In Britain, the Primitive Methodist Church 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 in 1890, and after Methodist Union, the Methodist Church only started to ordain women again in 1974.[1]
Mary Bosanquet Fletcher, who convinced John Wesley to allow all women to preach in Methodism
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.[9]
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.[10][11] Bosanquet's letter to Wesley is considered to be the first full and true defense of women's preaching in Methodism.[10] Her argument was that women should be able to preach when they experienced an "extraordinary call", or when given permission by God.[10][12] Wesley accepted this idea, and formally began to allow women to preach in Methodism.[13][14] Later, Wesley also licensed other women as preachers, including Grace Murray, Sarah Taft, Hannah Ball and Elizabeth Ritchie.
Wesley's appreciation for the importance of women in the church has been credited to his mother, Susanna Wesley. It is said[by whom?] 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 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 "On Visiting the Sick" (Sermon 98). In the 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.[15]
Previous to this sermon, John Wesley had also removed the word "obey" from the marriage rite he sent to North America in 1784.[16]
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. She later became the first ordained minister of any Methodist denomination.[17] 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 reasons given[by whom?] for this refusal were:
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.[19]
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. In response, Anna Oliver and her supporters 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 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, the demands of charity, 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.[20] 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".[21]
Two years later, Anna Howard 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.[22] 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 her advocacy contributed to women eventually gaining the right to vote, although she died before the 19th amendment was passed.[23][24]
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 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.[25] Sellew was the primary architect of the resolution in the Free Methodist Church that led to the ordination of women as deacons 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."[25]
In 1924 The Methodist Episcopal Church granted women the right to be ordained as local deacons and elders.[26] The Rev. Belle Carter Harmon of Montana was the first woman to be ordained a local deacon in the Methodist Episcopal Church,[27] on 31 August 1924 at Helena, Montana.[28] Aurelia L. McAllister was ordained a local deacon the same day.[28][29]
In 1939, the Methodist Protestant Church (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 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.[30]
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 [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, 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.[31] 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.[32]
Evangelical United Brethren Church
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In 1946, the Church of the United Brethren in Christ united with the 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.[33]
Wesleyan Methodist Church (UK)
As late as 1890, women were first ordained as deaconesses in the Wesleyan Methodist Church.[1]
Current denominational positions
Methodist Church of Great Britain
Kathleen Richardson was the first female leader of the British Methodist Conference.
On 2 July 1974, the Methodist Conference in Bristol ordained 17 women as presbyters (ministers).[1][34] 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 (leader of the Methodist Church in Britain).[34]
Primitive Methodist Church
The original Primitive Methodist Church in Britain allowed female preachers and ministers until Methodist Union 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;[6] the PMC does, however, consecrate women as deaconesses.[6]
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.[3] In 1911, the Free Methodist Church started ordaining women as deacons and in 1974, the FMC started ordaining women as elders.[3]
Over 12,000 women serve as United Methodist clergy at all levels, from bishops to local pastors. As of 2006,[update] 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 program, which has over 40 participants and more than 22 graduates with doctorate degrees in theology.[citation needed]
Evangelical Wesleyan Church
The 2015 Discipline of the Evangelical Wesleyan Church 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."[7]
Apostolic succession is the method whereby the ministry of the Christian Church is considered by some Christian denominations to be derived from the apostles by a continuous succession, which has usually been associated with a claim that the succession is through a series of bishops. Those of the Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, Anglican, Church of Sweden, Oriental Orthodox, Church of the East, Hussite, Moravian and Old Catholic traditions maintain that "a bishop cannot have regular or valid orders unless he has been consecrated in this apostolic succession". These traditions do not always consider the episcopal consecrations of all of the other traditions as valid.
In certain Christian denominations, holy orders are the ordained ministries of bishop, priest (presbyter), and deacon, and the sacrament or rite by which candidates are ordained to those orders. Churches recognizing these orders include the Catholic Church, the Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox, Anglican, Assyrian, Old Catholic, Independent Catholic and some Lutheran churches. Except for Lutherans and some Anglicans, these churches regard ordination as a sacrament.
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 brother Charles Wesley were also significant early leaders in the movement. They were named Methodists for "the methodical way in which they carried out their Christian faith". Methodism originated as a revival movement within Anglicanism originating out of the Church of England in the 18th century and became a separate denomination after Wesley's death. The movement spread throughout the British Empire, the United States and beyond because of vigorous missionary work, and today has about 80 million adherents worldwide.
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 evangelicalism. The present denomination was founded in 1968 in Dallas, Texas, by union of the Methodist Church and the Evangelical United Brethren Church. The UMC traces its roots back to the revival movement of John and Charles Wesley in England, as well as the Great Awakening in the United States. As such, the church's theological orientation is decidedly Wesleyan. It embraces liturgical worship, holiness, and evangelical elements.
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 Church, the Oriental Orthodox Churches, the Eastern Orthodox Church, Lutheranism, Methodism, and Anglicanism view the diaconate as an order of ministry.
A pastor 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 Anglicanism, pastors are always ordained. In Methodism, pastors may be either licensed or ordained.
Ordination is the process by which individuals are consecrated, that is, set apart and elevated from the laity class to the clergy, who are thus then authorized to perform various religious rites and ceremonies. The process and ceremonies of ordination vary by religion and denomination. One who is in preparation for, or who is undergoing the process of ordination is sometimes called an ordinand. The liturgy used at an ordination is sometimes referred to as an ordination.
