By Beverly St. John
As I reflect on the things that women have done over the years to make a difference in this world, and especially in the Cumberland Presbyterian Church, I think of…
… those valiant women who “rose to the occasion” when the Hail brothers put out acall for help to the women of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church to “come to Japan and help us”—rather like the call that came to St. Paul for help in Macedonia! As a result, the Women’s Board of Foreign Missions was organized in 1880 and churches were asked to organize missionary auxiliaries. When the convention met in 1881, two women, Miss Julia Lovett and Miss Alice Orr, were commissioned to go to Japan. Within a couple of years, the Osaka School for Girls was established. It is still in existence today.
… the amazing work done by the women who, inspired by the Great Commission, kept the missionary spirit alive in the Cumberland Presbyterian Church from 1881 through the union of 1906, raising money, opening several new mission fields, recruiting missionaries, and establishing a record in those 25 years that was never matched.
… the three members of the Women’s Board of Foreign Missions who remained with the Cumberland Presbyterian remnant following the union. Along with one missionary (Gam Sing Quah) and just a few dollars, they “rose to the occasion” and started all over again, rebuilding the work of foreign missions from 1906 until 1964. They not only raised money, but increased the number of missionary auxiliaries, recruited missionaries, established missions in Colombia, China, and San Francisco, and re-established a mission field in Japan.
… the women who accepted, though reluctantly, the action of the General Assembly that in 1964 voted to realign the two boards of missions into one Board of Missions, with a Division of Women’s Work, a Division of World Missions, a Division of Home Missions, and a Division of Missionary Education. The Division of Women’s Work was designed to continue the engagement of Cumberland Presbyterian Women not only in missions, but in giving their support and encouragement to all of the boards and agencies of the denomination. The idea was to “take missions to the heart of the church” by asking church sessions to support missions through the congregational budget rather than depending on the women’s groups to raise money to support mission work.
… Mrs. Louisa Woosley, the first woman to become a Cumberland Presbyterian minister. Nolin Presbytery in Kentucky Synod ordained her in 1889, after she had been preaching quite successfully throughout Kentucky and other states. Unfortunately, the denomination did not recognize her ordination until 1921, when the Judiciary Committee submitted a report stating that the word
“ ‘man’ with reference to a human being was a generic term.” (This report was after Congress granted women the right to vote.)
… the women, who since realignment in 1964, have accepted roles of leadership as elders and deacons in their particular congregations. Louisa Woosley opened the way for women in the Cumberland Presbyterian Church to become ordained ministers of Word and Sacrament, but the matter of women becoming ordained Ruling Elders was yet another issue. Until realignment of our Boards of Missions in 1964, the major role of women in the church was to raise money for world missions. Since that time women have been encouraged to participate in every aspect of the work of the denomination, and to accept leadership roles as elders and deacons. When I was elected an elder in 1965, two families left the church. At the present time gender is no longer an issue in the election of an elder in most congregations.
I think of the women who have participated in the ecumenical movement. There was a time when ecumenism was a dirty word. The idea of denominations working together to deal with social and theological issues was suspect. Now, Cumberland Presbyterian Women serve in roles of leadership in Church Women United, and have found great joy in working with women of other denominations and races.
I think of Cumberland Presbyterian women who have worked with Habitat for Humanity as leaders and builders, hammering and painting for families yearning for a home, feeding the hungry, clothing the naked, visiting the prisons, and ministering to the sick.
Since the Hail brothers’ call for women to “come and help” them in Japan 130 years ago, women have been accepted for ordination as teaching elders and ruling elders; three women have been elected moderator of the General Assembly; women are serving on all of the denominational boards and agencies, on presbytery and synod councils; about 40 clergy women were honored during the 2009 General Assembly; and a woman is serving as the top executive of the Ministry Council.
Indeed, Cumberland Presbyterian women have risen to the occasion, have been accepted, and have even fashioned some of the changes of the past 130 years. What will the next 100 years bring?
I would suggest that one challenge for the next 100 years is probably cultural: that is, to develop a more holistic attitude toward women clergy. Yes, the door is open, but only ajar because there are women who have been unable to find positions as pastors. After their seminary training and ordination, the probability of being called to a pastorate is very limited. Women can preach, they can administer the sacraments, they can teach, and they are nurturers by nature…so what is the problem? Maybe it is those nagging words uttered by St. Paul over two thousand years ago: “women shall be silent in the church.” Let us live to see the day when his other words come to us loud and clear: “In Christ there is neither male nor female.”
