EVANGELICAL WOMEN IN THE SECOND HALF OF 1800; EMMA BLANCHE ADAMS STAMP P/41

                                                                 Read Part One HERE

In this post I will continue to focus on a woman named Emma Blanche Adams Stamp. She lived from 1863 - 1945. Emma and her husband continued to co-lead revivals. In 1912 they held revivals in Iowa and Wisconsin. Emma's husband clearly saw Emma as an equal who was also serving as a conference evangelist even though she could not officially have that title because women could not become elders.

While Emma and her husband saw themselves as partners in ministry, the denominational narrative does not remember them as such. In Emma's April 20, 1945, obit in "The Free Methodist" she is remembered as "standing by her husband as he laboured as a pastor, district elder and general conference evangelist." This re-casting of Emma's ministry was not uncommon as after the defeat of women's ordination in 1894 there was a noticeable shift within the male leadership as they attemped to appear supportive of women in ministry but still restricted them from ordination as elders.

Instead of directly opposing women preachers, the conversation shifted to applauding women who served in more nurturing roles such as the deaconess order establised in 1907. However, the ordination of women was affirmed in 1911.