In 1956, Margaret Towner was ordained as the first female minister of Word and Sacrament in a denomination that would become the PC(USA). There was great optimism about the future of women in ministry. Towner’s ordination ran counter to the White male-dominated clergy of the 1950s, during the peak of mainline church membership and influence.
While serving in admissions at McCormick Theological Seminary in the early 2000s, I witnessed a...
