HISTORY OF THE ORDINATION OF WOMEN IN THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH

Rev. LeeAnn Watkins, Rector of St. Mary’s Episcopal Church, St. Paul, spoke Thursday, May 10th at The Center for Religious Inquiry, Minneapolis. She was ordained an Episcopal priest in January, 1994. Rev. Watkins was the final speaker in a series on Women in Religion.

LeeAnn has always been a student of movements of social change like the Suffragette Movement and the Civil Rights Movement in the United States. She finds many parallels to the Ordination of Women in the Episcopal Church and provided the historical framework for those of us attending her lecture.

Some points of interest:

Since 1823 women have been involved in ministry in the Episcopal Church. Women’s Auxiliaries were created for that purpose.

In 1855 deaconesses were “set apart” and the discussion began as to whether they were ordained or not. Their work was” to assist the Minister in the care of the poor and the sick, the religious training of the young and others, and the work of moral reformation.”

Almost 100 years later, in 1944, a woman, Li Tim Oi, was ordained a priest in China by an American bishop.

In the US the roles for women grew and they were allowed to serve as delegates from their dioceses in the House of Deputies at the Church Convention, were educated on theological issues at seminary and could serve as lay readers during services. In the 1970s the issue of women’s ordination was studied and debated extensively. In 1974 eleven women were ordained priests in Philadelphia by three retired bishops. Alla Bozarth Campbell of Minneapolis was among those ordained.

In 1976 The General Convention in Minneapolis authorized the ordination of women to all orders. However, in 1988 the world conference of bishops in Lambeth, England declared the ordination of women to be a matter for provincial decision. And so the debate continues. Today the issues seem to be around the ordination of women as bishops and/or the ordination to priesthood of gays and lesbians. The numbers of women getting ordained as priest is at an all time low, with 215 reported in 2000. The highest number was 390 in 1986. Numbers are dropping for male priests but not at such a sharp rate.

Susan Sell has served many roles at SJA including reader, host and a member of the Pastoral Council. Susan is also a member of SJA's Sister Parish Committee, St. Joan's Isaiah Core Team, SJA's liason person to SWING as well as Chairperson of WomenSpirit. Susan can be reached at susanmsell@hot.mail.com.

LeeAnn quoted another writer, Pamela Darling, when describing 400 years of Anglicanism on these shores (US) . It includes the study of “women’s place,” “the color problem,” “Indian mission,” “the Hispanic challenge,” “Immigration,” “Racism,” “sexuality,” etc. “We Episcopalians study things endlessly. We study to equip ourselves to deal with brokenness and contradiction. We stay with the ambiguity until it resolves itself. And when we look at our history, we realize the church has always been reinventing itself for new times and places.”