Churches and gender equality!

As we continue to mark the Lenten period this week, the Church of England made history with the installation of the first female Archbishop of Canterbury. Dame Sarah Mullally, a trained nurse, has been appointed as the 106th Archbishop of Canterbury. She will therefore direct the church’s business, ministering to the souls of this powerful church’s millions of members worldwide.

This installation points to what has been a process of forward movement for women within the Church of England. On the other hand, the Roman Catholic Church, the world’s largest Christian denomination, from which the British variant broke in 1534, has lagged behind in according room for advancement for females in a similar fashion.

The very optics of this Wednesday’s ceremony evidenced a large number of women in the hierarchy of the church who played prominent roles during the installation ceremony. Of note too was the fact that the church’s Canon Emeritus was also a black female, the Rev’d Canon Angela Tilby, a British Anglican priest, author and former BBC producer.

While the once so-called “establishment” churches have been very reticent in advancing equality for the females within their flock, we note some differences in other the church denominations within St. Vincent and the Grenadines, across the Caribbean, and globally.

Here in St Vincent and the Grenadines where the Spiritual Baptist’s Church was born in the 19th century, the preference for men at the very top of churches locally remains, though some progress can be observed. Archbishops have tended to be men, although there is a strong tradition of women in top positions such as Mother Superior, Grand Abbess, and Abbess. It was only in the year 2020 that Bishop Elsa Young was listed as part of the Spiritual Baptist Fraternity in SVG.

Similarly while the Pentecostal Assemblies of the West Indies (PAWI) officially ordains women as pastors and recognizes them as ministers, there are no known females at the level of Bishop or Archbishop.

The Seventh Day Adventist world church has not yet voted to authorize the ordination of women as pastors, so therefore lags behind the British and other churches in terms of gender equality.

Within the Baptist churches, some conventions have appointed women as pastors though there seems to be a “glass ceiling” still in place. Pastoral leadership remains the preserve of men, women being relegated to the softer areas of service such as education and ministry to women and children.

Back to the local Anglican Church, in 2019 the Rev’d Allison Samuel became the first Vincentian female priest ordained in St Vincent and the Grenadines. The Rev Oneka Morgan followed years later being ordained in December 2025. It therefore suggests that the colonial Church of England has continued to lead the way in terms of gender equality within the churches operating in our country. Since then there have been other women ordained in the Anglican Communion. And there is a growing number of women’s serving as deacons.

And what of Methodism? Here we have seen women rising to the fore as Ordained Ministers and Presbyters, though males continue to dominate key positions as Bishops, District Superintendents and Conference Presidents.

Regionally, women are increasingly being ordained and leading districts and congregations, though high-level executive positions (such as Connexional Bishop) remain predominantly male.

It does seem clear that although the majority of congregants at our churches are women, there still remains some challenges in breaking the “glass ceiling” within our faith based communities both nationally and globally.