Stefani and the Purple Scarf

 

See this picture above, of this vibrant, joyful woman? That is Stefani Schatz, Episcopal priest and one-time Canon to the Ordinary in the Diocese of California and spouse of the love of her life, Joseph Duggan.

See all those women, some of whom are in various shades of purple, pictured under Stefani's picture? They are all bishops in The Episcopal Church. These are not even all the bishops who are women, but that's most of them.

How many, you ask? Well, I did a very quick study of the list of women who are bishops. The first woman to be consecrated bishop in The Episcopal Church and the Anglican Communion was, of course, Barbara Clementine Harris, the 834th bishop consecrated in The Episcopal Church, in 1989.

The first bishop consecrated in The Episcopal Church was, of course, Samuel Seabury in 1784. So, it took us a mere 205 years to ordain a woman to the episcopacy.

At least we made up for lost time and ordained an African American woman that first time. But, because it was still a firmly held belief that while a woman's place was in the house, she still had to know her place.

So, we elected her Bishops Suffragan, not Bishop Diocesan.

The going was slow after that. It took another three years before we ordained Jane Holmes Dixon as Bishop Suffragan of the Diocese of D.C. in 1992.

The next year, in 1993, Mary Adelia Rosemond McLeod was elected the first woman to be Bishop Diocesan in the Diocese of Vermont.

She was the 887th Bishop in The Episcopal Church. There had been another 53 bishops in the 4 years since we elected and ordained Barbara Clementine Harris. That looks like a mere blip on the timeline of history. It didn't feel that way, I assure you.

During that time we also elected the very bishops who would lead their dioceses out of The Episcopal Church because of the ordination of women and queer people.

We didn't elect another woman of color until Carol Joy Gallagher was elected Bishop Suffragan of Southern VA in 2002. She was the first indigenous woman to be consecrated bishop, her Cherokee heritage is derived from her mother, Betty WalkingStick Theobald. (Her great-great-great-grandmother walked the Trail of Tears from North Carolina to Oklahoma in the 1830s.)

In total, I count 46 bishops in The Episcopal Church who have been women. I'll have to go over that list again and count carefully, but I came up with 46 twice so I'm going with it for this reflection. If anyone has a more accurate number, please, do correct me.

And, if anyone wants to do the math about the percentage we've reached of the "active" bishops, I'd be happy to add that to this reflection and give proper attribution.

Several bishops are now retired and several have, of course, gone home to Jesus, including the first two trailblazers, Barbara Harris and Jane Dixon.

We've also had our lows and highs. One bishop has been deposed and one bishop has been Presiding Bishop.

What does this have to do with Stefani? Well, In 2015, of the 160 bishops active in the House of Bishops, only 21 —or 13 percent—were women. Stefani knew that the tipping point - that point when enough change has happened that more change can happen - is 25 %. So, it was clear we had some work to do in order to get to 25%.

She had a simple idea: Why not make visible what we already knew was reality? She knew what we all knew: that there was already a great deal of support for the election and consecration of women as bishops. We just needed the will to make that happen.

So, she approached The Episcopal Women's Caucus with her idea. What if, at the Triennial Caucus Breakfast, we launched Purple Scarf Sunday? We could ask people to bring a purple scarf to General Convention and also prepare lots of simple purple scarves and have them ready at our Booth and at The Breakfast, for people to wear.

Well, long story short, it was a huge hit. Everywhere you looked, people were wearing Purple Scarves.

She also started a Facebook page "Breaking the Episcopal Glass Ceiling" where ordained women could work with other ordained women to help identify and support the vocational discernment of women to the episcopacy as well as other, visible offices of leadership and authority in the institutional church.

That was 2015. In September of that year, we consecrated Audrey Scanlon Bishop Diocesan of Central Pennsylvania. In the first seven years after Purple Scarf Sunday, we have elected and ordained 25 women as bishops in The Episcopal Church.

Let me put that into perspective for you: In the first seven years after Barbara Harris was elected, we elected and ordained 5 women: Barbara Harris, Jane Dixon, Mary Adelia McLeod, Catherine Roskam, and Geralyn Wolf.

(I can name that list with my eyes closed, so many nights did I fall asleep saying their names in prayer.)

Never doubt that small, outward acts of a revolutionary idea make a difference, especially when they reveal great inward acts of revolutionary love.

It should be noted that on July 12th, 2017, Stefani Schatz lost her battle with ovarian cancer and changed from glory into glory. She passed from this life into the loving arms of Jesus.

I am quite certain that she is wearing purple scarves and handing them out to all the angels who are singing great Alleluias at all the amazing, radical changes and healing and truth-telling that is happening in The Episcopal Church because this is what happens when you begin to reach the tipping point of change.

This is what happens when you believe that prayer happens on your feet as well as on your knees.

This is what happens when, as George Regas said, “We are called to set audacious goals and celebrate incremental victories.”

This is what happens when you believe that outward and visible signs are just as important as inward and spiritual grace.

This is what happens when you heed the words of Walter Wink who said, "History belongs to the intercessors, who believe the future into being.”

Thanks, Stefani. The Episcopal Church remains in your debt. You may never make it to the Calendar of Saints, but you remain an inspiration.