Through trail blazing and setbacks, courageous women pave the way to full clergy rights.

In the Methodist tradition, the path to ordination begins with Susanna Wesley’s 1712 letter to her husband, Samuel, defending her right to lead prayer meetings in her home. Later, in 1771, Mary Bosanquet writes to John Wesley, asking, “May I Preach?”

In 1853, Lydia Sexton is granted a license by the United Brethren Church. Other women, like Maggie Newton Van Cott, tell critics that God commissions women to preach, not men. It is in 1920 that the Methodist Episcopal Church grants women the right to a local preacher’s license.

The rocky path finally leads to that day in 1956 when the Methodist Church grants women the right to ordination and pastoral appointments. Fifty years ago, 27 women seek full clergy rights. Today, nearly 12,000 clergywomen serve the United Methodist Church worldwide.

DRAMATIC READING: An Interview with Georgia Harkness on the Full Clergy Rights for Women - Friday, May 4, 1956 (See below.)

What I’m going to say to you today, you may find difficult to believe. Most prophets, agents of change, so full of confidence, so assured that God’s word ignites their message, also experience moments of despair.

Georgia Harkness, in her life-long work for justice, says, “The struggle to create a more Christian world, if taken seriously, will lead you into ways of unpopularity and loneliness which only the person whose life is grounded in God finds power to stand.”

The prophet John the Baptist calls people to repent. “The reign of God is here,” he proclaims. “At the door is God’s Messiah, the Christ. Oh, he’s stronger than I am. He is a man of wind and a man of fire.”

But, the voice of John, stirring the desert and all the people who gather, that voice is now silent. While he is holding service, the police come, bind him, arrest him, and take him away.

Now I know you’re probably saying to yourself, “Well, that’s what they ought to do. Most preachers should be arrested for their sermons.” But not John, not John. This is what happens.

Herod Antipas is the ruler of Galilee at the time John is preaching. He is one of the sons of Herod the Great. Herod Antipas rules in Galilee and his brother, Philip, rules in the land just north of there, which is today a part of Syria. Philip is married to their niece. Now follow this closely, it’s going to be hard.

Philip is married to a niece, the daughter of another brother of theirs, Aristobulus. However, while Philip’s back is turned, his brother, Herod Antipas, the ruler of Galilee, takes the niece to be his wife. Herod Antipas takes Herodias, his niece and sister-in-law. Two brothers marry the same niece, for goodness sake!

Well, John is kind of an old fashioned preacher. He doesn’t think very highly of incest and adultery. So he hurls these sins into the teeth of the ruler, Herod Antipas. Of course the ruler can’t stand having some preacher out there yelling against the royal palace. So he has John arrested.

But this is not the part I’m talking about when I say that you may find it hard to believe. It is not his arrest. It’s what happens after he is in prison. That’s what is difficult to believe.

When John is in prison, Matthew tells us, he hears about the ministry of Jesus. He hears about what Jesus is saying and doing. So John calls some of his followers to him in the prison, asking them to take a message to Jesus.

Now the message sent by John to Jesus is this: “Are you the Christ? Are you the Messiah? Are you the one we’re looking for? Are you, he? Or should we wait for someone else?”

Can you believe that? This powerful preacher now asking, “Are you really, he?”

What about all those sermons! Dozens and dozens of sermons pointing to this one, standing at the door, about to come, get ready, and now in prison, he says, “Are you really, he?”

He has sunk into doubt. He has plunged into confusion. “Are you, he? Or shall we look for another?”

What plunges John into despair is this: When he hears what Jesus is saying…when he hears what Jesus is doing, he says, “Are you really the Messiah?”

You see, John is a man who preaches that there is one coming who is full of wind and fire, someone stronger than I am, a judge in our midst.

And here comes Jesus, and there’s no wind. There’s no fire!

The Bible describes the ministry of Jesus, using the words of the prophet, Isaiah. He writes, “This man doesn’t hassle anybody. You won’t hear him yelling in the street. He has such a tender care that nothing be lost. He would not break a bruised reed. He would not smother a smoking wick. He is so gentle.”

