In this story I will focus on a woman named Louise Woosley. She lived from 1862 - 1952. Louise was a Cumberland Presbyterian from Kentucky.
Louise was ordained by Nolin Presbytery (Kentucky Synod) in that denomination on Tuesday, 5 November, 1889. Although the constitution of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church did not exclude women from ordination, neither did it include them. A great controversy developed in various church judicatories over the legality of her ordination.
Eventually, Kentucky Synod of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church instructed Nolin Presbytery to remove Louise Woosley from her roll. This the presbytery did by granting her the status of minister in transition ("lettering her out" in presbyteriam terms) to another presbytery. Clearly, although Nolin Presbytery complied with the instructions of the superior judicatory, they had denied their intent.
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