Most Americans say the nation is ready for a female president, but is the country ready for a woman to take on the traditional presidential role of comforter, inspirer, moral voice and quasi-spiritual leader? In a country where women’s leadership roles in religion are hotly debated, opinions may differ sharply.

Why it matters

Women’s leadership roles and scriptural references to them have been discussed and debated for decades as some denominations have expanded opportunities for women to lead and others have limited them. While presidents are not religious leaders, they frequently have invoked religious language and values. How would Americans’ views of a female president and Americans’ views of female religious leaders influence each other?

National sources

ACADEMICS

• Sue Crawford is an associate professor of political science at Creighton University in Omaha, Neb. She co-edited Christian Clergy in American Politics and co-authored Women With a Mission: Religion, Gender and the Politics of Women Clergy. Contact 402-280-2569, Crawford@creighton.edu.
• Melissa Deckman is an associate professor of political science at Washington College in Chestertown, Md. She is co-author of Women With a Mission: Religion, Gender and the Politics of Women Clergy and Women and Politics: Paths to Power and Political Influence. Contact 800-422-1782 ext. 7494, mdeckman2@washcoll.edu.
• Adair T. Lummis is a sociologist of religion and a faculty associate in research for the Hartford Institute for Religion Research in Connecticut. Her specialties include women in church leadership. She has co-authored several books on women’s leadership, including Clergy Women: An Uphill Calling. Contact 860-509-9547, alummis@hartsem.edu.
• Laura Olson is professor of political science at Clemson University in Clemson, S.C. Her books include, as co-editor, Christian Clergy in American Politics and, as author, Filled With Spirit and Power: Protestant Clergy in Politics. Contact 864-656-1457, laurao@clemson.edu.  

RELIGIOUS

CHRISTIAN
• Katie Geneva Cannon is president of the Society for the Study of Black Religion. She was the first black woman ordained in the United Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), and she is Annie Scales Rogers Professor of Christian Ethics at Union Theological Seminary in New York City and Presbyterian School of Christian Education in Richmond, Va. She wrote the book of essays Katie’s Canon: Womanism and the Soul of the Black Community. Contact 804-355-0671, kcannon@union-psce.edu.
• Joy Fenner is the first female president of the Baptist General Convention of Texas, the largest Baptist state convention in the nation. Contact her through the Dallas office, 214-828-5100.
• Jacquelyn Grant (see her bio at TheHistoryMakers.com) is Callaway Professor of Systematic Theology at the Interdenominational Theological Center in Atlanta, where she founded and directs the Center for Black Women in Church and Society. She wrote White Women’s Christ and Black Women’s Jesus: Feminist Christology and Womanist Response. She is also assistant minister at Victory African Methodist Episcopal Church in Atlanta. Contact 404-527-5712, jgrant@itc.edu.
•Barbara Harris, a retired Episcopal bishop, was the first female bishop in the Anglican Communion. She currently resides in Massachusetts. Contact through the diocese’s contact page.
• The Rev. Eileen Lindner is deputy general secretary of the National Council of Churches, which represents 100,000 Protestant, Anglican, Orthodox, evangelical, historic African-American and Living Peace congregations. Contact her in New York, 212-870-2333.
• The Rev. Julie Pennington-Russell is senior pastor of First Baptist Church in Decatur, Ga. A megachurch, it is the largest woman-led church affiliated with the Southern Baptist Convention, whose Faith and Message statement states, “While both men and women are gifted for service in the church, the office of pastor is limited to men as qualified by Scripture.” The church is also affiliated with the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship. Contact 404-373-1653, jpr@fbcdecatur.com.
• Katharine Jefferts Schori is presiding bishop of the Episcopal Church. Contact her in New York City, 212-716-6273, pboffice@episcopalchurch.org.
• Emilie Townes is president of the American Academy of Religion and the Andrew W. Mellon Professor of African American Religion and Theology at Yale University. Her books include Womanist Ethics and the Cultural Production of Evil. She is the first African-American woman to be elected as president of the AAR. She is a member of the American Baptist Churches denomination. Contact 203-432-3240, emilie.townes@yale.edu.
• Susan Brooks Thistlethwaite is president of Chicago Theological Seminary and ordained in the United Church of Christ. Contact 773-752-5757.
• The Rev. Sharon Watkins is general minister and president of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), a mainline Protestant denomination. Contact her in Indianapolis, 317-635-3100.  

