She Preached the Word Women's Ordination in Modern America

She Preached the Word is a landmark study of women's ordination in contemporary American congregations. In this groundbreaking work, Benjamin Knoll and Cammie Jo Bolin draw upon a novel collection of survey data and personal narrative interviews to answer several important questions, including: Who supports women's ordination in their congregations? What are the most common reasons for and against women's ordination? What effect do female clergy have on young women and girls, particularly in terms of their psychological, economic, and religious empowerment later in life? How do women clergy affect levels of congregational attendance and engagement among members? What explains the persistent gender gap in America's clergy? Knoll and Bolin find that female clergy indeed matter, but not always in the ways that might be expected. They show, for example, that while female clergy have important effects on women in the pews, they have stronger effects on theological and political liberals. Throughout this book, Knoll and Bolin discuss how the persistent gender gap in the wider economic, social, and political spheres will likely continue so long as women are underrepresented in America's pulpits. Accessible to scholars and general readers alike, She Preached the Word is a timely and important contribution to our understanding of the intersection of gender, religion, and politics in contemporary American society.

Benjamin Knoll is the John Marshall Harlan Associate Professor of Politics at Centre College in Danville, Kentucky. He earned a Ph.D. in political science from the University of Iowa and specializes in public opinion and voting behavior, with a specialization in religion, race, ethnicity, and politics. Cammie Jo Bolin is a Ph.D. student in political science at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C. Her research interests include gender and politics, representation, and religion and politics.