00:00:02.300 --> 00:00:04.699
(clock ticking)

00:00:07.500 --> 00:00:09.834
Years ago, I became aware

00:00:09.834 --> 00:00:12.799
of how we try to put
God in a box

00:00:13.500 --> 00:00:16.434
by making God into
our own image.

00:00:16.501 --> 00:00:20.266
And because of the 4,000
years of patriarchal thinking,

00:00:20.333 --> 00:00:23.333
that has meant God was a male.

00:00:23.467 --> 00:00:26.300
(dramatic choral music)

00:00:28.367 --> 00:00:31.301
A heated debate has been going
on in the Episcopal Church

00:00:31.367 --> 00:00:33.366
on whether women
can serve as priests.

00:00:34.633 --> 00:00:36.468
The person who
functions as a priest

00:00:36.534 --> 00:00:41.433
functions as an image of
Christ, an icon of Christ.

00:00:41.500 --> 00:00:43.833
Christ was a man.

00:00:56.366 --> 00:00:59.366
(Overlapping announcer voices)

00:00:59.433 --> 00:01:01.733
[Speaker] Do not have the right.

00:01:01.733 --> 00:01:06.567
I get so tired of being
decided about behind my back.

00:01:40.767 --> 00:01:42.433
(dramatic music)

00:01:46.900 --> 00:01:50.400
(music slows down and fades)

00:01:55.767 --> 00:01:58.567
(birds chirping)

00:02:03.101 --> 00:02:06.800
(footsteps and hooves
walk on gravel)

00:02:06.800 --> 00:02:08.766
I missed you. (laughs)

00:02:11.800 --> 00:02:12.966
Good to see you. (laughing)

00:02:15.633 --> 00:02:16.467
Hey, Nancy.

00:02:17.301 --> 00:02:18.966
Here we are.
- Nobody can find you!

00:02:19.100 --> 00:02:20.767
(laughing)

00:02:20.834 --> 00:02:22.767
This was not a bad
idea for retirement.

00:02:22.834 --> 00:02:23.766
- No! (laughter)

00:02:25.433 --> 00:02:26.467
The last time I heard
you were here,

00:02:26.600 --> 00:02:28.300
you and Alison
had a great visit.

00:02:28.433 --> 00:02:29.966
- Yes.
- Which was wonderful.

00:02:31.767 --> 00:02:33.967
So y'all come right on
into this room here

00:02:34.101 --> 00:02:35.966
and then we're
getting the food in.

00:02:37.967 --> 00:02:40.134
We thank you, oh, holy God.

00:02:40.134 --> 00:02:42.467
Mother, Father,
sister, brother, lover

00:02:43.134 --> 00:02:45.967
for bringing us together to
give thanks for each other.

00:02:45.967 --> 00:02:49.433
And that we are here
still with lives to lead

00:02:49.500 --> 00:02:51.967
and to do it the best we can.

00:02:51.967 --> 00:02:56.900
As Alison and many of us were
fond of saying before a meal,

00:02:56.967 --> 00:03:00.366
some have food,
some have none. [Together]

00:03:00.500 --> 00:03:02.867
God bless the revolution.

00:03:02.867 --> 00:03:07.866
(gentle music)
(horses neighing)

00:03:13.567 --> 00:03:15.467
From the time that I was two on,

00:03:16.367 --> 00:03:19.700
I began to sort of experience
some kind of connection

00:03:19.700 --> 00:03:21.700
between the God that we're
hearing about in church

00:03:21.700 --> 00:03:25.166
all the time and
my animal friends.

00:03:27.568 --> 00:03:29.867
There's never been a time
in my life that I can recall

00:03:29.867 --> 00:03:34.467
that I wasn't pondering how
we're connected to this God.

00:03:34.533 --> 00:03:37.033
(birds chirp)

00:03:42.834 --> 00:03:46.034
I have a particular
understanding of the priesthood

00:03:46.167 --> 00:03:48.366
that has only grown
deeper over the years.

00:03:51.034 --> 00:03:55.500
God calls certain of us
to help others

00:03:55.567 --> 00:03:57.699
see reality through
the eyes of God,

00:03:59.701 --> 00:04:02.700
and this is always about justice
and always about compassion

00:04:02.767 --> 00:04:04.766
and always about
kindness and mercy.

00:04:06.767 --> 00:04:08.934
My mother said to me
that I had told her

00:04:08.934 --> 00:04:11.632
when I was a little girl
that I wanted to be a priest.

00:04:15.633 --> 00:04:17.034
She said she and
my dad both said,

00:04:17.101 --> 00:04:19.034
"Well, that's wonderful
honey, but you know,

00:04:19.101 --> 00:04:20.933
that's just not what girls do."

00:04:24.967 --> 00:04:28.433
(birds chirping outside)

00:04:31.266 --> 00:04:33.100
The ordination day.

00:04:36.767 --> 00:04:37.767
That's a happy look.

00:04:37.767 --> 00:04:39.567
[Filmmaker] Oh, you
look... you're glowing!

00:04:39.633 --> 00:04:40.600
Yeah, yeah.

00:04:41.568 --> 00:04:44.200
The whole religious thing
was a part of my life.

00:04:44.967 --> 00:04:47.434
It wasn't just
something set aside,

00:04:47.568 --> 00:04:51.767
but it was something that was
to be a part of who we are,

00:04:51.900 --> 00:04:53.632
part of our our DNA.

00:04:55.967 --> 00:04:59.434
It was a remarkable
time to grow up.

00:04:59.568 --> 00:05:02.166
The world was changing and
this country was changing.

00:05:03.166 --> 00:05:07.167
(gospel singing)

00:05:07.167 --> 00:05:12.267
I was very much impressed
by seeing the religious nuns

00:05:12.334 --> 00:05:15.800
and priests in the
civil rights movement.

00:05:15.867 --> 00:05:18.966
(Marchers sing a gospel song)

00:05:19.834 --> 00:05:22.500
My dad was still working
at the Pentagon

00:05:22.633 --> 00:05:25.334
and at one point when he
came home and found out

00:05:25.334 --> 00:05:28.167
that three of his five
children were demonstrating

00:05:28.167 --> 00:05:31.000
on one line or another, and so,

00:05:31.000 --> 00:05:33.166
but he was a good
sport about it.

00:05:35.634 --> 00:05:38.967
So it became a realization
that this religious stuff

00:05:39.034 --> 00:05:42.334
had something
important to tell us

00:05:42.334 --> 00:05:45.866
about how we make choices
and how we behave.

00:05:47.334 --> 00:05:50.633
So I decided that I really
wanted to study theology

00:05:50.700 --> 00:05:54.300
and I went to Virginia Seminary.

00:05:55.000 --> 00:05:56.999
Where it would lead,
I had no idea.

00:05:56.999 --> 00:05:58.500
No idea.

00:05:58.633 --> 00:06:01.066
(bright music)

00:06:03.767 --> 00:06:05.234
(sport whistle blowing)

00:06:05.234 --> 00:06:07.900
[Reporter] The seminary is a
graduate school.

00:06:07.900 --> 00:06:11.067
A student spends three years
in concentrated study

00:06:11.067 --> 00:06:14.234
of the ideas and opinions
about God and man

00:06:14.234 --> 00:06:17.366
that have shaped the culture
of our western world.

00:06:18.934 --> 00:06:23.233
The goal toward which it all
leads is here, the church.

00:06:24.334 --> 00:06:26.699
For the young man,
it means one of the high
moments of his life,

00:06:27.700 --> 00:06:30.066
his ordination to the ministry.

00:06:30.066 --> 00:06:32.732
(gentle music)

00:06:36.767 --> 00:06:41.732
I grew up in South Australia
and I married a man

00:06:42.900 --> 00:06:46.900
who got a scholarship
to go to Harvard,

00:06:46.900 --> 00:06:49.899
so we went there on a
single mans scholarship.

00:06:52.867 --> 00:06:57.067
I'd been at seminary
for at least two years.

00:06:57.067 --> 00:06:59.034
I had all these children
and everything,

00:06:59.101 --> 00:07:02.733
and so when I really
wanted to rest,

00:07:02.800 --> 00:07:06.134
I'd say that I was going
to an Episcopal conference

00:07:06.134 --> 00:07:10.467
and making a retreat because
that was socially acceptable.

00:07:12.467 --> 00:07:14.967
Actually being a
student at seminary

00:07:14.967 --> 00:07:16.833
wasn't very socially acceptable.

00:07:20.301 --> 00:07:24.767
I really felt that I'd been
called to the priesthood.

00:07:25.835 --> 00:07:29.632
So I thought, well,
there's nothing to do
but talk to the bishop.

00:07:30.967 --> 00:07:33.301
There was a movie
showing at the time

00:07:33.301 --> 00:07:36.966
called "The Mad Housewife,"
and I thought,

00:07:38.134 --> 00:07:41.134
if I tell this man about
my experience,

00:07:41.134 --> 00:07:45.301
he'll think he's got the
mad housewife on his hands.

00:07:45.301 --> 00:07:48.800
And so I sort of stammered
and stuttered a bit

00:07:48.800 --> 00:07:52.300
and told him I thought I had
a call to the priesthood.

00:07:53.967 --> 00:07:55.401
At the end of the
conversation he said,

00:07:55.468 --> 00:07:58.467
"Well, I don't think
you know what you want."

00:07:58.467 --> 00:08:02.366
And that was it.

00:08:02.366 --> 00:08:04.867
I don't understand her problem!

00:08:04.867 --> 00:08:07.201
Your husband works hard
to support you,

00:08:07.201 --> 00:08:09.700
in return for which he
wants the house clean,

00:08:09.834 --> 00:08:11.034
the buttons sown on

00:08:11.034 --> 00:08:13.834
and a modest amount
of sexual intercourse.

00:08:13.900 --> 00:08:15.233
I mean, what's your problem?

00:08:17.900 --> 00:08:20.666
It was expected that
women would be assistants.

00:08:21.700 --> 00:08:24.700
If we were at seminary, we'd
understand scripture,

00:08:24.834 --> 00:08:26.301
we'd understand church history.

00:08:26.367 --> 00:08:30.200
Eventually, we needed
to be a man's assistant.

00:08:32.500 --> 00:08:35.200
(soft melodic music)

00:08:44.067 --> 00:08:46.367
I was a very shy little girl.

00:08:46.501 --> 00:08:51.834
I had this love of the
Episcopal Church oddly enough,

00:08:51.900 --> 00:08:55.834
and would go to church
and go to all the services

00:08:55.900 --> 00:08:57.366
and I just loved it.

00:08:59.600 --> 00:09:02.234
When I was a senior in college,

00:09:02.301 --> 00:09:04.367
it was time to
make some decisions.

00:09:04.434 --> 00:09:08.200
So I began a program for
a master of divinity.

00:09:09.301 --> 00:09:14.434
I was like maybe a first year
student and I had gone down

00:09:14.434 --> 00:09:18.100
to the general convention
in Houston in 1970.

00:09:19.567 --> 00:09:21.433
And I saw these women
and it was like,

00:09:21.567 --> 00:09:22.934
oh my goodness, you know,

00:09:23.067 --> 00:09:27.266
why aren't they able
to do this work?

00:09:27.266 --> 00:09:29.434
And I, for the first time ever,

00:09:29.434 --> 00:09:34.267
I stood up and made a speech
about how important it was

00:09:34.267 --> 00:09:37.266
for women to be ordained
and I was scared to death.

00:09:39.433 --> 00:09:40.601
But there's a saying, you know,

00:09:40.601 --> 00:09:43.900
you need to speak the truth
even if your voice shakes.

00:09:44.601 --> 00:09:52.100
And that's what I did...
and it kind of started it.

00:09:58.234 --> 00:10:01.400
[Announcer] The chair is about
to call the house to order.

00:10:02.101 --> 00:10:04.766
Will the members
please take their seats?

