Society for the Ministry of Women in the Church

The Society was founded in 1929 as The Society for the Ministry of Women (Interdenominational) to campaign for the admission of women to all official ministry in the Church upon equal terms with men. Agnes Maude Royden (1876-1965) was a founder and first President. Men and women from different denominations, and therefore with different doctrinal perspectives on the ordination of women, were welcome as members. It changed its name to the Society for the Equal Ministry of Men and Women in the Church (Interdenominational) in 1942 and again in 1957 to The Society for the Ministry of Women in the Church (Interdenominational). In Nov 1992 the General Synod of the Church of England voted to allow women to be ordained as priests. With more churches ordaining women, the Society decided to work together for the ministry of the whole people of God and to foster initiatives and exchange experiences in the area of women's ministry - lay and ordained. From 2001, the main thrust of the campaign work concerned the Roman Catholic Church and the Orthodox and Oriental Churches, with emphasis on ecumenical networking and mutual support. From 1998, the Society sponsored the Ecumenical Coalition of Women Ministers, a small committee made up of two people each from Catholic Women's Ordination, Methodist Women's Forum, Women in Ministry Network of the United Reformed Church, and Women and the Church (WATCH) to enable liaison among these organised groups of women in ministry. Towards the end of the 20th century, interest in the Society declined. It was decided in 2003 to change its name to the Ecumenical Network for Women in Ministry and to move away from a membership organisation to the creation of a network through a mailing list with an annual event for sharing information. This was not successful and the Network was brought to an end in Jan 2005.