On April 4th, Southwest celebrated the 50th anniversary of women’s ordination in The Episcopal Church. The Rev. Nancy Frausto, Director of Latinx Studies, and Rev. Dr. Jeehei Park, Assistant Professor of New Testament, organized the event and invited several women clergy in the Austin area to participate.
The Very Rev. Cynthia Briggs Kittredge, dean and president shares, “We can’t understand the present without appreciating the past. On Thursday, April 4th, 2024 we got to remember some of our heroes and recommit to the vision of the kingdom of which the movement for the ordination of women dreamed fifty years ago. I am grateful to Reve Frausto and Dr. Park for their commitment to this event.”
The event started by premiering the documentary, The Philadelphia Eleven. This film shares the stories of the eleven women who were first ordained as priests in The Episcopal Church on July 29, 1974. This happened two years before the General Convention authorized the ordination of women to the priesthood.
After the movie screening, a panel discussion took place with five women clergy including the Rt. Rev. Kathryn Ryan, Suffragan Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Texas, the Very Rev. Cynthia Briggs Kittredge, Dean and President of Seminary of the Southwest, the Rev. Minerva Skeith, Rector at St. John’s, Austin, TX, the Rev. Rhonda Rogers, Rector at St. Francis of Assisi, Prairie View, TX, and the Rev. Peggy Lo, Rector at St. Alban’s, Austin, TX.
The five panelists shared stories from their time in ministry, their process and call to the priesthood, and reflected on being women priests in light of the history of The Philadelphia Eleven.
Afterward the community was invited to eucharist in Christ Chapel where the Rt. Rev. Kathryn Ryan presided and MDiv senior, Rachel Joiner preached. All women clergy in attendance were invited to vest and join in the celebration in the chapel. Towards the end of the service, all the women clergy in attendance gathered together and said a special blessing for all the women seminarians present.
Below is a short except from the special blessing written by Rev. Victoria Wick:
Blessed are the generations of brave women who dared to hope,
For it was women who were the last ones at the cross with Jesus, and it was women who first visited the tomb.
Blessed are we who have answered the call.
Blessed are we, who claim titles and platforms our foremothers only dreamed of.
Blessed are the clergywomen we are today,
Blessed are the clergywomen we don’t yet believe we’re capable of becoming.
Amen.
