Theology: Contextual Theology: Women's Ordination

Feminization is said to occur when women enter any given occupation in substantial numbers, and ostensibly leads to such dynamics as sex-segregation, reduced opportunities for men, and depressed wages and diminished prestige for the occupation as a whole. Spanning more than 70 years, PaulaNesbitt's study of feminization concentrates on the Episcopal Church and the Unitarian Universalist Association, utilizing both statistical results and interviews to compare occupational patterns prior and subsequent to the large influx of women clergy. Among her findings, the author discovers thata decline in men's opportunities is evident before the 1970s, preceding the great influx of women over the last two decades. She also finds that increases in the number of women ordained reduced occupational prospects for other women, but enhanced those for men, thus contradicting the popular myththat women in the workplace are responsible for occupational decline.

The ordination of women has been one of the most pressingand passionately debated - issues facing the church in recent years. In this volume, based on the prestigious 1995 Didsbury Lectures, R. T. France explores several important questions of biblical interpretation raised by the serious disagreements among Christians over the nature of women's ministry. France primarily focuses on the issues as they are manifest in evangelical circles, where appeal is made instinctively to the authority of Scripture. He challenges readers to think out what it means to claim that our theology and practice are "biblical". His insightful arguments help point the way beyond the impasse over the role and place of women in church ministry.