news article

Women in the pulpit: UNY’s number nearly four times national average

January 5, 2016 / By UNY Communications / .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)

The Upper New York Conference is significantly ahead of the national curve when it comes to women serving in the pulpit.

According to a new analysis of Duke University’s National Congregations Study, women serve as senior or solo pastoral leaders at just 11 percent of congregations in the United States – indicating essentially no overall increase from when the study was first done in 1998. Further, these women-led communities contain only approximately 6 percent of the people who attend the nation’s religious services.

The United Methodist Church, like other mainline Protestant denominations in recent decades, has seen its ranks of clergywomen grow. According to the United Methodist Commission on the Status and Role of Women (COSROW), 27 percent of the denomination’s 54,262 active and retired clergy in 2014 were women. That’s more than double the 11 percent of women clergy the denomination had in 1992.

In Upper New York, the percentage is even closer to gender neutrality. The Conference database has 1,193 members identified as active or retired clergy, and 420 of them are female (35 percent).

Breaking down those numbers further:

• Among the top 10 churches in Upper New York in terms of “average attendance at all weekly worship services” found in the 2015 Upper New York Conference Journal, three are led by a female senior pastor (30 percent).
• Among the top 50 churches in terms of average weekly attendance, 17 are led by a female senior pastor (34 percent).
• Of the 639 clergy serving in some capacity – including both active and retired status – 277 are women, or 43.4 percent.

“Our Conference is among the leaders in empowering women in ministry,” said the Rev. Dr. Michelle Bogue-Trost, pastor at Central UMC in Endicott. “Yet, dialogue about the role and status of ordained women needs to continue. Even with the increasing presence of women in leadership, and some visible cracks in the so-called ‘stained glass ceiling,’ many women in ministry still face the reality that they must prove their call and abilities, especially in congregations that have never experienced the leadership of a woman pastor.”

And there is clearly room to grow – both within the Conference and the denomination.

According to Dawn Wiggins Hare, top executive at COSROW, the number of United Methodist women clergy has stalled since 2009.

“For us to move from this number, we need to make the full inclusion of women into all areas of leadership in the life of our Church a systematic priority as a denomination,” she said.

Of The United Methodist Church’s 66 active bishops only 13 are women. Female senior pastors also remain rare. Of the 100 largest United Methodist congregations in the U.S., only one – Glide Memorial Church in San Francisco – is led by a woman.

“Women bring new perspectives and methods to ministry that have not always been fully appreciated and valued,” Rev. Bogue-Trost said. “Clergy women deeply appreciate colleagues and churches who will listen with open minds and hearts as we bring our gifts and insights to ministry.”

You can read more about the report in Heather Hahn’s United Methodist News Service article: How thick is the stained-glass ceiling?