00:10:05.600 --> 00:10:08.966
(music like clockwork)

00:10:23.934 --> 00:10:27.266
(music continues)

00:10:31.967 --> 00:10:36.433
[Speaker] The newly
elected deputies come to us

00:10:36.433 --> 00:10:38.966
as bearers of the gospel.

00:10:41.433 --> 00:10:43.267
They also bring us something

00:10:43.267 --> 00:10:48.266
that the house has needed
desperately for a long time.

00:10:48.266 --> 00:10:49.934
Some beauty.

00:10:50.067 --> 00:10:53.266
(audience laughing)

00:10:55.301 --> 00:10:57.433
[Alla] That first group
of laywomen,

00:11:00.201 --> 00:11:03.101
the very first thing they
did was call for a vote

00:11:03.167 --> 00:11:05.333
on women in the priesthood.

00:11:07.967 --> 00:11:09.967
[Deputy] And we as a
committee believe

00:11:10.034 --> 00:11:14.167
that the ordination of women
would greatly strengthen

00:11:14.167 --> 00:11:18.166
and complete the total
ministry of this church.

00:11:19.634 --> 00:11:23.167
[Deputy] It would move us
into a position of difficulty

00:11:23.301 --> 00:11:26.033
with the Roman Catholics,
with the Eastern Orthodox.

00:11:27.167 --> 00:11:29.334
[Deputy] If my
information is correct,

00:11:29.334 --> 00:11:34.300
report has it that 20%
of the present male clergy

00:11:34.366 --> 00:11:37.167
at this moment are unemployed.

00:11:37.167 --> 00:11:39.500
It's one thing to
consider ordination

00:11:39.500 --> 00:11:41.834
and it's quite another
thing to consider,

00:11:41.967 --> 00:11:45.966
where will opportunity
for income come from?

00:11:47.667 --> 00:11:50.334
[Deputy] I suggest to
you that we cannot wait

00:11:50.334 --> 00:11:54.999
to settle questions of the
freedom of all of humanity.

00:11:56.334 --> 00:12:01.400
Women are either free in
our society or they are not.

00:12:03.033 --> 00:12:06.567
(applause)

00:12:06.700 --> 00:12:09.066
It almost passed.

00:12:12.434 --> 00:12:17.367
After that, women from all over
came and we sat on the grass

00:12:17.568 --> 00:12:20.067
in the backyard of the
Central House for Deaconesses

00:12:20.067 --> 00:12:22.033
and we strategized.

00:12:24.568 --> 00:12:26.500
The Anglican Church has studied
the ordination of women

00:12:26.567 --> 00:12:29.401
since 1919 and every
study always said,

00:12:29.401 --> 00:12:31.567
there's nothing in
scripture that forbids it,

00:12:31.567 --> 00:12:33.200
but let's not do it yet.

00:12:34.034 --> 00:12:37.900
And that's been the attitude
for over 50 years now.

00:12:38.034 --> 00:12:40.200
[Carter] Sue Hiatt was the
big strategist among us.

00:12:40.266 --> 00:12:41.400
She was a social worker.

00:12:41.400 --> 00:12:43.501
She had been a
community organizer,

00:12:43.568 --> 00:12:46.567
so she understood how
to organize a movement.

00:12:46.700 --> 00:12:49.900
(train rumbling)

00:12:50.034 --> 00:12:52.400
Sue and Emily and I were
on the train back and forth

00:12:52.400 --> 00:12:53.567
from Philadelphia to New York,

00:12:53.700 --> 00:12:56.567
trying to figure out
what to do next.

00:12:56.567 --> 00:12:58.900
And we would be going
over and over articles

00:12:59.034 --> 00:13:02.101
about organizing that is
kind of boring in a way,

00:13:02.167 --> 00:13:03.800
but very sort of
energizing if you think

00:13:03.800 --> 00:13:05.800
it really is gonna make
a difference, and we did.

00:13:05.800 --> 00:13:09.301
(guitar strumming)

00:13:09.434 --> 00:13:10.300
[Reporter] The National
Convention of

00:13:11.401 --> 00:13:13.800
the Episcopal Church
convenes to consider
a number of questions,

00:13:13.800 --> 00:13:16.567
but probably the most
important is the question

00:13:16.633 --> 00:13:18.967
of whether women should
be ordained as priests

00:13:19.101 --> 00:13:21.134
within the Episcopal Church.

00:13:22.435 --> 00:13:24.633
There we were in the audience,
we being not only all these
women seeking ordination,

00:13:24.767 --> 00:13:27.301
but laypeople, men and women,

00:13:27.434 --> 00:13:31.166
friends of the ordination
of women movements.

00:13:32.800 --> 00:13:34.100
[Reporter] For women
to be ordained

00:13:35.201 --> 00:13:37.967
in the Episcopal Church,
a majority must approve
in the House of Deputies

00:13:38.101 --> 00:13:39.500
and the House of Bishops.

00:13:42.267 --> 00:13:48.467
[Deputy] Women are equal
joint sharers of God's grace

00:13:48.467 --> 00:13:50.433
through Jesus Christ.

00:13:50.500 --> 00:13:54.468
But when it talks
about the role of women,

00:13:54.468 --> 00:13:59.200
it tells us clearly time
and time and time again

00:14:00.067 --> 00:14:04.134
that woman must take a
position second to man,

00:14:04.201 --> 00:14:07.567
that grace is channeled
through man.

00:14:09.701 --> 00:14:12.333
[Deputy] I wish to urge you to
vote against this resolution.

00:14:12.400 --> 00:14:14.167
This is a matter of faith.

00:14:14.234 --> 00:14:16.201
[Deputy] The church is
not ready to accept...

00:14:16.201 --> 00:14:20.367
[Deputy] We do not have the
right to change this ministry.

00:14:20.367 --> 00:14:23.233
(overlapping chattering
of deputies)

00:14:24.867 --> 00:14:28.301
[Deputy] This goes to the
very heart of our church.

00:14:28.367 --> 00:14:29.533
[Deputy] Damage
our ecumenical...

00:14:29.533 --> 00:14:31.867
[Deputy] We do not have
our own sacraments.

00:14:31.867 --> 00:14:33.500
[Deputy] As we look
at the Bible,

00:14:33.567 --> 00:14:35.700
we find its imagery
of God as patriarch.

00:14:35.700 --> 00:14:36.533
[Deputy] This matter will affect

00:14:36.533 --> 00:14:39.699
the future of
the church forever!

00:15:04.300 --> 00:15:06.766
(brooding music)

00:15:14.266 --> 00:15:15.600
I remember just breaking down,

00:15:15.600 --> 00:15:18.201
sitting there when the
vote came in Louisville

00:15:18.267 --> 00:15:21.100
because I love
the church so much.

00:15:22.167 --> 00:15:24.933
I just couldn't believe
that they weren't gonna
come through here.

00:15:28.267 --> 00:15:30.434
[Priest] Mr. President,
there is a priest

00:15:30.568 --> 00:15:35.267
in the Diocese of Pennsylvania
who has counseled many of us

00:15:35.267 --> 00:15:39.101
on the subject of
ordination of women,

00:15:39.234 --> 00:15:43.367
and I wondered what I could
possibly say to that loving

00:15:43.434 --> 00:15:47.767
and wise priest to whom
ordination of women

00:15:47.767 --> 00:15:51.233
to the priesthood
meant so very much.

00:15:51.300 --> 00:15:54.433
Do not despair, Suzanne Hiatt,

00:15:54.567 --> 00:15:57.767
for in God's eyes,
you are priest indeed.

00:15:57.900 --> 00:16:00.334
They cannot close you in.

00:16:00.334 --> 00:16:05.133
They cannot defeat you,
for in Christ you are free.

00:16:05.633 --> 00:16:08.300
(soaring gentle music)

00:16:13.633 --> 00:16:16.500
Sue Hiatt, who was in
Philadelphia at that time

00:16:16.633 --> 00:16:18.300
working in the bishop's office,

00:16:19.134 --> 00:16:22.334
she knew everybody
and finally said,

00:16:22.334 --> 00:16:24.699
"I think we need to get
the women together."

00:16:26.834 --> 00:16:28.500
[Carter] And I was
really quite excited

00:16:28.500 --> 00:16:29.667
about finding sisters

00:16:29.667 --> 00:16:32.500
who had similar aspirations.

00:16:33.667 --> 00:16:35.166
I thought, these are the people

00:16:35.300 --> 00:16:36.500
I wanna spend my life around.

00:16:36.633 --> 00:16:38.501
They're just a great
bunch of people

00:16:38.501 --> 00:16:41.767
and they do understand that
God is a God of justice

00:16:41.834 --> 00:16:44.333
and that women are as
fully human as men.

00:16:45.300 --> 00:16:47.833
(violin plucking)

00:16:51.667 --> 00:16:53.767
We'd all worked very
hard to get where we were

00:16:53.834 --> 00:16:55.500
and so it was scary.

00:16:58.301 --> 00:17:02.433
[Barbara] I was not one
of the Philadelphia 11,

00:17:03.733 --> 00:17:06.400
but I was part of the planning

00:17:06.533 --> 00:17:12.733
for a dignified
service of ordination

00:17:12.733 --> 00:17:18.334
that reflected the sincerity

00:17:18.401 --> 00:17:25.033
and the humility of
the people involved.

00:17:28.568 --> 00:17:31.401
What we talked about was
that there had to be more

00:17:31.534 --> 00:17:34.534
than one woman and there had
to be more than one bishop

00:17:34.601 --> 00:17:37.733
because that's just the
way things have to happen

00:17:37.733 --> 00:17:39.732
in order to survive
the pressure.

00:17:43.034 --> 00:17:47.500
At that point, my husband was
ordained to the priesthood.

00:17:47.567 --> 00:17:49.567
We had hoped to be
ordained together

00:17:49.567 --> 00:17:52.401
and during his service
of ordination,

00:17:52.401 --> 00:17:55.700
I stood in the doorway
at the back of the church

00:17:55.767 --> 00:17:58.833
to symbolically say,
I can go no further.

00:18:02.501 --> 00:18:06.800
We needed women prepared for
ordination to the priesthood

00:18:06.800 --> 00:18:09.634
who were already
deacons in good standing,

00:18:09.634 --> 00:18:12.632
who had already proven their
accomplishments in ministry.

00:18:14.101 --> 00:18:15.967
And we began to make
a list of the women

00:18:16.101 --> 00:18:18.567
that we needed to be
in touch with

00:18:18.633 --> 00:18:20.600
and the women we thought
might be interested

00:18:20.667 --> 00:18:23.467
in throwing themselves
on the railroad track.

00:18:25.800 --> 00:18:30.468
Nancy Wittig called me
and she said, well,

00:18:30.468 --> 00:18:34.967
on the 29th that three
bishops were going to ordain

00:18:34.967 --> 00:18:37.467
some women deacons
to the priesthood.

00:18:39.967 --> 00:18:42.301
My heart leapt up

00:18:42.434 --> 00:18:47.400
and my head began looking
at the consequences

00:18:48.101 --> 00:18:53.066
and my body felt as though
I was having a heart attack.

00:18:53.467 --> 00:18:56.400
(music swells)

00:18:57.101 --> 00:19:01.166
There were about 40 deacons
that were contacted.

00:19:09.534 --> 00:19:13.699
And 11 of us at that point
agreed to participate.

00:19:20.034 --> 00:19:23.033
[Carter] We were not
the same by any means,

00:19:29.500 --> 00:19:31.034
conservative and
liberal and progressive

00:19:31.034 --> 00:19:34.033
and radical and
right on the edge.

00:19:37.201 --> 00:19:39.201
We need to find some bishops

00:19:39.201 --> 00:19:41.867
who would be willing
to do the ordinations.

00:19:41.867 --> 00:19:43.700
Several bishops who said
they were interested,

00:19:43.834 --> 00:19:46.534
several backed out
at the last minute.

