I think it would fluxuate like with all work places and places of worship.  Some churches/offices seem more sexist/less sexist et cetera...

And sometimes ther just are more men in the room.  And vice versa.

The same goes for people going out for the priesthood.

As-salaamu alaikum

-Omni

Hi Kinst,

Basically it depends on who you talk with.

Some will say it is ultra-feminist and others will say it is ultra-patriarchical.

The reality probably lies in the broad swath between those two.

Everything in the United Church will depend on where you go.

Mardi is the most recent woman moderator of The United Church of Canada.

Mardi is also the most recent lay moderator of The United Church of Canada.

So, there are not a lot of female, lay moderators that have gone before her.  Only two, I think, in that category beside her (Anne Squire and Marion Best).  I'm going from memory so others feel free to jump in and correct me if I've missed one or wrongly identified one.

Grace and peace to you.

John

Every United Church I have attended, including my church as a boy in the 50s, had a strong female presence and I don't just mean in terms of serving food and washing up.  Is it feminist?  Well, that term has a rather broad (no pun intended) meaning, so I don't think we could answer in the affirmative.  Are there feminists in the UCC in important positions?  Yep, and there have been for some time.  Is the UCC more predisposed towards women's issues than many other churches?  Again, I would say yes.

I would like to add that the people who had the biggest impact on my faith, even though I wandered for some years, were the women Sunday School teachers in the church I attended more than 50 years ago.  Kind, gracious, generous loving Christian women who taught me about the presence of God in all things and about panentheism (although they would not even have known that word).  I keep praying that someday I will have even a fraction of their patience, compassion and capacity to forgive.

Amen, Donny

Kinst wrote:

When I've visited United Churches I've met 50:50 male, female reverends, and they all speak  passionately about equality. Coming from the Roman Catholic church where girls can't be priests, I think this is awesome of course . Now the moderator is Marti Tindal, right? So the moderator is a woman too. What's your experience? Do you think the United Church is sort of feminist? Does it depend where you go?

If you will allow me to extend your questions to other denominations, I shall comment on the Fellowship Baptist.

We have 100% male pastors,  and those I've heard all speak passionately about complimentarianism.

Our President is Dr. John E. Kaiser. 

For some reason it seems that as soon as women get anywhere near equal representation, the men withdraw and it becomes a "women's thing".  I believe that most theological students are now female.  I also notice that many church boards are overrepresented by females.  I was at a Presbytery workshop today that considered many different matters such as dealing with grief, chairing a meeting, stewardship, worship, as well as intergenerational worship.  Over half of the leadership, and almost all of the participants were female.  While I rejoice that women have the opportunity to serve in all capacities in the UCC, I would hate to see the men withdraw.  Ideally I would think somewhere around 50/50 would be about right.

I think the United Church does a fantastic job of keeping both women and men engaged; I find the congregations fairly balanced, and have met a fair share of both male and female preachers. As I returned to my long time church this past year after an absence, and have been seeking a new church in Ottawa, however, the only thing I've noticed and I don't know whether to bring this up as a woman, a young professional, or both, that I feel could be a bit more accessible, is the United Church Women.

I would be very interested, upon settling at a church, to join the UCW; the concept of meeting, fundraising, bible study, and fellowship is highly attractive to me. However oftentimes they meet during weekdays, when I am working. I don't know whether this comes with the struggle all churches face that many who participate strongly tend to be older, and therefore retired, or a more antiquated idea of women being 'at home' (in the United Church however I doubt this), but I would love to find a church with a UCW group that meets evenings/weekends.