NCC Report on Women Clergy Released
Episcopal News Service. March 23, 1978 [78077]
New York, N.Y. -- Fewer than half of Christian religious bodies in the United States ordain women to the ministry, and in those that do, women comprise only about 4 percent of all clergy.
These current statistics, never before available, were revealed March 24 in a report by the National Council of Churches. The report contains the first comprehensive data on women clergy to be gathered in 27 years.
In the Episcopal Church, ordination of women to the diaconate has been permitted since 1971 and to the priesthood and episcopate since 1977.
The report discloses that nearly two-thirds of all women clergy are in Pentecostal or para-military religious organizations, such as the Salvation Army. Only 17.4 percent are in major Protestant denominations.
The report, which places the total number of women ordained to the full ministry at 10,470, was compiled by the NCC's Office of Research, Evaluation and Planning. "Full ministry" is defined as "having the most complete and unrestricted set of functions relating to the ministry of the Gospel, administering the Word and Sacrament or carrying out the office of pastor or priest in the church. "
The report, written by Constant H. Jacquet, is entitled "Women Ministers in 1977." It covers 211 Christian religious bodies. Of these, 76 ordain women, 87 do not and 10 -- such as the Latter-day Saints, Jehovah's Witnesses, and Friends -- are in a special category. There is no information on 38 bodies, "primarily small denominations whose reports would not significantly change the aggregate figures," according to Mr. Jacquet.
He stresses that, while this report is as complete as possible, there is still a lack of statistical information on the number of ordained women, the types of jobs they do and their salaries and benefits compared with those of men.
Mr. Jaquet concludes that "the major Protestant denominations with the largest proportion of membership supply a disproportionately smaller number of women clergy than other groups whose theology and tradition was, from the beginning, supportive of equal status for women in their denominational structures. "
Only three of the 10 major Protestant denominations which ordain women began before 1956: American Baptist Churches in the U. S. A., the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), and the United Church of Christ. Fifty-two percent of clergywomen in the 10 major churches are in these three bodies.
The largest number of women clergy, 400, is in the United Church of Christ, which has a total of 9,607 ordained ministers and a membership of 1.8 million. The Christian Church (Disciples) has the second largest number of women ministers, 388 out of 6,793 clergy and 1.3 million members.
Following close behind in the number of women clergy -- but with substantially larger numbers of ordained persons and members -- are the United Methodist Church (319 clergywomen in full connection to a conference of the church, 35,488 ministers, 9. 9 million members) and the United Presbyterian Church in the U.S.A. (295 women among their 13,772 clergy and 2.6 million members).
The American Baptist Churches have a total of 8,566 clergy, of whom 157 are women, and a membership of 1.6 million. The other major churches ordaining women all have fewer than 100 clergywomen: The American Lutheran Church, the Episcopal Church, the Lutheran Church in America, the Presbyterian Church in the U.S., and the Southern Baptist Convention.
The report shows that since 1972 there has been a 118.9 percent increase in seminary enrollment of women, as against 20.2 percent for men.
"Women Ministers in 1977" is available for 25 cents from the Office of Research, Evaluation and Planning of the National Council of Churches, 475 Riverside Drive, New York, N.Y. 10027.