Ordination of women in Protestant churches

The ordination of women in Protestant churches has often been carried out in light of the theological doctrine of the priesthood of all believers

Priesthood of all believers

The universal priesthood or the priesthood of all believers, as it would come to be known in the present day, is a Christian doctrine believed to be derived from several passages of the New Testament...

, which might include women if the expression is taken in a very literal sense.

Elders, pastors and ministers

However, most (although not all) Protestant denominations still ordain church leaders who have the task of equipping all believers in their Christian service . These leaders (variously styled elders, pastors or ministers) are seen to have a distinct role in teaching, pastoral leadership and the administration of sacrament

Sacrament

A sacrament is a sacred rite recognized as of particular importance and significance. There are various views on the existence and meaning of such rites.-General definitions and terms:...

s.

Traditionally these roles were male preserves, but over the last century, an increasing number of denominations have begun ordaining women. The notion of a priesthood reserved to a select few is seen as an Old Testament

Old Testament

The Old Testament, of which Christians hold different views, is a Christian term for the religious writings of ancient Israel held sacred and inspired by Christians which overlaps with the 24-book canon of the Masoretic Text of Judaism...

concept, inappropriate for Christians. Since, however, no women appear in the New Testament as ordained ministers, (deacons, presbyters, and bishops) many Protestant churches continue to restrict ordination to males.

Relevant Biblical passages

The debate over women's eligibility for such offices normally centers around interpretation of certain Biblical passages relating to teaching and leadership roles. This is because Protestant churches usually view the Bible as the ultimate authority in church debates (the doctrine of sola scriptura
Sola scriptura
Sola scriptura is the doctrine that the Bible contains all knowledge necessary for salvation and holiness. Consequently, sola scriptura demands that only those doctrines are to be admitted or confessed that are found directly within or indirectly by using valid logical deduction or valid...

). Thus the Church is free to change her stance, if the change is deemed in accordance with the Bible. The main passages in this debate include , and , ,

Views taken in the New Testament

Increasingly, supporters of women in ministry also make appeals to evidence from the New Testament that is taken to suggest that women did exercise certain ministries in the apostolic Church (e.g., , , , ; , and ) and that the Biblical passages used to argue against women's ordination might be read differently when a clear understanding of the unique historical context of each passage is available. Opponents argue that while women in the early church occupied positions of "leadership," such as deaconesses, prophetesses, and organizers of congregations, there is no scriptural authorization for women to hold the pastoral office with the responsibility for preaching to the congregation and administering the sacraments.

Examples within specific churches

The Apostolic Johannite Church has offered ordination to women as deacons, priests and bishops since its foundation.
Baptist
Baptist
Baptists comprise a group of Christian denominations and churches that subscribe to a doctrine that baptism should be performed only for professing believers , and that it must be done by immersion...

Churches

The Baptist Churches in Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...

and Switzerland
Switzerland
Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....

(Bund Evangelisch-Freikirchlicher Gemeinden, Bund Schweizer Baptistengemeinden) ordain women.
The Southern Baptist Convention
Southern Baptist Convention
The Southern Baptist Convention is a United States-based Christian denomination. It is the world's largest Baptist denomination and the largest Protestant body in the United States, with over 16 million members...

does not support the ordination of women; however, some churches that are members of the SBC have ordained women.
Cooperative Baptist Fellowship churches actively encourage and ordain women to ministry, including as pastors.
Baptist groups in the United States that do ordain women include American Baptist Churches USA
American Baptist Churches USA
The American Baptist Churches USA is a Baptist Christian denomination within the United States. The denomination maintains headquarters in Valley Forge, Pennsylvania. The organization is usually considered mainline, although varying theological and mission emphases may be found among its...

, North American Baptist Conference
North American Baptist Conference
North American Baptist Conference - initially an association of Baptists in the United States and Canada of German ethnic heritage.The roots of the NABC go back to 1839, when Konrad Anton Fleischmann began work in New Jersey and Pennsylvania with German immigrants. Fleischmann was a Swiss...

