Constance Coltman – a Centenary Celebration in Historical Context

The year 2017 is an important centenary for women in the Church. In 1917, in the darkness of World War I, a woman was ordained as a Congregational Minister for the first time in Britain. She was not a Congregationalist but a Presbyterian by upbringing. She would go on to serve a small church in one...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inFeminist theology Vol. 26; no. 1; pp. 8 - 18
Main Author Thorpe, Kirsty
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published London, England SAGE Publications 01.09.2017
Subjects
King’s Weigh House Church
Women’s ministry
Mansfield College Oxford
Constance Coltman
Somerville College Oxford
World War One
Congregationalism
Maude Royden
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Summary:The year 2017 is an important centenary for women in the Church. In 1917, in the darkness of World War I, a woman was ordained as a Congregational Minister for the first time in Britain. She was not a Congregationalist but a Presbyterian by upbringing. She would go on to serve a small church in one of the poorest parts of London, yet she was highly educated and from an upper middle-class family. She was a pacifist, a feminist, a wife, mother and someone of deep faith. Constance Coltman’s ordination was a quiet event which attracted little attention at the time but which continues to have an effect even today. This article outlines and considers the historical, ecclesial and personal contexts within which Constance Coltman’s ordained ministry began.
ISSN:0966-7350
1745-5189
DOI:10.1177/0966735017711864