30 July 2009
Anniversaries of the Spirit’s Work
Posted by lljunggren under: Uncategorized .
In what was known as Free China, on January 25, 1944, The Rev. Florence Li Tim-Oi was ordained a priest in the Anglican Communion by Bp. R O Hall of Hong Kong. Some thirty years later, and thirty-five years ago yesterday, on July 29, 1974, eleven women were ordained priests at the Church of The Advocate in Philadelphia, PA. Last night before my eyelids closed for the night, I revisited in my mind and heart standing on the very spot where God made those priests 35 years ago. A great friend of mine, the Rev. Susan Sherard, and I were deputies to General Convention in Philadelphia in 1997. We attended a soup-kitchen supper one evening at The Church of the Advocate. After dinner Susan and I stood facing the altar and then one another at the Church of the Advocate. We looked down at the floor in that sacred space and up at the crumbling ceiling. There was no mistaking the presence of God’s Holy Spirit. I remember having chills and having tears spring to my eyes. So, last night, on July 29, 2009, the final prayer I whispered was to thank God for the Spirit’s work in leading the church to recognize Her calling of women to Holy Orders. May God continue to bless the ministries of all women as the Spirit leads us into a future shrouded in mystery. May God bless the ministries of all men as we journey together into that unfolding mystery. Lorraine
One Comment so far...
Carmen Reeve Says:
4 August 2009 at 5:25 pm.
This is Keith, not Carmen. I was a student at Bromsgrove, a boy’s only (then) private C. of E. boarding school (Public School in the U.K.) in 1944 when the news reached us that R.O Hall, a graduate (an Old Bromsgrovian) had ordained the first woman priest (The Rev. Florence Li Tim-Oi) and he was greatly honored for this “brave action” then, and indeed a special honorific wooden memorial was almost immediately hung in our assembly hall.