00:19:46.534 --> 00:19:50.866
Three for sure, bishops,
Bishop Corgan, Bishop Wells,

00:19:52.167 --> 00:19:54.366
and there was Bishop Dewitt.

00:19:58.700 --> 00:20:01.500
And there was
quite some discussion

00:20:01.567 --> 00:20:07.166
about where the ordination
might take place.

00:20:10.700 --> 00:20:13.366
The rector, Paul Washington,

00:20:13.500 --> 00:20:17.500
proposed the
Church of the Advocate.

00:20:18.367 --> 00:20:23.667
He asked the congregation
if it approved

00:20:23.733 --> 00:20:28.700
of the irregular ordination
being held there.

00:20:28.834 --> 00:20:34.033
And overwhelmingly, the
congregation said, "Yes."

00:20:35.533 --> 00:20:38.501
Paul was a living saint.

00:20:38.568 --> 00:20:45.567
He certainly lived and
walked the gospel every day.

00:20:47.201 --> 00:20:49.667
[Paul Washington] In good
Christian theology,

00:20:49.733 --> 00:20:54.034
there is a real mission
which falls upon us.

00:20:54.034 --> 00:20:55.500
There has been oppression.

00:20:55.567 --> 00:20:58.367
There has been a denial
of opportunities.

00:20:58.501 --> 00:21:01.767
There has been a
suppression of the rights

00:21:01.767 --> 00:21:04.101
of not only the black group

00:21:04.101 --> 00:21:05.934
as one of the
American minorities,

00:21:05.934 --> 00:21:08.567
but all minority groups.

00:21:12.101 --> 00:21:14.899
[Carter] We talked some
about how white we all were.

00:21:15.767 --> 00:21:18.934
At that point, the structure
of the Episcopal Church

00:21:18.934 --> 00:21:22.767
was so largely white and
there were no women of color,

00:21:22.900 --> 00:21:24.767
none at all, who had
been ordained deacons,

00:21:24.767 --> 00:21:27.100
who were ready to be
ordained to the priesthood.

00:21:28.234 --> 00:21:30.900
So for us to be invited
to be ordained

00:21:30.967 --> 00:21:32.767
at the Church of the Advocate
was really

00:21:32.900 --> 00:21:36.934
quite a powerful statement
of solidarity of black people

00:21:36.934 --> 00:21:39.100
and white people together
against sexism.

00:21:40.100 --> 00:21:42.766
(gentle music)

00:21:52.633 --> 00:21:53.900
It was stressful.

00:21:53.967 --> 00:21:56.767
There were certainly some
women who were in favor

00:21:56.767 --> 00:21:59.800
of women's ordination
who really were not happy

00:21:59.867 --> 00:22:02.667
that some of us were
pushing too far too fast,

00:22:02.667 --> 00:22:04.167
they thought.

00:22:04.167 --> 00:22:05.799
One woman was Pauli Murray.

00:22:07.034 --> 00:22:10.000
She basically believed
that we should be working

00:22:10.000 --> 00:22:13.500
through the system and give it
a little bit longer at least

00:22:13.633 --> 00:22:16.699
because these things take time.

00:23:09.366 --> 00:23:11.699
We knew what we might be facing.

00:23:14.934 --> 00:23:17.667
We were told it was going
to be a secret ceremony,

00:23:18.401 --> 00:23:21.200
but it had been leaked to
the press two weeks earlier.

00:23:21.900 --> 00:23:24.700
Well, there was no question
that we were in trouble.

00:23:24.767 --> 00:23:27.900
(keyboard clacking)
(soft music)

00:23:28.034 --> 00:23:30.834
We all received a telegram
from the bishops...

00:23:30.900 --> 00:23:35.899
(keyboard clacking)
(quiet, ominous music)

00:23:37.733 --> 00:23:39.567
Pleading with us not to do this,

00:23:39.700 --> 00:23:41.667
that it would ruin the church.

00:23:41.733 --> 00:23:46.732
(keyboard clacking)
(ominous buzzing, music)

00:23:49.067 --> 00:23:53.067
I knew that there were some
very, very angry people

00:23:53.067 --> 00:23:55.167
who could have been violent,

00:23:55.234 --> 00:23:57.733
but that just did not
hold any weight for me

00:23:57.867 --> 00:23:59.966
or I don't think any
of my sisters.

00:24:01.967 --> 00:24:03.967
[Carter] Sue Hiatt said
that it was way worse

00:24:04.101 --> 00:24:08.967
than any of us knew, how much
violence had been threatened.

00:24:08.967 --> 00:24:11.433
(tense music)

00:24:13.433 --> 00:24:14.967
Paul Washington said,

00:24:14.967 --> 00:24:17.301
"The police are organized
and we have hired

00:24:17.434 --> 00:24:20.799
an additional security for
the protection of the women."

00:24:22.301 --> 00:24:23.767
[Carter] The security
was some of Washington's

00:24:23.834 --> 00:24:26.967
Black Panther friends
and a group of lesbians.

00:24:27.101 --> 00:24:28.934
It was a great combination.

00:24:29.634 --> 00:24:32.967
It was so clear that we were
being called to that day

00:24:32.967 --> 00:24:34.134
and we were willing to stand

00:24:34.134 --> 00:24:36.632
and we would not be denied this.

00:24:41.133 --> 00:24:44.632
(choral harmonizing)

00:24:46.767 --> 00:24:52.101
I arrived at church about
eight o'clock in the morning

00:24:52.167 --> 00:24:56.468
and the phones were
ringing off the hook.

00:24:56.468 --> 00:24:59.234
I picked up the phone
and one woman said,

00:24:59.301 --> 00:25:05.300
"Are you people going to
ordain women there today?"

00:25:05.366 --> 00:25:07.834
And I said, "Yes, we are."

00:25:07.900 --> 00:25:10.700
And she said, "You're
gonna split this church

00:25:10.834 --> 00:25:12.000
right in half."

00:25:12.067 --> 00:25:15.366
I said, "The church is
already split in half.

00:25:15.366 --> 00:25:17.200
That's why we're doing it."

00:25:19.034 --> 00:25:22.500
(congregation chattering softly)

00:25:29.366 --> 00:25:34.366
(organ music and choral singing)

00:25:46.233 --> 00:25:49.200
I was the crucifer that day.

00:25:50.367 --> 00:25:57.700
As I came out, I really
wanted to lead that procession

00:25:57.834 --> 00:26:02.300
like Joshua seven times
around the walls of Jericho.

00:26:05.101 --> 00:26:07.267
But for safety reasons,

00:26:07.267 --> 00:26:11.900
we had decided to have
a very short procession.

00:26:11.967 --> 00:26:16.934
(choral singing)

00:26:17.267 --> 00:26:20.434
We started walking into the
sanctuary with our presenters

00:26:20.568 --> 00:26:23.367
and there were all these
lights, and in those days,

00:26:23.434 --> 00:26:27.101
three big networks, NBC,
ABC, CBS were out there

00:26:27.101 --> 00:26:30.233
with their big cameras and
it was like, my goodness.

00:26:31.434 --> 00:26:35.034
And there were people as far
as you could see in this church

00:26:35.101 --> 00:26:37.066
that probably sat 2 or 3,000.

00:26:38.567 --> 00:26:40.934
It's like we had
walked into something

00:26:41.067 --> 00:26:42.899
that was outside ourselves.

00:26:44.967 --> 00:26:48.900
It was one of the most profound
experiences I've ever had

00:26:48.967 --> 00:26:57.066
of just really something
that was unequivocally right.

00:27:03.200 --> 00:27:06.834
(service proceeds)

00:27:06.967 --> 00:27:10.200
Suddenly, there was
this loud pop.

00:27:12.333 --> 00:27:14.500
It sounded like a gunshot.

00:27:18.633 --> 00:27:19.600
Everybody froze.

00:27:19.667 --> 00:27:21.500
Nobody breathed.

00:27:21.633 --> 00:27:24.967
I checked my own
white alb, no red on it.

00:27:25.034 --> 00:27:27.834
I checked everybody
else's chest beside me

00:27:29.135 --> 00:27:32.833
and they were all right.
The bishops were all right,
so the liturgy continued.

00:27:35.500 --> 00:27:39.500
It is our previous understanding

00:27:39.500 --> 00:27:41.266
that there are persons present

00:27:42.000 --> 00:27:44.500
who would like to
make statements

00:27:44.633 --> 00:27:49.200
concerning individuals
who are to be ordained.

00:27:50.667 --> 00:27:52.167
The proceedings here enacted

00:27:52.167 --> 00:27:54.501
are unlawful and schismatical,

00:27:54.634 --> 00:27:59.667
constituting a grave injury
to the peace of Christs Church.

00:27:59.900 --> 00:28:03.233
We do not gain 11 priests today.

00:28:03.233 --> 00:28:06.100
We lose four bishops.

00:28:07.701 --> 00:28:14.034
You may break the laws, sirs,
our savior broke many laws,

00:28:14.101 --> 00:28:17.500
but you break today a
law he did not break.

00:28:17.567 --> 00:28:19.401
That law is this,

00:28:19.401 --> 00:28:24.366
God shall be called Father
and so shall his priests.

00:28:24.867 --> 00:28:28.233
(observers exclaiming)

00:28:32.034 --> 00:28:37.067
How can a religious
organization condemn sexism

00:28:37.067 --> 00:28:39.900
in the world and
at the same time,

00:28:40.034 --> 00:28:42.401
condone legislative action

00:28:42.401 --> 00:28:45.567
which discriminates against
women in the church?

00:28:46.700 --> 00:28:49.167
We have come
here today to secure

00:28:49.234 --> 00:28:52.400
the right of full participation.

00:28:52.400 --> 00:28:54.667
If it must be done,

00:28:54.733 --> 00:28:58.500
tis better that it should
be done now.

00:28:58.567 --> 00:29:02.100
(applause)

00:29:06.433 --> 00:29:09.467
(choral harmonizing)

00:29:19.800 --> 00:29:25.301
The deeply profound moment
for me was when the bishop

00:29:25.301 --> 00:29:28.967
read the three pages
in the prayer book

00:29:29.101 --> 00:29:33.467
with the most melodious voice
with eye contact all the time,

00:29:33.467 --> 00:29:37.967
and that to me felt
like a movement

00:29:38.101 --> 00:29:40.632
of the spirit moving into me.

00:29:42.800 --> 00:29:45.133
(ceremony continues)

00:29:45.266 --> 00:29:47.301
Receive the Holy Ghost,

00:29:47.301 --> 00:29:50.468
for the work of a priest
in the church of God

00:29:50.468 --> 00:29:52.067
in the name of the
Father and of the Son

00:29:52.134 --> 00:29:53.733
and of the Holy Ghost.

00:29:53.800 --> 00:29:58.100
[Gathering] Amen!

00:30:01.467 --> 00:30:02.567
[Nancy] It felt like the church

00:30:02.633 --> 00:30:04.766
was rising to the occasion.

00:30:06.167 --> 00:30:08.467
The people of God were
being the people of God.

00:30:09.633 --> 00:30:11.300
[Gathering] Amen!

00:30:11.300 --> 00:30:14.333
(Bishop continues the ceremony)

00:30:16.633 --> 00:30:22.300
The palpable air
that I felt that day,

00:30:25.101 --> 00:30:31.966
dangerous, but the
right thing to do.

00:30:32.633 --> 00:30:35.766
(choral harmonizing)

00:30:44.800 --> 00:30:47.733
The day after the ordination
in the newspapers,

00:30:47.800 --> 00:30:54.800
the headlines were abuse of
power and underneath that

00:30:54.800 --> 00:30:58.134
was a story about Nixon.

00:30:58.267 --> 00:31:01.700
Impeachment proceedings were
moving right along for him

00:31:01.700 --> 00:31:05.700
and he was on the
verge of resigning.

00:31:05.700 --> 00:31:08.034
Hell no, no more
business as usual!

00:31:08.167 --> 00:31:11.166
Were gonna stand up and
say weve got fired up.

