This content was extracted from Wikipedia and is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License
In many denominations of Christianity the ordination of women is a relatively recent phenomenon within the life of the Church. As opportunities for women have expanded in the last 50 years, those ordained women who broke new ground or took on roles not traditionally held by women in the Church have been and continue to be considered notable. This list includes ordained ministers, bishops and other church leaders who have made an impact on their Christian denomination, or have been recognized as pathbreakers. Due to historical differences deaconesses will not be included. In Presbyterianism, Methodism and a few other denominations the ordination of women predates 1900 and is now common enough to be unremarkable. Therefore, most ordained women clergy in these denominations are not included.