According to the U.S. Department of Labor one in every eight clergy is female, with the Unitarians having the highest percentage of female clergy in their ranks, followed by the United Church of Christ and the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ). The Southern Baptist Convention is, naturally, dead last.

The Fayetteville Observer reports:

The role of women in religion has been controversial for centuries, and the debate is not over. Groups of Roman Catholics keep pushing for female priests, but the church says no. The Southern Baptist Convention has declared that women do not belong in the pulpit, but some Baptist congregations are hiring them anyway.

So what does the Bible say about the leadership role of women? In the Anglican Mission in America study, the case in favor of ordination points out that texts barring women from leadership may have been unique to the culture of the Roman Empire. Jesus welcomed women into ministry and in fact depended on them. Women were the first witnesses to the resurrection of Jesus. After Christ's death, the apostles followed his example of including women in the life of the church. Women are even referred to as prophets in the Bible.

The role of women in Christian churches is important in American society because churches end up doing do much to influence the way in which many Americans see the relationship between men and women. The struggle to prevent women from voting and from gaining other civil rights was often framed in religious terms and religious leaders were among those who sought to keep women in a second-class status. So long as prominent churches continue to teach that women aren't as good as men spiritually, it will be difficult for the men in those churches to see women as being equal socially and politically. This, in turn, influences how all women in America are treated, even those who belong to churches that do teach equality between the sexes and women who belong to no church and no religious organization whatsoever.

Read More:

• Fundamentalism
• Religious Right
• Evangelicalism
• Southern Baptist Convention