Of God, Dolly and Gloria Steinem ... and the women who keep the faith

September 5, 2026 — 9:30am

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The sun was shining in a clear blue sky last weekend in Adelaide when about 100 Anglican women gathered at St Peter’s Cathedral for a clergy conference. There was no fanfare, no media coverage, no razzle or dazzle, no influencer poses, just comfortable shoes and a series of workshops and talks. When I walked into one of the sessions on Saturday, I was struck by the cheer.

Dolly Parton had died that week, and the women had toasted her at dinner the night before. Parton, as was pointed out in these pages, told Andy Warhol (whom she described as the only person she’d ever met who was weirder than her) that she saw herself as a preacher. Who might not have been allowed at a Southern Baptist pulpit, but who created her own platform, and united vast swathes of America – the world, really – as few others could.

Interviewed last year, Dolly said: “I like trying to make people happy and lift people up and glorifying God. That’s my mission in life, so I just hope to get to do more of that.” Her faith was rooted in love, tolerance and inclusion, though myriad news reports skipped over it entirely.

Can you imagine the many thousands of conservative evangelical men who bop to her songs, who believe women should submit to men and shouldn’t vote, and who were at times so distracted by her glamour that they didn’t clock – or want to clock – that she was one of the most influential faith leaders in their country?

Thinking of Parton reminds me of the bald truth that women have long had authority from God, if not permission from the church. And of the fact that the enduring struggles inside the church are rarely aired. Some progress has been made, but many places still don’t ordain women as priests (most........

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