00:31:11.233 --> 00:31:13.833
(crowd chanting)

00:31:14.567 --> 00:31:19.166
Below that was a picture
of us being ordained

00:31:19.900 --> 00:31:25.034
and I think that we
provided the balance

00:31:25.167 --> 00:31:26.201
to what was going on there

00:31:26.201 --> 00:31:31.034
because we were women who
were saying that power

00:31:31.167 --> 00:31:36.201
can take various forms and
our power was a very positive,

00:31:36.334 --> 00:31:40.167
life-giving power that
kind of balanced off

00:31:40.234 --> 00:31:43.200
what was happening in
the political sphere.

00:31:47.333 --> 00:31:49.866
(plane roaring)

00:31:52.700 --> 00:31:56.133
Within 10 days of the
Philadelphia ordinations,

00:31:56.834 --> 00:32:00.433
the bishops were all called
back for an emergency meeting

00:32:00.433 --> 00:32:02.266
at O'Hare Airport in Chicago

00:32:04.267 --> 00:32:06.433
to figure out what
to do about us.

00:32:07.300 --> 00:32:09.766
(inquisitive music)

00:32:12.934 --> 00:32:15.101
Here in Chicago,
the past two days,

00:32:15.234 --> 00:32:17.767
130 members of the
Episcopal House of Bishops

00:32:17.900 --> 00:32:20.267
have been meeting in an
emergency session.

00:32:20.401 --> 00:32:22.767
They're trying to decide
what to do about the bishops

00:32:22.900 --> 00:32:25.933
who illegally ordained the
women into the priesthood.

00:32:29.234 --> 00:32:32.867
I really, I was so naive,
you know.

00:32:32.934 --> 00:32:37.733
I thought that bishops were
good men and that if you just...

00:32:38.634 --> 00:32:44.201
If you just could tell them
clearly and eloquently enough

00:32:44.601 --> 00:32:48.266
what was going on that
they would see the problem.

00:32:51.234 --> 00:32:54.700
Here was a room full of
very angry men

00:32:54.767 --> 00:32:57.767
who had had to come and
break their vacations

00:32:57.900 --> 00:33:00.767
to deal with these
blankity blank women.

00:33:00.834 --> 00:33:02.333
[Speaker] Fairness and
understanding

00:33:02.467 --> 00:33:03.834
towards those
bishops and others...

00:33:03.967 --> 00:33:08.166
It was surreal because
we were there.

00:33:08.967 --> 00:33:10.667
We had our collars on.

00:33:10.667 --> 00:33:12.501
They could see us,

00:33:12.501 --> 00:33:15.767
but they did not allow
us to be in the room.

00:33:15.834 --> 00:33:18.167
They did not allow us to speak.

00:33:18.301 --> 00:33:20.834
They did not want to
hear from us.

00:33:20.967 --> 00:33:22.633
And what they spent
their time doing

00:33:22.700 --> 00:33:25.533
was beating up on the
bishops who had done it

00:33:27.967 --> 00:33:31.500
because they had
broken the brotherhood.

00:33:31.500 --> 00:33:33.667
There are two
separate issues here.

00:33:33.667 --> 00:33:35.334
One is the ordination of women.

00:33:35.334 --> 00:33:37.501
The other is loyalty
and obedience

00:33:37.501 --> 00:33:39.767
and discipline to the
constitution of the church.

00:33:39.834 --> 00:33:41.500
I feel these men have disobeyed,

00:33:41.500 --> 00:33:43.266
that they admit that they have.

00:33:44.034 --> 00:33:47.767
[Carter] The Bishop of Kentucky
said, and I kid you not,

00:33:47.834 --> 00:33:51.167
"I have decided I'm going
back to Kentucky

00:33:51.301 --> 00:33:54.468
to ordain the great
race horse Secretariat

00:33:54.534 --> 00:33:59.700
who is in my diocese," and
said, "And he's the right gender

00:33:59.767 --> 00:34:03.834
and you men have
already laid your hands

00:34:03.900 --> 00:34:06.066
upon the other
end of the horse."

00:34:09.067 --> 00:34:10.900
[Reporter] The Episcopal
House of Bishops today

00:34:10.900 --> 00:34:12.900
ruled invalid last
month's ordination

00:34:13.034 --> 00:34:15.234
of 11 women as priests.

00:34:15.367 --> 00:34:16.834
The bishop said the issue
should be brought up

00:34:16.900 --> 00:34:19.433
at the church convention
in 1976.

00:34:21.366 --> 00:34:23.899
(dramatic music)

00:34:28.434 --> 00:34:31.234
I was hearing the word
invalid tossed about.

00:34:31.367 --> 00:34:34.568
I actually said rather
loudly, "They can't do that."

00:34:34.701 --> 00:34:39.534
They'd have to undo 1,500 years
of theology of ordination.

00:34:39.601 --> 00:34:42.834
I would hope that a diocesan
bishop would recognize

00:34:42.900 --> 00:34:46.733
that we have been validly
ordained and that we are priests

00:34:46.733 --> 00:34:48.733
and that the strength
of the sacrament itself

00:34:48.733 --> 00:34:50.899
is something that
is irrevocable.

00:34:54.600 --> 00:34:56.866
I went back home to Minneapolis

00:34:57.767 --> 00:35:00.433
and the phone was
ringing off the hook.

00:35:00.500 --> 00:35:02.900
The calls were ugly obscenities

00:35:02.967 --> 00:35:06.967
from people that I had
known and loved who said,

00:35:06.967 --> 00:35:08.632
"I cannot support you."

00:35:10.967 --> 00:35:14.633
The bishop forbid me
to do anything

00:35:14.633 --> 00:35:16.633
on Episcopal Church property.

00:35:16.633 --> 00:35:19.133
(tense music)

00:35:20.800 --> 00:35:24.500
This priest, when I was
offering him the cup,

00:35:26.467 --> 00:35:28.467
he came up and he just clawed me

00:35:28.600 --> 00:35:30.633
and he told me to burn in hell.

00:35:30.633 --> 00:35:33.800
[Alla] We have heard
the devil here tonight.

00:35:33.800 --> 00:35:35.600
[Carter] There were
death threats.

00:35:35.667 --> 00:35:37.967
[Alison] It felt like
a war to me.

00:35:37.967 --> 00:35:41.468
[Marie] There were
letters from bishops.

00:35:41.601 --> 00:35:45.632
[Alla] "We will not allow her to
contaminate our property."

00:35:48.101 --> 00:35:50.301
It was as if we had
pricked an abscess

00:35:50.434 --> 00:35:54.134
and the puss came running
out with all of its poison

00:35:54.134 --> 00:35:56.799
and we could see it
for what it was.

00:36:03.201 --> 00:36:06.034
I guess it wasn't until the fall

00:36:06.034 --> 00:36:09.034
that I realized I was pregnant,

00:36:09.167 --> 00:36:12.166
way past six weeks. (Laughs)

00:36:14.167 --> 00:36:16.534
And then it became
the brunt of the jokes

00:36:16.534 --> 00:36:19.866
by the people who didn't
want the ordination of women.

00:36:21.568 --> 00:36:24.467
Well, if you ordained a woman
and she had a child in utero,

00:36:24.533 --> 00:36:26.033
was the child ordained?

00:36:30.867 --> 00:36:32.867
Good day, I'm Bill Beutel
in New York

00:36:32.867 --> 00:36:34.700
and the program is directions.

00:36:34.700 --> 00:36:36.467
This is the Episcopal dilemma.

00:36:36.533 --> 00:36:37.999
Should women be priests?

00:36:38.700 --> 00:36:41.534
Reverend Carter Heyward
of New York,

00:36:41.668 --> 00:36:45.700
I would be foolish to ask
how you feel about women

00:36:45.700 --> 00:36:48.034
being priests within the
Episcopal Church

00:36:48.034 --> 00:36:50.533
because obviously you
believe they ought to be,

00:36:50.533 --> 00:36:52.700
but I would like you
to talk to the point.

00:36:52.700 --> 00:36:55.968
We are accountable in
terms of our vocations,

00:36:56.035 --> 00:37:00.567
and by vocations I mean life,
not just profession, to Jesus
Christ, who is our Lord,

00:37:00.633 --> 00:37:03.034
and that Jesus Christ
knew no boundaries

00:37:03.101 --> 00:37:05.433
between men and women.

00:37:06.266 --> 00:37:08.567
He was a quite a radical

00:37:08.633 --> 00:37:11.267
in terms of his
relationship to women.

00:37:11.267 --> 00:37:13.934
St. Paul picks up on
that very clearly,

00:37:13.934 --> 00:37:16.201
saying that there's
neither male nor female.

00:37:16.267 --> 00:37:18.034
There's neither slave nor free.

00:37:18.101 --> 00:37:21.433
But what he does not say is,
of course, you are all equal.

00:37:21.567 --> 00:37:23.767
What he says is,
you are all one.

00:37:23.767 --> 00:37:28.934
If we're equal before God,
is it not therefore necessary

00:37:28.934 --> 00:37:31.701
that we be equal
between ourselves?

00:37:31.768 --> 00:37:35.433
[Stanley] You're confusing
equality with convertibility.

00:37:35.567 --> 00:37:39.201
Oh, you mean
they're not convertible?

00:37:39.267 --> 00:37:42.934
I mean that men and women do
not have the same functions.

00:37:42.934 --> 00:37:45.201
Power in the church
means the clergy,

00:37:45.267 --> 00:37:48.034
and I greatly fear that some
women want to be priests

00:37:48.101 --> 00:37:50.034
because they want
power in the church,

00:37:50.101 --> 00:37:52.600
but I think this is a false
conception of the church.

00:37:52.600 --> 00:37:55.100
[Bill] Bishop Atkins,
is Ms. Heyward a priest?

00:37:55.233 --> 00:37:56.066
No, she's not.

00:37:57.101 --> 00:37:59.267
[Carter] We had certainly
been having conversations

00:37:59.267 --> 00:38:02.000
with other people over
the last several years

00:38:02.000 --> 00:38:03.167
who were opposed
to women's ordination

00:38:03.167 --> 00:38:07.500
and so we had to learn how
to have these conversations

00:38:07.633 --> 00:38:10.500
without socking people
because sometimes,

00:38:10.633 --> 00:38:12.167
they would be so insulting.

00:38:12.301 --> 00:38:14.834
But you know, you're
telling your own story.

00:38:14.834 --> 00:38:16.000
You're speaking your own truth.

00:38:16.000 --> 00:38:17.167
You're not trying
to argue with it

00:38:17.167 --> 00:38:19.000
because what is there to say?

00:38:19.000 --> 00:38:21.834
One of the things that really
moved us toward Philadelphia

00:38:21.834 --> 00:38:24.767
was specifically
the power of the laity

00:38:24.834 --> 00:38:27.101
we were experiencing
within our own community.

00:38:27.167 --> 00:38:30.667
And I must say, I think the
bishops underestimated this.

00:38:30.800 --> 00:38:32.267
The laypeople in our church

00:38:32.334 --> 00:38:34.667
will not accept what
the bishop said.

00:38:34.800 --> 00:38:37.101
If we are invalid,
they're invalid.

00:38:37.167 --> 00:38:38.667
This is what we're hearing.

00:38:38.667 --> 00:38:40.500
The point at issue
at Philadelphia

00:38:40.633 --> 00:38:43.633
is the bishops in Chicago
in mid-August

00:38:43.700 --> 00:38:48.633
said that these ordinations
violated the church,

00:38:48.700 --> 00:38:50.101
violated the Episcopate

00:38:50.167 --> 00:38:53.167
and violated the Catholic
conception of orders.

00:38:53.167 --> 00:38:56.667
What happens if you perform
now all the functions

00:38:56.667 --> 00:38:58.633
of a priest of the
Episcopal Church?

