Iowa Sisterhood

Last updated

The Iowa Sisterhood was a group of women ministers who organized eighteen Unitarian societies in several Midwestern states in the late 19th century and early 20th century. [1]

Some of the first women ordained in the United States were Universalist or Unitarian; however, the path for women ministers was not easy. Of those early women who achieved ordination, few were allowed to serve in full-time ministries. Others were relegated to small, struggling parishes or assistant positions alongside their clergy husbands. Despite the lack of encouragement, at the end of the 19th century a group of women claimed their role as ordained ministers. Following the Women's Ministerial Conference organized by Julia Ward Howe in 1875, 21 Unitarian women founded the Iowa Sisterhood to serve churches throughout the Great Plains. [2]

Between 1880 and 1930, these women changed the course of Unitarianism. [3] The Iowa Sisterhood was led primarily by Mary Augusta Safford. [4] Other members included Eleanor Gordon, [5] Florence Buck, Mary Collson, Eliza Tupper Wilkes, Mila Tupper Maynard, Adele Fuchs, Martha Chapman Aitken, Mary Leggett Cooke, Caroline Julia Bartlett Crane, Rowena Morse Mann, Amelia Murdoch Wing, Mary Graves, Marie Jenney Howe, Ida Hultin, Marion Murdoch, Anna Jane Norris, Margaret Titus Olmstead, Elizabeth Padgham, Gertrude von Petzold, Helen Wilson, Celia Parker Woolley, and Helen Grace Putnam. [6] [7]

Few male scholars from the seminaries of the East were attracted to the life [of the Plains states]. But if the Plains were beyond the recognition of an Eastern religious hierarchy, they were also remote from that hierarchy's rules and control. It was a place where women were accepted for their willingness to step in and serve, for their tenacity in the face of hardship, and for their ministry.

One reason for the success of the Iowa Sisterhood was the non-academic, pastoral approach these women brought to their churches. They sought to make their churches extensions of the domestic hearth, thereby expanding the traditional role of women beyond the home and into the church. The Sisterhood brought family matters into the church ... seven days a week, with social events and classes on domestic arts.

Although Jenkin Lloyd Jones, leader of the Unitarian Church's Western Conference, was a staunch ally of the Iowa Sisterhood, the success of these women and their churches did not translate into wider denominational acceptance. The women were seen as an embarrassment among the [Unitarian] clergy back in Boston. By the turn of the 20th century, society in general experienced a reassertion of male authority. Unitarianism's leaders began a concerted return to a more manly ministry in order to revitalize the denomination. The move of rural populations to the cities further undermined the Sisterhood's efforts and congregations.

Most of the women ministers were rushed into retirement. Others left to pursue social justice work in peace, suffrage, and social work movements. They remained vocal about the rights of women and the place of church in society. It was not a large movement, nor was it long-lasting. The Iowa Sisterhood did not radically alter the possibilities for women in Unitarian ministry. [2] But ... it offered an example of women called to minister and men called to support their work.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Canadian Unitarian Council</span> Canadian religious organization

The Canadian Unitarian Council (CUC) is a liberal religious association of Unitarian, Universalist, and Unitarian Universalist congregations in Canada. It was formed on May 14, 1961, initially to be the national organization for Canadians belonging to the Unitarian Universalist Association (UUA) which formed a day later on May 15, 1961. Between 1961 and 2002, almost all member congregations of the CUC were also members of the UUA and most services to congregations in Canada were provided by the UUA. However, in 2002, the CUC formally became a separate entity from the UUA, although the UUA continues to provide ministerial settlement services and remains the primary source for education and theological resources. Some Canadian congregations have continued to be members of both the CUC and the UUA, while most congregations are only members of the CUC.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Unitarian Universalist Association</span> Liberal religious Unitarian Universalist congregations, formed in 1961

