Women Ministers Double in Decade, Now Total 20,730

The number of women ordained to the full ministry nearly doubled in the last decade, and 20,730 women are pasdors now, the National Council of Churches said Monday.

The council said that in 1986--the most recent year for reliable statistics--the percentage of women clergy in those churches ordaining women stood at 7.9% of all ordained pastors, contrasted with 4% in 1977.

The report said 84 major denominations ordain women and 82 do not. In 1977, only 77 denominations ordained women.

The survey looked at ordination to the “full ministry,” meaning the office in the denomination having “the most complete and unrestricted set of functions relating to the ministry of the Gospel, administering the Word and Sacrament, or carrying out the office of pastor or priest in the church.”