00:38:58.700 --> 00:39:00.900
Well, the thing people
are watching for,

00:39:01.034 --> 00:39:03.401
from what I understand
is whether or not

00:39:03.401 --> 00:39:05.167
any of us are going
to celebrate Eucharist

00:39:05.234 --> 00:39:08.233
publicly at least, and we are.

00:39:10.934 --> 00:39:13.234
After supper, he took the cup

00:39:13.234 --> 00:39:15.900
and when he had given thanks,
he gave it to them saying,

00:39:15.900 --> 00:39:18.234
"Drink ye all of this

00:39:18.234 --> 00:39:21.067
for this is my blood of
the New Testament,

00:39:21.067 --> 00:39:22.667
which is shed for you

00:39:22.733 --> 00:39:25.333
and for many for
the remission of sins.

00:39:26.034 --> 00:39:29.567
Do this as oft as
you shall drink it

00:39:29.700 --> 00:39:31.066
in remembrance of me."

00:39:34.234 --> 00:39:35.867
Those were odd times, you know,

00:39:35.934 --> 00:39:39.699
because in a way, our
vocation was to be seen.

00:39:44.767 --> 00:39:46.234
(bell ringing)

00:39:46.367 --> 00:39:49.401
The Riverside Church
celebration was gonna be

00:39:49.401 --> 00:39:52.733
the first public
celebration of the Eucharist

00:39:52.867 --> 00:39:58.234
by a woman priest, so it
was staged very purposely

00:39:58.367 --> 00:40:01.900
to make an impression
beginning with

00:40:01.900 --> 00:40:03.234
who the three of us
were gonna be

00:40:03.367 --> 00:40:06.401
because we represented
three different generations.

00:40:06.401 --> 00:40:08.167
Continuing with the fact
that the Riverside Church

00:40:08.234 --> 00:40:13.900
is a very well known church,
a lot of anti-war protests,

00:40:13.900 --> 00:40:16.667
Martin Luther King
had spoken there

00:40:16.733 --> 00:40:18.733
and there was absolutely
no way we could celebrate

00:40:18.733 --> 00:40:21.400
the Eucharist in an Episcopal
Church at that point.

00:40:23.867 --> 00:40:26.732
(religious music)

00:40:29.934 --> 00:40:33.400
(congregation applauding)

00:40:38.900 --> 00:40:43.233
(congregation applauding
continues)

00:40:48.867 --> 00:40:53.234
Hallelujah Christ, our
Passover is sacrificed for us.

00:40:53.234 --> 00:40:56.233
[congregation] Therefore
let us keep the feast.

00:40:56.233 --> 00:40:57.766
Hallelujah!

00:41:00.134 --> 00:41:04.433
The gifts of God for
the people of God.

00:41:05.800 --> 00:41:10.799
(chorus singing a hymn)

00:41:23.967 --> 00:41:28.966
(singing continues)

00:41:31.934 --> 00:41:36.301
[Alison] By then, I knew I
was doing something equivalent

00:41:36.301 --> 00:41:40.967
to a civil disobedience and
that if one chose to do that,

00:41:40.967 --> 00:41:43.400
then one accepted
the consequences,

00:41:44.267 --> 00:41:47.632
but that was not
important to me anymore.

00:41:49.300 --> 00:41:52.300
We were being likened to...

00:41:54.834 --> 00:41:57.933
Who are the Nixon people who
broke into the Watergate?

00:41:57.999 --> 00:41:59.800
(laughs)

00:41:59.867 --> 00:42:03.800
The becoming of women
into full consciousness

00:42:03.867 --> 00:42:07.799
is something radically
new in our church.

00:42:08.867 --> 00:42:14.800
It calls for discipleship of
a new depth and dimension.

00:42:15.501 --> 00:42:19.967
The Church of Saint Stephen
and the Incarnation took me in

00:42:20.034 --> 00:42:21.866
and made me their own.

00:42:24.034 --> 00:42:26.834
The Rector Bill Wendt
invited me.

00:42:26.900 --> 00:42:29.833
(organ music)

00:42:31.200 --> 00:42:34.999
(applause)

00:42:38.034 --> 00:42:41.467
I was vested as the celebrant.

00:42:41.867 --> 00:42:44.999
The Rector Bill Wendt
was on one side of me

00:42:46.034 --> 00:42:50.500
and when it actually came
to doing the Eucharist,

00:42:52.867 --> 00:42:57.000
I've never had this experience
before or afterwards,

00:42:57.067 --> 00:43:00.067
so I really cherished
that I had an experience

00:43:00.134 --> 00:43:03.933
of being almost
totally unselfconscious

00:43:05.267 --> 00:43:07.900
and it wasnt as if I was
nervous or anything.

00:43:07.967 --> 00:43:12.966
It was just that it sort of
flowed through me, and...

00:43:17.600 --> 00:43:21.600
And I'm always grateful
for that experience.

00:43:21.600 --> 00:43:26.300
(congregation cheering
and applauding)

00:43:34.434 --> 00:43:38.267
[Merril] As various ones
of us started celebrating,

00:43:38.267 --> 00:43:41.900
Bishop Spears said, you know,
"I hope you won't do that.

00:43:41.967 --> 00:43:45.067
I've had this committee study

00:43:45.134 --> 00:43:47.300
whether or not these
ordinations are valid.

00:43:48.266 --> 00:43:50.101
If they say they're valid,

00:43:50.101 --> 00:43:52.899
I will recognize you
as a priest."

00:43:54.600 --> 00:43:58.066
He really supported my
whole journey there.

00:43:59.601 --> 00:44:05.433
Because of that I felt,
okay, I won't do anything.

00:44:05.500 --> 00:44:08.500
I'll be good and
I won't function.

00:44:10.334 --> 00:44:16.301
My work was speaking about
my life, where I came from

00:44:16.367 --> 00:44:18.999
and how I came to be
called to be a priest.

00:44:20.333 --> 00:44:22.966
And I went all over Rochester,

00:44:23.800 --> 00:44:27.467
I preached in whatever
parish would ask me

00:44:28.334 --> 00:44:30.999
and then I traveled to
other places too.

00:44:32.366 --> 00:44:35.000
I would get nauseous
and throw up

00:44:35.000 --> 00:44:38.033
before a church service
or whatever.

00:44:39.967 --> 00:44:45.501
I was really reaching
outside myself and discovered

00:44:45.501 --> 00:44:50.333
that I could do it, but
not without a certain toll.

00:44:53.167 --> 00:45:00.233
It was very hard because people
were just so upset with us.

00:45:01.101 --> 00:45:03.233
There was a lot of anger there.

00:45:54.234 --> 00:45:56.067
[Carter] By that time I
had studied enough theology

00:45:56.201 --> 00:45:59.034
to realize that if you're
gonna really talk about

00:45:59.101 --> 00:46:01.101
gender issues and sexual issues,

00:46:01.167 --> 00:46:04.134
you're gonna wind up talking
about the same things

00:46:04.267 --> 00:46:06.567
and that people could
try to keep them separate

00:46:08.669 --> 00:46:11.733
and some did.
Well, you know, this is
about women's ordination,
not about gay stuff and
in my heart of hearts,

00:46:11.800 --> 00:46:12.967
I knew that's not true.

00:46:13.101 --> 00:46:14.634
It's about all of it.

00:46:14.634 --> 00:46:18.067
[TV Host] Do you consider
homosexuality a disease?

00:46:18.134 --> 00:46:19.133
[Anita Bryant] No, I don't.

00:46:19.133 --> 00:46:20.467
It's a sin.

00:46:20.467 --> 00:46:23.100
It's very plain in many,
many scriptures

00:46:24.301 --> 00:46:26.101
in the Old Testament
as well as the new

00:46:26.167 --> 00:46:29.134
that that God calls
it an abomination.

00:46:29.134 --> 00:46:32.468
And if they continue in that
sin and do not repent of it,

00:46:32.468 --> 00:46:35.634
you see, any sinner has an
opportunity to repent of sin

00:46:35.634 --> 00:46:38.300
rather than flaunt it and
want to change legislation

00:46:38.433 --> 00:46:40.633
to condone that kind of sin.

00:46:40.633 --> 00:46:43.134
My stand is based on
the word of God

00:46:43.267 --> 00:46:47.799
and if God is not the standard
of morality, then who is?

00:46:51.467 --> 00:46:52.633
[Carter] There were
several of us

00:46:52.767 --> 00:46:54.733
that were in fact
gay or lesbian.

00:46:54.800 --> 00:46:57.800
Of course, we were called a
bunch of man hating dykes,

00:46:57.800 --> 00:46:59.634
bitches and shrews
and all of this stuff,

00:46:59.634 --> 00:47:02.700
but Sue Hiatt was the
first one of us, I believe,

00:47:02.834 --> 00:47:06.366
to ever say when called a
lesbian in public, "Thank you."

00:47:08.533 --> 00:47:10.133
She never felt a need
to say, you know,

00:47:11.301 --> 00:47:14.700
I'm actually straight,
but I really support my
sisters, just "thank you".

00:47:14.700 --> 00:47:17.533
(religious music)

00:47:19.834 --> 00:47:22.633
We were functioning as priests
and are having Eucharist

00:47:22.700 --> 00:47:26.034
in house churches and
on we go and it's just,

00:47:26.167 --> 00:47:27.700
it is now a fait accompli.

00:47:27.700 --> 00:47:29.534
It's a done, it's a given.

00:47:29.534 --> 00:47:35.668
The church just needs to catch
up with us institutionally.

00:47:35.768 --> 00:47:38.533
I remember the Sunday morning,
it was in between services
in the church...

00:47:40.367 --> 00:47:42.533
a very quiet but powerful
moment in my life

00:47:42.533 --> 00:47:47.701
when I just had this deep sense.

00:47:47.701 --> 00:47:52.501
It was almost like a voice
saying, "You need to do this.

00:47:52.568 --> 00:47:55.166
It will change your life,
but you need to do it."

00:47:56.700 --> 00:48:00.700
I went to the vestry and I said,

00:48:00.767 --> 00:48:03.366
"I want to invite one
of the women

00:48:03.433 --> 00:48:04.700
to celebrate the Eucharist,"

00:48:04.767 --> 00:48:06.700
which is what had
been forbidden.

00:48:06.767 --> 00:48:08.600
They were not allowed
to do any priestly act

00:48:08.600 --> 00:48:10.433
in any parish in the country.

00:48:10.433 --> 00:48:12.433
“But I don't want to do that

00:48:12.433 --> 00:48:16.266
without your vote supporting it.

00:48:17.267 --> 00:48:20.433
And unanimously,
they supported it.

00:48:20.567 --> 00:48:23.433
(uplifting music)

00:48:24.433 --> 00:48:25.767
[Carter] Peter Beebe,
a wonderful,

00:48:25.900 --> 00:48:27.234
wonderful young priest,

00:48:27.301 --> 00:48:29.467
invited us to celebrate
the Eucharist.

00:48:31.267 --> 00:48:32.767
Christ Church Oberlin
was a little church

00:48:34.102 --> 00:48:37.400
with a little steeple,
but it was a big deal because
it was an Episcopal Church.

00:48:38.567 --> 00:48:39.934
The bishop had
issued a formal letter

00:48:39.934 --> 00:48:42.400
saying I was not
allowed to do this.

00:48:43.767 --> 00:48:46.233
(uplifting music continues)

00:48:46.600 --> 00:48:49.433
And I wrote him back
formally and said,

00:48:49.567 --> 00:48:51.433
"Too bad, I am doing this."

00:48:51.567 --> 00:48:55.434
Almighty God have mercy on you,

00:48:55.434 --> 00:48:59.467
forgive you all your sins
through our Lord Jesus Christ.

00:49:07.967 --> 00:49:11.666
(music builds)

00:49:13.966 --> 00:49:15.500
Take, eat.

00:49:15.500 --> 00:49:19.834
This is my body which
is given for you.

00:49:19.834 --> 00:49:22.833
Do this for the
remembrance of me.

00:49:26.366 --> 00:49:27.834
Hallelujah.

