Shifts in American Religion: Women

Robert Putnam and David Campbell, American Grace: How Religion Divides and Unites Us, sketch the facts when it comes to women in American religious communities, and here’s a major conclusion:

Religious Americans have largely accepted the gender revolution, at the same time that many of them, especially evangelicals, staunchly resist the sexual revolution.

Put differently, when it comes to women in ministry and participating more in church leadership there is no evidence of a slippery slope among evangelicals.

When you read this post, what comes to mind about the correlation of trends? Why the disparity between what Christians (evangelicals too) believe and the percentage of women in leadership? How do these numbers explain the rise — or the seeming rise — of those who oppose women in ministry?

What do you think explains the shifts in greater support for women clergy?

Here are some facts:

Between 1970 and 2000 they have mapped trends in feminist views by church attendance, and what they show is that church attenders correlate substantially — uncannily so I would say — with culture at large. Thus, what they are saying is that the church bought into gender transformations. Here are indications of gender transformations in the last thirty years:

Married women should not work: 28% believed this in 1970; 19% in 2000.
Better for a man to achieve; women at home: 70% believed this in 1970 to 42% now.
Wife should help husband’s career, not her own: 70% to 23% now.
Mothers working hurts children: 50% to 23% now.
Women take care of home, not country: 40% to 20% now.
Would not vote for female President: 27% to 8% now.

What about women clergy?The numbers here are dramatic, and they compare 1986 numbers to 2006 numbers:

Mainliners: 82% in favor of women clergy in 1986, 93% in favor in 2006.
Black Prots: 64% to 86%.
Anglo Catholics: 54% to 75%.
Evangelicals: 50% in favor in 1986 but now they are at 75%.
Latino Catholics: 57% in 2006. (No number in 1986.)

Very clearly, the numbers are moving rapidly and there is now an overwhelming majority of evangelicals who favor women clergy. Three out of four favor women clergy.

Furthermore, the numbers who favor more presence of women are approximately 65%; only 16% think the role of women in churches is the way it should be; 19% think women have too big of a role in church.