist denomination in the conservative holiness movement.
The formation of the Evangelical Wesleyan Church is a part of the history of ...
, and
Primitive Methodist Church
The Primitive Methodist Church is a Methodist Christian denomination with the holiness movement. It began in England in the early 19th century, with the influence of American evangelist Lorenzo Dow (1777–1834).
In the United States, the Primit ...
(PMC), the latter two of which do not ordain women as
elders nor do they license them as pastors or
local preachers;
the EWC and PMC do, however, consecrate women as
deaconesses
The ministry of a deaconess is, in modern times, a usually non-ordained ministry for women in some Protestant, Oriental Orthodox, and Eastern Orthodox churches to provide pastoral care, especially for other women, and which may carry a limited l ...
.
Some of the groups that later became part of the United Methodist Church started ordaining women in the late 19th century, but the largest group,
The Methodist Church (USA)
The Methodist Church was the official name adopted by the Methodist denomination formed in the United States by the reunion on May 10, 1939, of the northern and southern factions of the Methodist Episcopal Church (which had split in 1844 over t ...
, did not grant women full clergy rights until 1956.
History
John Wesley's views on women
John Wesley, the founder of the Methodist movement, was the first within his movement to authorize a woman to preach. In 1761, he granted a
license to preach to
Sarah Crosby
Sarah Crosby (6 October 1729 – 29 October 1804) was an English Methodist preacher, and is considered to be the first woman to hold this title. Crosby, along with Mary Bosanquet, are the most popular women preachers of Methodism. Scholars suc ...
.
Mary Bosanquet was responsible for Wesley formally allowing all women to preach. In the summer of 1771, Bosanquet wrote to John Wesley to defend hers and Crosby's work preaching at her orphanage, Cross Hall.
Bosanquet's letter to Wesley is considered to be the first full and true defense of women's preaching in Methodism.
Her argument was that women should be able to preach when they experienced an "extraordinary call", or when given permission by God.
Wesley accepted this idea, and formally began to allow women to preach in Methodism.
Later, Wesley also licensed other women as preachers, including Grace Murray, Sarah Taft,
Hannah Ball
Hannah Ball (1734–1792) was an English Wesleyan methodist and pioneer of the Sunday school.
Life
Ball was born on 13 March 1734. When John Wesley and other Methodist preachers visited High Wycombe, in Bucks where she lived for most of her life, ...
and Elizabeth Ritchie.
Wesley's appreciation for the importance of women in the church has been credited to his mother,
Susanna Wesley
Susanna Wesley (née Annesley; 20 January 1669 – 23 July 1742) was the daughter of Dr Samuel Annesley and Mary White, and the mother of John and Charles Wesley.
“…although she never preached a sermon or published a book or founded a c ...
. It is said that she instilled in him, and in his brother
Charles Wesley
Charles Wesley (18 December 1707 – 29 March 1788) was an English leader of the Methodist movement. Wesley was a prolific hymnwriter who wrote over 6,500 hymns during his lifetime. His works include "And Can It Be", "Christ the Lord Is Risen T ...
, a fellow preacher in the movement, a deep appreciation for the intellectual and
spiritual qualities of women. Susanna Wesley and other women in the early Methodist movement helped to evangelize and were active members in Methodist activities ranging from band classes to raising funds for the continuation of Methodism and managing
educational institutions.
John Wesley's views on women can be found in his 1786
sermon
A sermon is a religious discourse or oration by a preacher, usually a member of clergy. Sermons address a scriptural, theological, or moral topic, usually expounding on a type of belief, law, or behavior within both past and present contexts. ...
"On Visiting the Sick" (Sermon 98). In the sermon, he attacks the requirement of
submissiveness that was often imposed on women of the time:
Previous to this sermon, John Wesley had also removed the word "obey" from the
marriage
Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognized union between people called spouses. It establishes rights and obligations between them, as well as between them and their children, and between ...
rite he sent to North America in 1784.
Methodism
After John Wesley's death in 1791, several splits happened within the Methodist movement. The
Methodist Protestant Church
The Methodist Protestant Church (MPC) is a regional Methodist Christian denomination in the United States. It was formed in 1828 by former members of the Methodist Episcopal Church, remaining Wesleyan in doctrine and worship, but adopting ...
split from the
Methodist Episcopal Church
The Methodist Episcopal Church (MEC) was the oldest and largest Methodist denomination in the United States from its founding in 1784 until 1939. It was also the first religious denomination in the US to organize itself on a national basis. In ...
in 1828 and, later in 1844, the
Methodist Episcopal Church, South split, leaving a separate Methodist Episcopal Church of the north. The Methodist Episcopal Church previously saw schism, with the departure of some individuals in 1841 resulting in the formation of the
Wesleyan Methodist Church, out of which the
Bible Methodist Connection of Churches
The Bible Methodist Connection of Churches is a Methodist denomination within the conservative holiness movement.
