Rector’s Note: Running Ahead-7.25.24

“You’re running ahead of the church!” my mom said to me in one of the more painful conversations we had about my leaving Catholicism to pursue ordination as an Episcopalian. To my mom, running ahead meant recklessness, it meant rushing head-long into traffic or tripping and falling down the stairs – all things she’s long warned us against. Running ahead means there’s no one close enough to catch you if you run into danger. It’s frightening for a parent. There are consequences.

But in this case, running ahead meant defying rules in an institution that wasn’t ready to change them. It meant walking away with eyes wide open, and not looking back. It meant being an adult.

My mom’s parental warning made me think of all the people in Scripture that had defied faith tradition and family to run ahead in response to God’s call. Abram and Sarai, followed an unfamiliar God to a new land. Moses and Miriam and all the people of Israel ran ahead of Pharaoh and toward God’s promise. Prophets typically ran ahead (and afoul) of kings and enemies and the people, calling Israel to turn, repent, reform. Mary ran ahead of the law and convention to birth a baby that was not the son of her betrothed. Jesus, ran ahead of everyone’s expectations of what salvation looked like for Jew and gentile alike.

The list goes on.

Running ahead is essential to living the Christian life, if God is doing the beckoning.

The eleven women who were irregularly ordained in Philadelphia 50 years ago, the four women similarly ordained in Washington D.C. a year later, and the bishops who ordained them, all ran ahead. And the church was not really that far behind them. Resolutions for women’s ordination were presented and defeated at the 1970 and 1973 General Conventions, and each time the vote was narrower. Running ahead meant helping the church to break free of a fear that was steadily weakening against the push of women and the Holy Spirit. The General Convention ultimately approved the ordination of women in 1976.

I wish I had known the story of the Philadelphia 11 when I was growing up, even when I was discerning leaving the church to pursue ordination. But they weren’t among the role models I was given to follow. I had Catholic women martyrs who had died defying political authority. I had mentors who quietly hoped for a change that would happen one day, but not likely in their lifetimes. Eventually I had friends who lost jobs and were excommunicated for their direct challenge to church authority on women’s roles in the Catholic church.

I had models of courage. But I didn’t have the example of people who ran ahead and were not ultimately run out. I didn’t have the model of a church that was willing to catch up.

This was new for me when I joined the Episcopal Church 15 years ago. I learned about these amazing women when I first moved to Philadelphia right before the 40th anniversary of their ordination. When that celebration was held, I went with fellow parishioners of St. Martin-in-the-Fields to the commemorative liturgy at the Church of the Advocate. The first people I got to know in Philadelphia were women who had lived this story, some who attended that first ordination, others who grew up with the Philadelphia 11 as their heroes and guides. My own ordination was several years away, but the wheels were turning toward it. After running ahead of one church, I was catching up with another.

This Sunday I have the honor of being among the women concelebrating at the liturgy celebrating the 50th Anniversary of the Philadelphia 11. It will be held at the Episcopal Cathedral at the 10 am liturgy. The Rev. Dr. Carter Heyward, one of the original 11, will preside and preach. Later that day we will watch a screening of the Philadelphia 11 Documentary and attend a panel discussion. It will be quite a day.

At St. Peter’s, The Rev. Mary McCullough, another wonderful woman priest, will be filling in for me. There will be songs that celebrate the gifts of women and our oneness in mission. Whether you are at the Cathedral or at St Peter’s that day, it will be a moment to consider the power of running ahead.

We are living in a time when justice seems so difficult to achieve locally, nationally and globally, when institutions are afraid of doing the right thing, and fear prevails. And it’s times like these when people of faith are called to run ahead, so that something new and possible can become visible and reachable. Some may fear that it’s reckless and defiant. Others will insist that they are not yet ready for God’s vision to become reality. The anniversary of the Philadelphia 11 serves to remind us that God’s moment of transformation is often much sooner than we imagine. And all we have to do is run to catch up to it.

Blessings,

Rev. Barb