50 years ago — May 24, 1965
“Hanover Presbytery in Virginia, the first of the presbyteries in what has become the Presbyterian Church, U.S., was the first to ordain a woman to the gospel ministry, following constitutional provisions which were enacted last year. The presbytery’s 125 members voted unanimously on May 11 to ordain Rachel Henderlite and gave her a vote of appreciation in a rising tribute. The next evening at the All Souls Church in Richmond, a commission engaged in the ancient ceremony of the laying on of hands, and the first Presbyterian, U.S. woman was authorized to preach.”
At the time, Dr. Henderlite was working as director of curriculum development with the Presbyterian Board of Christian Education. She would soon move to Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary in Texas where she would become the first female faculty member in a Presbyterian, U.S., seminary. Rachel Henderlite may have been the first woman ordained as a teaching elder in the southern branch of our Presbyterian family, but the northern branch of our Presbyterian family ordained Margaret Towner as teaching elder on October 24, 1956 by Cayuga-
Syracuse Presbytery at First Presbyter Church in Syracuse, New York.
From the article, “Church’s