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 nationally. In 1939, the MEC reunited with two breakaway Methodist denominations to form the Methodist Church. In 1968, the Methodist Church merged with the Evangelical United Brethren Church to form the United Methodist Church.
The Methodist Episcopal Church, South was the American Methodist denomination resulting from the 19th-century split over the issue of slavery in the Methodist Episcopal Church (MEC). Disagreement on this issue had been increasing in strength for decades between churches of the Northern and Southern United States; in 1845 it resulted in a schism at the General Conference of the MEC held in Louisville, Kentucky.
The Confessing Movement is a largely lay-led theologically conservative Christian movement that opposes the influence of theological liberalism and theological progressivism currently within several mainline Protestant denominations and seeks to return them to its view of orthodox doctrine, or form a new denomination and disfellowship (excommunicate) them if the situation becomes untenable. Those who eventually deem dealing with theological liberalism and theological progressivism within their churches and denominations as not being tenable anymore would later join or start Confessional Churches and/or Evangelical Churches that continue with the traditions of their respective denominations and maintaining orthodox doctrine while being ecclesiastically separate from the Mainline Protestant denominations.
A Methodist local preacher is a layperson who has been accredited by the Methodist Church to lead worship and preach on a frequent basis. With separation from the Church of England by the end of the 18th century, a clear distinction was recognised between itinerant preachers and the local preachers who assisted them. Local preachers have played an important role in Methodism since the earliest days of the movement, and have also been important in English social history. These preachers continue to serve an indispensable role in the Methodist Church of Great Britain, in which the majority of church services are led by laypeople. In certain Methodist connexions, a person becomes a local preacher after obtaining a license to preach. In many parts of Methodism, such as the Allegheny Wesleyan Methodist Connection, there are thus two different tiers of ministers—licensed preachers and ordained elders.
The African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church, or the AME Zion Church (AMEZ) is a historically African-American Christian denomination based in the United States. It was officially formed in 1821 in New York City, but operated for a number of years before then. The African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church adheres to Wesleyan-Arminian theology.
The Primitive Methodist Church is a Methodist Christian denomination within the holiness movement. It began in England in the early 19th century, with the influence of American evangelist Lorenzo Dow (1777–1834).
An elder, in many Methodist churches, is an ordained minister that has the responsibilities to preach and teach, preside at the celebration of the sacraments, administer the church through pastoral guidance, and lead the congregations under their care in service ministry to the world.
Methodist viewpoints concerning homosexuality are diverse because there is no one denomination which represents all Methodists. The World Methodist Council, which represents most Methodist denominations, has no official statements regarding sexuality. British Methodism holds a variety of views, and permits ministers to bless same-gender marriages. United Methodism, which covers the United States, the Philippines, parts of Africa, and parts of Europe, concentrates on the position that the same-sex relations are incompatible with "Christian teaching", but extends ministry to persons of a homosexual orientation, holding that all individuals are of sacred worth.
Wesleyan theology, otherwise known as Wesleyan–Arminian theology, or Methodist theology, is a theological tradition in Protestant Christianity based upon the ministry of the 18th-century evangelical reformer brothers John Wesley and Charles Wesley. More broadly it refers to the theological system inferred from the various sermons, theological treatises, letters, journals, diaries, hymns, and other spiritual writings of the Wesleys and their contemporary coadjutors such as John William Fletcher.
The ordination of lesbian, gay, bisexual and/or transgender (LGBT) clergy who are open about their sexuality or gender identity; are sexually active if lesbian, gay, or bisexual; or are in committed same-sex relationships is a debated practice within some contemporary Christian denominations.
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.
The history of Methodism in the United States dates back to the mid-18th century with the ministries of early Methodist preachers such as Laurence Coughlan and Robert Strawbridge. Following the American Revolution most of the Anglican clergy who had been in America came back to England. John Wesley, the founder of Methodism, sent Thomas Coke to America where he and Francis Asbury founded the Methodist Episcopal Church, which was to later establish itself as the largest denomination in America during the 19th century.
The Bible Methodist Connection of Churches is a Methodist denomination within the conservative holiness movement.
1 2 3 Chilcote, Paul Wesley (1993). She Offered Them Christ: The Legacy of Women Preachers in Early Methodism. Eugene, O.R.: Wipf and Stock. p.78. ISBN1579106684.
↑ Burton, Vicki Tolar (2008). Spiritual Literacy in John Wesley's Methodism: Reading, Writing, and Speaking to Believe. Baylor University Press. p.164. ISBN9781602580237.
↑ Lloyd, Jennifer (2009). Women and the Shaping of British Methodism: Persistent Preachers, 1807-1907. Manchester University Press. p.34. ISBN978-1-84779-323-2. JSTORj.ctt155j83t.
↑ Eason, Andrew Mark (2003). Women in God's Army: Gender and Equality in the Early Salvation Army. Waterloo, Ont.: Wilfrid Laurier University Press. p.78. ISBN9780889208216.
↑ Lloyd, Jennifer (2009). Women and the Shaping of British Methodism: Persistent Preachers, 1807-1907. Manchester University Press. p.35. ISBN978-1-84779-323-2. JSTORj.ctt155j83t.
↑ Kenneth Cracknell and Susan J. White, An Introduction to World Methodism, Cambridge University Press, 2005, p. 217
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
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.
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