What is in Kelvin's Head?

Florence Li Tim-Oi – Celebrating 70 years since her ordination

25/01/2014

I’m just off to celebrate a Eucharist because it is a Feast Day – the Conversion of St Paul. The standard, if rather weak, in-joke is that one is going to pray for the Conversion of St Paul rather than simply remember the Conversion of St Paul – not least because Paul had things to say that have not been terribly helpful to a modern world where women and men are equal.

As I celebrate the feast today I’m going to be remembering with thanksgiving this woman: The Rev Florence Li Tim-Oi and celebrating 70 years since her ordination.

She was the first woman to be made a priest in the Anglican Communion and today is 70 years since it happened. It happened in wartime when there were no men around and it happened secretly and without the permission of synods and decision-making bodies simply, I suspect because they couldn’t meet at the time.

The most extraordinary thing about Mother Florence is that once the war was over, she gave up her license to act as a priest (but not her orders) until such time as her church accepted the principle that women and men could equally be regarded as priests. In her part of the world, that meant waiting until 1971.

I can’t imagine what it was like to wait so many years to be treated as an equal.

No, wait a minute.

I can.

70 years, Florence Li Tim-Oi, Ordination

8 responses to “Glasgow Rain”

Stewart

18/09/2006

This is only a passing shower – the real rain is still to come 🙂

Great for filling my water butts though!!

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Ruth

19/09/2006

No, according to the papers today it is to be scorchio on Thursday – 82 degrees or something similar. Oh no, sorry, that would be everywhere else in Britain apart from the West Coast. sorry!

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Elizabeth

19/09/2006

Yup.

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Pamela Murphy

19/09/2006

It was even worse down in Greenock last night. The nights really are fair drawing in now!!

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mysterious stranger

19/09/2006

I really like the new look ,especially the pictures on the page headers very arty.Unfortunately I am one of the rare breed that use Macs.OOOPS!I can see the title of your daily blogs but no text appears.I can even post a comment.

I am able to access the site by PC as well so I can catch up but I thought I’d better let you know.

Rain has reached us fueled by a vicious South Easterly gale.

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Stewart

20/09/2006

Left Glasgow Airport at 9am this morning in torrential rain. The sun is currently shining in Gloucester (@4:45pm) – now was there not a nursery rhyme about a Doctor going to Gloucester in a shower of rain?

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Brian

21/09/2006

(Very) Reverend rainmaker.
The rain seems to have coincided with an upsurge in the number of native American musicians in the city centre, although I think last year some of them were playing ‘The Flight of the Condor’ and claiming to be from Peru.

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Howard

21/09/2006

You’ve seen nothing like the weather in the Isle of Man in the last 48 hours. Storm force and severe storm force gales and torrential rain have forced ferries to be cancelled, and there is more severe weather forecast for tonight. It prevented us from visiting the adjacent island (England) today.

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