7 Christian denominations that don't allow women to serve as pastor

By CP Staff, Monday, August 14, 2023

Presbyterian Church in America

The Presbyterian Church in America was founded in 1973, having split from the Presbyterian Church in the United States (Southern) due to various theological issues, among them being the acceptance of women’s ordination in the mainline denomination.

“When the PCA was formed, objection to the ordination of women as pastors and elders was an animating issue,” noted a report by the PCA regarding women serving in church ministries.

“We agreed upon it and rallied around it (all of us, men and women), because we rightly saw that it was an issue of biblical authority.”

However, the theologically conservative denomination does debate the extent to which women can serve in the ministries of the Church, including the issue of female deacons.

One PCA blog entry from May explained that “dozens of PCA churches list, portray, or refer to women as deacons (not the sexed, informal term deaconess) or as members of the diaconate.”