VENTURA, Calif. (ABP) — The percentage of churches in the United States employing a woman as senior pastor has doubled during the past decade, according to a new survey by the Barna Group.
The evangelical pollster said one church in 10 now employs a female pastor. From the early 1990s through 1999, just 5 percent of pastors of Protestant churches were women. Barna called it a "substantial" gain.
The majority of women in the pastorate — 58 percent — are affiliated with a mainline Protestant denomination such as the American Baptist Churches USA, United Church of Christ, Episcopal Church, Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, United Methodist Church or Presbyterian Church.
Pam Durso, executive director of Baptist Women in Ministry, said she would not describe gains by women in moderate Baptist churches during the past 15 as "substantial," but "steady."
In 1993, Durso said, 51 women were serving as pastors of Baptist churches in the South. Now 115 women have been identified as pastors or co-pastors of churches affiliated with the Baptist General Association of Virginia, Baptist General Convention of Texas, Cooperative Baptist Fellowship or Alliance of Baptists.
"While the overall percentages of women pastors remain lower than that of mainline Protestants, the number of Baptist women pastoring has slowly but steadily increased," Durso said.
She said Baptist Women in Ministry, which was founded in 1983 but just recently hired a full-time executive director, "is now in a pro-active position and is seeking to assist Baptist women in their search for ministry positions and to assist churches."
The Barna study found that women pastors tend to be older than their male counterparts — the median age for women is 55 compared to 52 for males. They are also better educated. More than three-fourths of women pastors have a seminary degree (77 percent) compared to less than two-thirds (62 percent) of males.
Despite their educational achievement, female pastors typically earn less money than men. The average compensation package for female pastors is $45,300, compared to $48,600 for males. Barna said that may be due in part to the size of their congregations. Male pastors lead churches that average 103 adults in attendance on a typical weekend, compared to 81 in the average church led by a female pastor.
Bob Allen is senior writer for Associated Baptist Press.