Preacher woman
Description
The Cooperative Baptist Fellowship (CBF) is a denominational entity that theologically and organizationally supports the equal leadership of men and women in the church. However, despite women graduating from Baptist seminaries in almost equal numbers as men, women remain vastly underrepresented in pastoral positions, particularly senior pastor positions, a phenomenon referred to as the “stained glass ceiling” (e.g. Purvis, 1997). This study examines the taken-for-granted gendered organizational processes within CBF-affiliated congregations that contribute to and reinforce barriers faced by Baptist women pastors despite organizational and theological goals of gender equality and the official affirmation of women’s equal leadership in the church. By applying the theoretical lens of gendered organizations (Acker 1990) and the methodological approach of critical ethnography, this research addresses the following questions: (1) Why/how do CBF-affiliated congregations that are officially committed to gender equality reinforce outcomes of gender inequality? (2) What are gendered barriers faced by women pastors within CBF-affiliated congregations? This research demonstrates the gendered division of labor across 656 CBF-affiliated churches through a database displaying the sex composition of every church position. Results show that women occupy only five percent of solo senior pastor positions and hold ninety-five percent of ministerial assistant roles. Through further analyses of data from congregational surveys (N=187), church staff and congregant interviews (N=53), participant observation (40+ hours), and official church documents, this study unveils organizational barriers faced by women pastors prior, during, and after congregational hiring processes. Specifically, these gendered barriers include exclusionary theology, a dearth of mentors and role models, a lack of opportunities to gain pastoral experience, congregational hiring criteria that advantages men, congregants’ conscious and unconscious gender biases, and congregants’ perceived incongruence of the female body with the masculinized role of pastor. Despite congregational intentions of gender equality, the identified gendered organizational processes demonstrate that women pastors face barriers even after effectively breaking through the stained glass ceiling thus resulting in what I term the “stained glass labyrinth.” Finally, this study illustrates women pastors’ forms of resistance and makes recommendations of strategies for long-term organizational change.