Happy Anniversary To The Philadelphia Eleven!

From the Diocese of Easton:

An important date in the history of the Episcopal Church: on July 29, 1974 (thirty-two years ago), eleven women were ordained to the Episcopal priesthood in Philadelphia: Merrill Bittner, Alla Bozarth-Campbell, Alison Cheek, Emily Hewitt, Carter Heyward, Suzanne Hiatt, Marie Moorefield Fleisher, Jeannette Piccard, Betty Bone Schiess, Katrina Martha Swanson, and Nancy Hatch Wittig.

This ordination, performed by bishops who had retired or resigned, was denounced as “irregular” and these women became known as the “Philadelphia Eleven.”

Shortly thereafter, four additional women were also “irregularly" ordained: Eleanor Lee McGee, Alison Palmer, Betty Powell, and Diane Tickell. A firestorm of controversy erupted in the church: charges were filed against these dissident bishops (Daniel Corrigan, Robert DeWitt, Edward Welles and George Barrett) and an emergency meeting of the Episcopal House of Bishops was convened on August 15, 1974. The stained glass ceiling had been lifted; however, and on September 16, 1976 the General Convention of the Episcopal Church (meeting in Minneapolis) adopted a resolution to change the church’s canon law to allow the ordination of women for all three orders of ministry (bishop, priest, deacon)

The decision to ordain women remains optional in each diocese, however. Today three dioceses in the United States continue to refuse to ordain or recognize the priesthood of women (Fort Worth, Texas, Quincy, Illinois, and San Joaquin, California).

From the Episcopal Church Women's Ministries:

Minneapolis, Thursday, September 16, 1976, 2:05 pm

A momentous vote was about to be taken by the General Convention of the Episcopal Church. President John B. Coburn of New York called the packed House of Deputies to order, nearly 800 deputies, with hundreds of on-lookers crowding the gallery.

A resolution, already adopted by the House of Bishops, was introduced. In the time allotted for debate, twenty-nine deputies spoke in favor, and twenty-nine spoke against. The Chair of the Committee on Ministry called for five minutes of silent prayer. The vote was taken. Everyone held their breath, and then it was official: women could be ordained to all three orders in the Episcopal Church.

"All around us people were weeping, silently reaching, touching each other. No one spoke," remembered the Rev. Alla Bozarth Campbell, one of the 1974 "Philadelphia 11" whose ordinations would now be regularized (Bozarth, Womanpriest: a Personal Odyssey, Luramedia, 1988 p 115).

Immediately after the vote was announced, representatives of groups opposed to the ordination of women were recognized, to read into the record an impassioned statement of dissent. The canon had been changed, but much work lay ahead to implement it.

Read the rest of the story of the Episcopal Church's journey to the momentous vote.

UPDATE - The names of the Philadelphia 11:

Merrill Bittner
Alison Cheek
Alla Bozarth (Campell)
Emily C Hewitt
Carter Heyward
Suzanne R. Hiatt (deceased 2002)
Marie Moorefield
Jeanette Piccard (deceased 1981)
Betty Bone Schiess
Katrina Welles Swanson (deceased 2006)
Nancy Hatch Witting

Ordaining Bishops:

Daniel Corrigan
Robert L DeWitt
Edward R Welles

Thanks to Susan Russell at An Inch At A Time for the names and to Ann Fontaine for supplying links.