On the 50th anniversary of the ordination of women
A wash of gratitude colours the picture as I reflect on my ministry in the Anglican Church of Canada. My husband David and I emigrated to Canada from England in 1984, so that I could be ordained a priest. We had studied and trained together in England and had been working in a parish together for three years, David as a curate and myself as a deaconess.
The Church of England’s General Synod had debated the ordination of women several times and determined that there were no fundamental theological objections to the ordination of women, but that the time was not yet right. Frustrated at the roadblock, we had considered a move overseas to one of the places where women were already being ordained: Hong Kong, Australia, New Zealand, the US, and Canada. After an unexpected meeting with some Canadian clergy on a sabbatical in England, a priest from the Diocese of Montreal, Ken Genge, had taken a chance on us and offered us a position in his parish in St. Lambert.
Looking back, I am amazed and grateful that Ken risked sponsoring us, the parish paid for our move, and the Bishop of Montreal ordained me. These strike me now as remarkable acts of faith and generosity. David and I worked as assistant curates in St Lambert for two years, finding our feet as new Canadians and working at last as equals in the Church. We then offered ourselves for ministry in the Diocese of Moosonee, which was chronically short of clergy. We were placed in Kapuskasing as co-rectors and arrived with our first child, who was a few months old.
Almost five years of ministry in the north opened our eyes to a very different Canada, and we met Indigenous clergy and people for the first time. I remember the Rev. Redfern Loutitt, who taught me enough Cree to give a blessing to Cree patients in the hospital. Redfern was a survivor of the residential “school” system and had had to relearn his own language as an adult after having it beaten out of him. Yet he was gracious and open to his settler colleagues and set me on the road to learning and practising reconciliation. I give thanks for his life and faith.
From 1991 to 2008 we lived and worked in Guelph and raised our three children there. I was working as the Ecumenical Campus Minister at the University of Guelph. It was a rich period for me of going deeper into my spirituality as a woman and a priest. I was discovering how powerful language is in the formation of people’s concept of God, and how limiting – even stunting and distorting – the traditional male language for God can be. I read the works of feminist theologians and spiritual writers and met with other women in small groups to share our struggles and journeys.
During that period, I pulled together my thoughts and experiences and wrote a book, She Changes Everything*. Seeing the divine as Mother, Sophia, Breath of Life, and finding the Holy One in ourselves as women had been life-changing for me, and my hope was that the book might touch other women who had felt disenfranchised from a patriarchal faith. Back in parish ministry in Victoria, BC, and Toronto for fourteen years before retirement, I tried to bring my learnings and faith to the churches I served.
An all-male priesthood can only limit the Church’s ability to be the Body of Christ in the world. I am immeasurably grateful that the Anglican Church of Canada recognized that and gave me the opportunity to be ordained. Fifty years on, I am still changing, but remain rooted in Christ, God-with-us, my way, my truth, my life.
* A second edition entitled She Changes Everything: A Woman Priest’s Journey with the Feminine Divine is due to be published by Bloomsbury, London, in April 2027.
A Road Paved with Grace
On the 50th anniversary of the ordination of women
A wash of gratitude colours the picture as I reflect on my ministry in the Anglican Church of Canada. My husband David and I emigrated to Canada from England in 1984, so that I could be ordained a priest. We had studied and trained together in England and had been working in a parish together for three years, David as a curate and myself as a deaconess.
The Church of England’s General Synod had debated the ordination of women several times and determined that there were no fundamental theological objections to the ordination of women, but that the time was not yet right. Frustrated at the roadblock, we had considered a move overseas to one of the places where women were already being ordained: Hong Kong, Australia, New Zealand, the US, and Canada. After an unexpected meeting with some Canadian clergy on a sabbatical in England, a priest from the Diocese of Montreal, Ken Genge, had taken a chance on us and offered us a position in his parish in St. Lambert.
Looking back, I am amazed and grateful that Ken risked sponsoring us, the parish paid for our move, and the Bishop of Montreal ordained me. These strike me now as remarkable acts of faith and generosity. David and I worked as assistant curates in St Lambert for two years, finding our feet as new Canadians and working at last as equals in the Church. We then offered ourselves for ministry in the Diocese of Moosonee, which was chronically short of clergy. We were placed in Kapuskasing as co-rectors and arrived with our first child, who was a few months old.
Almost five years of ministry in the north opened our eyes to a very different Canada, and we met Indigenous clergy and people for the first time. I remember the Rev. Redfern Loutitt, who taught me enough Cree to give a blessing to Cree patients in the hospital. Redfern was a survivor of the residential “school” system and had had to relearn his own language as an adult after having it beaten out of him. Yet he was gracious and open to his settler colleagues and set me on the road to learning and practising reconciliation. I give thanks for his life and faith.
From 1991 to 2008 we lived and worked in Guelph and raised our three children there. I was working as the Ecumenical Campus Minister at the University of Guelph. It was a rich period for me of going deeper into my spirituality as a woman and a priest. I was discovering how powerful language is in the formation of people’s concept of God, and how limiting – even stunting and distorting – the traditional male language for God can be. I read the works of feminist theologians and spiritual writers and met with other women in small groups to share our struggles and journeys.
During that period, I pulled together my thoughts and experiences and wrote a book, She Changes Everything*. Seeing the divine as Mother, Sophia, Breath of Life, and finding the Holy One in ourselves as women had been life-changing for me, and my hope was that the book might touch other women who had felt disenfranchised from a patriarchal faith. Back in parish ministry in Victoria, BC, and Toronto for fourteen years before retirement, I tried to bring my learnings and faith to the churches I served.
An all-male priesthood can only limit the Church’s ability to be the Body of Christ in the world. I am immeasurably grateful that the Anglican Church of Canada recognized that and gave me the opportunity to be ordained. Fifty years on, I am still changing, but remain rooted in Christ, God-with-us, my way, my truth, my life.
* A second edition entitled She Changes Everything: A Woman Priest’s Journey with the Feminine Divine is due to be published by Bloomsbury, London, in April 2027.
Keep on reading
Do Not Judge: A Major Hindrance to Sharing Faith
Called to the Table, Indeed!
A Tower of Strength: Remembering the Reverend Canon Wendy Roy
Prophets and Midwives
National Strategy for Local Ministries with Migrant Workers
The Discipline of Forgiveness