Maude Royden's deep religious faith led her to accept the post of Assistant Preacher at the City Temple in London in 1917. In 1920 she established her own religious centre, the Guildhouse, in London.
She was one of very few women to speak from the pulpit. Her sermons became famous and Maude was invited on tours of the USA, Australia, China and India . She also became a well-known radio voice and her books and pamphlets on women's ordination were widely read.
Maude was a passionate believer in women's rights and in 1929 she began the official campaign for women priests when she founded the Society for the Ministry of Women. The first woman Doctor of Divinity, she caused a stir when, in 1944, she married the recently widowed, Reverend Hudson Shaw, whom she had loved for more than forty years.
