A January 2006 CBS News/New York Times poll found that 92 percent of Americans said they would vote for a qualified woman for president, and 55 percent said America is ready for a women president. Read the poll.

The Roman Catholic Church says its doctrine that only men can be priests is infallible, which in Catholic teaching means that it is irreversible and without error. See a Nov. 19, 1995, New York Times story about the statement, issued with then-Pope John Paul II’s approval by the Vatican’s Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, which was headed […]

Read an undated explanation of why the Southern Baptist Convention’s Faith and Message was revised in 2000 to say, “While both men and women are gifted for service in the church, the office of pastor is limited to men as qualified by Scripture.” The explanation was written by the executive committee of the SBC, the largest Protestant denomination in […]

Read a Jan. 8, 2009, essay that attempts to find the line between teaching church doctrine and preparing ministers to help their congregations.

Read a Jan. 9, 2009, article about the 2009 study and the author’s personal experience at a seminary.

Read a Feb. 3, 2012, article on ChristianPost.com about the improvement seminaries have made when covering gender and sexuality issues.

Read and watch a March 5, 2010, conversation between professors at seminary schools about their teachings on sexual preference and gender identity.

Read an April 2013 proposal by The United Methodist Church to assimilate gender and sexuality courses into its seminaries.

Laura Simmons is an associate professor of Christian ministries at George Fox Evangelical Seminary in Newburg, Ore. One of her areas of expertise is seminary education.