Ordination of Women: Sectarian Oddity or Reality?

A controversial news story recently became the center of attention. Some bishops in the Roman Catholic Church had apparently ordained women to the priesthood, an act prohibited by the church. According to an MSNBC story, the ordinations had occurred in various places around the world. Some were part of action by a group called Woman Priests, an organization that advocates the Roman Catholic Church ordaining women. The excommunication applied to the female priests who were ordained, those participating in the ordinations, and anyone seeking ordination. While these ordinations are considered invalid by the Vatican, many are wondering how the church can prohibit something that can't exist in their theology. Why does womens' ordination continue to be so controversial when so many denominations already ordain women?

Ordination of women continues to be a divisive subject in Anglicanism, even though many provinces at least ordain women to the diaconate and/or priesthood. Several provinces, including the United States, have elevated women to the episcopate, although many other provinces still struggle with consecrating women as bishops. The Roman Catholic Church and other churches in communion with the Vatican have never permitted womens' ordination. In the Catholic Church, women do have a place in lay ministry as Eucharistic ministers and acolytes. However, many Old Catholic groups utilize the ministries of female clergy. The Eastern Orthodox don't ordain women to the priesthood. However, the Orthodox Church of Greece recently voted to restore the female diaconate. The female diaconate had existed in the early days of Orthodoxy, but had fallen out of practice. Some speculate that this might lead to the possibility of a female diaconate in the Roman Catholic Church. Within Protestantism, opinions vary. Some conservative and fundamentalist groups either prohibit womens' ordination or bar them from serving in a senior pastor capacity. Conservative groups against womens' ordination include the Church of Christ and the Southern Baptist Convention. Other groups, especially Pentecostal and charismatic groups, ordain women. Most mainline denominations (Lutheran, Methodist, Presbyterian, etc.) also ordain women.

Womens' ordination has been practiced among Protestant Christians for well over 100 years. The United Church of Christ ordained their first female pastor in 1853. Since then, the UCC has had a strong tradition of womens' ministry. The Methodists and Presbyterians ordained their first female clergy in 1880 and 1893, respectively. When the Pentecostal movement took root in the early 1900's, female clergy played an important role. The first Anglican ordination of a woman occurred in Hong Kong in 1944. Florence Li Tim-Oi was ordained to the priesthood. Eleven women were ordained to the priesthood in the Episcopal Church in 1974. When these ordinations occurred, controversy arose because the Episcopal Church hadn't formally permitted the ordination of women. Womens' ordination was permitted in 1976. Some Episcopalians who couldn't accept the ordination of women left for other denominations or formed new Anglican groups.

Opponents of womens' ordination often cite Scripture, early Church tradition, or the influence of the feminist movement . Often cited is the fact that Jesus only called men to be His apostles, even though there were women who might have been called. Many cite I Corinthians 14:34-36 and I Timothy 2:11-13 as evidence that women cannot be ordained. Also mentioned is the fact that none of the Church Fathers seem to reference women being in a position of authority. Some opponents of womens' ordination feel that this practice is a product of the feminist movement, not part of a true calling. A few womens' ordination opponents even feel that the theology of female clergy is suspect, often calling them "priestesses", a term that is more commonly associated with pagan religions.

Advocates of womens' ordination, though, feel that Jesus' inclusion of women made them equal partners with men in the work of God. Just because Jesus didn't specifically call women as apostles doesn't mean that they weren't called. I Corinthians 14:34-36 may have been cultural in context, due to the fact that most women from a Jewish background of the time didn't receive religious instruction as their husbands would have. It's possible that the issue wasn't speaking in church so much as asking questions out of place. I Timothy 2:11-13, advocates say, may have been Paul expressing his preferences when ministering but not a wholesale ban. Examples in history, such as Celtic abbesses who had authority similar to that of bishops, and female Orthodox deacons, are often cited in favor of ordination of women. Advocates say that while some women have the wrong intentions when going into ministry, so do many men.

While the ordination of women has been and continues to be controversial, the Church has been blessed by the work of female priests, deacons, bishops, pastors, and evangelists.