For millions of American churchgoers, ordained
women are old news. Mainline denominations like the United Church Of Christ and
the Episcopal Church USA have been putting women in official ministerial
positions for decades. But as Sarah Sentilles reveals in her poignant study A
Church Of Her Own: What Happens When A Woman Takes The Pulpit, familiarity hasn't
necessarily meant equality. Even in the most liberal churches, the challenge of
a female minister divides congregations and uncovers deep ambivalence about
gender and religion. Sentilles, at one time an aspiring Episcopal priest,
talked to dozens of women who sought ordination, in churches from the far left
to the far right. Some stuck it out, some found other ways to minister; nearly
all have frightening stories to tell. While the book is aimed at an
ecclesiastical audience, the conclusions it draws about the uncertain future of
feminism resonate beyond the church walls.