, Alliance of Baptists
Alliance of Baptists
The Alliance of Baptists is a fellowship of Baptist churches and individuals in the United States. In its theology and social stances, the Alliance is characterized as a progressive or liberal Christian fellowship...

, Cooperative Baptist Fellowship
Cooperative Baptist Fellowship
The Cooperative Baptist Fellowship is a Christian fellowship of Baptist churches formed in 1991. Theologically moderate, the CBF withdrew from the Southern Baptist Convention over philosophical and theological differences, such as the SBC prohibition of women serving as pastors. The Cooperative...

(CBF) National Baptist Convention, USA, Inc.
National Baptist Convention, USA, Inc.
The National Baptist Convention, USA, Inc. is the largest predominantly African-American Christian denomination in the United States and is the world's second largest Baptist denomination...

and Progressive National Baptist Convention
Progressive National Baptist Convention
The Progressive National Baptist Convention, Incorporated is a convention of African-American Baptists emphasizing civil rights and social justice....

.
- The Charismatic Church of God ordains women as Missionaries, Evangelists, and Pastors.
- The Canadian Conference of Mennonite Brethren Churches
  Canadian Conference of Mennonite Brethren Churches
  The Canadian Conference of Mennonite Brethren Churches is an association of Mennonite Christians with origins in southern Russia. It is part of the larger Mennonite Brethren Church and shares some common history with the US Conference of Mennonite Brethren Churches.-Background:A small group of...
  
  has ordained women.
- The Mennonite Church Canada
  Mennonite Church Canada
  Mennonite Church Canada is the conference of Mennonites in Canada, with head offices in Winnipeg, Manitoba.The first Mennonites in Canada arrived from Pennsylvania in 1786. The majority of the Mennonites that migrated to Canada over the next 150 years came directly from Europe...
  
  ordains women.
- Christian Connection Church. An early relative of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ)
  Christian Church (Disciples of Christ)
  The Christian Church is a Mainline Protestant denomination in North America. It is often referred to as The Christian Church, The Disciples of Christ, or more simply as The Disciples...
  
  and the United Church of Christ
  United Church of Christ
  The United Church of Christ is a mainline Protestant Christian denomination primarily in the Reformed tradition but also historically influenced by Lutheranism. The Evangelical and Reformed Church and the Congregational Christian Churches united in 1957 to form the UCC...
  
  , this body ordained women as early as 1810. Among them were Nancy Gove Cram, who worked as a missionary with the Oneida Indians by 1812, and Abigail Roberts (a lay preacher and missionary), who helped establish many churches in New Jersey. Others included Ann Rexford, Sarah Hedges and Sally Thompson.
- It is believed that the Christian and Missionary Alliance
  Christian and Missionary Alliance
  The Christian and Missionary Alliance is an evangelical Protestant denomination within Christianity.Founded by Rev. Albert Benjamin Simpson in 1887, the Christian & Missionary Alliance did not start off as a denomination, but rather began as two distinct parachurch organizations: The Christian...
  
  does not ordain women, but a female minister in Philippines, Ruth Tablada, has recently been ordained.
- The Church of Scotland
  Church of Scotland
  The Church of Scotland, known informally by its Scots language name, the Kirk, is a Presbyterian church, decisively shaped by the Scottish Reformation....
Women were commissioned as deacons from 1935, and allowed to preach from 1949.
In 1963 Mary Levison petitioned the General Assembly for ordination.
Woman elders were introduced in 1966 and women ministers in 1968.
The first female Moderator of the General Assembly was Dr Alison Elliot in 2004.