Unitarian Universalist Association (UUA) is a liberal religious association of Unitarian Universalist congregations. It was formed in 1961 by the consolidation of the American Unitarian Association and the Universalist Church of America Christian denominations with Unitarian and Universalist doctrines, respectively. However, modern Unitarian Universalists see themselves as a separate religion with its own beliefs and affinities. They define themselves as non-creedal, and draw wisdom from various religions and philosophies, including humanism, pantheism, Christianity, Hinduism, Buddhism, Taoism, Judaism, Islam, and Earth-centered spirituality. Thus, the UUA is a syncretistic religious group with liberal leanings.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Unitarian Universalism</span> Non-creedal liberal religion

Unitarian Universalism is a liberal religious movement characterized by a "free and responsible search for truth and meaning". Unitarian Universalists assert no creed, but instead are unified by their shared search for spiritual growth. Unitarian Universalists do not have an official, unified corpus of sacred texts but rather draw inspiration and guidance from the six sources: personal experience, prophetic utterances, world religions, Jewish and Christian teachings, humanist teachings, and spiritual teachings. Unitarian Universalist congregations include many atheists, agnostics, deists, and theists; there are churches, fellowships, congregations, and societies around the world.

Unitarianism is a nontrinitarian branch of Christianity. Unitarian Christians affirm the unitary nature of God as the singular and unique creator of the universe, believe that Jesus Christ was inspired by God in his moral teachings and that he is the savior of humankind, but he is not equal to God himself.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chalice</span> Ecclesiastical footed drinking cup, often with a central knop

A chalice or goblet is a footed cup intended to hold a drink. In religious practice, a chalice is often used for drinking during a ceremony or may carry a certain symbolic meaning.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Unitarian Universalism and LGBT people</span> Relationship between Unitarian Universalism and LGBT people

Unitarian Universalism, as practiced by the Unitarian Universalist Association (UUA), and the Canadian Unitarian Council (CUC), is a non-Creedal and Liberal theological tradition and an LGBTQ affirming denomination.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Augusta Jane Chapin</span>

Augusta Jane Chapin was an American Universalist minister, educator and activist for women's rights. She was born in Lakeville, New York, the eldest of eleven children, to Almon Morris Chapin and Jane Pease. She was one of only a few women's speakers at the Parliament of the World's Religions that took place at the Columbian Exposition in Chicago in 1893. She had a long preaching and teaching career around the Midwest, Pennsylvania, New York, Oregon, and California.

John A. Buehrens is an American Unitarian Universalist minister and author.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Caroline A. Soule</span> American writer

Caroline A. Soule, was an American novelist, poet, religious writer, editor, and ordained Universalist minister, who was in 1880 the first woman to be ordained as a minister in the United Kingdom; first president and one of the founders of the Woman's Centenary Aid Association, the earliest national organization of American church women; and the first Universalist Church of America missionary when sent to Scotland in 1878.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Caroline Bartlett Crane</span>

Caroline Bartlett Crane was an American Unitarian minister, suffragist, civic reformer, educator and journalist. She was known as "America's housekeeper" for her efforts to improve urban sanitation.

