This study examines how congregational characteristics of a Protestant church relate to having a female pastor, using the glass ceiling and glass cliff theories. The analysis of the 2018–2019 National Congregational Study and the National Survey of Religious Leaders linked data shows that churches with a greater number of participants are less likely to have a female pastor, implying that the glass ceiling is more pervasive in larger congregations. The results also reveal that churches with stagnant or declining revenues are more likely to have a female pastor, which is consistent with the glass cliff theory. Churches with a greater level of racial diversity and those located in urban areas are more likely to have a female pastor, suggesting a link between sociodemographic diversity within a congregation and women's congregational leadership. These findings can be applied to understanding the gender gap in nonprofit leadership in general.

中文翻译：

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讲坛上的女性：女牧师领导的新教教会的特征

本研究利用玻璃天花板和玻璃悬崖理论，探讨了新教教会的会众特征与女牧师的关系。对2018-2019年全国会众研究和全国宗教领袖调查关联数据的分析显示，参与人数较多的教会拥有女牧师的可能性较小，这意味着玻璃天花板在规模较大的会众中更为普遍。结果还显示，收入停滞或下降的教会更有可能拥有女性牧师，这与玻璃悬崖理论一致。种族多样性程度较高的教会和位于城市地区的教会更有可能拥有女性牧师，这表明会众内部社会人口多样性与女性会众领导力之间存在联系。这些发现可用于了解非营利组织领导力中的性别差距。