This is not what John expects.

What does he expect? What does he want Jesus to say? Jesus’ disciples ask him to call down fire on a community that doesn’t believe, or listen, or welcome. The disciples say, “Call down fire from heaven and burn them up!” What do you expect Jesus to say, John? “Let them burn!” But Jesus says, “No, let’s go on to another town. Leave them alone.”

When someone hits you on one cheek…? What do you expect Jesus to say? “Hit’em back!”

When somebody calls you a foul name, saying things about you that are not true? What do you do? You expect Jesus to say “Retaliate! Eye for an eye.” No! Do good to those who hate you. Speak good of those who mistreat you. Love your enemies.

When you’re at the altar and you remember that somebody has something against you, what’d you expect Jesus to say? “Well, that’s their problem if they have something against me, it’s not my problem!” He said, “No, no, no! It is! You go and make it right.”

What do you expect Jesus to say when they bring him the woman taken in adultery? We’re not talking about rumor here. She is taken in adultery. What do you expect him to say? “Now you’re going to be punished to the full extent of the law! Mandatory sentence!” But he says, “I do not condemn you. Go and sin no more.” Is that disappointing?

When he is put on the cross and looks down on those who crucify him, what do you want him to say? “You’re going to burn for this. You’re going to get yours for this! What goes around comes around.” He says, “Father, forgive them. They don’t know what they’re doing.” Is that disappointing?

I hate to admit it, but I know…I know that Jesus is a disappointment to some people. He has his chance to use the power of heaven: to teach them a lesson, put them in their place, show them what’s right and wrong, punish the wicked.

Yet, he sends back to John in prison this answer: “The cripple are walking; the blind are seeing, the deaf are hearing, the dead are raised, the lepers are cleansed and the poor people hear good news. Tell that to John.”

Is that disappointing to any of you?

I never want this church to disappoint anybody, but I know it will disappoint some.

That’s why we will have some people come one time and never come back.

Because some of them expect to hear the fiery word of judgment, rejecting
some, putting others in their place, turning others out for misbehaving, making moral police work our primary job here.

And they won’t hear it and they won’t see it. And they’ll go away disappointed. I know that’s true.

I read recently about a family tradition. I know about it, because I go with my grandmother as a young child, but I forget. Our ancestors, years ago, go out walking, usually on a Sunday afternoon, sometimes alone, sometimes coupled, sometimes whole families. They call it, “going marveling”, marveling. They look for beautiful rocks, wildflowers, four-leaf clovers, amazing things in God’s creation. They collect what they see, bringing them back to the house, showing off the marvelous things they find. Isn’t that a delightful thing, to go marveling?

When I read that, and am reminded of the tradition, I go marveling myself. I don’t live very far from here. I leave the house and go marveling. And several miles away, I come upon a pavilion. Inside, I see a lot of people, singing and praying, caring and serving, sharing their love for each other. They are vowing that they will, and they promise each other and God that they will make every effort, God helping, to re-produce the life of Jesus in this place. And I marvel! I marvel! And I say to myself, “Look what I have found right here in this place called St. Luke’s”. Amazing!

Amen.

BENEDICTION (From You Can’t Be a Beacon)
May God’s love surround you; may you find a brighter day.
May God grant you the peace you seek in every way.
God’s light burns in each life, yours and mine
And you can be a beacon if you’ll let it shine.

---

Full Clergy Rights for Women – Friday, May 4, 1956

Written and Edited by Rev. Clayton Childers, General Board of Church and Society
With Gretchen Hakola, Linda Bales, Garey Eakes, and Amanda Tomkins
Revised by Susan McIntosh

Scene: Hotel Lobby, Friday, May 4, 1956, Minneapolis, MN

Characters:
Religion Reporter for WJM News
Theologian - Dr. Georgia Harkness, Professor of Religion at Pacific School of Religion
Rev. Zach Johnson, from Kentucky Conference
Several Voices, 3 women and at least two men

