Online Databases: Women Leading in Church + Higher Education
Booking speakers? Hiring scholars? Need a quote from an expert? Here are some databases of women leading in churches and higher education: scholars, speakers, and women who led the church across history around the world.
Most of these online databases and indexes are multi-denominational or ecumenical; only one is denominational.
Most of these online databases of women church leaders tilt toward the academic.
Most of these databases are in English and are centered in North America or Europe, though one is multilingual and centered in Africa, and another includes varying art and architecture.
I’ll keep working to broaden this globally, linguistically, and ecclesially.
Databases are organized alphabetically under these categories:
Speakers
Scholars
Historical
This database roundup doesn’t include denominational lists of women pastors. In the past 20 years of online connection, most clergywomen now have found some way to connect with others within their own denominations or through conferences (it wasn’t like that in the 90s). Some denominations track their clergywomen more effectively than others, though. However, some women in church leadership need or prefer a low profile and privacy. What’s helpful for all women in ministry is broadened perspective on what it’s like for women pastors in other contexts and denominations. You need to know what your options are if you’re facing hurdles that are too large; and you need to know what your sisters are dealing with, if your challenges are moderate in comparison. Subscribe to the weekly FireFall newsletter for quick glimpses of what women are doing in other denominations.
Women Speakers
Women Speakers Collective: Global Speakers Profiles
The Women Speakers Collective offers multiple resources to equip and empower women’s voices in church leadership. In addition to providing speaker bootcamps, WSC offers a searchable index of diverse speakers, preachers, and teachers.
“Our database is a treasure trove of passionate, knowledgeable, and experienced women speakers who have shattered glass ceilings and are ready to share their wisdom. Our user-friendly search feature enables you to connect with speakers based on their passion topics or locations.”
Women Scholars
Kristen Padilla Resource Round-Up for Women in Ministry
“I often hear from women that they do not know any female scholars as they are rarely assigned books by female scholars.”
There’s a whole book to be written right there.
Acquisitions Editor for B&H Academic and founder of Beeson’s Center for Women in Ministry Kristen Padilla provides a categorized list of scholars who are women and links to their bios, along with sharing “other lists of women in the academy.”
Lutheran Women’s Work on Religion
This database on Lutheran Women’s Work on Religion - searchable by topic - is an extensive celebration of the English-language scholarship done by Lutheran women. “Administered by ELCA Justice for Women,” the database includes categories like biblical studies, theology, teaching and pedagogy, and more, or you can simply search by keyword.
(As a non-Lutheran, I admit to wistfulness. There are eighty Wesleyan Methodist denominations around the world that are members of the World Methodist Council. That’s a lot of women scholars to celebrate!)
St. Andrew’s Logia Scholars Database
The Logia Scholars Database from St. Andrew’s University in Scotland “is a categorized list of women scholars from across the Divinity disciplines spanning the 19th-21st centuries. This list is not exhaustive but includes over 500 women who have published full-length books or book chapters within one of these areas. The academic level of the intended audience also varies based upon each author’s purpose.”
Within categories like Biblical Studies, Theology, Church Historians, Preaching and more, scholars are listed alphabetically (many with links to bios or CVs).
Per late 2023, the site notes, “We are currently in the process of updating this page to include a more comprehensive overview of each scholar’s work…we are also working to make the database easier to navigate to assist patrons in their research.”
Where It All Began: An Historical Overview - Bibliography by Dr. Cynthia L. Hale
This alphabetical bibliography compiled by Dr. Cynthia L. Hale is a helpful resource compiling works about African American women, many by African American women scholars and womanist scholars, including Katie Geneva Cannon, Bettye Collier-Thomas, Nell Irvin Painter, and many more.
Dr. Hale is also the founder of the Women in Ministry Inc conference (see more about it on “conferences for women in ministry”).
Women Biblical Scholars
womenbiblicalscholars.com is what it sounds like: a free online hub featuring women who are biblical scholars. It includes an index of scholars, an audio/video page featuring lectures and interviews, and a books page featuring books by women biblical scholars.
(The link for the Twitter list of Black Women in the Society of Biblical Literature is no longer live, though the Society of Biblical Literature Women Scholars Facebook page is here.)
A site note also explains: “We need help developing this site, particularly with indexing deceased scholars from previous generations. If you are interested in being on a team to build this database please e-mail: women.biblical.scholars@gmail.com. Any little thing helps. Perhaps you have done a relevant study or you have bibliography on a particular scholar?”
Women & Theology
womenandtheology.com is a free online database that features a lot of women who are scholars, theologians, or working in higher ed. It’s a project by Dr. Amanda Hackney launched in 2022; as of late 2023, it includes “400 women and over 1,300 resources,” spanning contemporary theologians as well as women throughout church history.
You can search by genre, era, century, denomination/tradition, and more.
Women Leaders through Global Church History: Databases
Dictionary of African Christian Biography: Women’s Index
The Dictionary of African Christian Biography is an ecumenical, multilingual online resource. It’s a collaborative project that shares the leadership, stories, photos, digitized resources, and testimonies of Christian leaders from all over Africa. Some DACB biographies are currently only available in English, but many pages are available in French, Portuguese, and Kiswahili as well.
Within this treasure trove, there is a women’s index to ease searching and archival access. From women in the north African early church to women pastors and evangelists ministering in the 20th century, there is an extraordinary span of biographies to explore. Helpful bibliographies are included as well.
Monastic Matrix, by St. Andrew’s
The Monastic Matrix is “a scholarly resource for the study of women's religious communities from 400 to 1600 CE” hosted by St. Andrew’s University. It includes brief biographies, a bibliography (with resources in languages like German, French, English, Italian, and Spanish), a monasticon detailing women’s religious communities, primary resources, digital images, and more.
According to the site, “The project draws on both textual and material sources, primary and secondary, although its basis is unpublished archival evidence. It addresses a variety of individuals and groups in medieval Europe, and a range of ecclesiastical institutions, including monastic houses of every size, affiliation, and rule. Matrix is designed for use by scholars, students, and anyone interested in the study of women, medieval Europe, or the history of Christianity.”
(For a more general database, see also Feminae: Medieval Women and Gender Index, hosted by University of Iowa Libraries - search many topics related to religious life and vocation.)
Visual Museum of Women in Christianity
The Visual Museum of Women in Christianity is an online visual archive detailing the centrality of women in Christian sacred art and architecture throughout church history.
“The purpose of this collaborative project is to create a curated, permanent visual exhibit of women in the history, ministry, and piety of early, Byzantine, and medieval Christianity that will be available online for researchers, educators, and interested laypersons. The goal of this multi-year project is to make the visual record of women in ministry and leadership available free of charge and unencumbered by permission requirements; and to include short teaching elements to guide the audience through the constitutive and pivotal role of women throughout Christian history.”
Visit collections here or the gallery here.
This page will be updated on an ongoing basis.
For FireFall resources in Spanish, visit here.
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Launched in fall 2023 by curator Elizabeth Glass Turner, FireFall is a labor of love, amplifying women’s voices across denominations, Christian traditions, geography, and denominations. It does not receive funding from organizations, denominations, or grants. Please consider supporting this effort today.