CRC lifts barrier to female ministers

Grand Rapids Press: CRC lifts barrier to female ministers

GRAND RAPIDS — History came quietly to the Christian Reformed Church on Tuesday night, but progress remains to be made.

That was the feeling of longtime advocates of women's ordination who watched the CRC Synod remove the word "male" from its requirements for church office.

After 37 years of back-and-forth struggle, delegates opened the way for women to become ministers in any of the CRC's 1,000-plus churches. If other proposed changes are approved as expected today, women also will be able to serve as delegates to the Synod for the first time.

The decision came two days after the CRC celebrated its 150th anniversary — and not a moment too soon for Carol Rottman and Claudia Beversluis. Both began working for women's ordination in the mid-1970s.

"This is the beginning of an opening I think is going to be monumental for the church," said Rottman, a founder of the Committee for Women.  …