The Church of England ordained more women than men in the past year. The church reported a total of 423 ordinations last year, 213 women and 210 men.
The statistics seem insignificant —after all, new women priests outnumbered new men by just three. The really significant fact is that women outnumbered men as new priests for the first time. It will not be the last.
The Church of England allowed for the ordination of women priests 15 years ago. Since then, the number of women preparing for the priesthood has steadily increased. At the same time, the number of men entering the ministry has steadily decreased. A recent report indicates that the number of men serving as priests may be cut in half by 2025.
