This month sees the celebration of 20 years since women were first permitted to be priests in the Church of England. Last weekend my mum had the privilege of going up to St. Paul's Cathedral to be part of a national celebration of such a momentious occasion; (pictures can be found following the link:)
https://www.flickr.com/photos/stpaulslondon/14121112104/in/photostream/
This has been a long and windy road because I recall sitting and watching mum left behind in a congregation whilst her male counterparts were ordained priest years before, I recall the abuse hurled at her from people who felt it was not of God that women should be in leadership and I cried with joy when the General Synod voted in favour thinking that was the last we had heard of any such discrimination. I am all for people having their own opinions and those differing to me but the hurt comes when the views are shared in a hurtful and cruel manner.
So 20 years have now passed, we see women in high levels of leadership but still not yet as bishops, we are still debating the ability and scriptualness the theology and the possibility of women bishops. At grass routes level life is still difficult, we are still faced with discrimination and hurt, with jokes and jibes and that saddens me, but we also face the joys, the privilege of serving an all loving God, of being their at the heart of the community of trying to bring the spiritual and the earthly together, to try and give hope in hopless situations.
My journey in the priesthood has really only just begun and if I can be half the priest my mum and dad have been/ are then I will be a happy woman!
If you can bare to read some of my back story then the Rochester Link have been crazy enough to print it alongside some really inspirational stories.
http://www.rochester.anglican.org/phocadownload/Rochester%20Link%20May.pdf
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