Thursday Throwback: 1994 Female Pastors

CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. (WDEF) — For this week’s Thursday Throwback, we continue to look at a series from 30 years ago about churches in our area. A topic they were struggling with in 1994 is still being debated in 2024: Can women serve as pastors of a church?

In the story, reporters spoke to a female pioneer in the area, plus the churches that still say no to them.

A 2022 report found that almost 13 % of senior pastors in the U.S. are now women.

A survey of Protestant pastors found that 55% of them now say their church would allow a woman to serve as senior pastor.

Methodists, Pentecostals and reformed Presbyterians are the most likely to have female pastors.

Baptists are still least likely, with only 29% of churches allowing them.