Reporter This is ___ reporting to you live from downtown Minneapolis where a historic event is taking place. The Methodist Church has just agreed that women should be given the same rights as men to be members of the clergy. Here with me is Dr. Georgia Harkness, Professor of Religion at the Pacific School of Religion. Tell me, Dr. Harkness, how did this amazing event take place?
Harkness I can say that it certainly wasn't easy. However, through much prayer and discernment, we have made changes to the Book of Discipline that move it closer to our evolving understanding of God.
Reporter Are you saying that God changes?
Harkness No. What changes is our understanding of God. As the human race has changed and grown in our understanding of God's creation, our understanding of God, too, has changed.
Reporter But isn't it true that women are currently serving as pastors in local churches?
Harkness Yes. Women are already serving in the local churches, performing ministerial functions. They are not, however, considered members of the conference. So while their associate male pastors and lay representatives can participate in annual conference meetings, these women cannot vote or speak.
Reporter Who decides if a change to the Book of Discipline is in order?
Harkness Requests for modifications are made as petitions to the General Conference every four years. In this situation, we had over 2000 petitions on the issue, and all were considered by the Committee on Ministry, who in turn created a final recommendation made to the conference.
Reporter I see. So tell me, was this change to the Discipline an easy process?
Harkness Oh, by no means. The debate lasted most of today. We had several motions on the floor to consider, starting with the Committee's original proposal.
Voice 1 The Committee on Ministry recommends that paragraph 313 be changed so that it reads as follows:
“Women are included in all provisions except that only unmarried women and widowers may apply as candidates to the traveling ministry or continue therein.”
Voice 2 I move that Paragraph 313 of the Discipline be Amended to read as follows:
‘Women are eligible for all Orders of the ministry and full Conference membership; provided, however, that Women may be left without appointments, and with the approval of the Annual Conference, thereby appointed whenever the Bishop and Cabinet are satisfied that all reasonable efforts have been made and no suitable appointment for her can be found.”
Voice 3 I move that the Majority Report be amended by deleting the words “that only unmarried women and widowers may apply.”
Voice 4 I move that we amend the proposed amendment to read: ‘women are included in all provisions, except that married Women can only be so included by a three-fourths (3/4) vote of the Annual Conference, rather than the regular majority vote.”
Voice 1 I move that we delete all of Paragraph 313 and insert a new Paragraph to read: “Any Annual Conference may include women in the provisions of the Discipline which apply to the traveling ministry, and may establish limitations for the inclusion of women in such provisions.”
Voice 2 I bring a substitute motion to the Majority Report No. 2, Par. 313. I move that the phrase: “women are included in the foregoing provisions, except in so far as they apply to candidates for the traveling ministry” be entirely deleted from the Methodist Discipline.
Harkness And all of these proposals were voted down. We did have quite a lively debate on the issues. Many people expressed their concerns in many different areas.
Voice 3 Women with families to care for should not have to serve in the ministry.
Voice 4 Mr. Chairman, if my children are to be educated in the Sunday school, I would prefer that to be under the leadership of a married woman rather than a single woman. I feel that a married woman with a normal family life is on the average better fitted to lead our Church than is a single woman.
Voice 1 Is this Conference prepared to say that no woman, however qualified educationally, shall be called of God to spiritual leadership?
Voice 2 I do not believe that we should discriminate against any of the women, married or unmarried. It is the same type of thing that prevailed when women were trying to get suffrage, the right to vote. If we discriminate against our women in this particular thing, it does away with the whole principle of women having equal rights in any field.
Female A If you vote yes, are you willing to honestly say to your District Superintendent, "Yes, send me a female pastor?" If you vote yes, are you willing to say to your Bishop, "Yes, send me a woman District Superintendent?" Finally, are you willing to say, "Yes, send me and my conference a woman Bishop?" Now you may think that is an exaggerated idea, but believe me, it is not.
