Congregational leader's perception of the pastoral role : An analysis of the acceptance of women pastors

The United Presbyterian Church in the United States of America and other protestant denominations have officially recognized the ordination of women as pastors since the early 1950's. Despite official recognition, local churches have been reluctant to accept women as pastors. This research surveyed 610 congregational leaders in 52 churches. The sample was stratified in two different ways. The first stratification measured the effect of exposure to women pastors. The stratas were Churches with Women Pastors, Multiple Staff Churches with Women on the Staff, Churches with Male Pastors from the Same Presbytery as the Women Pastors, and Churches from Presbyteries without Female Clergy. The second stratification was by the gender of the congregational leader.

Three questions were examined. The first analyzed the sex-role expectations of the pastoral role. An internal and an external referent was used. Under the latter, congregational leaders indicated that they expect androgynous behavior from pastors. When the internal referent was applied, the leaders expected feminine behavior. Congregational leaders preferred androgynous or feminine behavior from their pastor-, but they expected that pastor to be a male.

MANOVA was used to determine the effect of exposure to women pastors and the effect of the gender of the respondent. Although the research design established four strata of exposure, the results revealed only two. The basic condition for increased acceptance of women pastors is to have a woman pastor working in the local church. The MANOVA analysis refuted the common myth that women members of the congregation are less supportive of women pastors. On those variables that were significant, the female congregational leaders were more accepting than the male.