Margaret Ellen Towner (born March 19, 1925)[1] is an American religious leader who was the first woman to be ordained a minister of the Presbyterian Church in the United States of America (PCUSA).
[2][3] Even though the PCUSA was not yet ordaining women as ministers, the pastor at First Presbyterian Church suggested that Towner explore the ministry.
The church offered her its Scattergood Fellowship to attend Union Theological Seminary in New York,[2] where Towner undertook the three-year program leading to a Bachelor of Divinity degree, which she received in 1954.
[3] The following year, on Oct. 24, 1956, Towner became the first woman ordained to the ministry by PCUSA, with her ordination taking place at Syracuse-Cayuga Presbytery in New York.
)[5] Since there were a number of Presbyterian women preparing for ordination in the wake of the PCUSA vote, Towner was initially not sure whether she was actually the first to be ordained.
[2] Among her activities that year was a trip to Korea to talk to Presbyterian congregations, as the Korean churches were then considering whether to ordain women.