Unitarian Universalist Church of Kent, Ohio is a Unitarian Universalist ("UU") church in Kent, Ohio. Founded in 1866, the current building was completed by builder Joseph Gridley (1820-1902) in 1868 on land donated by philanthropist Marvin Kent and rests on a bedrock of sandstone. Its 19 founding members were among the major movers and shakers of the then Village of Franklin Mills, and included abolitionists and Civil War veterans. They were: Dr. Aaron M. Sherman, M.D., who served as a Civil War surgeon, a prominent civic promoter, served many terms on the local school board, co-founded the Rockton Masonic Lodge that occupies the historic 1883 summer home of Marvin Kent on West Main Street, served as a State Representative in the Ohio State House of Representatives and whose 1858 home first built by Zenas Kent for his daughter Frances and her husband George Wells was recently saved, moved and restored by local historic preservation activists, Arvin Olin, Ransom Olin, Nelson Olin, Joseph Stratton, who, in 1882, donated the large bell that is in the church belfry, Phillip Boosinger, Mary Boosinger, Rhoda Boosinger, James D. Haymaker and Mary Rosetta Olin Haymaker, J.G. Whitcomb, T.H. Marshall, Eliza Wright, A. Merrell, Almund Russell, Sybil Bradley, Effie Parsons, Mary J. Parsons and Mary A. Furry. These 19 men and women gathered on May 27, 1866, to write and sign the church's constitution in the historic 1836 Village Hall that would serve as an early place of worship before the church building was completed next door in 1868. It is the only church still using its original 19th century building in the city of Kent and in 1976 the site was designed as a "significant restored building site". In the early and middle twentieth century when there were few women clergy anywhere in the United States, the church is notable for having several women ministers: Abbie Danforth in 1889, Carlotta Crosley in 1903, and Violet Kochendoerfer in 1972. Membership is between 140 and 200 full-time adults as well as 100 children in its religious education programs. The church runs a summer camp called Kent Hogwarts which is a Harry Potter-themed camp for young kids, which emphasizes chemistry, poetry, singing and community service. The church advocates social justice, environmental awareness, democracy and acceptance of diverse peoples including all religions. The Kent church follows the seven basic principles of Unitarian Universalism.

Mary Edith Collson (1870–1952) was an American feminist activist, Unitarian Universalist minister, and practitioner in The First Church of Christ, Scientist.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Eleanor Gordon</span> American Unitarian minister

Eleanor Elizabeth Gordon was an American Unitarian minister. Part of an informal network of Unitarian women ministers known as the "Iowa Sisterhood", she was often partnered in her work with Mary Safford.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mary Safford</span> American Unitarian minister

Mary Augusta Safford was an American Unitarian minister. An influential figure in the development of the Unitarian Universalist church in the Midwestern United States, she was a member of the informally-designated group of religious figures known as the "Iowa Sisterhood", as was her childhood friend Eleanor Gordon.

First Parish in Malden, Universalist is a Unitarian Universalist ("UU") church in Malden, Massachusetts and a member congregation of the Unitarian Universalist Association. It was gathered in 1648 to support the establishment of the city of Malden. It is one of the oldest churches in Massachusetts. The current minister is the Rev. Otto O'Connor, who was called to be the congregation's minister in 2017.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mary H. Graves</span>

Mary H. Graves was an American Unitarian minister, literary editor, and writer of the long nineteenth century. After Julia Ward Howe, Graves was the second woman to be ordained within this Christian theological movement.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Eliza Tupper Wilkes</span> American suffragist and Unitarian Universalist minister

Eliza Mason Tupper Wilkes was an American suffragist and Unitarian Universalist minister.

Rebecca Ann Parker is an American theologian, author, and former President of Starr King School for the Ministry, the first woman to serve as the permanent head of an accredited U.S. theological school.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mary Leggett Cooke</span>

Mary Leggett Cooke (1852-1938) was an American Unitarian minister. She was a member of the Iowa Sisterhood, a group of women ministers who organized eighteen Unitarian societies in several Midwestern states in the late 19th century and early 20th century.

References

  1. ↑ Hepokoski, Carol. "Women Ministers in the Prairie Star District". Bring, O Past, Your Honor. The Ministers Association of the Prairie Star District of the Unitarian Universalist Association. Retrieved April 17, 2011.
  2. 1 2 "The Iowa Sisterhood". UUA.org. 2011-10-26. Retrieved 2018-11-08.
  3. ↑ "Iowa Sisterhood: Lessons on Membership". Unitarian Universalist Parish of Monson. Retrieved 2018-11-08.
  4. ↑ Mary Augusta Safford. Unitarian Universalist Historical Society.
  5. ↑ Eleanor Elizabeth Gordon. Unitarian Universalist Historical Society.
  6. ↑ Hitchings, Catherine F. “Universalist and Unitarian Women Ministers,” The Journal of the Universalist Historical Society, v.x, 1975, p.124
  7. ↑ "Remembering the Iowa Sisterhood". UUA.org. 2011-10-26. Retrieved 2018-11-08.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.