Knowra Women’s ordination Women’s ordination Women’s ordination is the authorization of women for Christian ministerial offices through rites that confer ecclesiastical standing and responsibilities. Churches differ over which offices women may hold and whether ordination is permitted.
Ordination of women in the Anglican Communion : The authorization of women as deacons, priests, or bishops in Anglican churches, adopted at different times across the Communion. Anglican provinces illustrate how one communion can permit women’s ordination while retaining internal disagreement.
Junia : A first-century Christian named in Romans 16:7, whose description as notable among the apostles has been debated. Interpretations of Junia’s apostolic status shape arguments about women’s leadership in the earliest churches.
Women bishops : Women who hold the episcopal office of bishop in churches that permit their consecration. Access to episcopal office is a distinct consequence where women’s ordination extends beyond priesthood.
Ordination : A religious rite or formal act that appoints a person to an office of ministry and grants recognized responsibilities. Women’s ordination is a question about who may receive this rite and its offices.
Ordination of women in the Roman Catholic Church : The Roman Catholic Church’s restriction of priestly ordination to men, grounded in its interpretation of sacramental tradition and authority. Its teaching provides a prominent institutional case against women’s priestly ordination.
Phoebe (biblical figure) : A Christian from Cenchreae whom Paul calls a diakonos and a benefactor in Romans 16:1–2. Phoebe’s title and responsibilities inform debates about women’s ministry in the Pauline churches.
Church of England women priests : Women ordained as priests in the Church of England since the first such ordinations in 1994. Their ordination marked a major institutional change in a church with global Anglican influence.
Christian ministry : Service and leadership undertaken in Christian communities, formally or informally, for worship, teaching, care, and mission. Ordination is one institutional form of Christian ministry, not its entirety.
Ordination of women in the Eastern Orthodox Church : The Eastern Orthodox churches’ practice of reserving priestly and episcopal ordination to men, alongside debate over the historical order of deaconesses. Orthodox practice distinguishes priestly ordination from the contested history of women deacons.
Priscilla : A first-century Christian teacher who, with Aquila, instructed Apollos in the Christian movement’s teachings. Her teaching role is cited in discussions of women’s authority in early Christian communities.
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