Neither the Free Church of Scotland, nor the Free Church of Scotland (Continuing)
Free Church of Scotland (Continuing)
The Free Church of Scotland is a Scottish Presbyterian denomination which was formed in January 2000...

ordains women.
The Free Reformed Churches of North America
Free Reformed Churches of North America
The Free Reformed Churches of North America is a theologically conservative federation of churches in the Dutch Calvinist tradition with congregations in the United States and Canada. It officially adopted its current name in 1974...

ordain men only.
The Cumberland Presbyterian Church
Cumberland Presbyterian Church
The Cumberland Presbyterian Church is a Presbyterian Christian denomination spawned by the Second Great Awakening. In 2007, it had an active membership of less than 50,000 and about 800 congregations, the majority of which are concentrated in the United States...

. In 1888 Louisa Woosley was licensed to preach. She was ordained in 1889. She wrote Shall Woman Preach.
Community of Christ
Community of Christ
The Community of Christ, known from 1872 to 2001 as the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints , is an American-based international Christian church established in April 1830 that claims as its mission "to proclaim Jesus Christ and promote communities of joy, hope, love, and peace"...

. A revelation was approved at the church's 1984 World Conference which called for the ordination of women, and granted women access to all the offices of the priesthood. Although this caused many congregations to break off from the main body of the church, forming dissident congregations and in some cases new denominations, women have been ordained in many nations since then. Currently the Council of Twelve Apostles has four female members. In addition, in 2007, Becky L. Savage became the first female member of the church's First Presidency
First Presidency
In the Latter Day Saint movement, the First Presidency was the highest governing body in the Latter Day Saint church established by Joseph Smith, Jr. in 1832, and is the highest governing body of several modern Latter Day Saint denominations...

. Following the legislative action of the 1984 World Conference, the church changed the name of one of its priesthood offices from evangelist-patriarch to evangelist, and its associated sacrament, the patriarchal blessing, to the evangelist's blessing.
The Evangelical Church in Germany
Evangelical Church in Germany
The Evangelical Church in Germany is a federation of 22 Lutheran, Unified and Reformed Protestant regional church bodies in Germany. The EKD is not a church in a theological understanding because of the denominational differences. However, the member churches share full pulpit and altar...

in (EKD) ordains women and have women as bishops.
The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America
Evangelical Lutheran Church in America
The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America is a mainline Protestant denomination headquartered in Chicago, Illinois. The ELCA officially came into existence on January 1, 1988, by the merging of three churches. As of December 31, 2009, it had 4,543,037 baptized members, with 2,527,941 of them...

ELCA is the largest Lutheran body in the USA. The church bodies that formed the ELCA in 1988 began ordaining women in 1970 when the Lutheran Church in America
Lutheran Church in America
The Lutheran Church in America was a U.S. and Canadian Lutheran church body that existed from 1962 to 1987. It was headquartered in New York City and its publishing house was Fortress Press....

ordained the Rev Elizabeth Platz
Elizabeth Platz
The Rev Elizabeth Alvina Platz is an American Lutheran pastor and was the first woman in North America ordained by a Lutheran church body. She was ordained in November 1970 into the Lutheran Church in America . The ordination of women, approved earlier that year by both the LCA and The American...

. The ordination of women is now non-controversial within the ELCA.
The Evangelical Lutheran Church of Latvia
Evangelical Lutheran Church of Latvia
The Evangelical Lutheran Church of Latvia is a Lutheran Protestant church in Latvia. Latvia's Lutheran heritage dates back to the Reformation. Both the Nazi and communist regimes persecuted the church harshly before religious freedom returned to Latvia in 1988.The Church is governed by a...

reversed its earlier (1975) decision to ordain women as pastors. Since 1993, under the leadership of Archbishop Janis Vanags, it no longer does so.
The Independent Evangelical-Lutheran Church
Independent Evangelical-Lutheran Church
The Independent Evangelical-Lutheran Church is a confessional Lutheran church body of Germany. It is a member of the European Lutheran Conference and a member of the International Lutheran Council . The SELK synod has about 36,000 members in 200 congregations...

in Germany does not ordain women.
The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod (LCMS), which is the second largest Lutheran
Lutheranism
Lutheranism is a major branch of Western Christianity that identifies with the theology of Martin Luther, a German reformer. Luther's efforts to reform the theology and practice of the church launched the Protestant Reformation...

body in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

, does not ordain women.
The Lutheran state churches in Denmark
Church of Denmark
The Evangelical Lutheran Church in Denmark, Church of Denmark or Danish National Church, is the state church and largest denomination in Denmark and Greenland...

