Ordination of women in the United Methodist Church

Ordination of women in the United Methodist Church has occurred since its creation in 1968. 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, did not grant women full clergy rights until 1956.^[1]

The Methodist Church

John Wesley's views on women

John Wesley, the credited 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.^[2] Later, Wesley also licensed other women as preachers. These included: Grace Murray, Sarah Taft, Hannah Ball and Elizabeth Ritchie. One of the youngest ordained women, Mary Fletcher, began preaching at age 16, and at age 21 was thrown out of her parent's home because of her faith.

Wesley's appreciation for the importance of women in the church has been credited to his mother Susanna Wesley. It is said that she instilled in him, and in his brother Charles Wesley, 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 spread the Good News, and were active members in church activities ranging from band classes, to raising funds for the continuation of the Church and managing educational institutions.

His views on women can be found in his 1786 sermon On Visiting the Sick. In this sermon, he attacks the requirement of submissiveness that was often imposed on women of the time:

"It has long passed for a maxim with many that “women are only to be seen but not heard.” And accordingly many of them are brought up in such a manner as if they were only designed for agreeable playthings! No, it is the deepest unkindness; it is horrid cruelty; it is mere Turkish barbarity. And I know not how any women of sense and spirit can submit to it."^[3]

Previous to this sermon, John Wesley had also boldly removed the word “obey” from the marriage rite he sent to North America in 1784.^[4]

Methodist Episcopal Church

After John Wesley's death in 1791, several splits happened within the church. The Methodist Protestant Church split from the Methodist Episcopal Church, in 1828; and, later in 1844, the Methodist Episcopal Church, South split, leaving a separate Methodist Episcopal Church of the north.

His 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 Alter Davidson was a circuit rider for the Methodist Protestant Church in Jasper County, IN. She later became the first ordained minister of any Methodist denomination.^[5] 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.

This was not the case for all denominations. During the next decades, the Methodist Episcopal Church 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, the General Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church refused to ordain many of the female graduates. Some of the possibly contentious reasons given for this refusal were:

1. Theological objections that quoted Paul's words in First Corinthians, taken out of context, that women should be silent in church. A careful exegesis of these passages tell us that Paul was referring to very specific situations and not a blanket regulation. In reality, Paulis though to have had several women who were his closet comrades in spreading the Good News including calling one women an Apostle and another a deacon.^[6]
2. Socio-cultural objections including the status of both white women and women of color in Western society, the home and workplace and perhaps the weakest of all arguments,
3. 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.^[7]

Anna Oliver

It was for the latter reason that Anna Oliver was not ordained in 1880 despite the fact she had graduated from Boston University School of Theology in 1876, and had served two churches with obvious success. However, the disappointment of not being ordained did not stop Anna Oliver, she and her supporters decided to take this political scandal into their own hands. They did it in what was considered a very American way. They lobbied the General Conference to have all distinctions on the basis of gender removed from the Book of Discipline regarding status for ordination. Anna Oliver prepared the pamphlets herself for distribution 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, the demands of charity, the Golden Rule and perhaps she was also the founder of the “What would” campaign we know so well in America today as “What Would Jesus Do?”. Anna Oliver, did not purport “What Would Jesus Do?” instead she purported “What Would John Wesley Do?” Tragically, this very American campaign ended in even worse treatment of women. Not only did the General Conference deny 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.^[8]

Anna Shaw

It appears also to be in church politics that Anna Howard Shaw who received her theological degree in 1878 was not ordained. She was told, “there is 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,” and it was due in large part to her leadership that women were eventually granted the right to vote.

Many more women had similar struggles for equality in the United Methodist Church, and often despite their call to preach they did not follow it for fear of losing everything: spouse, family, home, and reputation to name a few. Yet, once the Spirit took hold they were able to find enough support and encouragement to carry on with their calling. It was Annie Johnson, an evangelist, who preached these words in her sermon, “oppose as much as you like, yet women go on preaching. It may be, my friend, that by your opposition you will keep some souls from God, but you can never affect us in the least. For God said, 'Preach', and preach we shall”.^[9]

Many other stories of the struggle of Methodist women to obtain the rights of ordination can be found by such authors as Patricia J. Thompson who wrote Courageous past—bold future: the journey toward full clergy rights for women in the United Methodist Church, that was published by the General Board of Higher Education and Ministry of the United Methodist Church in 2006. In addition, she writes an eloquent and convincing article entitled “Ladies first, saints all.” in which she describes the struggle of ordained women to be both a woman and ordained.^[10] One such story she relates is that of Margaret Newton Van Cott, an American Methodist preacher, born in 1830 who devoted her life to evangelism and holding rival meetings across the country.

Of course, the struggles of the Methodist Women did not go unnoticed. Finally in 1924 The Methodist Episcopal Church granted women the right to be ordained as local deacons and elders. Yet, this was just be beginning of a new chapter of the struggle for Methodist women called to preach.

