List of the first 32 women ordained as Church of England priests facts for kids
On 12 March 1994, something very important happened for the Church of England. The first 32 women were officially made priests. This special service took place at Bristol Cathedral. Bishop Barry Rogerson led the ceremony.
Bishop Rogerson ordained the women in alphabetical order. This means that Angela Berners-Wilson was the very first woman to become a priest in the Church of England. The youngest woman ordained that day was Karen MacKinnon, who was 30 years old. The oldest was 69.
In 2004, people celebrated the tenth anniversary of these ordinations at Bristol Cathedral. By then, one of the priests had passed away, and 14 had retired from their roles.
The First Women Priests
Here are the 32 women who became priests on that historic day (their names are from the service program):
- Angela Berners-Wilson, who worked as a chaplain at a university
- Waveney Bishop
- Christine Clarke
- Judith Creighton
- Faith Cully
- Brenda Dowie
- Carol Edwards, from St Christopher's in Brislington
- Margaret Embry
- Annis Fessey
- Jan Fortune-Wood
- Susan Giles
- Jane Hayward
- Jean Kings, a part-time church deacon and chaplain at the University of the West of England
- Karen MacKinnon, a full-time church deacon
- Audrey Maddock
- Charmion Mann
- Helen Marshall
- Glenys Mills, from Christ's Church in Clifton
- Jillianne Norman
- Clare Pipe-Wolferstan
- June Plummer
- Susan Restall, from St Mary's in Yate
- Susan Rose
- Susan Shipp
- Margery Simpson
- Sylvia Stevens
- Judith Thompson
- Anita Thorne
- Sheila Tyler
- Pauline Wall
- Rosemary Dawn Watling, who was an Anglican nun and deacon in Bristol at 61 years old
- Valerie Woods, who was the Vicar of Wood End in Coventry
Remembering the Event
In 1994, a special plaque was placed in Bristol Cathedral. It was there to remember the first 32 women who became priests in the Church of England. In 2022, this plaque was replaced with a new one. The new plaque was better because it listed the names of the women priests. The old one only had the names of the men who led the ceremony. Both plaques were made from Welsh slate. You can find the plaque on the north side of the main part of the cathedral, where it meets the transept. The women priests helped pay for the first plaque. The new one was carved by Robyn Golden-Hann and was revealed by the Bishop of Bristol, Vivienne Faull.
Women as Bishops
The bishop who led the first ordination believed it would take about 10 years for a woman to become a bishop. However, it actually took 21 years! In January 2015, Libby Lane became the first female bishop in the Church of England. She became the Bishop of Stockport, which is a special kind of bishop in the Diocese of Chester. Libby Lane had also been ordained as a priest in 1994.
The first woman to become a diocesan bishop was the Right Reverend Rachel Treweek. She was appointed the Bishop of Gloucester on 26 March 2015. Rachel Treweek had become a priest in 1995.
See also
- Ordination of women in the Anglican Communion
