The role of women in the Christian Church has been the subject of much controversy in recent years. Different church bodies have wrestled with whether women should be ordained as members of the clergy. Gradually, doors have been opening. In 1992, for example, after considerable debate, the Church of England voted, by a margin of two votes, to ordain women as priests.
Mary Baker Eddy encouraged equality between the sexes. She writes in Science and Health: "One infinite God, good, unifies men and nations; constitutes the brotherhood of man; ends wars; fulfils the Scripture, ' Love thy neighbor as thyself ' annihilates pagan and Christian idolatry,— whatever is wrong in social, civil, criminal, political, and religious codes; equalizes the sexes; annuls the curse on man, and leaves nothing that can sin, suffer, be punished or destroyed" (p340).
People of both sexes have the God-given ability to express the Christ. It seems natural that both men and women have equal access to roles of responsibility within the church.