, Sweden
Church of Sweden
The Church of Sweden is the largest Christian church in Sweden. The church professes the Lutheran faith and is a member of the Porvoo Communion. With 6,589,769 baptized members, it is the largest Lutheran church in the world, although combined, there are more Lutherans in the member churches of...

, Finland
Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland
The Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland is the national church of Finland. The church professes the Lutheran branch of Christianity, and is a member of the Porvoo Communion....

, Norway
Church of Norway
The Church of Norway is the state church of Norway, established after the Lutheran reformation in Denmark-Norway in 1536-1537 broke the ties to the Holy See. The church confesses the Lutheran Christian faith...

and Iceland
Church of Iceland
The National Church of Iceland, or Þjóðkirkjan, formally called the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Iceland, is the state church in Iceland. Like the established churches in the other Nordic countries, the National Church of Iceland professes the Lutheran branch of Christianity. Its head is the...

ordain women and these Lutheran churches in Europe have women as bishops already. While the Church of Sweden was the first Lutheran church to ordain female pastors in 1958, there was a considerable debate in this church of the ordination of women, which lead to marginalization of a vocal high-church minority, which successively subdivided into loyalist high-church adherents on one hand and the splinter group Missionsprovinsen
Missionsprovinsen
Missionsprovinsen is a second, independent ecclesiastical province within the Church of Sweden and somewhat also inside the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland, founded by members of the "orthodox opposition" to the ordination of women to the priesthood and episcopate...

which was formed in 2003 but in 2005 was separated as a church body from the Church of Sweden.
The Lutheran Evangelical Protestant Church
The Lutheran Evangelical Protestant Church
The Lutheran Evangelical Protestant Church is a mainline Protestant denomination also known by its non profit corporation name the Evangelical Protestant Church .The earliest Lutherans in America came from Dutch, Swedish and German stock...

(GCEPC) has ordained women since its inception in the year 2000. Ordination of women is not a controversial issue in the LEPC/GCEPC. Women are ordained/consecrated at all levels including deacon,priest, and bishop in the LEPC/GCEPC.
The Moravian Church ordains women.
The Pentecostal
Pentecostalism
Pentecostalism is a diverse and complex movement within Christianity that places special emphasis on a direct personal experience of God through the baptism in the Holy Spirit, has an eschatological focus, and is an experiential religion. The term Pentecostal is derived from Pentecost, the Greek...

church in Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...

allows ordination of women.
The Pentecostal Mission
The Pentecostal Mission
The Pentecostal Mission or New Testament Church formerly known as Ceylon Pentecostal Mission , is a pentecostal denomination which originated in Ceylon, now Sri Lanka. The international headquarters is now situated in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India...

does not ordain women pastors.
The Presbyterian Church (USA)
Presbyterian Church (USA)
The Presbyterian Church , or PC, is a mainline Protestant Christian denomination in the United States. Part of the Reformed tradition, it is the largest Presbyterian denomination in the U.S...

