Sunday, January 28, 2007

Congratulations, Sandye

Sunday, January 28, 2007, marks the 25th Anniversary of the Ordination to the Priesthood of the Rev'd Sandye Wilson, rector of the Episcopal (Anglican) Church of St. Andrew and Holy Communion in South Orange, New Jersey.

I understand that the community of people of SAHC put on quite a celebration for Sandye - as well they might. Her enthusiastic embrace of the gospel, translated into compelling preaching, creative liturgy, social justice and committed pastoral care has earned her the love and respect of the people she serves and the neighborhood and community where she lives.

You have been a blessing of the church and to the church, my sister.

I am reminded that your mentor and my hero, the Rev'd Dr. Pauli Murray, once wrote: "Hope is a song in a weary throat."

Thank you for every verse which the past twenty five years of your ministry has brought to the Song of Hope which Jesus first sang to us from the cross of our salvation.

May you sing out hope in a weary voice for another twenty five years, my sister, knowing that God loves you and continues to expect a mighty work from you, that all who see what you have done in the Name of Jesus, by the power of the Holy Spirit, may bring honor and glory to God.
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4 comments:

  1. Deborah SprouleMon Jan 29, 10:49:00 AM

    Thanks for introducing Rev.Sandye. As a mid-age midwest girl, seeing very few female Rev.s in my lifetime, I think I might need to plan a field trip to visit your club of Rev. girls in NJ. How many of you are there?

    ReplyDelete
  2. Elizabeth KaetonMon Jan 29, 12:30:00 PM

    You know, I'm not sure how many ordained women there are in this diocese of 113 congregations.

    For me, ordained in the first 10 year wave of priests who are women, the question is not "how many" but "what are they doing"?

    There are still way too many of us who do not have jobs - or the jobs we have pay less than diocesan minimum - or, we have "half time jobs" which is really a full time job with half time pay.

    I apologize if that sounds a tad cynical. After 20 years, and the issue of the ordination of women is still on the table in three diocese in TEC, I suppose it's bound to happen.

    Anyway, come on that field trip. You can stay in the rectory.

    ReplyDelete
  3. episcopalifemMon Jan 29, 01:16:00 PM

    Deb - Both the active priest in my NJ church are women - the Rector and her curate!

    And, my rector was among the first wave of ordained women, too.

    Do you know Joan+ Anders, Elizabeth? She's my main woman Priest!

    ReplyDelete
  4. SUSAN RUSSELLMon Jan 29, 01:17:00 PM

    Ditto
    Ditto
    Ditto

    Amen
    Amen
    Amen

    And when people ask me (and they do!) "So how many women priests are there, anyway?" my answer is "Not enough."

    But thanks be to God for the ones we've got ... for the Sandyes and Elizabeths who helped blaze the trail for those of us who came behind.

    ReplyDelete

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