Women to Celebrate Priesthood at Canterbury
Episcopal News Service. June 9, 1988 [88121]
Nancy Montgomery, Episcopal Women's Caucus
WASHINGTON, D.C. (DPS, June 9) -- Anglican women of the Americas will welcome their sisters from Africa, Australia, and the Philippines at the Episcopal Women's Caucus (EWC) center in Canterbury, England, during the Lambeth Conference, July 16 to August 7. The decennial Lambeth meeting brings together bishops of the Anglican Communion to consider the state of the Church.
The Caucus center, located in the Priory, St. Peter's Lane, close to Canterbury Cathedral, will be the scene of a celebration of forty-four years of women in the Anglican priesthood when the Rev. Li Tim Oi, who was ordained in 1944, and the Rev. Joyce Bennett, ordained in 1971, join clergy and laity from all over the world to give thanks for women's ministry. Scheduled for Thursday, July 21, the event is open to all.
Since the English Church does not ordain women and does not license those women from other parts of the Anglican Communion who are ordained, the women from North America have agreed not to celebrate the eucharist during the three-week meeting. Close to 140 bishops have stated that they will not celebrate while in England in order to show solidarity and support for the women.
Daily programs at the Priory will include lectures by visiting scholars, discussions of inclusive language, and workshops on the problems facing women in the church and ways in which to strengthen women's ministries worldwide. Hospitality and an opportunity to exchange views with people from many other countries will be offered to Canterbury "pilgrims."
During the second and third weeks of the meeting, Caucus members and friends will consolidate with British women at the Canterbury Centre, headquarters for the Movement for the Ordination of Women (MOW). MOW works actively for the ordination of women in England. There are now over 700 women who are ordained deacons in England, but these women cannot proceed to become priests as long as the present stance is taken by their church.
Many of the North American women will be staying at the Oast in nearby Wye, rented by the Caucus to provide housing not only for EWC members and friends but also for guests from around the world. Thanks to generous gifts from dioceses and individual donors, travel and housing expenses for some Third World women are being met by the Caucus.
The entire program in Canterbury is a memorial to Janette Pierce, managing editor of The Episcopalian and longtime supporter of women in the Church, who died suddenly in January. In her honor, the Episcopal Communicators have raised $3000 to help defray part of the costs of the EWC Lambeth meeting.
Co-chairs of the EWC program in Canterbury are Sally Bucklee of the Diocese of Washington and the Rev. Fran Toy of the Diocese of California. During the conference, the phone number in England for more information is (0233) 813216.