Women’s ordination in the Episcopal Church

Overview

The Episcopal Church’s formal path toward ordaining women took more than a century. Early ministries designated women as deaconesses, while later conventions debated whether women could enter all three ordained orders: deacon, priest and bishop.

The decisive canonical change came in 1976, when the General Convention approved access to ordination without exclusion on the basis of sex. Women whose earlier ordinations had been disputed were subsequently recognized, and women were ordained under the revised canons beginning in 1977.

Implementation was uneven. Most dioceses accepted women priests, while a small number of bishops continued to decline to ordain them locally. The resulting conflict involved both church authority and conscience: supporters emphasized equal access to ministry, while opponents argued from their understanding of scripture, tradition and sacramental order.

Selected chronology

1. 1855

   The bishop of Maryland formally set apart two women as deaconesses, an early recognized ministry that did not carry the same status as priestly ordination.

2. 1935

   A Church of England commission examined the question but maintained the existing exclusion of women from ordination.

3. 1970

   A General Convention proposal to authorize women’s ordination received support from lay deputies but narrowly failed among clerical deputies.

4. 1973

   General Convention again declined to authorize the change. In New York, qualified women deacons were presented with men for priestly ordination, but the bishop did not ordain them.

5. 29 July 1974

   Three bishops ordained eleven women in Philadelphia. Because the denomination had not yet approved women as priests, church leaders disputed the action and attempted to restrict the women’s ministry. The group became known as the Philadelphia Eleven.

6. 1974–1975

   Several of the women presided at public services in New York, Washington and Ohio. Clergy who invited them faced canonical proceedings. Four more women were ordained in Washington in 1975.

7. 1976

   General Convention approved women’s ordination to the diaconate, priesthood and episcopate. It also affirmed participation in church life regardless of sex or position on the disputed policy.

8. 1977

   The disputed ordinations in Philadelphia and Washington were recognized under the new rules. Approximately one hundred women had been ordained as priests by the end of the year.

9. 1978

   The Lambeth Conference treated women’s ordination as a decision that each Anglican province could make for itself.

10. 1988–1989

    Barbara C. Harris was elected suffragan bishop of Massachusetts in September 1988 and consecrated in February 1989, becoming the first woman bishop in the Anglican Communion.

11. 1997

    Four U.S. dioceses were reported as not ordaining women as priests: Eau Claire, Fort Worth, Quincy and San Joaquin.

12. 2000

    General Convention created a task force to meet with the remaining dioceses and assess progress toward church-wide access to ordination.

13. 2002

    The task force visited San Joaquin, Fort Worth and Quincy. Its report documented cooperation in some areas alongside continuing theological disagreement and concern about outside intervention.

14. 2004

    The archived report described three of one hundred domestic dioceses as still declining to ordain women.

15. 18 June 2006

    Katharine Jefferts Schori, then bishop of Nevada, was elected as the Episcopal Church’s presiding bishop. Her election marked the first time a woman was chosen to lead a province of the Anglican Communion.

The implementation debate

Changing the canons did not immediately produce uniform practice. In the late 1990s and early 2000s, church bodies considered how to uphold access to ordination while responding to bishops and dioceses with theological objections.

A task force established in 2000 found that its visits were sometimes regarded as intrusive. Reports from the three dioceses described different local situations: some women pursuing ordination were transferred to other dioceses, some women priests received limited permission to officiate, and local leaders expressed both pastoral support for women and opposition to priestly ordination.

The task force’s 2002 report also emphasized that a church committed to inclusion needed to consider how its conduct affected self-described traditionalists. The Executive Council subsequently proposed broader dialogue about women’s ordination and equal deployment across dioceses.

Why the history matters

The debate joined several recurring questions in religious life: who may interpret tradition, how a denomination changes its canons, whether local conscience can limit church-wide policy, and how recognition of an ordained ministry operates across diocesan boundaries.

It also shows that a formal decision and its practical implementation are different stages. The 1976 vote resolved the canonical question, but acceptance, deployment and institutional reconciliation continued over subsequent decades.

Selected archival sources

1. Minnesota Historical Society, historical overview of women’s ordination in the Episcopal Church.
2. Episcopal News Service reports on the 1997 convention, the 2000 General Convention and the A045 task force.
3. Historical material concerning the Philadelphia Eleven and the first public services following their ordination.
4. Records concerning the election and consecration of Barbara C. Harris.
5. Episcopal News Service coverage of the 2006 election of Katharine Jefferts Schori.

These references reflect the source base of the archived essay. Some linked publications and institutional page addresses have since changed.