History
The movement which would become Bible Methodist Connection of Churches began in the mid-18th century within the Church o ...
was created in 1968. The Methodist Episcopal Church, South also gave rise to other denominations that split from it, such as the
Congregational Methodist Church
The Congregational Methodist Church is a Methodist denomination located primarily in the southern United States and northeastern Mexico. It is aligned with the Holiness movement and adheres to Wesleyan-Arminian theology. As of 1995, the denominat ...
in 1852 and the
Southern Methodist Church
The Southern Methodist Church is a conservative Protestant Christian denomination with churches located in the southern part of the United States. The church maintains headquarters in Orangeburg, South Carolina.
The church was formed in 1940 b ...
in 1940.
Wesley's death also marked a shift in the view on women in the church. Some denominations continued to officially sanction the status of women. In 1866, for example,
Helenor Davidson was a
circuit rider for the Methodist Protestant Church in
Jasper County, Indiana
Jasper County is a county located in the U.S. state of Indiana. As of 2010, the population was 33,478. The county seat is Rensselaer.
Jasper County is included in the Chicago-Naperville- Elgin, IL-IN- WI Metropolitan Statistical Area.
Hist ...
. She later became the first ordained minister of any Methodist denomination. Starting at the end of the 19th century, the Methodist Protestant Church had not only begun to ordain women, but had also granted them full rights as
clergy
Clergy are formal leaders within established religions. Their roles and functions vary in different religious traditions, but usually involve presiding over specific rituals and teaching their religion's doctrines and practices. Some of the ter ...
.
This was not the case for all denominations. During the next decades, the
Methodist Episcopal Church
The Methodist Episcopal Church (MEC) was the oldest and largest Methodist denomination in the United States from its founding in 1784 until 1939. It was also the first religious denomination in the US to organize itself on a national basis. In ...
reversed many practices, and publicly emphasized the domestic role of women, refusing to acknowledge their more public role as church leaders and preachers.
In 1880, despite support from the Alumni of the Theological School of
Boston University
Boston University (BU) is a Private university, private research university in Boston, Massachusetts. The university is nonsectarian, but has a historical affiliation with the United Methodist Church. It was founded in 1839 by Methodists with ...
, the General Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church refused to ordain many of the female graduates. Some of the reasons given for this refusal were:
# Theological objections that interpreted
First Corinthians
The First Epistle to the Corinthians ( grc, Α΄ ᾽Επιστολὴ πρὸς Κορινθίους) is one of the Pauline epistles, part of the New Testament of the Christian Bible. The epistle is attributed to Paul the Apostle and a co-author ...
14:34–35 to mean that women should be
silent in church.
# Socio-cultural objections including the status of both white women and women of color in Western society, the home and workplace
# Church politics, when Bishop
Edward G. Andrews of the General Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church of New England said
ordination of women was "unlawful." In his opinion, the law of the church did not authorize the ordination of women.
It was for the latter reason that
Anna Oliver
Vivianna Olivia Snowden, (April 12, 1840 – November 21, 1892) better known by her professional name Anna Oliver, was an American preacher and activist who was a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church and was one of the first women to attempt f ...
was not ordained in 1880 despite the fact she had graduated from
Boston University School of Theology
Boston University School of Theology (BUSTH) is the oldest theological seminary of American Methodism and the founding school of Boston University, the largest private research university in New England. It is one of thirteen theological school ...
in 1876, and had served two churches with obvious success. In response, Anna Oliver and her supporters lobbied the General Conference to have all distinctions on the basis of
gender
Gender is the range of characteristics pertaining to femininity and masculinity and differentiating between them. Depending on the context, this may include sex-based social structures (i.e. gender roles) and gender identity. Most cultures ...
removed from the
Book of Discipline regarding status for ordination. Anna Oliver prepared
pamphlets in which she outlined the reasons to remove the gender basis for ordination; such as the natural gifts and fruit of women to pastor, the sacramental needs of the
mission field
A Christian mission is an organized effort for the propagation of the Christian faith. Missions involve sending individuals and groups across boundaries, most commonly geographical boundaries, to carry on evangelism or other activities, such ...
, the demands of
charity
Charity may refer to:
Giving
* Charitable organization or charity, a non-profit organization whose primary objectives are philanthropy and social well-being of persons
* Charity (practice), the practice of being benevolent, giving and sharing
* C ...