00:49:27.834 --> 00:49:31.834
Christ, our Passover
is sacrificed for us.

00:49:31.967 --> 00:49:33.468
[Congregation] Amen.

00:49:33.534 --> 00:49:38.167
I really am defying that
mentality in the church

00:49:38.301 --> 00:49:42.334
which says that a woman is an
inferior being whose sexuality

00:49:42.334 --> 00:49:46.833
needs to be voted upon by a
political body, primarily men.

00:49:48.700 --> 00:49:51.632
(hopeful music)

00:49:59.467 --> 00:50:00.834
[Carter] We kept
going to parishes

00:50:00.834 --> 00:50:03.000
that want us there as priests.

00:50:03.000 --> 00:50:04.834
Lift up your hearts!

00:50:04.834 --> 00:50:08.167
(congregation responds)

00:50:08.301 --> 00:50:09.767
[Carter] At some point,
what was gonna happen to us

00:50:09.834 --> 00:50:11.300
of course was a big question.

00:50:12.167 --> 00:50:16.166
Christ, our Passover is
sacrificed for us.

00:50:16.300 --> 00:50:17.266
[Congregation] Therefore let us

00:50:17.333 --> 00:50:20.433
keep the feast.

00:50:20.500 --> 00:50:24.667
We cannot find ourselves
able to believe

00:50:24.667 --> 00:50:28.500
that a woman can be a
priest and therefore,

00:50:28.633 --> 00:50:30.501
it would be impossible
for us to believe

00:50:30.501 --> 00:50:34.632
that sacraments she would
attempt would be sacraments.

00:50:36.500 --> 00:50:41.500
(woman speaking)
(uplifting music)

00:50:45.966 --> 00:50:47.366
Let us pray.

00:50:50.967 --> 00:50:54.334
Sanctify us also so that
we may faithfully receive

00:50:54.468 --> 00:50:57.834
this holy sacrament
and serve you in unity,

00:50:57.967 --> 00:51:00.733
constancy and peace.

00:51:00.733 --> 00:51:03.333
- Theologically, it is
impossible for a woman

00:51:03.400 --> 00:51:04.233
to be a priest

00:51:04.366 --> 00:51:05.733
in the Christian Church.

00:51:05.733 --> 00:51:08.701
She cannot consecrate the
elements in the Eucharist.

00:51:08.768 --> 00:51:12.733
She cannot pronounce absolution
for the remission of sins.

00:51:12.733 --> 00:51:14.568
This she cannot do
because she is not

00:51:14.701 --> 00:51:18.900
of the proper substance or
matter any more than grape juice

00:51:19.034 --> 00:51:20.733
and cookies are a proper matter

00:51:20.733 --> 00:51:22.533
for the sacrament
of the Eucharist

00:51:22.600 --> 00:51:25.700
or rose petals for the
sacrament of baptism.

00:51:25.767 --> 00:51:29.732
It is simply a role which
a woman cannot fill.

00:51:31.567 --> 00:51:32.733
[Carter] Even if the
Episcopal Church

00:51:32.733 --> 00:51:34.334
cannot or will not accept us,

00:51:34.401 --> 00:51:36.700
we are nonetheless
priests of the church,

00:51:36.767 --> 00:51:39.567
that is the Catholic Church,
the Christian Church,

00:51:39.567 --> 00:51:41.733
and our ministry will
always be here for us.

00:51:41.733 --> 00:51:43.733
We just need to keep
doing what we're doing.

00:51:43.733 --> 00:51:45.366
People do come out to communion.

00:51:45.433 --> 00:51:47.200
People want to worship the Lord.

00:51:47.900 --> 00:51:50.900
When the standing
committee of my church

00:51:51.034 --> 00:51:55.567
voted in favor of having
me recognized as a priest,

00:51:56.401 --> 00:51:59.266
Bob Spears decided
not to do that.

00:52:01.302 --> 00:52:05.468
[Reporter] I think that
what's confusing to people
is that you're in a diocese
where you have the support

00:52:05.468 --> 00:52:07.967
of a standing committee
and a woman who is ordained

00:52:07.967 --> 00:52:09.600
and whom you believe
to be validly ordained,

00:52:09.667 --> 00:52:11.433
but because of
your responsibility

00:52:11.500 --> 00:52:12.967
to the total Anglican Communion,

00:52:12.967 --> 00:52:15.967
you are unable to
unilaterally regularize her.

00:52:16.101 --> 00:52:18.400
I'm not sure I'm unable
to, I'm unwilling to.

00:52:18.467 --> 00:52:19.833
That's the distinction.

00:52:21.467 --> 00:52:22.967
They really did not
want to break rank

00:52:23.101 --> 00:52:25.300
with their brother bishops.

00:52:25.433 --> 00:52:27.401
Collegiality was its name.

00:52:27.468 --> 00:52:30.800
We have a collegial
relationship with one another

00:52:30.800 --> 00:52:35.632
and we're all pledged not to
do anything until we all do it.

00:52:37.134 --> 00:52:40.100
We have to be
loyal to our brothers.

00:52:45.101 --> 00:52:46.600
[Merril] That was
very devastating.

00:52:48.468 --> 00:52:52.100
So I felt like, okay,
I'm gonna fight for this.

00:52:53.101 --> 00:52:55.633
Enjoy the feast of the Lord.

00:52:55.633 --> 00:52:58.300
♪ Take our bread

00:52:58.433 --> 00:53:01.967
♪ We ask You, take our hearts

00:53:02.034 --> 00:53:05.700
♪ We love You, take our lives

00:53:05.834 --> 00:53:10.799
♪ Oh Father, we are yours

00:53:11.166 --> 00:53:13.732
♪ We are yours

00:53:16.034 --> 00:53:18.467
Take this and eat it.

00:53:18.533 --> 00:53:22.034
This is my body
which is given for you.

00:53:22.034 --> 00:53:24.866
Do this in remembrance of me.

00:53:26.700 --> 00:53:29.667
During the distributing
of the elements,

00:53:29.733 --> 00:53:32.667
I would ask you all
to feed each other

00:53:33.534 --> 00:53:36.700
for we need each other to
give each other strength.

00:53:36.834 --> 00:53:38.034
I don't know how I would survive

00:53:38.167 --> 00:53:40.534
if it weren't for the
fact that so many,

00:53:40.534 --> 00:53:44.034
especially laypeople, have come
together around this issue.

00:53:44.034 --> 00:53:46.700
I'm a 53 year old grandmother

00:53:46.700 --> 00:53:48.834
and I never thought I'd
get into such radical things,

00:53:48.900 --> 00:53:52.667
but I feel very strongly
about the injustice of women

00:53:52.733 --> 00:53:54.834
not being allowed to be priests.

00:53:54.900 --> 00:53:57.533
I feel there is no
reason why they can't be.

00:53:59.266 --> 00:54:00.433
That's why I'm here.

00:54:00.567 --> 00:54:02.101
I think that's what
we exist for,

00:54:02.101 --> 00:54:06.533
is to recognize something
that for most of the church

00:54:06.600 --> 00:54:08.034
is just too threatening.

00:54:08.101 --> 00:54:10.600
When I was ordained
to the priesthood,

00:54:10.600 --> 00:54:12.600
there was no question
about my, you know,

00:54:12.733 --> 00:54:15.034
the question of sex
was not an issue

00:54:15.101 --> 00:54:17.899
and I don't think that it ought
to be for a woman either.

00:54:41.100 --> 00:54:44.100
(paper crinkling)

00:54:44.100 --> 00:54:46.866
This was not signed,

00:54:47.967 --> 00:54:53.233
but he suggests that I use this
fishing wire to hang myself.

00:54:55.634 --> 00:55:00.167
He called us terrible names
and that we were like Satan

00:55:00.301 --> 00:55:05.167
and lots of swearing going
through this whole thing.

00:55:05.167 --> 00:55:08.667
And yeah, it reminded
me that there are some

00:55:08.667 --> 00:55:14.000
very unhealthy people in
the world and it's scary.

00:55:14.000 --> 00:55:15.699
It was very scary to me.

00:55:17.700 --> 00:55:20.667
This one says, "For shame
that one who names herself

00:55:20.667 --> 00:55:23.333
a Christian should
bring such unhappiness

00:55:23.333 --> 00:55:26.166
and distress upon the church.

00:55:27.334 --> 00:55:29.000
If you love Christ
and his church,

00:55:29.000 --> 00:55:32.267
then withdraw and let
there be peace among us."

00:55:32.334 --> 00:55:35.833
Well, I'm sorry Father, but
that wasn't gonna happen.

00:55:37.834 --> 00:55:40.501
(dramatic music)

00:55:40.634 --> 00:55:42.834
[Announcer] The dispute over
ordination of women priests

00:55:42.834 --> 00:55:45.500
that has split the three
million American Episcopalians

00:55:46.835 --> 00:55:50.633
has added fuel today.
St. Stephen's Church was jammed
for the disputed ordination

00:55:50.700 --> 00:55:53.166
of four more women
into the priesthood.

00:55:56.000 --> 00:55:59.167
[Merril] We all knew that that
will turn the tide totally

00:55:59.167 --> 00:56:02.567
because they'll see that
this isn't gonna stop.

00:56:02.700 --> 00:56:04.333
It will not stop with us.

00:56:04.400 --> 00:56:07.233
(dramatic music)

00:56:13.034 --> 00:56:16.699
(dramatic music continues)

00:56:21.700 --> 00:56:23.167
[Announcer] Now there
are 15 women

00:56:23.234 --> 00:56:26.066
who have staked their
claim to the priesthood.

00:56:36.066 --> 00:56:39.366
(music fades)

00:56:41.234 --> 00:56:44.033
The gifts of God for
the people of God.

00:56:45.767 --> 00:56:46.567
Would you please come forward

00:56:46.700 --> 00:56:48.366
and form a circle
around the table.

00:56:52.067 --> 00:56:56.567
As priests, we will receive
the bread and wine last

00:56:56.700 --> 00:56:58.067
to show that we are servants

00:56:58.067 --> 00:57:00.266
and not rulers
of this community.

00:57:01.134 --> 00:57:04.967
And as priests, we will
receive the bread and wine

00:57:05.101 --> 00:57:09.733
from the people,  to show that
our priesthood depends on you

00:57:09.800 --> 00:57:12.300
and is nurtured
and sustained by you.

00:57:13.300 --> 00:57:16.133
(group chattering)

00:57:20.301 --> 00:57:22.233
There's lots of
bread to consume,

00:57:22.300 --> 00:57:23.799
so stick around! (laughter)

00:57:25.300 --> 00:57:30.300
♪ Amen, amen

00:57:31.767 --> 00:57:35.733
♪ Amen, amen

00:57:35.800 --> 00:57:38.233
♪ Amen

00:57:38.300 --> 00:57:43.300
♪ Amen, amen

00:57:44.166 --> 00:57:48.100
♪ Amen, amen

00:57:48.166 --> 00:57:50.133
♪ Amen

00:57:53.967 --> 00:57:55.101
[Peter] One Saturday morning,

00:57:55.167 --> 00:57:57.967
I get a call from
Sterling Newell,

00:57:57.967 --> 00:58:00.834
big lawyer and he's head
of the standing committee,

00:58:00.900 --> 00:58:02.468
right arm to the bishop.

00:58:02.534 --> 00:58:05.867
He calls me up and he says,
"This is my last call to you.

00:58:06.000 --> 00:58:09.167
Are you gonna stand down
and admit you did something

00:58:09.234 --> 00:58:10.867
you shouldn't do and
you won't do it again?"

00:58:11.000 --> 00:58:12.834
And and I said, "No."

00:58:12.900 --> 00:58:13.533
And he said,

00:58:14.167 --> 00:58:16.300
well then we are gonna take
you out of the frying pan

00:58:16.366 --> 00:58:18.366
and put you into the fire.

00:58:18.366 --> 00:58:20.834
Your career is over.

