For as long as the Evangelical Covenant Church has existed, women have played critical roles in service, ministry, and leadership. The common priesthood that is so central to our pietist identity included the ministry of women. Across the entirety of the Covenant’s history, women have served as educators, organizers, missionaries, and parish workers. Named and unnamed, these women served and led without the formal designation of ordination.  

Yet until 1978—nearly 100 years of the denomination’s history—the formal ministerium of the church was comprised entirely of men, and every conference superintendent and executive minister was a man. The possibility of women’s ordained ministry and leadership was introduced at the 1976 Annual Meeting, when, in the context of the broader women’s movement, the Evangelical Covenant Church voted to “go on record favoring the ordination of women.”  

This exhibit commemorates that consequential decision and traces the five decades that followed—decades of challenge, growth, and faithfulness. Explore each of its primary sections to learn more about the individuals, decisions, and tensions that have marked fifty years of women’s ordination in the Evangelical Covenant Church.  

• Explore the Timeline to learn more about key events, structural decisions, and "firsts" that have led to both legislated and cultural change over time.
• Read the faithful stories of Covenant clergywomen, both painful and persevering, in Biographies.
• Follow key publications in the Resources section, including Covenant Companion articles making a biblical case for women's pastoral leadership, decadal studies published in the Covenant Quarterly, resource papers, and more. 
• This exhibit is an ongoing, communal project. Is there an event missing from the timeline? A clergywoman's story you can share? Let us know through the Contribute page.