Women and Church Politics: A Study of the Mizoram Presbyterian Church

Church history in Mizoram omits women and pays little attention to the role played by Mizos in their own conversion. This paper seeks to restore the role of women in the church, while focusing on their financial contribution to building the early Presbyterian Church in Mizoram. In tracing the history of the ‘handful of rice,’ this article explores how the project began, and how it developed over the years to play an important role in financing the church and generating hundreds of female theologians and missionaries. However, despite their contribution, women are still denied ordination as Pastors or Elders and the church’s definition of women’s gendered roles prevents it from accepting women as equals within the church