List of the first 32 women ordained as Church of England priests
Encyclopedia
On 12 March 1994, the first 32 women were ordained as Church of England
priests. The service was officiated by Bishop Barry Rogerson
in Bristol Cathedral
.
Rogerson ordained the women in alphabetical order so Angela Berners-Wilson is considered to be the very first woman to be ordained.
The youngest woman to be ordained was Karen McKinnon, with Jean Kings being the second youngest. The oldest was 69.
In 2004 the tenth anniversary of the ordinations was celebrated at Bristol Cathedral and, by then, one of the women priests had died and 14 had retired.
The 32 women ordained on the day were: (Complete list copied from the Order of Service)
The officiating bishop believed it would be 10 years before the first woman bishop was appointed.
Church of England
The Church of England is the officially established Christian church in England and the Mother Church of the worldwide Anglican Communion. The church considers itself within the tradition of Western Christianity and dates its formal establishment principally to the mission to England by St...
priests. The service was officiated by Bishop Barry Rogerson
Barry Rogerson
Barry Rogerson was the first Bishop of Wolverhampton from 1979 to 1985 and from then until his retirement, Bishop of Bristol....
in Bristol Cathedral
Bristol Cathedral
The Cathedral Church of the Holy and Undivided Trinity is the Church of England cathedral in the city of Bristol, England, and is commonly known as Bristol Cathedral...
.
Rogerson ordained the women in alphabetical order so Angela Berners-Wilson is considered to be the very first woman to be ordained.
The youngest woman to be ordained was Karen McKinnon, with Jean Kings being the second youngest. The oldest was 69.
In 2004 the tenth anniversary of the ordinations was celebrated at Bristol Cathedral and, by then, one of the women priests had died and 14 had retired.
The 32 women ordained on the day were: (Complete list copied from the Order of Service)
- Angela Berners-WilsonAngela Berners-WilsonAngela Berners-Wilson is considered to be the first woman ordained as a priest in the Church of England. She is currently a chaplain at the University of Bath.Her father was the rector of the rural parish of Frant in East Sussex....
, a university chaplain - Waveney Bishop
- Christine Clarke
- Judith Creighton
- Faith Cully
- Brenda Dowie
- Carol Edwards, of St Christopher's, Brislington
- Annis Fessey
- Jan Fortune-Wood
- Susan Giles
- Jane Hayward
- Jean Kings, part-time parish deacon who was also chaplain at University of the West of EnglandUniversity of the West of EnglandThe University of the West of England is a university based in the English city of Bristol. Its main campus is at Frenchay, about five miles north of the city centre...
- Karen McKinnon, full-time parish deacon
- Audrey Maddock
- Charmion Mann
- Helen Marshall
- Glenys Mills, Christ's Church, Clifton
- Jillianne Norman
- Clare Pipe-Wolferstan
- June Plummer
- Susan Restall, St Mary's, Yate
- Susan Rose
- Susan Shipp
- Margery Simpson
- Sylvia Stevens
- Judith Thompson
- Anita Thorne
- Sheila Tyler
- Pauline Wall
- Rosemary Dawn Watling, at the time a 61-year-old Anglican nun and deacon in a vicarage in Bristol
- Valerie Woods, Vicar of Wood End in Coventry
- Ailsa Newby
The officiating bishop believed it would be 10 years before the first woman bishop was appointed.
Further reading
External links
- In Historic Service, Church of England Ordains 32 Women to the Priesthood, Episcopal News Service