In Christianity, the ordination of women has been taking place in an increasing number of Protestant and Old Catholic churches, a trend that has accelerated in the 20th century to the present day. Since ancient times, certain churches of the Orthodox tradition, such as the Coptic Orthodox Church, have raised women to the office of deaconess. Within Protestantism, accounts of female preachers go back to at least the time of the English Dissenters, and regular ordination of women presbyters has been commonplace in the Holiness movement tradition since the 19th century. While ordination of women has now been approved in many denominations, it is a very controversial and divisive topic.

Ordination is the process by which people are consecrated by a Christian denomination, that is, set apart as clergy to perform various religious rites and ceremonies such as celebrating the sacraments. The process and ceremonies of ordination varies by denomination. One who is in preparation for, or who is undergoing the process of ordination is sometimes called an ordinand. The liturgy used at an ordination is sometimes referred to as an ordinal.

Overview of the theological debate Most (although not all) Protestant denominations ordain church leaders who have the task of equipping all believers in their Christian service (). These leaders (variously styled elders, pastors, or ministers) are seen to have a distinct role in teaching, pastoral leadership.

Protestant churches have historically viewed the Bible as the ultimate authority in church debates (the doctrine of sola scriptura); as such, the debate over women's eligibility for such offices normally centers around the interpretation of certain Biblical passages relating to teaching and leadership roles. The main passages in this debate include , and , , and .

Increasingly however, supporters of women in ministry argue that the Biblical passages used to argue against women's ordination might be read differently when more understanding of the unique historical context of each passage is available. They further argue that the New Testament shows that women did exercise certain ministries in the apostolic Church (e.g., , , , ; , , and . Often quoting , they argue that the good news brought by Jesus has broken down all barriers and that female ordination is an equality issue that Jesus would have approved of. They also quote , and argue that in talking to Mary, Jesus is calling for women to evangelize.

In turn, those who argue for a male only ministry say that the claims to contexts that change the apparent meaning of the texts at hand to one supporting female ordination are in fact spurious, that the passages that appear to show women in positions of authority do not in fact do so, and the idea that the good news of Jesus brings equality before God only relates to salvation and not to roles for ministry.

Catholics claim that, while all Christians have the right to receive the sacraments, there is no right to ordination. They further claim that the sacraments work ex opere operato, as manifestations of Jesus' actions and words during his life, and that Holy Orders is the manifestation of Jesus' calling of the twelve apostles. As a result, Catholics argue that women and transgender men cannot be ordained.National Catholic Reporter: New canon on women's ordination nothing new

By tradition Anabaptist Brethren

The Church of the Brethren has ordained women since 1958.

Mennonite The Canadian Conference of Mennonite Brethren Churches' has ordained women. The Mennonite Church Canada ordains women. The Mennonite Brethren Church of Canada ordains some women, as determined by their local church communities. The US Conference of Mennonite Brethren Churches will license women but not ordain them. The Mennonite Church USA ordains women. The Brethren in Christ Church ordains women at all levels of leadership, including Bishop. The Mennonite Church of Congo, or CMCo ordains women since 2013, being also part of the bigger Church of Christ in the Congo or CCC. 1

Anglican

The ordination of women in the Anglican Communion has been increasingly common in certain provinces since the 1970s. However, several provinces (such as the Church of Pakistan—a united Protestant Church created as a result of a union between Anglicans, Lutherans, Methodists and Presbyterians) and certain dioceses within otherwise ordaining provinces (such as the Diocese of Sydney in the Anglican Church of Australia), continue to ordain only men. Disputes over the ordination of women have contributed to the establishment and growth of conservative separatist tendencies, such the Anglican realignment and Continuing Anglican movements.

Some provinces within the Anglican Communion, such as the Protestant Episcopal Church in the United States of America, ordain women to the three traditional holy orders of bishop, priest and deacon. Other provinces ordain women as deacons and priests but not as bishops; others still as deacons only; and seven provinces do not approve the ordination of women to any order of ministry. Sarah Mullally became Primate of the Church in England on 1 January 2026.

Baptist Baptist groups that do not support the ordination of women include: The Southern Baptist Convention (the largest of the various Baptist denominations) does not support the ordination of women; however, some churches that are members of the SBC have ordained women. Though each SBC church is autonomous and may choose whether or not to ordain women, the local associations, state conventions, and national convention have the right to not seat messengers from those churches at the annual meetings. General Association of Regular Baptist Churches Not to be confused with General Association of Baptists). American Baptist Association (Not to be confused with American Baptist Churches USA). Baptist Bible Fellowship International Independent Baptist Fellowship of North America Baptist Christian Church of the Republic of Poland