JEWISH

• Tamara Cohn Eskenazi is editor of The Torah: A Women’s Commentary (2007) and a professor of Bible at Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion in Los Angeles. Contact 800-899-0925 ext. 4263, estenazi@huc.edu.
• Rabbi Janet Ross Marder was the first woman elected president of the Central Conference of American Rabbis, the association of Reform rabbis in the United States. She is senior rabbi of Congregation Beth Am in Los Altos Hills, Calif. Contact 650-493-4661, rabbi_Marder@betham.org.
• Dina Najman is rosh kehillah, or “head of the community,” at Kehilat Orach Eliezer Orthodox synagogue in Manhattan, N.Y. She was given the position even though she is not an ordained rabbi; Orthodox Judaism does not ordain female rabbis. Read an Aug. 21, 2006, New York Times story about her. Contact info@koe.org.  

MUSLIM

• Yvonne Yazbeck Haddad is professor of the history of Islam at the Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C. She is co-author of Muslim Women in America: The Challenge of Islamic Identity Today (2006), among other books. Contact 202-687-2575, haddady@georgetown.edu.
• Ingrid Mattson is president of the Islamic Society of North America. She is also a professor of Islamic studies and Christian-Muslim relations and director of the Islamic Chaplaincy Program at Hartford Seminary in Hartford, Conn. She is widely respected among American Muslims for her scholarship. Contact 860-509-9531 (office), 860-509-9534 (department), imattson@hartsem.edu.
• Jane I. Smith is professor of Islamic studies and co-director of the Duncan Black Macdonald Center for the Study of Islam and Christian-Muslim Relations at Hartford Seminary in Connecticut. She is co-author of Muslim Women in America: The Challenge of Islamic Identity Today (2006). Contact 860-509-9532, jismith@hartsem.edu.

HINDU

• Karen Pechilis is the NEH Distinguished Humanities Professor and professor of religious studies at Drew University in Madison, N.J. She teaches courses and has published on many aspects of women in religion, including her edited volume on leadership, The Graceful Guru: Hindu Female Gurus in India and the United States. Contact 973-408-3124, kpechili@drew.edu.  

BUDDHIST

• Rita Gross is professor emerita in the department of philosophy and religious studies at the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire. She wrote the entry on “Women’s Issues in Contemporary North American Buddhism” in the 2006 Encyclopedia of Women and Religion in North America. Contact 715-836-254, grossrm@uwec.edu.  

SIKH

• Nikky-Guninder Kaur Singh is professor of religious studies at Colby College in Waterville, Maine. She has written about gender and women’s roles in Sikhism in North America. Contact 207-859-4644, nksingh@colby.edu.  

Background

• Read an undated explanation of why the Southern Baptist Convention’s Faith and Message was revised in 2000 to say, “While both men and women are gifted for service in the church, the office of pastor is limited to men as qualified by Scripture.” The explanation was written by the executive committee of the SBC, the largest Protestant denomination in America.
• The Roman Catholic Church says its doctrine that only men can be priests is infallible, which in Catholic teaching means that it is irreversible and without error. See a Nov. 19, 1995, New York Times story about the statement, issued with then-Pope John Paul II’s approval by the Vatican’s Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, which was headed at that time by Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, who is now pope.
• A January 2008 CNN/Opinion Research Corp. poll found that 65 percent of adults said America was ready for a woman president. It’s posted by PollingReport.com.
• A January 2006 CBS News/New York Times poll found that 92 percent of Americans said they would vote for a qualified woman for president, and 55 percent said America is ready for a women president. Read the poll. Read a Feb. 5, 2006, CBS News story that notes that Gallup Polls found that 52 percent of Americans said they would support a woman for president in 1955, 73 percent in 1975 and 82 percent in 1987.
• A September 2006 Gallup Poll found that 6 in 10 Americans said they thought the country was ready for a female commander in chief.
• Ninety-nine percent of senior megachurch pastors are male, according to research from the Hartford Institute for Religion Research.

