ECCT Celebrates 50 Years of Women’s Ordination: November 10 at 4 PM, Christ Church Cathedral
Join us on November 10 at 4 PM at Christ Church Cathedral where we continue our celebration of this important milestone! The Rev. Ellen Tillotson, one of the pioneers of women's ordination in our Church, and a faithful priest in ECCT, will be preaching at this Eucharistic Celebration. We will then move into the Cathedral house for refreshments and continued conversation.
50 years ago, 11 brave and faithful women were ordained to the priesthood in The Episcopal Church. Amidst protests and threats of violence, these women said “yes” to their call to the priesthood and moved us forward as Church into a new landscape with a new horizon. All around ECCT this past year, churches have been showing the inspiring and yet heartbreaking movie, The Philadelphia 11, that shares their courageous story. This is part of my ordination journey, as well. Those 11 women opened the way for not only my ordination to the priesthood, but also to my role as a bishop.
A Hartford Institute for Religion Research study shows that in 1986, six percent of 13,800 clergy were women. In 1994, that number had increased to 12 percent of 9,900 clergy. I was part of that season of growth, but the numbers were still small. In 2022, 40.5 % of ordained clergy were female. I will forever be grateful for those early pioneers. On this rock I and so many others are blessed to stand.
Statistics from Carla Roland Guzman article in Anglican and Episcopal History Magazine.
| 