Baptist groups that ordain women include; United States : American Baptist Churches USA, Alliance of Baptists, Cooperative Baptist Fellowship, National Baptist Convention, USA, Inc., Progressive National Baptist Convention, and ConvergeGlenn T. Miller, Piety and Plurality: Theological Education since 1960, Wipf and Stock Publishers, USA, 2014, p. 94 The Baptist Union of Great Britain since 1922 Erich Geldbach, Baptists Worldwide: Origins, Expansions, Emerging Realities, Wipf and Stock Publishers, USA, 2022, p. 111 The Canadian Baptist Ministries since 1947 Gordon L. Heath, Dallas Friesen, Taylor Murray, Baptists in Canada: Their History and Polity, Wipf and Stock Publishers, USA, 2020, p. 73 The Australian Baptist Ministries since 1978 Erich Geldbach, Baptists Worldwide: Origins, Expansions, Emerging Realities, Wipf and Stock Publishers, USA, 2022, p. 112 The Convention of Philippine Baptist Churches since 1980 Erich Geldbach, Baptists Worldwide: Origins, Expansions, Emerging Realities, Wipf and Stock Publishers, USA, 2022, p. 112 The Union of Evangelical Free Churches in Germany since 1992. Erich Geldbach, Baptists Worldwide: Origins, Expansions, Emerging Realities, Wipf and Stock Publishers, USA, 2022, p. 112 The Okinawa Baptist Convention, Japan The Baptist Union of Scotland since 1999.

Catholic

In the Catholic Church women are not ordained to any clerical position. The independent organization Roman Catholic Womenpriests aims to try to reverse this policy.

Lutheran

Europe The Lutheran churches within the Evangelical Church in Germany (EKD) ordain women and have women as bishops. The Independent Evangelical-Lutheran Church in Germany does not ordain women. The Evangelical Lutheran Church of Latvia reversed its earlier (1975) decision to ordain women as pastors. Since 1993 it no longer does so in practice. Since 2016 this principle has been affirmed in its constitution. The Lutheran state churches in the Nordic countries ordain women as pastors and have women as bishops. The first female pastors were ordained in the Church of Denmark in 1948, in Sweden in 1960, Norway in 1961, in Iceland in 1974 and in Finland in 1988. While the Church of Sweden ordained its first female pastors in 1960, there was a considerable debate in this church of the ordination of women, which led to marginalization of a vocal high-church minority, which successively subdivided into loyalist high-church adherents on one hand and the splinter group Missionsprovinsen which was formed in 2003 but in 2005 was separated as a church body from the Church of Sweden. Although the ordination of women was accepted by the Church of Finland in 1988, controversy over the issue occasionally surfaces among the more conservative wing of the church. Occasional debate on the matter has caused church membership resignations.Eroakirkosta.fi – Naispappeuskiista tuplannut kirkosta eroamisen The Estonian Evangelical Lutheran Church (EELC) began to ordain women in 1967 and 2004 all obstacles that forbade women to be consecrated as bishops were removed although none have yet been consecrated. The Evangelical Church of the Augsburg Confession in Poland ordains women as pastors since 2022. 9 pastors are women. The Evangelical Church of the Augsburg Confession in Slovakia ordains women as pastors since 1951 and women can be elected bishops. The Slovak Evangelical Church of the Augsburg Confession in Serbia ordains women as pastors. Out of 20 pastors in Serbia, 6 are women.

United States The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) is the largest Lutheran body in the US. The church bodies that formed the ELCA in 1988 began ordaining women in 1970 when the Lutheran Church in America ordained Elizabeth Platz. In 2017 about 27% of the rostered leaders were women and about 50% of the seminarians preparing for ministry were women. In 2013 the first female presiding bishop of the ELCA, Elizabeth Eaton, was elected. In 2018 16 of the 65 synodical bishops (17 bishops including Presiding Bishop Eaton) in the ELCA were women The General Lutheran Church ordains women. The Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod (LCMS), which is the second largest Lutheran body in the United States, does not ordain women. The Lutheran Congregations in Mission for Christ (LCMC) also allows for the ordination of women. The North American Lutheran Church, was founded in 2010 does ordain women. The NALC has established ecumenical dialog with a number of Lutheran bodies, both those that ordain women and those that do not. The Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod does not ordain women. The Evangelical Lutheran Synod does not ordain women. The Church of the Lutheran Confession does not ordain women. The Lutheran Evangelical Protestant Church (GCEPC) has ordained women since its inception in 2000. Ordination of women is not a controversial issue in the LEPC/GCEPC. Women are ordained/consecrated at all levels, including deacon, priest, and bishop in the LEPC/GCEPC.

Africa The Evangelical Lutheran Church in Tanzania (ELCT) decided to ordain women in 1990, but does not have any women bishops. Some dioceses are still opposed to the ordination of women. The Ethiopian Evangelical Church Mekane Yesus (EECMY) began to ordain women in 2000 but does not continue this practice since confessional Lutheranism has become stronger in this church body during recent years.

Australia/Oceania The Lutheran Church of Australia endorses the ordination of women.

Methodist