On July 29, 1974 eleven deacons — who came to be known as the “Philadelphia Eleven” — and four bishops gathered in front of a standing-room-only-congregation at the Church of the Advocate in Philadelphia and made history with the ordination of the first women priests in the Episcopal Church.

Forty-five years later it might be hard to imagine — in a parish like All Saints, Pasadena with a long history of women clergy on staff; in the Diocese of Los Angeles with two women bishops; in an Episcopal Church with a woman as one of our former Presiding Bishops — what a radical act that was. But it was.

Protesters at the ordination called the proceedings “unlawful and schismatical; constituting a grave injury to the peace of Christ’s Church.” One priest said, “You are trying to make stones into bread.”

And the protests continued, including some congregations (four here in the Diocese of Los Angeles) trying to leave the Episcopal Church over the ordination of women. It was, some warned, the “end of the world as we know it.”

Yet, in spite of the warnings and protests, the church kept moving forward. In September 1975 four more women were ordained in Washington DC. And in September 1976, at the 65th General Convention of the Episcopal Church, the ordination of women was “regularized” with a resolution that simply said that the canons for ordination “shall be equally applicable to men and women.”

Five years ago — on the 40th anniversary — we solicited stories from the women who have both served at and been ordained from All Saints since 1974. Fifteen of them responded and their stories are preserved in our Archives … today would be an awesome day to check them out here.

And here we are in 2019. Today is also a reminder that those stories continue to expand as since then we have celebrated the ordinations of Norma Guerra and Lauren Grubaugh — and will celebrate with Jamie Barnett when she is ordained to the priesthood in January.

Forty-five years later the church has not finished with its struggle to dismantle patriarchy or overcome systemic sexism — and yet it is inarguable that the courage and prophetic witness of those eleven women and four bishops on July 29, 1974 changed the course of our history. And so today we rejoice and give thanks … sharing this prayer by Kim Hardy:

Prayer for the Anniversary of the Ordination of Women to the Priesthood in the Episcopal Church

Gracious God, we give thanks to you for the 2000 year ministry of women in your one holy catholic and apostolic Church, and today we give special thanks for the celebration of 45 years of priestly ordained ministry of women in the Episcopal Church.

We remember and honor “The Philadelphia 11:” Merrill Bittner, Alla Renée Bozarth, Alison Mary Cheek, Emily Clark Hewitt, Isabel Carter Heyward, Suzanne Radley Hiatt, Marie Moorefield Fleischer, Jeannette Ridlon Piccard, Betty Bone Schiess, Katrina Martha van Alstyne Welles Swanson, and Nancy Constantine Hatch Wittig, and “The Washington Four:“ Eleanor Lee McGee-Street, Alison “Tally” Palmer, Elizabeth “Betty” Powell (Rosenberg), and Diane Catherine Baldwin Tickell.

We are grateful for the ministries that you raise up — lay and ordained — and we praise you for the wonderful diversity of those you call to bring love and reconciliation in the name of Jesus to our beautiful, yet broken world. Today we especially honor those who were pioneers, explorers, and justice-makers who felt it their call to assist you in bringing women into the full array of ministries in our beloved church. From their example, may we find hope and courage to also bring justice, love, and reconciliation into our world in your Holy Name. Amen.