Grace Cathedral

Dear Friends,

On July 29, 1974, eleven women were ordained at the Church of the Advocate in Philadelphia, PA, slowly unleashing a new and more inclusive era in the ordained leadership of The Episcopal Church. The march to this day had spanned more than a century, with the work of deaconesses being established in 1855, and by canon of the General Convention in 1889. They were “‘set apart’ to care for ‘the sick, the afflicted, and the poor.'” In 1922, the convention permitted women to be licensed as preachers. Only in 1970 did the General Convention authorize women to be ordained as deacons; the same year, a resolution to ordain women as priests and bishops failed. Women also failed to secure Convention’s support for ordination to the priesthood in 1973. So when the Philadelphia 11 were ordained in 1974, the ordinations were “irregular,” that is, without authorization. 

At the outset, the Most Rev. John Allin, Presiding Bishop, condemned the ordinations as, invalid and the bishops involved as having “exceeded their authority.” Only in 1976 did the Convention affirm women’s ordination and regularize the ordinations of the Philadelphia 11, and four women who had also been irregularly ordained at St. Stephen and the Incarnation Church, Washington DC, in 1975, known as the Washington 4. It would still take months for the first Eucharist to be celebrated by a woman — the Rev. Allison Cheek, on November 10, 1974, at St. Stephen’s and the Incarnation Episcopal Church in Washington, D.C.

The path to recognition is slow, and the recognition of the authorities of the church is critical. Our recognition, our celebration, is critical to continuing to advance other causes of justice in the church, and broader considerations of gender justice around the world. Can you see it? Join us in a weeklong celebration of the 50th anniversary of women’s ordination, with topical sermons, prayers, and music by women composers. Our celebrations will culminate in a festal evening liturgy on Sunday, July 28, at 6 pm, with the Rev. Dr. Ruth Meyers preaching, and a mixed-voice choir singing.

I’m grateful for the partnership of our music department and Canon Jared Johnson in companion repertoire. The Mass for Three Voices to be sung at 11 am on July 21 and July 28 was composed by the prolific Canadian composer Stephanie Martin. At Choral Evensong on Thursday, July 25, the Preces and Responses are taken from a setting by June Nixon, a fellow of the Royal College of Organists, and the first woman to receive the John Brooke prize for the Choirtraining Diploma. The canticles are from Sarah MacDonald’s Third Service. MacDonald is a Canadian-born conductor, organist, pianist, and composer, living in the UK, and she holds the positions of Fellow and Director of Music at Selwyn College, Cambridge and Director of the Girl Choristers at Ely Cathedral. She was the first woman to hold such a post in an Oxbridge Chapel. Congregational music is taken from Voices Found, a collection of hymns and spiritual songs by, for, and about women, published by Church Publishing.

As we honor the 50th anniversary of women’s ordination in the Episcopal Church, we are delighted to announce that noted composer Tawnie Olson has been commissioned to write a Missa Brevis to be premiered at Grace Cathedral in 2024, funded in part by a generous grant from the Diocese of California. 

See you in church,

Anna