, the Golden Rule and appeals to what John Wesley would do. In response, the General Conference not only denied the motion to remove the gender basis from ordination in the Book of Discipline, they revoked the licenses to preach of all those women who currently held them. The influential minister
James Monroe Buckley argued against her saying "I am opposed to inviting any woman to preach before this meeting. If the mother of our Lord were on earth, I should oppose her preaching here. ... There is no power in the Methodist Church by which a woman can be licensed to preach".
Two years later,
Anna Howard Shaw
Anna Howard Shaw (February 14, 1847 – July 2, 1919) was a leader of the women's suffrage movement in the United States. She was also a physician and one of the first ordained female Methodist ministers in the United States.
Early life
Shaw ...
, who received her theological degree in 1878, was denied ordination by her presiding bishop, who felt that there was no place for women in the ordained ministry of the Methodist Episcopal Church. She left the church and was ordained in the Methodist Protestant Church that same year. She later went to be an activist in
women's suffrage
Women's suffrage is the right of women to vote in elections. Beginning in the start of the 18th century, some people sought to change voting laws to allow women to vote. Liberal political parties would go on to grant women the right to vot ...
, and her advocacy contributed to women eventually gaining the right to vote, although she died before the 19th amendment was passed.
Margaret Newton Van Cott, an American Methodist preacher born in 1830, devoted her life to evangelism and holding revival meetings across the country.
Walter Ashbel Sellew
Walter Ashbel Sellew (born 27 February 1844—16 January 1929) was a Methodist bishop, holding that office in the Free Methodist Church. Sellew was a prominent figure in the Wesleyan—holiness movement, writing on the topics of the importance o ...
championed the ordination of women in Methodism and in 1894, he published ''Why Not?: A Plea for the Ordination of Those Women Whom God Has Called to Preach the Gospel''.
Sellew was the primary architect of the resolution in the
Free Methodist Church
The Free Methodist Church (FMC) is a Methodist Christian denomination within the holiness movement, based in the United States. It is evangelical in nature and is Wesleyan–Arminian in theology.
The Free Methodist Church has members in over 100 ...
that led to the ordination of women as
deacon
A deacon is a member of the diaconate, an office in Christian churches that is generally associated with service of some kind, but which varies among theological and denominational traditions. Major Christian churches, such as the Catholic Chur ...
s in 1911, which read: "Whenever any annual conference, shall be satisfied that any woman is called of God to preach the gospel, that annual conference may be permitted to receive her on trial, and into full connection, and ordain her as a deacon, all on the same conditions as we receive men into the same relations."
In 1924 The Methodist Episcopal Church granted women the right to be ordained as local deacons and
elders.
The Rev. Belle Carter Harmon of Montana was the first woman to be ordained a local deacon in the Methodist Episcopal Church, on 31 August 1924 at Helena, Montana. Aurelia L. McAllister was ordained a local deacon the same day.
In 1939, the
Methodist Protestant Church
The Methodist Protestant Church (MPC) is a regional Methodist Christian denomination in the United States. It was formed in 1828 by former members of the Methodist Episcopal Church, remaining Wesleyan in doctrine and worship, but adopting ...
(with the exception of the Mississippi Conference that continued the Methodist Protestant Church), the Methodist Episcopal Church and the
Methodist Episcopal Church, South merged, forming the
Methodist Church. In the Methodist Church, women from the Methodist Episcopal Church-South gained the right to ordination, while the Methodist Protestant women gave up full clergy rights in the merger. The politics used to justify this were said to be that the new denomination already faced sufficient problems. The Louisiana Conference, for example, had five women who had recently been ordained, Fern Cook, Nettie Mae Cook, Lea Joyner, Elaine Willett, and Anna Ruth Nuttall. The newly formed Methodist Church recognized their ordination and accepted them into the conference, yet offered only a few actual appointments.
By 1945, only 3 remained in the conference. One of these women, Lea Joyner, was never given an official appointment. She was told, "no church will have you." She was given a vacant lot and $5,000 and told to start her own church in
Monroe, Louisiana. When she died in 1985, she held the distinction of having the longest
pastorate
A pastor (abbreviated as "Pr" or "Ptr" , or "Ps" ) is the leader of a Christian congregation who also gives advice and counsel to people from the community or congregation. In Lutheranism, Catholicism, Eastern Orthodoxy, Oriental Orthodoxy and ...
in the
Louisiana
Louisiana , group=pronunciation (French: ''La Louisiane'') is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It is the 20th-smallest by area and the 25th most populous of the 50 U.S. states. Louisiana is borde ...
conference, and the largest Methodist church in the world pastored by a woman. The church she started in 1952 had over 2,200 members.
