For immediate release.
NASHVILLE, TN – Dr. Eileen Campbell-Reed has won two grants to revise and expand “The State of Women and LGBTIQ Clergy in the U.S.” Data
collection begins August 1, as Campbell-Reed takes a new one-year position with Vanderbilt Divinity School. She expects to release a newly revised report in late 2026.
Campbell-Reed published the initial report, first of its kind in over two decades, in October 2018. “The State of Clergywomen in the U.S.” responded to the question: How has the social location of ministers in the US changed since women were first ordained in the 1960s?
The 2018 report, downloaded over 120,000 times, recorded the growth and major
changes to clergy leadership in the U.S. by gender and social location between the late 1990s and 2017. Findings included major shifts in Christian denominations. For example, the number of clergywomen in Mainline Protestant denominations doubled from 15% on average in 1994 to 30% on average in 2017. In 2005 Roman Catholic lay ecclesial ministers surpassed the number of priests leading parish life in the U.S. Over 80% of RCC lay ecclesial ministers are women. A growing number of denominations
elected women of color as bishops.
Despite these and other notable changes, no comprehensive report was available to track the changes across denominations.
For seven years the SoC report has served as a primary resource for scholars, researchers, and journalists seeking information about clergy by gender and sexual orientation across the United
States. Dozens of books, news stories, journal articles, and blogs reference the 2018 report.
Revising and Expanding Data on Women and LGBTIQ Clergy
Giving attention to all women in ministry, and specific attention to women of color and also to ministers who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, intersex, and/or queer
(LGBTIQ), the new report will update existing clergy data. It will also expand information to address areas of new growth, consider the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on the work of clergy, and note recent changes to the rates of seminary enrollment and faculty leadership.
Campbell-Reed returns to Vanderbilt Divinity School August 1. Appointed as
s Research Associate Professor for one year, she will continue her research for the 2026 report. She earned her Doctor of Philosophy in Religion at Vanderbilt University in 2008.
She says: “I’m excited to be working at Vanderbilt where I first learned skills as a researcher and writer. I’m thrilled to make use of a world class library. And
I’m incredibly grateful for the generosity of Dean Yolanda Pierce who offered me a place to conduct my research.”
To fund the research, Campbell-Reed won a $55,000 Grant for Researchers from the Louisville Institute for 2025-27. The Louisville Institute’s mission is to bridge Church and academy through funding research about North American Christianity.
To support her writing, Campbell-Reed also received a short-term writing residency and Killian McDonnell Fellowship at the Collegeville Institute in Collegeville, Minnesota. The Collegeville Institute’s mission aims,“to foster the world’s healing through the power of religious ideas, insights, and practices.”
She will spend the residency drafting and revising
the report.
“I’m excited to get this research underway and so grateful for many partners in the work,” says Campbell-Reed.
Contribute to the Report
To contribute to the research or notify Campbell-Reed of books, articles, elections, resources, or changes in policy
related to women or LGBTIQ clergy, please visit this form and share your information.