Female B We are currently far short of the number of ministers needed to adequately serve the churches and expand our church program, while the reserve of well-trained women ministers is being ignored. Because of tradition we are losing valuable and much needed leadership. Women are accepted as candidates for the ministry and are permitted to graduate from seminaries. They are permitted to perform all the services that male ministers perform, and they are required to attend the sessions of Annual Conference. Each woman minister brings her Lay Delegate. The Lay Delegate is permitted to sit within the bower of the conference and has both full voting rights and the privilege of the floor, but the female minister has no such privileges. She can neither speak nor vote.
Some say that the churches will not accept a female minister, but we know that some Conferences are already using female ministers most satisfactorily. A female Conference Member being guaranteed an appointment is another one of the objections some raise. But why not for women as well as for men, if they have equal opportunities and equal qualifications?
Voice 3 I am from Bengal, India. We, from the far-flung ends of the world, look up to America for inspiration and guidance in matters of progress and forward movement. So I am a bit amused at myself by the fact that I should come from the back woods of Bengal to champion the Full Clergy Rights for Woman.
Female A Allowing women into the ministry will deplete the number of Deaconesses, and at this time we do not have enough Deaconesses to work in our institutions and we need to fill the ranks of older Missionaries.
Female C I am the General Secretary of the Commission on Deaconess Work of The Woman’s Division of Christian Service. We trust that the program of Deaconess Work will in no way be confused with this issue of Clergy Rights For Women. In no way do we believe that the extension of Full Clergy Rights will affect the recruitment of Deaconesses.
Voice 4 We remind you that our traveling ministry operates within an appointive system. Pastors are appointed to local churches. Churches are expected to accept the pastors appointed to them. If the proposed legislation is enacted, let us not assume that women preachers will be sent only to little churches, to undesirable churches, to undesirable circuits, or places no one else wishes to fill. If our Charges operated upon a Call System, the proposed legislation would present no problem, for under such a system a church would issue a call only to a minister whom the congregation desired. Congregations that don’t want female ministers could simply choose not to call them.
Under our appointive system, though, every Ministerial Member of an Annual Conference must be appointed to a Pastoral Charge, whether there is a Charge that wants that minister or not. It is not with any ill-will, but only with a sense of the importance of the practical problems of administration, that I urge the conference to not change our current system.
Female B The Methodist Church has always been able to adapt itself to change and should set an example in granting equal rights and opportunities of service to all its members, regardless of sex.
Voice 1 That we are of divided opinion, of course, is self-evident. Yet I am sure that those who are for Full Clergy Rights for Women or not for Full Clergy Rights for Women are all trying to be motivated and guided by a spirit of love and the spirit of our Christ.
Voice 2 We have been saying for several quadrennia now, “Some day we will do it.” The time has come to do it now! Let us get on with the voting.
Reporter We are joined now by the Rev. Zach T. Johnson of Kentucky. Hello Pastor.
Johnson Hello.
Reporter I understand that you played a major role in the proceedings regarding clergy rights for women.
Johnson Well, I guess I did. I made the amendment that was finally approved.
Reporter And what was that amendment, Rev. Johnson?
Johnson Well, I said - " I move that we amend the substitute motion by changing the phraseology so that paragraph 313 will read as follows: “Women are included in the foregoing provisions, and may apply as candidates for the traveling ministry as provided for in Chapter 3 of the Discipline.”
Reporter That’s it?
Johnson That’s it.
Reporter And was that approved?
Johnson Well, at first, it didn't seem to be, but a count vote was taken….
Harkness Where we counted all the votes rather than just eyeball the hands (is this right?)
Johnson And the final count was 389 in favor, 297 opposed.
Reporter What a remarkable journey for the Methodist church to take.
Harkness Yes, and this was just one leg of the journey. The way I see it, the Church is on a pilgrimage and it is constantly faced with difficult choices. Most of the time, we choose to move forward. Not all the time. Sometimes we just tread water. Sometimes we even choose to turn back. On the issue of slavery, for example, we moved forward for a while, and then backward. This was one more step forward, where we can agree with God that all of God's creation is good.

The Bible says that “in Christ there is neither Jew nor Greek, male nor female, slave nor free.” I think this is Paul at his best, a passage where he proclaims the all-encompassing, all-inclusive call and invitation of God. No one is left out. All are called. All human distinctions are set aside.
Reporter Thank you very much Dr. Harkness, and Rev. Johnson. This is ___ reporting.