Louisa Woosley | |
|---|---|
 Louisa Woosley in 1891 | |
| Personal | |
| Born | March 24, 1862 |
| Died | July 30, 1952 (aged 90) |
| Religion | Christianity |
| Nationality | American |
| Denomination | Cumberland Presbyterian Church |
| Senior posting | |
| Ordination | November 5, 1889 |
Louisa Mariah Layman Woosley (March 24, 1862 - June 30, 1952) was the first woman ordained as a minister in any Presbyterian denomination. She was ordained by the Cumberland Presbyterian Church on November 5, 1889. [1]
Woosley, a Cumberland Presbyterian from Kentucky, was ordained by Nolin Presbytery (Kentucky Synod) in that denomination on Tuesday, November 5, 1889. Although the constitution of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church did not exclude women from ordination, neither did it include them. A great controversy developed in various church judicatories over the legality of her ordination. Eventually, Kentucky Synod of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church instructed Nolin Presbytery to remove Louisa Woosley from their rolls. This the presbytery did by granting her the status of minister in transitu ("lettering her out" in presbyterian terms) to another presbytery. Clearly, although Nolin Presbytery complied with the instructions of the superior judicatory, they had denied their intent. [1] [2]
In 1891, Woosley published her only book, 'Shall Woman Preach (1891 book)' which explained and justified her position. [3]
Louisa Woosley, with the aid of various Kentucky presbyteries sympathetic to her cause, outlasted the synodic objection to her ordination. In 1906, the partial reunion of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church with the Presbyterian Church USA removed some of the most vocal opposition to the ordination of women. Although the official position of the denomination remained unchanged, clergy women were able to participate in all levels of polity without a great deal of opposition. In 1920, the Cumberland Presbyterian denomination ruled that the word "man" as used in its constitution was to be considered as a gender neutral reference to a human being. More recently gender inclusive language came into broader use in the denomination. [4]
Almost a hundred years after Woosley's ordination, the Cumberland Presbyterian Church elected their first female General Assembly moderator, Beverly St. John, in 1988.
In the entire Reformed tradition, only Antoinette Brown, a Congregationalist, can claim an earlier ordination in 1853. However, Brown's ordination was never recognized by the Congregational denomination and she later departed for the Unitarian Church. Woosley, on the other hand, was eventually recognized as a legitimate member of the Cumberland Presbyterian clergy and served in a variety of church offices for over 50 years.
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The Presbyterian Church (USA), abbreviated PC (USA), is a mainline Protestant denomination in the United States. It is the largest Presbyterian denomination in the country, known for its liberal stance on doctrine and its ordaining of women and members of the LGBT community as elders and ministers. The Presbyterian Church (USA) was established with the 1983 merger of the Presbyterian Church in the United States, whose churches were located in the Southern and border states, with the United Presbyterian Church in the United States of America, whose congregations could be found in every state.
Presbyterianpolity is a method of church governance typified by the rule of assemblies of presbyters, or elders. Each local church is governed by a body of elected elders usually called the session or consistory, though other terms, such as church board, may apply. Groups of local churches are governed by a higher assembly of elders known as the presbytery or classis; presbyteries can be grouped into a synod, and presbyteries and synods nationwide often join together in a general assembly. Responsibility for conduct of church services is reserved to an ordained minister or pastor known as a teaching elder, or a minister of the word and sacrament.
The Cumberland Presbyterian Church is a Presbyterian denomination spawned by the Second Great Awakening. In 2019, it had 65,087 members and 673 congregations, of which 51 were located outside of the United States. The word Cumberland comes from the Cumberland River valley where the church was founded.
The Presbyterian Church in the United States was a Protestant denomination in the Southern and border states of the United States that existed from 1861 to 1983. That year, it merged with the United Presbyterian Church in the United States of America (UPCUSA) to form the Presbyterian Church (USA).
The United Presbyterian Church in the United States of America (UPCUSA) was the largest branch of Presbyterianism in the United States from May 28, 1958, to 1983. It was formed by the union of the Presbyterian Church in the United States of America (PCUSA), often referred to as the "Northern" Presbyterian Church, with the United Presbyterian Church of North America (UPCNA), a smaller church of Covenanter-Seceder tradition at a conference in downtown Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, in May 1958. Vigorous ecumenical activity on the part of PCUSA leaders led to this merger, something of a reunion of two long-separated branches of the larger Presbyterian family deriving from the British Isles.
The Presbyterian Church in the United States of America (PCUSA) was a Presbyterian denomination existing from 1789 to 1958. In that year, the PCUSA merged with the United Presbyterian Church of North America. The new church was named the United Presbyterian Church in the United States of America. It was a predecessor to the contemporary Presbyterian Church (USA).
Finis Ewing was the primary founder of the Cumberland Presbyterian Denomination on February 4, 1810.
James Wade Knight was a Cumberland Presbyterian minister. He served as that denomination's first Director of Ministry and was the Executive of Kentucky Synod.
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The Cumberland Presbyterian Church in America is a historically African-American denomination which developed from the Cumberland Presbyterian Church in 1874.
Beverly St. John was an elder in the Cumberland Presbyterian Church and served as that denomination's first female moderator of the General Assembly in 1988. The Cumberland Presbyterian denomination had been the first Presbyterian body to ordain women as clergy beginning with Louisa Woosley in 1889. St. John also authored a collection of essays for parents of small children, As the Twig is Bent, in the mid-1960s, and co-authored a book of poetry with Rev. James Knight, "The Prophet is a Snow Man" in 1986.
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The Cumberland Presbytery existed from 1802 to 1806 as a presbytery of the Presbyterian Church in the United States of America, a predecessor to the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.). The presbytery was strongly influenced by the Second Great Awakening and has an important place within the history of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church.
In Christianity, the ordination of women has been taking place in an increasing number of Protestant and Old Catholic churches, starting in the 20th century. Since ancient times, certain churches of the Orthodox tradition, such as the Coptic Orthodox Church, have raised women to the office of deaconess. While ordination of women has been approved in many denominations, it is still a very controversial and divisive topic.
Methodist views on the ordination of women in the rite of holy orders are diverse.
ECO: A Covenant Order of Evangelical Presbyterians is an evangelical Presbyterian denomination in the United States. As a Presbyterian church, ECO adheres to Reformed theology and Presbyterian polity. It was established in 2012 by former congregations and members of the Presbyterian Church (USA), abbreviated PC(USA). Denominational disputes over theology—particularly ordination of practicing homosexuals as pastors and gay marriage—and bureaucracy led to the founding of ECO. In 2018, ECO has over 383 congregations, 103,425 covenant partners and over 500 pastors. ECO churches are egalitarian in beliefs and ordain women as pastors and elders.
Presbyterianism has had a presence in the United States since colonial times and has exerted an important influence over broader American religion and culture.
This is a timeline of notable moments in the history of women's ordination in the world's religious traditions. It is not an exhaustive list of all historic or contemporary ordinations of women.
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