16 • Priscilla Papers ◆ Vol. 28, No. 2 ◆ Spring 2014 Louisa Woosley: Trailblazer in the Cumberland Presbyterian Church Tim Lee TIM LEE considers himself blessed beyond mea- sure to be husband to Denise; dad to Caleb, Merrin, and Courtney; and pastor to Beersheba Cumberland Presbyterian Church. While studying at Memphis Theological Seminary’s program of al- ternate studies, Tim was delighted to discover the rich Cumberland Presbyterian heritage to which Louisa Woosley belongs. Louisa Woosley was the irst Presbyterian woman to be ordained. Woosley’s life coincided with a time of increasing participation by female leadership in the Cumberland Presbyterian (CP) Church, the denomination to which she belonged.1 During the late 1800s, women in CP churches were serving as teachers and oicers in the Sunday schools and contributed greatly to missions eforts and to church schools and colleges. In 1877, the appointment of women serving as trustees and deacons in churches was approved by the Pennsylvania Presbytery. his decision was rather low key and noncontrover- sial, unlike the issue of women as elders or ministers. Louisa Woosley was born on March 24, 1862, in central Ken- tucky. She was brought up in a Baptist household and committed her life to Christ at the age of twelve. Soon aterward, Woosley heard a call from the Lord to gospel ministry. his call bewil- dered her, because she did not know any women preachers, and, in fact, had never even heard of any. A great internal struggle ensued as she felt that publicly announcing and pursuing her call would bring shame and conlict. Woosley then decided not to follow her calling in a straightforward manner, but instead to ful- ill her calling in a roundabout way by becoming a pastor’s wife. In 1879, she married Charles G. Woosley, a farmer. Entering the marriage, she felt that her problems were solved. Charles, however, had no inclination to enter the ministry and remained a farmer. Louisa’s struggle only increased as she realized that Charles was not going to fulill her calling for her. In 1882, she began searching the Scriptures intently for a clear word on her dilemma. She marked in her Bible everywhere that a woman was mentioned. Ater studying the Scriptures two times from cover to cover, she came to her conclusion in 1883: God did not play favor- ites, and he had great things for women to do in service to him. Although her calling was now certain, her turmoil was now even greater as she began to contemplate all the controversy and hardship she would endure as a trailblazer for women in minis- try. She asked for God’s forgiveness as she continued to put of the call in fear of the consequences. Not long ater this, Woosley’s daughter became seriously ill. She felt that her daughter’s illness was a result of her disobedience to God’s call, and she promised God that, if her daughter recovered, she would answer the call. Her daughter was restored to health, and Woosley’s initial joy was dampened when she realized she had promised God some- thing she felt was impossible to deliver. She entered into a dark depression, and her health deteriorated to the point that she was conined to her bedroom for six months. She was even unable to sit up in bed on her own. Finally, she gave her burden to the Lord, trusting him completely to do what seemed impossible to her. She committed wholeheartedly to follow God’s calling to the gospel ministry without reservation. Immediately, her health began to improve. On January 1, 1887, the elders of the church invited her to preach in the absence of the minister. hat preaching experi- ence conirmed her calling, and she began preaching anywhere she could. he opposition she had expected did come about, even from family and friends. Since many pulpits were closed to her, Woosley would travel great distances to preach and became well known as an open-air preacher. Over time, the strained relation- ships with loved ones began to heal, and her level of acceptance in Cumberland Presbyterian churches increased as well. In 1887, Woosley presented herself as a candidate for gospel ministry at the meeting of the Nolin Presbytery, and, at the fol- lowing year’s meeting, she was licensed to preach ater delivering a doctrinal discourse and successfully completing an examina- tion by the committee on literature and theology. Because of the great success of her preaching, she was appointed as a presby- terial missionary as well, which gave her formal permission to preach anywhere within the bounds of the Nolin Presbytery. In 1889, Woosley was ordained to the ministry of word and sacrament by the Nolin Presbytery. Soon aterward, controversy arose in the Kentucky Synod over Woosley’s ordination, and this controversy lasted several years, even reaching the level of the general assembly. Woosley wrote Shall Woman Preach? or, he Question Answered as a response to the controversy, and it was published in 1891. Eventually, the Nolin Presbytery was forced to remove her from their roll of ministers, but they did so by grant- ing her the status of “in transit,” which allowed her to continue ministering. She remained in that status until she was received as a minister into the Leitchield Presbytery in 1911. In 1914, she was elected stated clerk of Leitchield presbytery and remained in that role for the next twenty-ive years. In 1938, she was elected moderator of the Kentucky Synod, the very body that had balked at her ordination almost a half century before. Notes 1. In writing this article, I relied heavily on Mary Lin Hudson, “‘Shall Woman Preach?’ Louisa Woosley and the Cumberland Presbyterian Church,” Cumberland Presbyterian Church website, http://www.cum- berland.org/hfcpc/minister/woosleyL.htm. A fter studying the Scriptures two times from cover to cover, she came to her conclusion in 1883: God did not play favorites, and he had great things for women to do in service to him.