In the Easter story, women are the first to proclaim the resurrection – but churches today are still divided over female preachers

'Holy Women at Christ's Tomb,' by 16th-century painter Annibale Carracci, shows an angel explaining that Jesus has risen. Hermitage Museum via Wikimedia Commons

On Easter Sunday, festively decorated churches across the United States will be filled with worshippers eager to celebrate the most important day in the Christian year.

While some will attend services led by pastors who are women, the overwhelming majority of worshippers will not. Women constitute 23.7% of professional clergy in the U.S. and an increasing percentage of people earning graduate theology degrees. However, data from 2018-19 shows that only 14% of U.S. congregations, most of which are Christian, are led by women.