Celebrating History

Today in the House of Deputies we had a party for the 230th birthday. We celebrated the fact that it was an innovation to allow all the orders to have a say in the governance of the church. President Jennings invited former Presidents and vice-presidents of the House of Deputies to join us. We watched a video about Charles Wille, who served in the early 1970s. He was an ardent supporter of women’s ordination and preached at the ordination of the Philadelphia Eleven. 1970 was the first year women were seated as deputies at General Convention. Wille resigned when the recognition of the Philadelphia Eleven was not recognized by General Convention. 

As I have walked the halls of this Convention, I have seen lots and lots of women in collars. And all of us owe a debt of gratitude to Wille. We owe a debt to him and so many others who took a courageous stand to enable women to be ordained in The Episcopal Church. For me, it has been a powerful learning experience over the last two years as we have celebrated the 40th anniversary of the ordination of women. It has been remarkable to hear the stories of those who blazed the trail for so many of us. 

I was blessed to go through the ordination process in the Diocese of Maine which had a woman bishop from the time I was in high school. Because of that there was no issue for me as a woman in the ordination process. I admit to having been relatively naive in how many challenges other women faced in the process of becoming priests. I am humbled and inspired by these women. Today I was reminded of the numerous men who took a courageous stand to make it possible for women to be priests in this church. I am grateful. 

General Convention: More Than Technical Change?

A reflection by The Rev. Molly F. James, PhD

I am often asked why I am priest. The short answer is that I had an incredibly inspiring parish priest when I was a child. The longer answer is that I had bone cancer when I was thirteen. That experience made me profoundly aware of my own mortality at an age when most of my peers were just testing to see how far they could push the envelope and see if they really were invincible. The experience of becoming aware of my own mortality at such a young age left me longing to spend my life working in a community of people who understand the sacredness and fragility of human life. While there are certainly many places where this could be true, for me it was the Church. I love that Church is a community that has deep and meaningful conversations (all the time!) about what really matters. It is a community that understands the sacredness of life. It is a community that seeks to live most of the time at a deeper level than much of secular society. People of faith are often less concerned with the superficial and more ready to engage with the questions of what gives life meaning.

Having experienced profound suffering at a young age, I treasured the opportunity to be a part of, to spend my life serving, a community that shared my values and believed that it is possible to make meaning out of our experiences of suffering. The story at the heart of our faith, the story of the life, death and resurrection of Jesus, does just that.

As I prepare to head to General Convention in just over a week, I have been thinking about why I love The Episcopal Church. Why have I given my life to serving this institution? I have been thinking about the joy and the gratitude I feel for the privilege of being a part of a community of faithful Christians who daily challenge (in a good way), comfort and inspire me. I am grounding myself in all that joy and gratitude because I want them to be my guiding principles as I go about the legislative business of General Convention.

I want to stay focused on what I love and what draws me into The Episcopal Church. I do not mean that I should be fiercely hanging on to things of the past – far from it. I think we very much need to be willing to do our common life in new and different ways. I do believe that if I can keep myself grounded in the gifts of my faith life, if I can keep focused on that deep love of God in Christ which makes me smile and gives me peace, then my time in Salt Lake City will be remarkable. It will enable me to leave feeling as though I have been a part of a celebratory gathering that has inspired me to a new way of being about God’s work in the world. It will be far more than just a political gathering of a parliamentary body.

It is my hope that General Convention will be transformative for those of us gathered and for the Church.

Molly James is a clergy deputy to General Convention and the Dean of Formation for the Episcopal Church in CT. She also serves as an adjunct faculty member at Hartford Seminary and The University of St. Joseph. She serves as the co-chair of The Young Clergy Women Project. She is married to Reade, a mechanical engineer. They have two children, Katherine and Halsted. Molly enjoys cooking and eating good food, reading, writing and the splendor of God’s Creation.

This post originally appeared on the Blog of The Scholar Priest Initiative.