Work, Authority, & Policy

Mainline Women in Campus Ministry, 1950–75

Mae Speight, Freeport, ME

In the middle of the twentieth century, women of the American Protestant mainline were serving in church roles on the margins of ministry that enabled their later entrance into the formal, ordained ministry in greater numbers. They were minister’s wives and teachers of religious education and professors at theological schools. And they were also ministering to young adults on campuses. Between 1950-1975, mainline denominations sent their young, unmarried women to campus, where many of them dreamt of ordained ministry. On campus (a newly recognized “mission field” for the mainline), women got their feet wet counseling students, leading worship, and administering foundations. The turbulence of campuses in the ‘60s and ‘70s changed the trajectory of women’s activism surrounding formal leadership rights in their churches. And women’s presence in campus ministry during these decades connected the small vanguard of mainline women in ministry in the ‘50s and early ‘60s to the generation of young women who would go on to ordination en masse in the 1980s.

Where Did Women Go? And Are They Coming Back? Post-Pandemic Exploration of Ministry Jobs

Rev. Dr. Eileen Campbell-Reed, Union Theological Seminary in the City of New York

“In March 2020 the COVID-19 pandemic, and multiple related social pandemics, shut down or curtailed many aspects of life and work in the US. Globally more than 54 million women left the workforce to 1) care for children and families; 2) seek new work after jobs were deemed non-essential; 3) continue as essential laborers in stressful and underpaid conditions, disproportionately experienced by women of color (healthcare, food service, etc.). The multi-pronged crisis also impacted the church and other ministry settings. Women left the ministry labor force in substantial numbers. By 2023 women returned to the global workforce in slightly higher levels than March 2020. However, it remains a question: Did women return to congregational leadership, chaplaincy, and ministry-related work? As part of the State of Women and Queer Clergy (2026), this presentation examines where and how women left ministry in 2020 and if or when they will return.”

The Other Pastors: Towards Legitimacy & Authority

Rev. Mihee Kim-Kort, Indiana University

This paper looks at the experiences of women of color clergy in mainline Protestant denominations. I argue that women of color clergy are often viewed as “the other pastor,” that is, occupying another category of pastor alongside their peers and colleagues. Although there has been an increase of women of color clergy across mainline Protestant denominations in the last two decades, they still represent a very small percentage. For example, women of color in the United Methodist Church make up 5.5% of female clergy and 25% of female district superintendents. Likewise, although women make up between 50–75% of Black Baptist church members, they make up less than 10% of church leaders and less than 1% of pastors. Through surveys and interviews with women of color clergy across numerous denominations I examine their experiences in terms of the themes of legitimacy and authority. In highlighting these specific themes my aim is to demonstrate how both gender and race together provide a particular complexity in which certain clergy must navigate within their respective churches.

Clergywomen, Women’s Ordination, & “Women’s Issues”: Women’s Representation in American Religious Congregations

Cammie Jo Bolin, University at Albany, SUNY

Using data from the 2018–2019 National Congregations Study, I explore the relationship between women’s descriptive and substantive representation in American religious congregations. In particular, I examine the relationship between the presence of clergywomen or egalitarian leadership policies and a congregation’s participation in political activism related to three so-called “women’s issues”: abortion, LGBT rights, and poverty. Statistical analysis using Linear Probability Models and Logit models reveals partial support for my hypotheses. Collective gender representation, as demonstrated through the presence of egalitarian leadership policies within a congregation, is associated with activism related to pro-LGBT rights and poverty. This project serves to extend understanding of 1) how descriptive gender representation relates to the substantive representation of women’s interests in religious congregations and 2) the comparability of women’s leadership across political and religious contexts.