. In 1893, Edith Livingston Peake was appointed Presbyterian Evangelist by First United Presbyterian of San Francisco. Between 1907 and 1920 five more women became ministers. The Presbyterian Church (USA)
Presbyterian Church (USA)
The Presbyterian Church , or PC, is a mainline Protestant Christian denomination in the United States. Part of the Reformed tradition, it is the largest Presbyterian denomination in the U.S...

began ordaining women as elders in 1930, and as ministers of Word and sacrament in 1956. By 2001, the numbers of men and women holding office were almost equal.
The Presbyterian Church in America
Presbyterian Church in America
The Presbyterian Church in America is an evangelical Protestant Christian denomination, the second largest Presbyterian church body in the United States after the Presbyterian Church . The PCA professes a strong commitment to evangelism, missionary work, and Christian education...

does not ordain women. In 1997, the PCA even broke its fraternal relationship with The Christian Reformed Church over this issue.
The Orthodox Presbyterian Church
Orthodox Presbyterian Church
The Orthodox Presbyterian Church is a conservative Presbyterian denomination located primarily in the United States. It was founded by conservative members of the Presbyterian Church in the United States of America who strongly objected to the pervasive Modernist theology during the 1930s . Led...

does not ordain women.
The Presbyterian Church of Australia
Presbyterian Church of Australia
The Presbyterian Church of Australia is the largest Presbyterian denomination in Australia. .-Beginnings:...

ceased ordaining women to the ministry in 1991, but the rights of women ordained prior to this time were not affected.
The Reformed Churches in Switzerland
Switzerland
Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....

and in the Netherland
Netherland
Netherland is a critically acclaimed novel by Joseph O'Neill. It concerns the life of a Dutchman living in New York in the wake of the September 11 attacks who takes up cricket and starts playing at the Staten Island Cricket Club.-Plot summary:...

s ordain women.
The Salvation Army
Salvation Army
The Salvation Army is a Protestant Christian church known for its thrift stores and charity work. It is an international movement that currently works in over a hundred countries....

ordains women.
The Seventh-day Adventist Church
Seventh-day Adventist Church
The Seventh-day Adventist Church is a Protestant Christian denomination distinguished by its observance of Saturday, the original seventh day of the Judeo-Christian week, as the Sabbath, and by its emphasis on the imminent second coming of Jesus Christ...

officially does not ordain women. In North America
North America
North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...

the Adventist Church
Seventh-day Adventist Church
The Seventh-day Adventist Church is a Protestant Christian denomination distinguished by its observance of Saturday, the original seventh day of the Judeo-Christian week, as the Sabbath, and by its emphasis on the imminent second coming of Jesus Christ...

, however, commissions women instead of ordaining. They can perform all the same duties as an ordained minister but do not hold the title of ordained. This is because recent votes at the worldwide General Conference Session
General Conference Session
The General Conference Session is the official world meeting of the General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists. The first session was held on May 20, 1863 with 20 delegates in attendance, and it is now held quinquennially ....

s turned down a proposal to allow ordination of women. There was a strong polarization between nations, with Western countries generally voting in support and other countries generally voting against. A further proposal to allow local choice was also turned down. In practice, there are numerous women working as ministers and in leadership positions. The most influential co-founder of the church, Ellen G. White
Ellen G. White
Ellen Gould White was a prolific author and an American Christian pioneer. She, along with other Sabbatarian Adventist leaders, such as Joseph Bates and her husband James White, would form what is now known as the Seventh-day Adventist Church.Ellen White reported to her fellow believers her...

, was a woman.
The United Church of Canada
United Church of Canada
The United Church of Canada is a Protestant Christian denomination in Canada. It is the largest Protestant church and, after the Roman Catholic Church, the second-largest Christian church in Canada...

. Divided during the 1930s by this issue inherited from the churches it brought together, the United Church ordained its first woman minister, Reverend Lydia Emelie Gruchy, of Saskatchewan Conference in 1936. In 1953, Reverend Lydia Emelie Gruchy was the first Canadian woman to receive an honourary Doctor of Divinity.
The United Church of Christ
United Church of Christ
The United Church of Christ is a mainline Protestant Christian denomination primarily in the Reformed tradition but also historically influenced by Lutheranism. The Evangelical and Reformed Church and the Congregational Christian Churches united in 1957 to form the UCC...

