What is in Kelvin's Head?

  • What people are looking for

    The following search terms have all brought people to my blog in the last month:

    • Lucy Winkett married (I’ve no idea)
    • friendship as sacrament (if only the churches were this wise)
    • Old St Paul’s homosexuality (A number of searches on this one suggesting that people are not finding what they are looking for from their website)
    • health guidelines for thuribles (Keep it clean and use the ethanol to clean the inside. And do it outside)
    • humorous reading for mothers’ union (I’m saying nothing)
    • can you get a 4 berth sleeper on scotrail caledonian sleeper (I think you can – 2 adjacent apartments with an open internal door)
    • evensong gaidhlig (because Evensong is not esoteric enough)
    • believing that god has a plan for us all (Ah, probably best not coming to me for this one, I don’t)
    • can you have a christening during lent in anglican faith (oh yes – great preparation for Easter)
    • he has a unique plan for us (Oh no he doesn’t….)
    • Episcopal churches Edinburgh (I’m probably not the primary source on this one)

10 responses to “It was 30 years ago today…”

  1. Meg Rosenfeld Avatar
    Meg Rosenfeld

    Alas, I can’t remember exactly when it became possible for women to be come priests in the
    Episcopal Church of the United States of America, but I remember very well the first ones in our parish church in Los Gatos, California and, later, in Santa Rosa. It was a very triumphant time!

    Reply
    1. Sr Alison Joy Whybrow Avatar
      Sr Alison Joy Whybrow

      The Canon in the American Episcopal Church passed in 1976 and went into effect on January 1st 1977.
      Sr Alison Joy OSB

      Reply
      1. Mg Rosenfeld Avatar
        Mg Rosenfeld

        Thanks! I hope to remember those dates now.

        Reply
    2. Tim Chesterton Avatar
      Tim Chesterton

      In Canada women began to be ordained as deacons in 1969 and as priests in 1976.

      Reply
  2. Peggy Brewer Avatar
    Peggy Brewer

    Heartfelt testament concerning the importance/necessity of inclusion as our Lord Jesus Christ commanded!

    Reply
  3. Bob King Avatar
    Bob King

    I remember the day so
    well !
    I was at Salisbury and Wells Theological College, preparing to leave to be Ordained in Hereford Cathedral, preparing for the closure of the College and praying with passion and fear that the vote in Synod would be YES 🙏🙏
    All three things happened as we know, joy and sadness mingled down.

    Reply
  4. Helen King Avatar
    Helen King

    Yes, all of this, especially “There were cruelties along the way. There was a great deal of abuse along the way”

    Reply
    1. Anne Avatar
      Anne

      And, sadly, there still is.

      Reply
  5. John N Wall Avatar
    John N Wall

    The first women ordained to the priesthood in the Episcopal Church were the “Philadelphia Eleven,” ordained on July 29, 1974, by three bishops who claimed that “obedience to the Spirit” justified their action. After a second ordination of women, all their ordinations were deemed by the national church to be “irregular but valid.” As a previous correspondent noted, the General Convention of the Episcopal Church officially authorized the ordination of women to the priesthood, a decision that went into effect on the first of January in 1977.

    Back to Glossary

    Reply
  6. Keith Battarbee Avatar
    Keith Battarbee

    On the opposite side to the still continuing antipathies in some (diminishing) quarters to women priests : my wife, who is a priest, was driving today when we got stuck waiting our turn to join the main flow of cars. A driver in the main queue – eastern European, almost certainly – spotted my wife’s collar, crossed himself; and when we didn’t get the message, grinned broadly, crossed himself again, and waved us energetically into the traffic flow in front of him.

    Reply

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Previous Posts

  • Chalkegate

    There has been more than enough said about schism in the Anglican Communion recently. What has gone mostly unreported is a very similar schism in the Evangelical Alliance. It is not over sexuality but over doctrine (natch). However, the nub of the argument is very similar to the one going on within Anglicansim. Here is…

  • Sermon – 14 November 2004

    As I was thinking about what to say this Remembrance Sunday morning, I was thinking back to some of the things that I remember saying a year ago. I never thought when I was preparing for ministry and thinking about Remembrance Sunday services that the time would come when I was leading this kind of…

  • Dripping Wax

    The day begins with the discovery that someone (a member of the Orthodox church community who use the church sometimes) left a box of candles on a heater yesterday. The mess and stench greet me when I go into church at 0730 to get ready for the early service.

  • Chiasmus Alert

    There was an outbreak of chiasmus in the Scottish Parliament yesterday, with this comment coming from David McLetchie: “Wouldn't it be ironic if … the criminals can be smokers but the smokers will become criminals?”Very clever. Of such stuff preachers are made and preachers make stuff of.