Dialogue Document
Women in Church and Society 1970
Women in Church and Society: Presbyterian & Reformed-Roman Catholic Dialogue, 1970
"We, the members of the Worship and Mission Section of the Reformed/Presbyterian and Roman Catholic Consultation in meeting at Morristown, New Jersey, May 14, 1970, have begun a study of the difficulties encountered by women as they live out their role in society, and especially of Christian women as they seek to fulfill their ministry within both the church and the world.
We have begun our study by listening to a cataloguing of many grievances by two female leaders within our respective churches-one a Roman Catholic and one a United Presbyterian. We have found the evidences of discrimination based upon sex to be so substantial that we are obliged, being led, as we believe, by the Holy Spirit, to confess our guilt as members of our respective churches and as members of our social order.
Within the fellowship of the church, it would appear that we have obliged women to exercise a secondary and often demeaning ministry. We have either denied them part in the ordained ministry or have granted them to have part with reluctance, and then have proceeded to hedge their ministry with severe limitations. We have in effect denied that God has created us male and female and has called us to one ministry in Jesus the Christ."