. Antoinette Brown
Antoinette Brown
Antoinette Louisa Brown, later Antoinette Brown Blackwell , was the first woman to be ordained as a minister in the United States...

was ordained as a minister by a Congregationalist Church in 1853, though this was not recognized by her denomination. She later became a Unitarian
Unitarianism
Unitarianism is a Christian theological movement, named for its understanding of God as one person, in direct contrast to Trinitarianism which defines God as three persons coexisting consubstantially as one in being....

. Women's ordination is now non-controversial in the United Church of Christ.
The United Methodist Church
United Methodist Church
The United Methodist Church is a Methodist Christian denomination which is both mainline Protestant and evangelical. Founded in 1968 by the 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...

does ordain women. In 1880, Anna Howard Shaw
Anna Howard Shaw
Anna Howard Shaw was a leader of the women's suffrage movement in the United States. She was also a physician and the first ordained female Methodist minister in the United States. Her birthday is celebrated as Anna Howard Shaw Day, as an alternative to St. Valentine's Day.-Early Life:Shaw was...

was ordained by the Methodist Protestant Church
Methodist Protestant Church
The Methodist Protestant Church is a regional Church body which was officially formed in 1828 by former members of the Methodist Episcopal Church, remaining Wesleyan in doctrine and worship, but adopting congregational governance....

; Ella Niswonger was ordained in 1889 by the United Brethren Church
Church of the United Brethren in Christ
The Church of the United Brethren in Christ is an evangelical Christian denomination based in Huntington, Indiana. It is a Protestant denomination of episcopal structure, Arminian theology, with roots in the Mennonite and German Reformed communities of 18th century Pennsylvania, as well as close...

. Both denominations later merged into the United Methodist Church. In 1956, the Methodist Church in America granted ordination and full clergy rights to women. Since that time, women have been ordained
Holy Orders
The term Holy Orders is used by many Christian churches to refer to ordination or to those individuals ordained for a special role or ministry....

full elders (pastors) in the denomination, and 21 have been elevated to the episcopacy
Bishop
A bishop is an ordained or consecrated member of the Christian clergy who is generally entrusted with a position of authority and oversight. Within the Catholic Church, Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox Churches, in the Assyrian Church of the East, in the Independent Catholic Churches, and in the...

. Noemi Diaz is the first Hispanic women ordained by an Annual Conference. New York Annual Conference did the honors. The first woman elected and consecrated Bishop within the United Methodist Church (and, indeed, the first woman elected bishop of any mainline Christian church) was Marjorie Matthews
Marjorie Matthews
Marjorie Swank Matthews was an American Bishop of the United Methodist Church. She was born 11 July 1916 in Onaway, Michigan....

in 1980. Leontine T. Kelly
Leontine T. Kelly
Leontine Turpeau Current Kelly is a retired American Bishop of the United Methodist Church. She was born 5 March 1920 in Washington, D.C., one of eight children. Her father, David D. Turpeau, Sr., was a prominent Methodist minister, who later served four terms in the Ohio House of Representatives...

, in 1984, was the first African-American woman elevated to the episcopacy
Bishop
A bishop is an ordained or consecrated member of the Christian clergy who is generally entrusted with a position of authority and oversight. Within the Catholic Church, Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox Churches, in the Assyrian Church of the East, in the Independent Catholic Churches, and in the...

in any mainline denomination. In Germany Rosemarie Wenner
Rosemarie Wenner
Rosemarie Wenner is the current Presiding Bishop of the United Methodist Church in Germany.Rosemarie Wenner studied in Reutlingen, Germany...

is since 2005 leading bishop in the United Methodist Church.
The United Reformed Church
United Reformed Church
The United Reformed Church is a Christian church in the United Kingdom. It has approximately 68,000 members in 1,500 congregations with some 700 ministers.-Origins and history:...

in the United Kingdom ordains women.

Women as bishops

Some Protestant and Anglican churches have allowed women to become their bishops:

1929: Mariavite Church
Mariavite Church
The Mariavite Church is an independent Christian church that emerged from the Catholic Church of Poland at the turn of the 20th century. Initially, it was an internal movement leading to a reform of the Polish clergy. After a conflict with Polish bishops, it became a separate and independent...

in Poland
Poland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...