The Methodist Church

The early 20th century brought a new problem. Despite several women being ordained and even admitted to the their perspective conferences they were never given actual appointments. In 1939, the Methodist Protestant Church, the Methodist Episcopal Church and the Methodist Episcopal Church, South merged. Although the women from the Methodist Episcopal Church-South gained the right to ordination, 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 5 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. In 1952, this she did and more! When she died in 1985, she held the distinction of having the longest pastorate in the Louisiana conference, and the largest Methodist church in the world pastored by a woman. The church she started in 1952 had over 2,200 members.^[11]

The Historic 1956 Vote

Finally, on May 4, 1956, in Minneapolis, Minnesota the General Conference of the Methodist Church approved full clergy rights for women. Anna Oliver's prayers and campaign was realized -to include women in the Book of Discipline. On that day, one simple sentence was added: “All foregoing paragraphs, chapters and sections of Part III{of the Book of Discipline} shall apply to women as well as to men.” Bishops were now required to appoint every pastor in good standing, and thus the beginning of acceptance of women as clergy. The Rev. Maud Jensen was the first woman to be granted full clergy rights after this historical vote in what is now the Central Pennsylvania Annual Conference.^[12] The Rev. Grace Huck was yet 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 later he became on of her best supporters.^[13]

Evangelical United Brethren Church

The Church of the United Brethren in Christ started ordaining women with full clergy rights in 1889.

In 1946, the Church of the United Brethren in Christ united with Evangelical Church to form the Evangelical United Brethren Church. 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.^[14]

The United Methodist Church

Interestingly, it was not until 1968, that all Methodist women clergy were afforded the right of full connection. This was due to the fact that it was not until 1968 that the Methodist Church united with the Evangelical United Brethren Church to form what we now know as the United Methodist Church. It was not until this merger that all women were finally eligible for full clergy rights.

It would be amiss not to mention the unique struggle of women of color (Black, Hispanic, Asian, Indian) for ordination in the United Methodist Church. For example, in the Louisiana Conference, it was not until 1988 that the first black woman, Freida K. Brown was admitted to the conference and ordained as an elder. This is in part due to the embedded prejudice that is related to the institution of slavery, and grounded in the word “race” as it relates to slavery in Western society. It was not until black women received their freedom and began mimicking the institutions of the white majority that sexual equality become an issue in ordination.^[15] Many other women of color have faced their own unique challenges to be accepted as equal to their white female and male counterparts.

Current status

Today over 12,000 women serve as United Methodist clergywomen at all levels, from bishops to local pastors. As of 2006, 16 women had been appointed as bishops. Women of color have a program to facilitate the pursuit of a religious education. The Board of Higher Education and Ministry created a scholarship program to try to address the lack of women of color in faculty positions at United Methodist Seminaries. That program has over 40 participants and more than 22 graduates with doctorate degrees in theology.

Yet, the struggle continues. On a personal note, I am friends with a woman of color who was actually denied ordination, the first time, because she wanted to 'teach not preach'. We are reminded that women have had to fight hard to be accepted as clergy and many churches are still not open to women being in position of leadership. The author, Patrica Thompson, mentioned earlier in this article, may have it summed up best, “ ...although various sects of the Methodist Church began ordaining women as elders and granting them full clergy rights at the end of the 19th century, full clergy rights for women in the Methodist Church did not come without a bitter struggle and often tremendous personal sacrifice on the part of both women and men.^[16] Let us be mindful that women must still enlarge their understanding of power and expand their vision with the confidence that they can always take on more. Women clergy have a special task; to make the church truer to the gospel (para-phrased from Rev. J. Moore, who had just finished seminary and could not vote in 1956 for what would become her right to full clergyship in the Methodist Church).

See also

• Ordination of women

References

1. ^ http://archives.umc.org/interior.asp?ptid=1&mid=1021
2. ^ http://www.iscuo.org/clergywomen.htm
3. ^ Kenneth Cracknell and Susan J. White, An Introduction to World Methodism, Cambridge University Press, 2005, p. 217
4. ^ World Methodist Book, Page 218
5. ^ http://www.religioustolerance.org/femclrg13.htm
6. ^ http://www.WomenInMinistryEpilogue.com^{[dead link]}
7. ^ Kenneth Cracknell and Susan J. White, An Introduction to World Methodism, Cambridge Press University, 2005, p. 218-9
8. ^ An Introduction to World Methodism; p. 219
9. ^ http://worldcivizationordainedwomen.com^{[dead link]}
10. ^ Methodist History 41.3 (2003): 137.
11. ^ http://www.iscuo.org.clergy.women.htm^{[dead link]}
12. ^ http://www.religioustolerance.org.femclrg1.htm^{[dead link]}
13. ^ http://www.gbhem.org/WomenClergy^{[dead link]}
14. ^ http://www.interpretermagazine.org/interior.asp^{[dead link]}
15. ^ http://www.robynma.simplenet.com/nianet/christian5.htm^{[dead link]}
16. ^ http://www.umc.org/clergywomen/^{[dead link]}

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

• http://www.religioustolerance.org/femclrg13.htm
• http://archives.umc.org/interior.asp?mid=1090
• http://womeninthechurch-junia.blogspot.com/2009/06/ordained-women-in-early-church.html
• http://www.guide2womenleaders.com/Chronolgy_Ordination.htm
• http://www.iscuo.org/clergywomen.htm
• http://www.interpretermagazine.org/interior.asp?ptid=43&mid=10996
• http://books.google.com/books?id=IKwbAUgIptYC&pg=PA23&lpg=PA23&dq=ordained+women+%2B+methodist&source=bl&ots=zXlYhjispF&sig=uVbUNnO459qrVTUbvYGcq1nzmpk&hl=en&ei=zvH6SraGFILmtgO78O2vBA&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=6&ved=0CBgQ6AEwBQ#v=onepage&q=ordained%20women%20%2B%20methodist&f=false