Celebrate!

July 29th is the 50th anniversary of the first women ordained as priests in the Episcopal Church. You can read more about this event here

On July 28th, at Christ Church, we prayed this litany, remembering the courage and faith of these women, the bishops who ordained them, and all who worked towards this.

We walk in the company of the women who have gone before us, & the women who still carry us forward.

God of our forebears, we praise you for the generations of women you have called into ministry & leadership, both those whose names fill our scriptures and the history of our faith, & those whose names are known to you alone. 

Most gracious, holy one  We thank you

We thank you for the faith and leadership of lay women in the church, who build up the body of Christ in many different ways. We thank you for the women set apart to be Deaconesses, for Reverend Phyllis Edwards, the first designated Deaconess, and for the first women ordained as Deaconesses. We thank you for the ministry of Deaconess today, proclaiming the gospel, and serving the marginalised. 

Most gracious, holy one  We thank you

We remember the efforts of those women who worked tirelessly for the rights of women to be ordained, both in the Episcopal church, and in other denominations. We thank you for their vision and strength;

Most gracious, Holy One We thank you.

We remember Florence Li Tim-Oi, the first woman ordained as priest in the Anglican Communion in 1944; and in 1974 the first women ordained as priests in the Episcopal Church known as the Philadelphia 11: Merrill Bittner, Alla Bozarth-Campbell, Alison Cheek, Emily Hewitt, Carter Heyward, Suzanne Hiatt, Marie Moorefield, Jeannette Piccard, Betty Bone Schiess, Katrina Swanson, and Nancy Wittig.  Thank you for calling these faithful women, and all those who followed, to the Priesthood & for granting them the resolve to answer Yes.

Most gracious, holy one  We thank you

We remember the bishops who ordained them, opening the way for women to answer your call in the Church. We thank you for all who supported them, encouraged them and sustained them in the difficulties they faced.

Most gracious, holy one  We thank you

We thank you for the courageous witness and leadership of Barbara Harris, the first woman ordained bishop in the Episcopal church and in the Anglican Communion in 1989.   We thank you also for the generations of African-American women who have risen to leadership within the church, including Pauli Murray, the first to be ordained priest, and Jennifer Baskerville-Burrows, the first elected as Bishop Diocesan. 

Most gracious, holy one  We thank you

And now, let us remember with gratitude the women in ministry who have inspired & nurtured us, standing bravely alongside us in faith, either in silence or aloud....

 God of all, we praise you for continuing to call people of every kind into your service, across all orders of ministry, for the glory of your name & the welfare of your people. We pray that you will open our eyes & hearts to behold the spiritual gifts you give abundantly for the ministries of the church.

Most gracious, holy one  We thank you

But as we praise you & thank you for the work of these women, we also lament and pray for those women, and men, who suffer from abuse, injustice, oppression, and other forms of ill will.

We pray for those who are demeaned and dismissed by others in authority; for those who are threatened and abused, merely for doing their job; for those trying to keep their families together in truly difficult situations.

We pray for women in any kind of leadership roles, who face misogyny every day, who fear for their lives, who receive threats of rape and abuse. 

Lord in your mercy Hear our prayer

We pray for the women, men and children suffering in war torn countries; for those abducted in Nigeria, Israel, Iraq, and elsewhere, where rape is used as another weapon of war, and human dignity is unknown.

We pray all those who have become invisible – unnoticed on our streets, forced into prostitution, working in dangerous sweatshops or domestic slavery, working for a pittance to provide for a consumer society. 

Open our eyes we pray to see what we can do to bring a safer, fairer world for all humanity.

Lord in your mercy Hear our prayer

O God, hope is a song in a weary throat. Give to us a song of hope and a world in which we can sing it. Give to us a song of faith and people to believe in it. Give to us a song of kindliness & a place where we can live it. Give to us a song of hope and love and faith. And let the People say: Amen.

***

As part of our service, we listened to this beautiful piece of music from the Cape Town Youth Choir: Thuma Mina ("Send me, Father")