—abp. Antonina Maria Izabela Wiłucka—Kowalska and 11 sisters.
1980: United Methodist Church
United Methodist Church
The United Methodist Church is a Methodist Christian denomination which is both mainline Protestant and evangelical. Founded in 1968 by the 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...

—Marjorie Matthews
Marjorie Matthews
Marjorie Swank Matthews was an American Bishop of the United Methodist Church. She was born 11 July 1916 in Onaway, Michigan....
1989: Episcopal Church in the United States of America—Barbara Clementine Harris
Barbara Clementine Harris
Barbara Clementine Harris was the first woman ordained a bishop in the Anglican Communion.-Education:...
1989: Anglican Church of New Zealand—Penelope Ann Bansall Jamieson
1992: North Elbian Evangelical Lutheran Church—Maria Jepsen
Maria Jepsen
Maria Jepsen was the bishop of Hamburg in the North Elbian Evangelical Church. She became the first Lutheran female bishop in the Evangelical Church in Germany and worldwide on 4 April 1992, and since then she has been re-elected for a second ten-year period.She resigned on 16 July 2010 due to...
1993: Church of Norway
Church of Norway
The Church of Norway is the state church of Norway, established after the Lutheran reformation in Denmark-Norway in 1536-1537 broke the ties to the Holy See. The church confesses the Lutheran Christian faith...

—Rosemarie Köhn
Rosemarie Köhn
Rosemarie Köhn was a bishop in the Diocese of Hamar of the Church of Norway who retired from her post as of November 1, 2006. Bishop Köhn was born to a German father and Norwegian mother and immigrated to Norway in 1946.Köhn graduated from the University of Oslo with a cand.theol. degree...
1994: Anglican Church of Canada
Anglican Church of Canada
The Anglican Church of Canada is the Province of the Anglican Communion in Canada. The official French name is l'Église Anglicane du Canada. The ACC is the third largest church in Canada after the Roman Catholic Church and the United Church of Canada, consisting of 800,000 registered members...

—Victoria Matthews
Victoria Matthews
Victoria Matthews is Bishop of Christchurch in the Anglican Church in Aotearoa, New Zealand, and Polynesia. At her ordination to the episcopate in 1994, she became the first ever female bishop in the Anglican Church of Canada.- Life :...
1995: Church of Denmark
Church of Denmark
The Evangelical Lutheran Church in Denmark, Church of Denmark or Danish National Church, is the state church and largest denomination in Denmark and Greenland...

—Lise-Lotte Rebel
Lise-Lotte Rebel
Lise-Lotte Rebel is a master of theology from the University of Copenhagen .She has since 2. April 1995 been bishop of the Diocese of Helsingør in the Danish National Church.- External links :*...
1996: Church of Sweden
Church of Sweden
The Church of Sweden is the largest Christian church in Sweden. The church professes the Lutheran faith and is a member of the Porvoo Communion. With 6,589,769 baptized members, it is the largest Lutheran church in the world, although combined, there are more Lutherans in the member churches of...

—Christina Odenberg
Christina Odenberg
Christina Odenberg is the retired bishop of the Diocese of Lund in Sweden between 1997 and 2007. Appointed by the Government of Sweden on June 5, 1997, she became the first woman bishop in the history of the Church of Sweden...
1998: Moravian Church in America—Kay Ward
1998: United Church of Christ in the Philippines
United Church of Christ in the Philippines
The United Church of Christ in the Philippines is a Christian denomination in the Philippines...

—Nelinda Primavera-Briones
1998: Presbyterian Church in Guatemala
1999: Czechoslovak Hussite Church
Czechoslovak Hussite Church
The Czechoslovak Hussite Church is a Christian Church which separated from the Roman Catholic Church after World War I in former Czechoslovakia. It traces its tradition back to the Hussite reformers and acknowledges Jan Hus as its predecessor...

