Presbyterian Women in America: Two Centuries of a Quest for Status / Edition 2

by Lois A. Boyd, R. Douglas Brackenridge

Overview

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.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780313298417
Publisher:	Bloomsbury Academic
Publication date:	06/18/1996
Series:	Contributions to the Study of Religion Series , #46
Edition description:	2nd ed.
Pages:	216
Product dimensions:	6.14(w) x 9.21(h) x 0.50(d)

About the Author

LOIS A. BOYD is Assistant to the Vice President for Academic Affairs of Trinity University in San Antonio, Texas. Formerly, she served as director and editor of Trinity University Press. She is the author of a booklength checklist Religion in Contemporary Fiction and co-author of Presbyterians and Pensions: A History of the Board of Pensions of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.).

R. DOUGLAS BRACKENRIDGE is Professor of Religion at Trinity University in San Antonio, Texas. He has published widely in the field of American religious history with a special interest in Presbyterian institutional history and biography. His most recent book with Lois A. Boyd is Presbyterians and Pensions: A History of the Board of Pensions of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.).

Table of Contents

Preface
The Lay Participation of Women
Pious Females: Leading to the Church Woman's Decade, 1789-1880
Woman's Boards: Developing a Bureaucracy, 1880-1958
Advocates for Continuity and Change: Evolving Women's Organizations, 1958-1994
Laywomen in Church Professions: Serving the Denomination, 19th and 20th Centuries
The Ordination of Women
Shall Women Speak? Questioning Women's Roles, 1789-1920
Unrest in the Church: Securing Ordination Rights, 1920-1958
Presbyterian Clergywomen: Entering a New Frontier, 1958-1994
Epilogue: Considering the 21st Century
Selected Bibliography
Index

Editorial Reviews

Incorporates the profound changes in the American Presbyterian church since 1981 when the first edition ended, such as the unification of the northern and southern denominations, and women's achievement of full enfranchisement and ordination rights. Focusing on the national rather than local level, traces changes in the lay participation of women and their ordination from 1789 until 1995, and considers the future. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

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