Women and the Church: Historical Contributions

In her book, A Women's History of the Christian Church: Two Thousand Years of Female Leadership, Elizabeth Gillan Muir describes how when attending an International Women's Day event put on by female theological students, it became "readily apparent that theological students were quite unaware of the rich history and extensive contributions of female leadership in the church over the centuries" (p. xi). This page highlights some of those historical contributions. It starts in New Testament times and ends with the advent of the 20th Century. The following page takes it up from there. To find more information on stories and women listed here and on the following page, follow the subjects within the records to other similar materials. Resources are listed here alphabetically by title.