Maud K. Jensen

Maud Jensen ( Keister; 1904 - October 12, 1998) was a missionary and the first woman to receive full clergy rights in the Methodist Church in the United States.

Early life and education Maud Keister was from New Cumberland, Pennsylvania. She graduated from Bucknell University in Lewisburg, Pennsylvania in 1926. She was the first and only female to attend the school. As the decision was not popular to allow women in to study, she did not receive much welcome from her peers. She, as her own recorded oral history at Drew University reveals, decided the only way to counter this was to best her classmates in every class. She did and graduated at the top of her class.

When the Methodist Church voted to allow women to have full clergy rights in 1956, Jensen was given temporary full clergy rights for two years, and obtained permanent clergy status in 1958.

Later life Jensen received her doctorate from Drew Theological School at the age of 74. She died on October 12, 1998, in Madison, New Jersey.