Regional sources

IN THE NORTHEAST

• Joyce Antler is professor of American Jewish history and culture at Brandeis University in Waltham, Mass. She has written about Jewish women in politics and American public life. Contact 781-736-3036, antler@brandeis.edu.
• Cheryl Townsend Gilkes is a professor of sociology and African-American studies at Colby College in Waterville, Maine. She has written widely, including If It Wasn’t for the Women: Black Women’s Experience and Womanist Culture in Church and Community. Contact 207-859-4715 (she is on sabbatical for the 2007-2008 year.)
• Sister Mary Ann Hinsdale is associate professor of theology at Boston College in Massachusetts. She is author of Women Shaping Theology. Contact 617-552-8603, maryann.hinsdale@bc.edu. (She is on sabbatical in spring 2008.)
• Cynthia Lynn Lyerly is associate professor of history at Boston College in Massachusetts. She has written about women in Southern churches. Contact 617-552-3783, cynthia.lyerly@bc.edu.
• Nancy Pineda-Madrid is assistant professor of theology at Boston College in Massachusetts. She has written about Latina theologians and theology. Contact 617-552-2285, pinedama@bc.edu. (She is on sabbatical for the 2007-08 school year.)  

IN THE EAST

• Anthea Butler is assistant professor of religion at the University of Rochester in Rochester, N.Y. She wrote the chapter “Unrespectable Saints: Women of the Church of God in Christ” in The Religious History of American Women: Reimagining the Past (2007). Contact 585-275-7465, abutler2@mail.rochester.edu.
• The Rev. Joan Brown Campbell, who has standing in the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) and American Baptist Church, directs the department of religion for the Chautauqua Institution in Chautauqua, N.Y. She chairs the Global Peace Initiative of Women Religious and Spiritual Leaders and serves on the national committee of the Clergy Leadership Network for National Leadership Change. Contact her through 716-357-6274 or sthayer@chautauqua-inst.com.
• Mary Hunt is co-founder and co-director of the Women’s Alliance for Theology, Ethics and Ritual. Contact her in Silver Spring, Md., 301-589-2509, water@hers.com.
• Daisy L. Machado is a professor of church history at Union Theological Seminary in New York City. She can discuss women’s religious leadership throughout the nation’s history. Contact 212-280-1385, dmachado@uts.columbia.edu.
• Pamela S. Nadell is the Patrick Clendenen Professor of History and director of the Jewish Studies Program at American University.  She is the author of Women Who Would Be Rabbis: A History of Women’s Ordination, 1889-1985 and co-editor of Women and American Judaism: Historical Perspectives. Contact 202-885-2425, pnadell@american.edu.
• Maureen Trudelle Schwarz is associate professor of anthropology at Syracuse University in New York and author of Blood and Voice: Navajo Women Ceremonial Practitioners. Contact 315-443-4995, mtschwar@maxwell.syr.edu.
• The Rev. Allison Stokes, an ordained minister in the United Church of Christ, is director of the Interfaith Chapel and the M.K. Gandhi Institute for Nonviolence at the University of Rochester’s River Campus. Her books include, as co-author, Defecting in Place: Women Claiming Responsibility for Their Own Spiritual Lives. Contact her through the chapel, 585-275-4321.
• Beth Wenger is associate professor of American Jewish history at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia. She wrote the chapter titled “The Politics of Women’s Ordination: Jewish Law, Institutional Power and the Debate Over Women in the Rabbinate” in Tradition Renewed: A History of the Jewish Theological Seminary. Contact 215-898-5702, bwenger@sas.upenn.edu.  

