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The Christian Reformed Church quietly made history last month as its Synod voted to remove the word male from its requirements for church office. After 37 years of back-and-forth struggle, delegates opened the way for women to become ministers in any of the CRC’s 1,000-plus U.S. and Canadian churches.

Following that vote on June 12 in Grand Rapids, Michigan, delegates the next day also approved a step to allow women to serve as Synod delegates for the first time.

The 2,700-member First Baptist Church of Decatur, Georgia, has become the largest church associated with the Southern Baptist Convention or the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship to hire a woman as senior pastor.

In a business session after Sunday morning worship June 17, nearly 400 members voted to call Julie Pennington-Russell as minister. The proposal, approved by a show of hands, went unchallenged in a discussion session.