The Gifts of Both

When I was in the Diocese of California, Bishop James Pike proposed affirming those in the Order of Deaconesses as Deacons, though some members of the Order felt they were responding to a call to be a community of social workers. I knew a number of women who spoke of their calling in this way. Their training center was in Berkeley, up the street from the CDSP seminary. Bishop Pike prevailed, however, and Deaconesses were perceived as full Deacons, equal to men.

I was a close friend of Katrina Swanson, whom I first met while she and Fr. George Swanson, her husband, lived in Coalinga, CA, followed by a move to Kansas City. Her father, Bishop Welles of West Missouri, ordained her to the priestly life before the church began to seriously consider ordaining women. In the early years, she suffered abuse by many of the male clergy. She told me that some of the faithful were so opposed to her that they spit on her hands as she distributed the Hosts at Communion services. While I served St.David's in Ames, IA, I invited Katrina to participate with the Rabbi of the Reformed synagogue next door in a week-long open dialogue on the role of women in ministry. By that time, General Convention had approved the ordination of women in the Episcopal Church.

During the first months following the action by General Convention, I attended a training week of the College of Preachers at the DeKoven Foundation which attracted a number of participants from a nearby diocese, among whom was a recently-ordained woman priest. During the passage of the week, she confided to me that the male clergy were distant and cold to her; none would invite her to their churches to celebrate the Holy Mysteries. As I had signed up to officiate the next morning, I invited her to concelebrate with me. She agreed and stood with me before the Altar the next morning. While there was an initial tension in the chapel, the Liturgy resolved it. Both of us sensed the difference!

I've generally found that men and women tend to approach prayer and the Eucharist differently, for men tend to approach God with the mind and women with the heart. Living with the Dominican sisters here, most of women have backgrounds as missionaries, college professors, and school administrators, I'm impressed with their concern for one another. The church needs the gifts both bring to her. We need to bring into the light of consciousness the contributions of women in the early Church and during the centuries that have followed, even in our own era.

With a background in nuclear physics at the Lawrence Berkeley Lab, Bob Miller is a priest of the Episcopal Church in Minnesota and has also served congregations in California, Iowa, and Southwest Florida.  He and his wife Margi were missionaries for 10 years in Honduras, where they founded the El Hogar Programs for youth.