Presbyterian Women in America: Two Centuries of a Quest for Status

This second edition of Boyd and Brackenridge's acclaimed history of Presbyterian women in America traces women's affiliation with Presbyterianism for more than two centuries—from 1789 to the present. In the first century after the establishment of the General Assembly, churchmen expected females to be silent, subordinate, and submissive in the church; ordination was forbidden. However, women in the 19th century organized into local groups devoted to mission and Christian education projects. This fascinating historical account traces the evolvement of these groups into the women's boards of the late 19th and early 20th centuries that influenced women's current equal role in the pulpits, sessions, and courts of the church. Boyd and Brackenridge raise important issues concerning diversity, sustenance of community, and ordination—issues that will affect women's position in the church in the 21st century.