Sarah Frances Smiley

Sarah Frances Smiley (1830–1917) was an American Quaker preacher, writer, and early advocate for women's roles in Christian ministry. She was known in the late 19th century for challenging prevailing norms about women in spiritual leadership, and she traveled widely across the United States and Europe. Most notably, she was the first woman known to preach in a Presbyterian church.

Early life and education Smiley was born in Vassalboro, Maine in 1830. Her brother was Albert K. Smiley, co-founder of the Mohonk Mountain House. Raised in the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers), she initially sought to become a teacher.

In January 1872, she gained national attention when Theodore L. Cuyler invited her to preach at Lafayette Avenue Presbyterian Church in BROOKLYN, New York. The sermon sparked considerable amount of debate about women's roles in ministry. There was an attempt to discipline Cuyler by the presbytery for the irregularity of letting a woman preach. The presbytery vote took over two days and led to national commentary. While the presbytery did state women should not be able to preach, neither Smiley nor Cuyler were censured. A similar case was then brought to the General Assembly of the denomination in the years afterwards that left the status of the ordination of women up to mid-councils and sessions.

Smiley was also an abolitionist.

She died in 1917. Sarah Smiley. The Fulness of blessing: or, the Gospel of Christ, as illustrated from the Book of Joshua. (A. D. F. Randolph, 1876).