The Barre daily times. (Barre, Vt.) 1897-1959, 1921-09-15
MALE AUTOCRACY
MAKING LAST STAND
The Battle Is Over Admission of Won
en- TO Ministry, Says Miss
Southland.

Chicago Sept. l5.-Male autocracy
that once ruled in every part OF LIE Is
making its last stand in the ministry
| Miss NJ. Madeline Southland, president
Of the International Association OF
Women Preachers. told its annual con
yention here last night
Miss Southland led the struggle in
the Methodist Episcopal general con
ference last year that obtained license
for women to preach. Her home is in
Winfield, Kan. Women preachers OF
number OF churches, for the association
is non .denominational, heard her adj
dress.
Our good friends in this land who
oppose woman's admission 10 the MN
istrv seem to be serenely unconscious
that they are the spiritual descendants
of those who once held women as chat
te1ss who later shut the schools in their
| faces. denied them the ballot, and re-
| fused them equal wages for equal
work despite the fact that thousands
of them we're the family bread win
ners" Miss Southland said. She then
revived arguments against women
preaching.
ssThe time was when an appeal to
scripture settled the whole thing, men
| of course doing the Interpreting she
said. I'VE have gone far from that
| now, for every woman's voice heard
in Christian Endeavor, Epworth league
or Sunday school is a direct violation
of the keeping silence in the church,
while if women did no teaching both
public and Sunday schools would SUI
fer considerable loss
"Another once overwhelming argu
ment was that woman was not mental
| ly capable of presenting the veighty
| themes that must be dealt with IN the
pulpit. But since We have had single
generation Of educated women we hear
little more of that
Again IL was once seriously claimed
that woman was unequal physically
to the strain of pastoral work-and
that in the day when women had from
II to Is children and did all the work
for them We know of one woman who
in the Rocky mountains covered a cir
cuit of 50 miles and developed several
charges. which | heard her district SUI
perintendent declare were not able to
support man as pastor
'One still hears occasionally that the
ordination of women will feminine the
church. But that is impossible, for
man monopoly of the pulpit has al
ready accomplished it.
MANY of the arguments once used
AGAINST women's preaching have had
10 be abandoned. But the opponents
sin cling to one, the pet argument OF
'woman's sphere OF necessity many
women are not mothers and must seek
other vacations, while many thousands
81 mothers are forced into the indus
trial world to support themselves and
their children Indeed many OF those
who remain az home give about nine
tenths of their time to industry and
one-tenth Of their time 10 children. A
woman preacher would have much
more time for children than many
housewives.
1T has not been proved that
preaching il in any way inimicai 10
motherhood I know a number Of
preaching mothers and ] viii put their
children up against any Of the same
number that any group Of families de-
sire to bring forward.
Woman viii bring no new gospel
Just the woman's vision Of the old vet
ever new gospel And there will be no
rivalry between her and her brother.
but as in other fields so in this, each
will reinforce and strengthen the 9th
er For the mans mind and the won
ans mind are ever Complementary and
only the blended wisdom Of the two
can given Wilderness and symmetry,
whether in home or state OF church.