00:58:20.900 --> 00:58:23.366
(somber music)

00:58:33.000 --> 00:58:34.366
[Reporter] Why are you on trial?

00:58:34.500 --> 00:58:36.700
Well, I'm on trial supposedly

00:58:36.834 --> 00:58:40.700
for being disobedient
for a very good cause,

00:58:40.834 --> 00:58:42.301
needless to say.

00:58:42.367 --> 00:58:44.834
I think that the principle
issue in this trial

00:58:44.900 --> 00:58:48.034
is the sexism
of the Episcopal Church.

00:58:48.167 --> 00:58:49.867
[Alla] It was all around
this issue of disobeying

00:58:50.000 --> 00:58:51.066
the godly admonition.

00:58:54.034 --> 00:58:56.367
Was the admonition really godly?

00:58:56.367 --> 00:59:00.433
Did it really come from God or
did it come from a male ego?

00:59:02.600 --> 00:59:04.934
It was hard to believe
it was really happening.

00:59:04.934 --> 00:59:09.233
It's like having an
inquisition here in 1975.

00:59:10.267 --> 00:59:12.934
[Reporter] The trial of Father
William Wendt began today

00:59:13.067 --> 00:59:14.601
in front of hundreds
of spectators

00:59:14.601 --> 00:59:18.067
in the sanctuary of St.
Columba's Episcopal Church.

00:59:18.134 --> 00:59:20.366
Wendt is accused of
disobeying his bishop

00:59:20.433 --> 00:59:22.266
when he allowed
Mrs. Alison Cheek

00:59:22.266 --> 00:59:24.066
to celebrate holy communion.

00:59:25.101 --> 00:59:28.067
The irony is if they had
taken the women to trial,

00:59:28.134 --> 00:59:30.433
they would've had to
struggle with whether or not

00:59:30.567 --> 00:59:33.267
we really had been
ordained priests.

00:59:33.267 --> 00:59:35.066
That was a risk
that was too great.

00:59:35.934 --> 00:59:39.433
So they brought the men to
trial for having invited us.

00:59:41.234 --> 00:59:42.366
[Reporter] Father William Wendt

00:59:42.433 --> 00:59:44.367
believes it is not an accident

00:59:44.434 --> 00:59:47.233
that he was disciplined
instead of the women.

00:59:48.434 --> 00:59:51.366
[Wendt] If they
were to be brought to trial

00:59:51.433 --> 00:59:53.600
or disciplined in any manner,

00:59:53.600 --> 00:59:55.934
then they would be recognized

00:59:56.067 --> 00:59:59.133
and they would have to
be dealt with as priests.

01:00:00.233 --> 01:00:02.367
And so far as I say,

01:00:02.434 --> 01:00:05.567
they are in the minds
of many, non-entities.

01:00:06.600 --> 01:00:09.133
(tense music)

01:00:11.267 --> 01:00:13.433
[Peter] We were done,
we were done.

01:00:15.934 --> 01:00:20.600
My career was finished,
but it's deeper than that.

01:00:22.101 --> 01:00:24.034
I should have said
to the bishop,

01:00:24.101 --> 01:00:26.267
"Look, you marched in Selma.

01:00:26.267 --> 01:00:29.767
How dare you take the
stance that you're taking?

01:00:29.900 --> 01:00:33.367
How dare you preach to this
country the way you did

01:00:33.434 --> 01:00:35.899
and not to your
own institution?”

01:00:38.934 --> 01:00:41.266
(car whirring)

01:00:41.266 --> 01:00:44.767
(birds chirping)

01:00:44.900 --> 01:00:48.101
By that time, I had been
working with the Coalition

01:00:48.101 --> 01:00:49.101
for the Ordination of Women,

01:00:49.101 --> 01:00:50.867
which was gonna
change the canon

01:00:50.934 --> 01:00:53.234
that would then allow all
women who wanted to be priests

01:00:53.301 --> 01:00:55.266
to go through the process
and to be ordained

01:00:55.266 --> 01:00:57.266
if that was adjudicated.

01:01:02.034 --> 01:01:04.301
We spent every waking hour
trying to contact people

01:01:04.367 --> 01:01:07.166
and beg them to vote for
the ordination of women.

01:01:09.501 --> 01:01:13.500
Over here, we have my
most precious possession.

01:01:16.334 --> 01:01:20.000
This is how we would know where
we were in the vote tally.

01:01:20.000 --> 01:01:22.834
And so we had this notebook
and in it was every person

01:01:22.967 --> 01:01:26.334
who was elected to the
1976 General Convention.

01:01:26.334 --> 01:01:29.500
And then we wrote by
there where they stood

01:01:29.633 --> 01:01:30.933
in their deputation.

01:01:31.800 --> 01:01:34.434
Here's the Diocese
of Northern California,

01:01:34.501 --> 01:01:36.601
which you would think would
be a little more liberal

01:01:36.668 --> 01:01:39.667
than a lot of other places
in the South, but in fact,

01:01:39.667 --> 01:01:42.301
they were split and
there was one person

01:01:42.367 --> 01:01:46.000
who was split over here
in the lay deputation

01:01:46.134 --> 01:01:48.167
and we actually
contacted this man.

01:01:48.301 --> 01:01:51.334
He ended up voting yes,
so that's how we knew.

01:01:51.334 --> 01:01:54.167
We would go through these
and count how many yes votes

01:01:54.301 --> 01:01:55.966
and how many
no votes there were.

01:01:56.834 --> 01:02:01.034
It was all laywomen and they
did an enormous amount of work

01:02:01.101 --> 01:02:02.400
to make this happen.

01:02:04.433 --> 01:02:19.035
(dramatic music)

01:02:19.102 --> 01:02:21.900
For the last several years,
the Episcopal Church has
been torn into two parts

01:02:22.034 --> 01:02:24.034
over the question of
women serving as priests.

01:02:24.101 --> 01:02:27.401
There has been much defiance
of the men only rule and today,

01:02:27.401 --> 01:02:30.400
the House of Deputies is
voting on the same question.

01:02:32.733 --> 01:02:36.034
Most of us were
there watching and waiting

01:02:36.101 --> 01:02:37.366
to see what would happen.

01:02:38.400 --> 01:02:41.501
(dramatic music)

01:02:41.568 --> 01:02:43.900
If women are admitted, it
will be the biggest change

01:02:44.034 --> 01:02:46.067
in the Episcopal religion
since Henry the VIII

01:02:46.067 --> 01:02:48.667
in the 16th century.

01:02:48.733 --> 01:02:49.733
[Reporter] It's hard to
distinguish

01:02:49.733 --> 01:02:51.034
what is happening here

01:02:51.101 --> 01:02:53.401
from a heated
political convention.

01:02:53.401 --> 01:02:56.201
A team of pro ordination
forces goes out each day

01:02:56.267 --> 01:02:59.201
doing a bit of
old-fashioned arm twisting

01:02:59.267 --> 01:03:02.134
and meetings are held to
count the votes and strategize

01:03:02.134 --> 01:03:05.433
about which delegates
might still be undecided.

01:03:06.301 --> 01:03:07.967
[Interviewer] What is your
prediction, Father Mallory,

01:03:09.102 --> 01:03:10.967
on what will happen
in Minneapolis?
I think there'll be a
close vote in deputies

01:03:11.101 --> 01:03:12.434
and I think it will fail

01:03:12.501 --> 01:03:15.733
and we will maintain our
traditional ministry.

01:03:15.800 --> 01:03:18.467
I think that we will succeed.

01:03:18.467 --> 01:03:20.300
We've been working
for two years.

01:03:20.300 --> 01:03:22.300
We know where the deputies are

01:03:22.433 --> 01:03:24.166
and I think we're going to win.

01:03:25.467 --> 01:03:28.101
I did not appear up
out of a mushroom.

01:03:28.167 --> 01:03:32.733
I did not appear out of some
vague, esoteric nowhere place.

01:03:32.800 --> 01:03:36.967
I appeared out of this
family gathered here today

01:03:37.101 --> 01:03:39.800
who raised me,
baptized me, taught me,

01:03:39.800 --> 01:03:42.633
and I have responded to
the call that I heard

01:03:42.633 --> 01:03:44.300
and witnessed through you.

01:03:46.333 --> 01:03:47.567
[Reporter] Those who are opposed

01:03:47.633 --> 01:03:49.468
to women's ordination as priests

01:03:49.468 --> 01:03:53.234
collect signatures stating
their steadfast opposition.

01:03:53.301 --> 01:03:56.733
Some bishops say they
will never ordain a woman.

01:03:56.800 --> 01:04:00.167
I believe that it is
contrary to the will of God.

01:04:00.234 --> 01:04:02.866
A woman ordained priest
is not a priest.

01:04:04.568 --> 01:04:08.700
Her sacrament would not be
sacrament and therefore,

01:04:08.834 --> 01:04:12.167
we would find ourselves
in a terrifying form

01:04:12.234 --> 01:04:16.533
of Christian sacramental
division within this church.

01:04:16.533 --> 01:04:19.333
(dramatic music)

01:04:20.201 --> 01:04:23.533
Mr. President, brothers
and sisters of the house,

01:04:23.533 --> 01:04:24.633
it is late.

01:04:24.700 --> 01:04:26.166
We are tired and hungry.

01:04:26.233 --> 01:04:28.500
Our blood sugar is low.

01:04:28.567 --> 01:04:30.700
We are impatient to vote.

01:04:30.700 --> 01:04:33.533
(music builds)

01:04:36.700 --> 01:04:38.166
The Bishop of West Missouri?

01:04:38.233 --> 01:04:39.166
No.

01:04:40.533 --> 01:04:42.166
The Bishop of Utah?

01:04:42.233 --> 01:04:43.533
Yes.

01:04:43.533 --> 01:04:46.366
The Bishop of Rhode Island?
Yes.

01:04:46.366 --> 01:04:48.833
(tense music)

01:04:55.500 --> 01:04:58.033
The report of the
vote is as follows.

01:04:59.600 --> 01:05:04.266
In the clerical order, yes, 60.

01:05:05.400 --> 01:05:07.766
No, 38.

01:05:09.300 --> 01:05:11.766
Divided 16.

01:05:14.300 --> 01:05:18.300
In the lay order, yes, 64.

01:05:19.233 --> 01:05:21.899
No, 37.

01:05:22.900 --> 01:05:24.766
Divided, 12.

01:05:25.900 --> 01:05:31.233
The motion to concur has
been carried in both orders

01:05:31.300 --> 01:05:33.600
and concurrence is voted.

01:05:33.600 --> 01:05:36.400
The chair recognizes
the chaplain.

01:05:36.467 --> 01:05:39.766
(audience applauding)

01:05:42.934 --> 01:05:45.433
Oh, worth all the
prayer and everything.

01:05:45.433 --> 01:05:46.766
Yeah, it sure is.

01:05:47.934 --> 01:05:52.599
[Nancy] Half of the human
population was acknowledged

01:05:53.433 --> 01:05:57.567
as being important
enough to take on

01:05:58.434 --> 01:06:02.300
one of the strongest
institutions in the world.

01:06:02.366 --> 01:06:05.500
(audience applauding)

01:06:08.301 --> 01:06:09.668
[Reporter] Six of the
women ordained as priests

01:06:09.668 --> 01:06:12.468
in the last two years appeared
later in a news conference

01:06:12.534 --> 01:06:15.834
and expressed their happiness
about the church's decision.

01:06:15.967 --> 01:06:17.334
- Age before beauty.

01:06:17.334 --> 01:06:18.500
[Reporter] And said
they wanted to get on

01:06:18.500 --> 01:06:20.333
with the business
of being priests.

01:06:23.301 --> 01:06:26.633
I miss our sisters who are
not here with us today.

