Let us pray.
Holy God, we thank you for the courage of the eleven women who offered themselves to your service as priests on this day in Philadelphia. With gratitude, we honor all those who defended their cause and assisted them in answering your call. Help us, having their bravery in mind, to continue the work of inviting, blessing, and utilizing the gifts of all persons, for the building up of the Body of Christ, in whose name we pray. Amen. [From A Commemoration of the Ordination of the Philadelphia Eleven: July 29, 1974, written by: The Very Reverend Kay Sylvester, Diocese of Los Angeles]
Dear People of St. David’s,
On July 2nd, I preached a sermon that focused on the bravery of the Philadelphia Eleven. For those that don’t know, the Philadelphia Eleven were eleven women who were the first women ordained as priests in The Episcopal Church on July 29, 1974, two years before General Convention affirmed and authorized the ordination of women to the priesthood. In the sermon, I focus on how brave they were to take those steps and how important it was for the church that these women said to God, “Here I am.” These women accepted a call to ordained ministry when it was not being authorized by The Episcopal Church.
July 29th will be the 49th anniversary of this very important day. The ordination of these women took place at the Church of the Advocate in Philadelphia, which is only about 19 miles from St. David’s. If you are interested in learning more about the Philadelphia Eleven, I encourage you to join Emily Given and a group of folks from St. David’s on August 4th, as they take a Pilgrimage to the Church of the Advocate. I’m excited to hear about what all of you might learn.
I also hope that as we hear and learn more about the Philadelphia Eleven, we are inspired by their bravery. We should continue the work of inviting, blessing, and utilizing the gifts of all persons to build up the Body of Christ in the world. The reality is we need everyone, lay and ordained, to grow the Kingdom of God. This is not a one-person job, it’s a ministry for all.
At St. David’s, we have a wide variety of ministries to participate in and lead. We are constantly looking to get others involved in the good work of this parish. I want to remind all of you, that you have gifts and talents that are needed to help grow the church.
Blessings,
The Rev. Thomas Szczerba, Jr.
Associate Rector