In 1942, the
Fundamental Methodist Conference split from the Methodist Church and it does not ordain women. The
Evangelical Methodist Church
The Evangelical Methodist Church (EMC) is a Christian denomination in the Wesleyan-Holiness tradition headquartered in Indianapolis, Indiana. The denomination reported 399 churches in the United States, Mexico, Burma/Myanmar, Canada, Philippines ...
split from the Methodist Church in 1945 and does ordain women as elders.
On May 4, 1956, in
Minneapolis, Minnesota, the
General Conference of the Methodist Church approved full clergy rights for women. This was done by adding one sentence to the Book of Discipline: "All foregoing paragraphs, chapters and sections of Part III
f the Book of Disciplineshall apply to women as well as to men." Bishops were now required to appoint every pastor in good standing, regardless of gender. Maud Jensen was the first woman to be granted full clergy rights after this decision, in what is now the Central Pennsylvania Annual Conference. Grace Huck was another woman accepted into probationary status as part of this historic vote, and she was received into full connection in 1958. She recalls the resistance to her ministry by a male member of her church in one of her early appointments. She has been quoted as saying that when the district superintendent told the congregation he was appointing a woman minister, one man shouted, "there will be no skirts in this pulpit while I'm alive." She also noted that he later became one of her best supporters.
Evangelical United Brethren Church
The
Church of the United Brethren in Christ
The Church of the United Brethren in Christ is an evangelical Christian denomination with churches in 17 countries. It is Protestant, with an episcopal structure and Arminian theology, with roots in the Mennonite and German Reformed communiti ...
started ordaining women with full clergy rights in 1889.
In 1946, the Church of the United Brethren in Christ united with the Evangelical Church to form the
Evangelical United Brethren Church
The Evangelical United Brethren Church (EUB) was a North American Protestant church from 1946 to 1968. It was formed by the merger of the Evangelical Church (formerly the Evangelical Association, founded by Jacob Albright) and the Church of t ...
. The Evangelical Church had never ordained women. The Bishops from both churches agreed to not ordain women in the newly formed church, but there was never a vote on it at annual conference. Many churches continued to ordain women with full clergy rights.
Wesleyan Methodist Church (UK)
As late as 1890, women were first ordained as
deaconesses
The ministry of a deaconess is, in modern times, a usually non-ordained ministry for women in some Protestant, Oriental Orthodox, and Eastern Orthodox churches to provide pastoral care, especially for other women, and which may carry a limited l ...
in the Wesleyan Methodist Church.
Current denominational positions
Methodist Church of Great Britain
On 2 July 1974, the Methodist Conference in Bristol ordained 17 women as
presbyters (ministers).
The number of women ministers has grown to roughly equal male ministers. In 1993,
Kathleen Richardson was the first woman to be elected
President of the Methodist Conference
This is a chronological list of presidents of the Methodist Conference of the Methodist Church of Great Britain and its predecessor churches.
John Wesley, founder of Methodism, organised and presided over the first Methodist Conference, which was ...
(leader of the Methodist Church in Britain).
Primitive Methodist Church
The original
Primitive Methodist Church
The Primitive Methodist Church is a Methodist Christian denomination with the holiness movement. It began in England in the early 19th century, with the influence of American evangelist Lorenzo Dow (1777–1834).
In the United States, the Primit ...
in Britain allowed female preachers and ministers until
Methodist Union
Methodist Union was the joining together of several of the larger British Methodist denominations. These were the Wesleyan Methodists, the Primitive Methodists, and the United Methodists. In 1932 a Uniting Conference met on 20 September in the R ...
in 1932, and also those Primitive Methodist churches which did not join the Union.
Although the original Primitive Methodist Church in Britain allowed female preachers and ministers, the current American branch of the Primitive Methodist Church does not ordain women as
elders nor does it license them as pastors or
local preachers;
the PMC does, however, consecrate women as
deaconesses
The ministry of a deaconess is, in modern times, a usually non-ordained ministry for women in some Protestant, Oriental Orthodox, and Eastern Orthodox churches to provide pastoral care, especially for other women, and which may carry a limited l ...
.
Free Methodist Church
In 1861, the American Free Methodist Church reported the fact that women served as preachers and in 1864, the General Conference of the Free Methodist Church created a class of lay non-pastoral ministers known as ''evangelists'', who were both men and women.
In 1911, the Free Methodist Church started ordaining women as
deacons
A deacon is a member of the diaconate, an office in Christian churches that is generally associated with service of some kind, but which varies among theological and denominational traditions. Major Christian churches, such as the Catholic Churc ...
and in 1974, the FMC started ordaining women as elders.