—Jana Šilerová
1999: Evangelical Lutheran State Church of Hanover-Margot Käßmann
Margot Käßmann
Margot Käßmann is a Lutheran theologian and was Landesbischöfin of the Evangelical-Lutheran Church of Hanover in Germany. On 28 October 2009, she was elected to lead the Evangelical Church in Germany, a federation of Protestant church bodies in Germany...
2000: African Methodist Episcopal Church
African Methodist Episcopal Church
The African Methodist Episcopal Church, usually called the A.M.E. Church, is a predominantly African American Methodist denomination based in the United States. It was founded by the Rev. Richard Allen in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in 1816 from several black Methodist congregations in the...

—Vashti Murphy McKenzie
Vashti Murphy McKenzie
Vashti Murphy McKenzie was elected as the first female bishop in the African Methodist Episcopal Church. She is also the national chaplain of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Incorporated and the granddaughter of Delta founder Vashti Turley Murphy...
2001: Evangelical Church of Bremen- Brigitte Boehme
2003: The Lutheran Evangelical Protestant Church
The Lutheran Evangelical Protestant Church
The Lutheran Evangelical Protestant Church is a mainline Protestant denomination also known by its non profit corporation name the Evangelical Protestant Church .The earliest Lutherans in America came from Dutch, Swedish and German stock...

(GCEPC)USA—Nancy K. Drew
2007: Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada
Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada
The Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada is Canada's largest Lutheran denomination, with 152,788 baptized members in 624 congregations, with the second largest, the Lutheran Church–Canada, having 72,116 baptized members...

- Susan Johnson
Susan Johnson (bishop)
Susan Johnson is the current National Bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada . She is the first woman to hold the post....
2008: Anglican Church of Australia
Anglican Church of Australia
The Anglican Church of Australia is a member church of the Anglican Communion. It was previously officially known as the Church of England in Australia and Tasmania...

—Kay Goldsworthy
Kay Goldsworthy
Kay Goldsworthy is a bishop of the Anglican Diocese of Perth, Western Australia. In April 2008 she was chosen to become an assistant bishop in the diocese by the Archbishop of Perth, Roger Herft...
2008: African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church
African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church
The African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church, or AME Zion Church, is a historically African-American Christian denomination. It was officially formed in 1821, but operated for a number of years before then....

—Mildred Hines
2009: Evangelical Church in Central Germany
Evangelical Church in Central Germany
The Evangelical Church in Central Germany is a United church body covering most of the German states of Saxony-Anhalt and Thuringia and some adjacent areas in Brandenburg and Saxony .- History :...

-Ilse Junkermann
Ilse Junkermann
Ilse Junkermann is the current German, bishop of the Evangelical Church in Central Germany, a member church of the Evangelical Church in Germany.- Life :...
2010: Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland
Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland
The Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland is the national church of Finland. The church professes the Lutheran branch of Christianity, and is a member of the Porvoo Communion....

- Irja Askola
Irja Askola
Irja Kaarina Askola born December 18, 1952 in Lappeenranta is the Bishop of Helsinki in the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland.The Diocese was established in 1959 by dividing the Diocese of Tampere. It covers only 1% of the country's territory, but contains 10% of the population. The diocese...
2011: North Elbian Evangelical Lutheran Church- Kirsten Fehrs
2011: Evangelical Church of Westphalia
Evangelical Church of Westphalia
The Evangelical Church of Westphalia is a Protestant church body in the German state of Northrhine-Westphalia. It's the most important Protestant denomination in Westphalia...

- Annette Kurschus
Others: Protestant Churches in German Lutheran, Reformed and United churches (EKD), Protestant Church of the Netherlands, Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada
Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada
The Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada is Canada's largest Lutheran denomination, with 152,788 baptized members in 624 congregations, with the second largest, the Lutheran Church–Canada, having 72,116 baptized members...

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