The Philadelphia Eleven were the first eleven women to be ordained as priests in the Episcopal Church on July 29, 1974, two years before the General Convention affirmed and explicitly authorized the ordination of women to the priesthood. A film was produced about their ascension to the priesthood for the 50th anniversary in 2024.
The 1974 ordination was seen as an act of civil disobedience and was highly controversial at the time.
The 11 women ordained in Philadelphia were the Revs. Merrill Bittner, Alla Renée Bozarth, Alison Cheek, Emily Hewitt, Carter Heyward, Suzanne Hiatt, Marie Moorefield Fleischer, Jeanette Piccard, Betty Bone Schiess, Katrina Swanson, and Nancy Wittig. From the Philadelphia Inquirer “While all were previously deacons, the women came from all over the country and from many different backgrounds, ages, walks of life, and political worldviews.”
Links
1. The Philadelphia Eleven: Courage and Change . Three minute Trailer
2. Article from “Religion Unplugged”
3. Film conversation. Filmmaker Margo Guernsey, and the Rev. Nancy Wittig (one of the eleven women ordained in Philadelphia) and others for the first public conversation about the film.
4. Watch the film online
Jul 26, 12:00 PM EDT – Jul 30, 12:00 PM. $11
5. Timeline of women’s ordination
Several dioceses are promoting screenings of “The Philadelphia Eleven” documentary to coincide with the anniversary, and special worship services are planned.
In the Diocese of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia Episcopal Cathedral has committed to a yearlong celebration of women in the church, starting July 28 with its Holy Eucharist. Heyward, as one of the Philadelphia Eleven, will preach. A screening of the documentary will follow.
The 81st General Convention, at its meeting last month in Louisville, Kentucky, also passed several resolutions recognizing the Philadelphia Eleven and the 50th anniversary of their ordination. Resolution D055 invites commemorations over the next three years, marking an anniversary triennium.
Background to women’s ordination -There was no canon prohibition against ordaining women to the priesthood. It was just custom men were only ordained. Women had been admitted to a separate order of “deaconesses”. Although they were typically understood by themselves and their bishops to be in holy orders, these were treated differently from men ordained as deacons. By custom they were celibate and wore a blue habit-like garb which was often assumed to be that of nuns. Women were also denied access to the General Convention, the legislative body of the church until 1970. By this time the women’s movement was growing in the United States. General Convention also called for a vote to eliminate the canon law on “Deaconesses” so that male and female deacons would be treated equally. The resolution to ordain women to the priesthood failed in 1970. It also failed in 1973 despite the fact that women had formed the Episcopal Women’s Caucus, a national coalition to plan future advocacy work for women’s ordination. The women met with several bishops who supported them but at the same time were not willing to ordain them until General Convention had approved. By July 1974, as supporters of women’s ordination to the priesthood grew restless, three retired bishops stepped forward and agreed to ordain a group of qualified women deacons. Eleven women who were deacons presented themselves as ready for ordination to the priesthood, and plans for the service proceeded. The women who became known as the “Philadelphia Eleven”. The ordination service was held on Monday, July 29, 1974, at the Church of the Advocate in Philadelphia. Harvard University professor Charles V. Willie, who was also the vice president of the House of Deputies at the time, preached a sermon entitled, “The Priesthood of All Believers.” There was no universal agreement concerning the ordination. The Presiding Bishop and the House of Bishops declared them invalid. However, Bishop Vogel of Missouri objected saying they had no theological grounds for declaring the ordinations invalid because they were performed by bishops in good standing according to the Ordination Rite in the Book of Common Prayer and by laying-on-of-hands within the Apostolic Succession. The House of Bishops listened and changed its position, declaring the women irregularly ordained, a technicality since the local standing committees for the women had not given their consent. However, the women would not be recognized until the next General Convention meeting in 1976. Meanwhile, three of the first women to become priests took opportunities to celebrate the Eucharist against orders from their bishops. They were brought to ecclesiastical trial by their dioceses and convicted of disobeying a “godly admonition” from their bishops against permitting the women to celebrate the Eucharist. A second set of ordination in Sept , 1975 involved 4 women. While none of the bishops who had participated in the irregular ordinations were called to ecclesiastical trial, they were censured by the House of Bishops and their actions decried. Finally, at General Convention in 1976, Women’s ordination to the priesthood was approved.