United Methodist Church
In 1968, when the worldwide
United Methodist Church
The United Methodist Church (UMC) is a worldwide mainline Protestant denomination based in the United States, and a major part of Methodism. In the 19th century, its main predecessor, the Methodist Episcopal Church, was a leader in evangelic ...
was formed from the
Methodist Church and the
Evangelical United Brethren Church
The Evangelical United Brethren Church (EUB) was a North American Protestant church from 1946 to 1968. It was formed by the merger of the Evangelical Church (formerly the Evangelical Association, founded by Jacob Albright) and the Church of t ...
, Methodist women clergy were afforded the right of full connection.
In 1980, the first woman,
Marjorie Matthews
Marjorie Swank Matthews (July 11, 1916 – June 30, 1986) was an American bishop of the United Methodist Church and the first woman to serve as a Methodist bishop.
Early life
She was born July 11, 1916 in Onaway, Michigan, to Jesse Alonzo a ...
, was elected and consecrated as a bishop within the United Methodist Church.
In 1984, the first African-American woman,
Leontine T. Kelly
Leontine Turpeau Current Kelly (March 5, 1920 – June 28, 2012) was an American bishop of the United Methodist Church. She was the second woman elevated to the position of bishop within the United Methodist Church, and the first African American ...
was elected and consecrated as a
bishop
A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution.
In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or office of bishop is c ...
.
[United Methodist Bishop Firsts](_blank)
/ref> In 2005, Rosemarie Wenner was the first woman to be elected bishop outside the United States. She was elected by the Germany Central Conference
Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated between ...
.
Over 12,000 women serve as United Methodist clergy at all levels, from bishops to local pastors. 16 women had been elected as bishops. To try to address the lack of women of color in faculty positions at United Methodist Seminaries, the Board of Higher Education and Ministry created a scholarship
A scholarship is a form of financial aid awarded to students for further education. Generally, scholarships are awarded based on a set of criteria such as academic merit, diversity and inclusion, athletic skill, and financial need.
Scholars ...
program, which has over 40 participants and more than 22 graduates with doctorate degrees in theology
Theology is the systematic study of the nature of the divine and, more broadly, of religious belief. It is taught as an academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itself with the unique content of analyzing the ...
.
Evangelical Wesleyan Church
The 2015 Discipline of the Evangelical Wesleyan Church
The Evangelical Wesleyan Church, formerly known as the Evangelical Wesleyan Church of North America, is a Methodist denomination in the conservative holiness movement.
The formation of the Evangelical Wesleyan Church is a part of the history of ...
stipulates: "Women may be received on trial and into full connection and be ordained deacon, on the same conditions as men, provided always that this shall not be regarded as a step toward ordination as elder."
Allegheny Wesleyan Methodist Connection
In the Allegheny Wesleyan Methodist Connection
The Allegheny Wesleyan Methodist Connection (AWMC), originally the Wesleyan Methodist Church (Allegheny Conference), and also known as the Wesleyan Methodist Church (WMC), is a Methodist denomination within the conservative holiness movement prim ...
, Antoinette Brown was ordained an elder by Luther Lee in 1853, becoming the first woman to receive holy orders in that denomination (then the Wesleyan Methodist Church).
See also
* Ordination of women in Protestant denominations
Ordination is the process by which individuals are consecrated, that is, set apart as clergy to perform various religious rites and ceremonies such as celebrating the sacraments. The process and ceremonies of ordination varies by denomination ...
References
Further reading
* God's Amazing Grace, the autobiography of Rev. Grace Huck (one of the first 27 women ordained in the Methodist Church after the vote of 1956), Sand Creek Printers, Spearfish South Dakota, 2006.
* Courageous Spirit: Voices from Women in Ministry, Upper Room Books
* Book of Resolutions, The Status of Women and The Celebration of Full Clergy Rights for Women
* Commentary: United Methodism and the Ordination of Women
* Women and Wesley's Times
* General Commission on the Status and Role of Women
* Courageous past bold future: the journey toward full clergy rights for women in the United Methodist Church
External links
Wesleyan Perspectives on Women in Ministry
by Karen Strand Winslow, Ph.D. (Free Methodist Church)]
''The Asbury Triptych Series''
book series on the Early Methodist movement in England and America. Opening book,
Black Country
', details several of the early women preachers, Sarah Crosby included.
{{Portal bar, Evangelical Christianity, Methodism
Methodism
Methodism
Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a group of historically related denominations of Protestant Christianity whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and John's br ...