On Women Priests and the Story of Holy Week
Dear Ones,
When I first started attending the Episcopal Church in the early 00’s, it wasn’t long before I learned that our church had been ordaining women since the 1970’s. I remember feeling good about that (women’s rights!) but also a little uneasy. Strange, right? Admittedly, it’s simply because it was a new concept to me. I did not attend any church up to that point. So I had to rearrange my thinking a bit so that I could open myself up to what God was up to in the Episcopal Church: Women priests! Who knew?
Then, after I had heard a call to the priesthood, it wasn’t until I was already in seminary that I found out more about how much those first women priests went through. I had simply never thought about it and had never been asked to think about it. But in learning this story, I not only have a deeper appreciation for those women and for those who stood with them, I also have a deeper understanding for the events that led up to the crucifixion of Jesus.
First, they chose to do those ordinations without widely communicating it so the threat of violence would be reduced. Unfortunately, a few days before, the press go hold of the story and immediately, problems arose – threats of violence, bishops backed out of their promise to be there, letters and telegrams were sent and two male clergy appeared at the ordination itself declaring it to be an abomination.
Those first women priests regularly received death threats. The male clergy who supported them were disciplined, maligned, fired, and/or ostracized. The bishops who ordained them were considered to have betrayed their brother bishops. And it was a long time before those women were allowed to preside at a Eucharistic Table. All of them were told they were destroying the church. All of them were told they were evil.
When change is needed because of oppression, and God’s Holy Spirit begins to inspire that change, those who have privilege based on “the way things are” are automatically threatened. Sometimes the privileged are able to see what God is up to and use their privilege to help others. But most often, what we see is a dangerous mix of jealousy, fear, anger, and shame that culminates in violence. That violence is always going to be relational and economical (as I’ve described above) and sometimes even becomes physical. This is the cycle of human sin.
And this cycle of human sin is the story of Holy Week. Jesus was that person – that scapegoat – who became the focus of hatred during a time of extended crisis when the way of life for Jewish people was being threatened by the Roman Empire. Chosen by God, Jesus saw that, during this time of crisis, the religious leaders were further ostracizing those who were in need so that they could gain favor with the Roman leadership. And, at the risk of his own life, he spoke out. He was killed for his teachings and his actions because they threatened the powers that be – both the state and religious leaders.
This is why movies like The Philadelphia 11 help me to reflect on exactly what we are doing in Holy Week. It’s not just a story that happened a long time ago. It’s something that continues to happen… over and over and over again. So the reason Holy Week is so important to me, personally, is that it’s an opportunity to remember just how lost we are capable of becoming as humans. And how God continues to work through those who are willing, in order to overcome human sin so that we can be resurrected into new life. In so doing, God’s Love rains down to save us from ourselves once again.
Especially, at this time in our society’s history, we need to tell this story. So I hope you will join us for Holy Week this year and help us all remember this cycle so that together we can also remember God’s Hope for us.
In God’s love and mine,
Rev. Michelle |
