30/05/2024
Thirty years since the first ordination of women as priests in the Church of England will be celebrated by the Diocese of York at the service of Evensong in York Minster at 5.30pm on Tuesday 4th June 2024.
York Minster hosted two services in May 1994 at which a total of 39 women were ordained priest to serve in parishes and chaplaincies within the Diocese of York.
The Church of England's General Synod had agreed in February that year to approve the ordination of women as priests, following many years of vigorous debate and campaigning both for and against the proposal.
The 39 ordained in York Minster had served previously - sometimes for many years or decades - as lay workers, deaconesses (a recognised but non-ordained parish ministry), and since 1987 as deacons, but until 1994 women were not permitted to be ordained as priest and to administer the full range of the church's sacraments, including presiding at the service of Holy Communion.
Some of those ordained in 1994 continue in active ministry or in supporting roles in their retirement; a number have died in the thirty years since.
The preacher at the 4th June 2024 service will be the Revd Canon Sue Sheriff, who as one of those ordained in York Minster in 1994 is still in active ministry as Priest-in-Charge of St Oswald's, Fulford, York; in the intervening years she has served in Southcoates and Marfleet, Hull, and in Tadcaster.
Sue Sheriff remembers: "Together with some incredible Godly women I was ordained alongside, I had been interviewed to see if both the Church and we ourselves felt that God has called us to the distinctively different role of priest.
"In the ordination service we had been presented by the archdeacon to the bishop, and by the bishop to the people as he asked, ‘Is it your will that they should be ordained priest?’
"There had been a resounding 'It is' that felt like it could have almost lifted the roof off our beautiful cathedral."
The Revd Canon Angela Bailey was also ordained in York Minster in May 1994 and has served in many capacities including in parishes in the East Riding of Yorkshire, as a hospital chaplain and as a tutor with York School of Ministry.
Angela Bailey recalls, "We had a few years of 'permanent diaconate' as it was called then, before the ordination to priesthood.
"I was struck then and since by the way we needed to be light on our feet, adapting, developing theological thinking, learning new skills, to fulfil what the church was now calling us to.
"Of course, that's true of all Christians, witnessing 'afresh in each generation', and these first ordinations [of women] came after a lot of liturgical revision so some folk were used to new perspectives. Not everyone likes change though!"
Archbishop of York Stephen Cottrell, who has invited the whole Diocese of York to attend the celebratory service of Evensong in York Minster, said, "The Church of God released and received the most extraordinary blessing thirty years ago in ordaining women to the priesthood; I see so many people held and nurtured by the priestly ministry of women - I am one of them - and together they embody yet more facets of the person, the character and the work of Jesus Christ in the world.
"We owe a great debt of gratitude to the first women ordained as priests because so many of them kept faith with the calling they knew was theirs, and worked and prayed in their homes, parishes and workplaces sometimes for decades.
"Thanks be to God for the blessings the world and the church receive from the witness of our women priests, and may God richly bless each one of them in their ministry and their life."
The Revd Canon Sue Sheriff reflected on her thirty years as a priest:
I have just surprised myself by getting very emotional while celebrating the first Sunday Communion since the 30th anniversary of being ordained as a priest.
It took me right back to the day after the priesting in 1994 when I celebrated my first Communion. As I looked out that Sunday morning from behind the communion table at many of the people who had supported me through my Christian journey and vocation to be a priest, I was overwhelmed with compassion for the flock for which Jesus had asked me to care.
It felt a massive responsibility for which even after 7 years as a deacon I felt ill-prepared and unworthy.
I took confidence from the fact that the day before in a packed York Minster my bishop and many colleagues had laid hands on me as the bishop said, “Send down the Holy Spirit upon your servant Suzanne for the office and work of a priest in your Church.”
Together with some incredible Godly women I was ordained alongside, I had been interviewed to see if both the Church and we ourselves felt that God has called us to the distinctively different role of priest. In the ordination service we had been presented by the archdeacon to the bishop, and by the bishop to the people as he asked, is it your will that they should be ordained priest?
There had been a resounding “It is” that felt like it could have almost lifted the roof off our beautiful cathedral.
At the end of today's Communion I once again felt humbled and overwhelmed with compassion as we sang the lines “I will go, Lord, if you lead me, I will hold your people in my heart” and for me that sums up what the last 30 years have been about.
The Revd Canon Angela Bailey, another of those ordained in York Minster in 1994, recalls:
One feeling I have looking back on these years of women in priestly orders is deep respect for the women before us, and gratitude. Archbishop Runcie ordained as deacon in February 1987 women who were by then retired, together with us newbies. Some of these elder women had decades of faithful ministry behind them, models of service in places where they were not seen in the sanctuary nor heard in the liturgy.
We had a few years of 'permanent diaconate' as it was called then, before the ordination to priesthood. I was struck then and since by the way we needed to be light on our feet, adapting, developing theological thinking, learning new skills, to fulfil what the church was now calling us to. Of course, that's true of all Christians, witnessing 'afresh in each generation', and these first ordinations came after a lot of liturgical revision so some folk were used to new perspectives. Not everyone likes change though!
Beginning as a deaconess I never expected to be 'in charge', there were few such posts - and yet we were called to leadership and had to step up. I hope this helped me to nurture the gifts of those who were tempted to keep their lights under a bushel. One great joy of my ministry has been to see people grow in their following Jesus, and answering his call on their lives.
The Eucharist has always been central in my own faith and to preside, to serve in that way is a privilege. The prayer of Jesus that we may be one is focussed in the Eucharist and is key to our witness that God was in Christ reconciling the world to God-self. For me this is the heart of our faith and our calling in the church, whatever our role in the celebration, to be together at the Eucharist. Speaking God's word of peace wherever we are serving is my prayer in pastoral work, which is my main role now.
So gratitude for the women before us, a sense of being light-footed on the Way, sharing the journey and seeing others grow into maturity in Christ, speaking God's word of peace and seeking unity in the Eucharist - these have been the themes of these past years. I've served with and among great folk - thank you.