IN THE SOUTHEAST

• Teresa Fry Brown is an associate professor at Emory University in Atlanta. She is author of Weary Throats and New Songs: Black Women Proclaiming God’s Word and God Don’t Like Ugly: African American Women Handing on Spiritual Values. Contact 404-727-4436, tfry01@emory.edu.
• Jamillah Karim is an assistant professor of religious studies at Spelman College in Atlanta. She has written articles about African-American women in Islam. Contact 404-270-5524, JKarim@spelman.edu.
• Sandy Dwayne Martin is a religion professor at the University of Georgia in Athens. He has written about women’s roles in African-American denominations. Contact 706-542-1485, martin@uga.edu.
• Rosetta E. Ross is an associate professor in the department of philosophy and religious studies at Spelman College in Atlanta. She wrote Witnessing and Testifying: Black Women, Religion and Civil Rights and has written about black women’s interaction with political institutions. Contact 404-270-5527, rross@spelman.edu.
• Women-Church Convergence is a coalition of Catholic organizations and groups that works for the empowerment of women in church and society. It lists member organizations. Contact coordinators Bridget Mary Meehan or Susan Farrell in Falls Church, Va., 703-671-6712.  

IN THE SOUTH

• The Rev. Joan S. Gray is moderator of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.). Contact her in Louisville, Ky., 888-728-7228 ext. 5406, gmoderator@ctr.pcusa.org.
• C. Melissa Snarr is assistant professor of ethics and society at Vanderbilt Divinity School. She is author of Social Selves and Political Reforms, which looks at how Christian views of moral formation affect political engagement. She is writing a book on the role of gender and religion in the U.S. living wage movement. Contact 615-343-0677, melissa.snarr@vanderbilt.edu.  

IN THE MIDWEST

• Catherine A. Brekus is an associate professor of the history of Christianity at the University of Chicago Divinity School. She is editor of The Religious History of American Women: Reimagining the Past (2007) and has written about Protestant female preachers. Contact 773-702-8223,cbrekus@midway.uchicago.edu.(She is on sabbatical for the year 2007-2008.)
• Deborah M. Gill is professor of New Testament exposition at Assemblies of God Theological Seminary in Springfield, Mo. She served as commissioner of discipleship and national director of Christian education for the Assemblies of God and was senior pastor of Living Hope Church in North Oaks, Minn. She has written articles about women clergy in the Assemblies of God. Contact 800-467-2487, dgill@agts.edu.
• Riv-Ellen Prell is a professor of American studies at the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis-St. Paul. She is editor of Women Remaking American Judaism (2007). Contact 612-624-1658, prell001@umn.edu.
• Mary R. Sawyer is a professor of religious studies at Iowa State University in Ames. She has written about women’s leadership roles in the black church. Contact (after Feb. 11) 515-294-3341,sawyerm@iastate.edu. 

IN THE SOUTHWEST

• Martha Sonntag Bradley is a professor of architecture and dean of the Honors College at the University of Utah in Salt Lake City. She is the author of Pedestals & Podiums: Utah Women, Religious Authority & Equal Rights. Contact 801-585-5765,bradley@arch.utah.edu.
• Rabbi Malka Drucker of Santa Fe, N.M., is the author of White Fire: A Portrait of Women Spiritual Leaders in America. Contact 505-988-1860, malka@malkadrucker.com.
• Nancy J. Ramsay is dean of Brite Divinity School at Texas Christian University in Fort Worth, Texas, as well as executive vice president and professor of pastoral theology and counseling. She is ordained in the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.). Contact 817-257-7577, n.ramsay@tcu.edu.  

IN THE WEST/NORTHWEST

• Rita Nakashima Brock is co-director of Faith Voices for the Common Good in Oakland, Calif. An author and religion scholar, she directed a think tank for women at Harvard University. Contact 510-459-5123, rita@faithvoices.org.
• Kathleen M. Moore is an associate professor of law and society at the University of California at Santa Barbara. Contact 805-893-7537, kmoore@lawso.ucsb.edu.
• The Rev. Paula D. Nesbitt is an Episcopal priest whose expertise includes gender differences in clergy. She is priest associate at All Souls Episcopal Church in Berkeley, Calif., and author of Feminization of the Clergy in America: Occupational and Organizational Perspectives. Contact 510-848-1755.