Most Americans are open to the idea of women in the boardroom, the halls of Congress, and even the White House. But they are far less accepting of women in the pulpit, a recent Barna report reveals.

Nearly 80 percent of adults surveyed said they were comfortable with a woman serving as a priest or pastor, compared to an acceptance rate of 94 percent for female CEOs, 95 percent for Congresswomen, and 85 percent for a female president. The church crowd is slower to warm to the idea of women pastors. Just 62 percent of all practicing Christians — and 39 percent of evangelicals — are affirming of women leading congregations.

“The Bible repeatedly affirms that God pours out His Spirit upon both men and women. … ”

These figures suggest that women pastors may encounter more resistance than females rising to prominent roles in other fields. In a study published during 2016 by the Yale Journal of Biology and Medicine, for instance, nearly 90 percent of respondents had no gender preference for emergency room doctors.

While acknowledging that there is room for progress in many communities and congregations around the nation, the Assemblies of God has long welcomed women to pastoral and leadership positions.

“The Assemblies of God has been blessed and must continue to be blessed by the ministry of God’s gifted and commissioned daughters,” a 2010 position paper from the Assemblies of God General Presbytery says. “The Bible repeatedly affirms that God pours out His Spirit upon both men and women and thereby gifts both sexes for ministry in His Church. Therefore, we must continue to affirm the gifts of women in ministry and spiritual leadership. Surely, the enormous challenge of the Great Commission to ‘go and make disciples of all nations’ (Matthew 28:19) requires the full deployment of all God’s Spirit-gifted ministers, both men and women.”

March is Women’s History Month in the U.S.

Looking for more content on this topic? For a biblical perspective on women in ministry, read What Paul Really Says About Women in Ministry, Parts 1, 2 and 3, and listen to the Influence Podcast: Does Paul Prohibit Women Leading Churches?