01:06:26.700 --> 01:06:29.632
(emotional music)

01:06:35.834 --> 01:06:39.500
(emotional music continues)

01:06:44.667 --> 01:06:47.334
(emotional music)

01:06:47.334 --> 01:06:49.334
[Pauli Murray] What I
find interesting

01:06:49.334 --> 01:06:53.334
is the tremendous
release of everybody,

01:06:53.334 --> 01:06:56.834
the excitement that came
once the ordinations began.

01:06:56.967 --> 01:06:59.433
(audience applauding)

01:07:01.401 --> 01:07:04.233
Remember January the first,
it was front page news.

01:07:07.367 --> 01:07:09.900
January 2nd,
it was front page news.

01:07:10.034 --> 01:07:13.367
[Priest] Lord Jesus Christ.

01:07:13.434 --> 01:07:16.234
[Pauli Murray]
And it just kept building up

01:07:16.367 --> 01:07:19.600
and then the newspapers
began talking about firsts.

01:07:21.067 --> 01:07:22.834
First woman in
the United States,

01:07:22.900 --> 01:07:24.900
the first woman
of New York state,

01:07:25.034 --> 01:07:27.500
the first woman of New Jersey.

01:07:27.567 --> 01:07:30.033
(gentle music)

01:07:36.900 --> 01:07:39.700
The peace of the Lord
be with you.

01:07:39.767 --> 01:07:41.900
[Congregation] And
also with you.

01:07:42.034 --> 01:07:44.766
I was happy that the church
had done the right thing,

01:07:45.733 --> 01:07:48.367
but patriarchal social relations

01:07:48.434 --> 01:07:51.533
are the the ground upon
which all of us stand.

01:07:52.234 --> 01:07:55.900
It has to do with power,
with money,

01:07:55.900 --> 01:07:58.734
with tradition that is
structured in such a way

01:07:58.734 --> 01:08:02.633
that very, very few people ever
even think of questioning it

01:08:02.633 --> 01:08:04.767
because it's just the way it is.

01:08:04.834 --> 01:08:07.632
(gentle music)

01:08:11.633 --> 01:08:12.967
The notion that the
ordination of women

01:08:13.101 --> 01:08:16.300
should be supremely offensive

01:08:16.433 --> 01:08:17.900
requires a little explanation.

01:08:18.801 --> 01:08:21.467
What is the explanation?
It seemed as if we
lost our moorings.

01:08:21.467 --> 01:08:23.433
We lost our standards.

01:08:23.500 --> 01:08:25.967
We had no sense of
authority anymore.

01:08:25.967 --> 01:08:27.767
Do you think that their
major transgressions

01:08:27.834 --> 01:08:28.967
were theological?

01:08:28.967 --> 01:08:31.468
Theological, but also moral.

01:08:31.468 --> 01:08:33.967
If you want to see the decline
of the Episcopal Church,

01:08:34.101 --> 01:08:37.301
the Diocese of Southern
Ohio recently passed...

01:08:37.434 --> 01:08:40.301
When you call a priest, you
cannot distinguish between

01:08:40.434 --> 01:08:43.633
whether he's a man or a woman
or he is straight or gay.

01:08:43.633 --> 01:08:45.633
Its not just the
ordination of women,

01:08:45.633 --> 01:08:48.600
but the entire breakdown
of any moral standards

01:08:48.667 --> 01:08:50.433
within the life of the church.

01:08:51.167 --> 01:08:53.767
By what authority
did you revolt?

01:08:53.834 --> 01:08:55.468
They revolted!

01:08:55.468 --> 01:08:57.467
They created a new
church in Minneapolis

01:08:59.769 --> 01:09:02.500
and what we're doing
is fighting within the
church for the church.
So you are really the old church
and they are in heresy.

01:09:02.567 --> 01:09:03.500
That's right.

01:09:07.167 --> 01:09:09.500
Sue Hiatt and I at the
Episcopal Divinity School

01:09:09.567 --> 01:09:12.034
spent many a moment
talking about what had

01:09:12.167 --> 01:09:13.866
and had not been accomplished.

01:09:16.201 --> 01:09:18.834
What else needed to happen
to transform the church

01:09:18.900 --> 01:09:21.700
other than having
women priests in a way

01:09:21.700 --> 01:09:23.667
playing the role of sort
of female patriarchs

01:09:23.733 --> 01:09:26.467
running around in collars
and acting like men

01:09:26.533 --> 01:09:27.867
had always acted
in the priesthood

01:09:27.867 --> 01:09:30.367
rather than a new way?

01:09:30.501 --> 01:09:33.133
[Male Priest] ...That your word
may be spoken

01:09:33.200 --> 01:09:34.867
and your word heard.

01:09:34.867 --> 01:09:35.967
[Sue] I remember feeling

01:09:36.034 --> 01:09:38.468
like the wandering
in the wilderness

01:09:38.534 --> 01:09:41.500
was just beginning for
us rather than ending.

01:09:41.567 --> 01:09:44.634
We'd had this marvelous
18 months of molding

01:09:44.701 --> 01:09:48.834
the kind of priesthood that
we would want priests to be.

01:09:48.900 --> 01:09:51.534
And now that this
is going to be legal,

01:09:51.668 --> 01:09:54.701
will it be what I always call
the animal farm scenario?

01:09:54.835 --> 01:09:57.867
You know, the last chapter of
George Orwell's "Animal Farm"

01:09:57.867 --> 01:10:01.134
where the pigs go in to
negotiate with the farmers

01:10:01.201 --> 01:10:02.867
and the other animals
look in the window

01:10:02.867 --> 01:10:05.033
and they can't tell
the pigs from the men.

01:10:07.700 --> 01:10:09.701
♪ Jesus Christ

01:10:09.701 --> 01:10:12.033
[Sue] I was very frightened
that that's what would happen

01:10:12.166 --> 01:10:13.500
with women priests.

01:10:15.201 --> 01:10:20.366
♪ With the glory
of God, the Father ♪

01:10:21.200 --> 01:10:24.033
(birds chirping)

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(wood thudding)

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(footsteps crunching gravel)

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[Merril] I realized that
I just was exhausted

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emotionally and spiritually.

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(somber music)

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I was really broken-hearted

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from the actions
of Bishop Spears.

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And that was a major piece
for me, but that was not all.

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I liked to be in the
background and I wasn't.

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I was so in the front ground.

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And it took a toll

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(somber music continues)

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When I announced
that I was leaving,

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I had so much support
from my sisters.

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I wrote a letter to my
friend Noppa and said,

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"I need to get outta here.

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I need to go."

01:12:29.166 --> 01:12:30.667
I was anonymous.

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No one knew who I was
and I needed that.

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I needed that so desperately

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(soft dramatic music)

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Noppa and I lived
in our log cabin

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without electricity or
running water for 25 years.

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It was just wonderfully freeing.

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(gentle music)

01:13:30.101 --> 01:13:32.401
[Nancy] It was very
hard for all of us

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to find ways to get on
a level playing field.

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For the first 10 years
after the ordination,

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I was a supply clergy,

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which means that
when the local priest

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is sick or goes on vacation,

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you need to have a priest
come in to do the services.

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But in the meantime,
I had had two children
and the second child

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was born with significant
physical problems.

01:14:02.134 --> 01:14:05.133
(Her footsteps on the sidewalk)

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Larry, good morning.
Morning, Nancy.
How are you?

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Doing good.

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(coffee pouring)

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[Nancy] For years
before I got a church,

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I used to write sermons.

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We had a movable dishwasher,
you know, that would come out.

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And so I used to
write sermons on that

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so I could watch
where the children were

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and what they were doing.

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And so I thought it
was a pretty good

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seat that I had.

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I was not out until I left
the church in Philadelphia.

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Some people figured it out,
some people didn't know.

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The first thing that somebody,

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a leader of the church
where I am now,

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said to me when I first
got there was she says,

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"So I understand
you have a wife.

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And I said, "Yes."

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And then she said, "Well, how
long have you been together?"

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And I said, "Over 30 years."

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And she about
fell out of the chair.

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My husband died
at an early age, 51,

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of a massive heart attack.

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And so after I was a bit
worn out from 20 years

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of doing about three
full-time jobs at once,

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family and everything,
I went to EDS,

01:15:40.234 --> 01:15:43.834
Episcopal Divinity School
in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

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All of the women there, seemed
to me, that were church related

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in Cambridge were really
meeting and talking and buzzing.

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There was a conference at
Episcopal Divinity School

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on women bishops
at which I spoke.

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And I said,
"Well, let's face it.

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We're talking about white
women because they're the ones

01:16:19.434 --> 01:16:26.267
with 10 years in ministry
and the visibility."

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And later a woman
called me and said,

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"Some women would
like to put your name

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in the nominating process

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for Suffragan Bishop
of Massachusetts."

01:16:40.967 --> 01:16:45.234
And I said, "Well, my name
is not gonna go any place,

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but alright, let them
consider it."

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Never dreaming, of course,
that I would be nominated.

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(gentle music)

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I got a call and the
receptionist said,

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"Bishop Johnson would
like to speak to you."

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And then there was
this long, long pause.

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And I thought to myself,

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why has it taken so long
for this guy to tell me

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that so-and-so has been elected?

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Finally, he came on
the phone and he said,

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"We have had an election."

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And I said, "Good."

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And he said, "And the
people have chosen you."

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And I sighed and said,

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"I humbly accept."

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And then I said to
myself, "Oh crap,

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that's not what you're
supposed to say."

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You're supposed to say,

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"I'll pray about it
and get back to you."

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(emotional music swells)

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There are press kit
materials in the back.

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Well, I'm certainly  very
pleased that the consent process

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has moved to its
completion and that we are-

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[Reporter] It took four months

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for the Reverend Barbara Harris
to convince Episcopal Church

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leaders around the country
that she is qualified

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to become bishop of the

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Episcopal Diocese of
Massachusetts.

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The ordination of
women to the priesthood

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has long been a
source of controversy

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among Christian religions.

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And that's why
Reverend Harris's election

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is the focus of
worldwide attention.

01:18:59.367 --> 01:19:05.467
We recognize that this presents
a problem for some people

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theologically and emotionally.

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And we must always move
toward some reconciliation

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within as far as is possible.

01:19:25.134 --> 01:19:28.467
(emotional music)
(crowd applauding)

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To work for peace and justice

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is totally consummate
with the gospel.

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The words of Jesus saying,

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"The spirit of the
Lord God is upon me,"

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because the Lord has appointed
me to preach good news

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to the poor, to set at
liberty those who are captive.

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[Woman at ceremony] Go forth.

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(audience applauding)

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The peace of the Lord
be always with you.

01:19:57.267 --> 01:20:02.266
(emotional music)
(audience applauding)

01:20:07.633 --> 01:20:10.267
(birds chirping)

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[Carter] That has
a story behind it.

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I'll tell you in a minute.
(women laugh)

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This chili right here has no
beans, but those are the same.

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Well, I keep failing retirement.

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This is my third time
I've retired.

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I have friends who keep saying,
I just like the parties
after when I leave places.

01:20:31.300 --> 01:20:34.100
(group laughing)

01:20:35.301 --> 01:20:40.300
(emotional music)
(birds chirping)

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It's so tiny...

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(Priests chatting)

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I remember at Barbara
Harris's consecration,

01:20:58.633 --> 01:21:00.700
you had purple high top sneaks.

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I know, I should have
brought them.

01:21:02.401 --> 01:21:03.867
I was going...
I told Pam that those existed.

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She said, "I don't believe it."

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I said, "Oh yeah."

01:21:05.834 --> 01:21:07.167
(Carter laughing)

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They don't fit anymore,
I've got bunions.

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I know.

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My bunions don't fit it.

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(group laughing)

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Sophia, God of wisdom, rooted
in justice and laughter

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that springs from joy.

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We remember and celebrate
the life of Alison,

01:21:31.201 --> 01:21:35.367
priest and prophet,
spouse and mother,

01:21:35.501 --> 01:21:39.033
grandmother and beloved
friend to so many.

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I'll remind you that Sophia
is an ancient image of God,

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specifically the wisdom of God.

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It's who she was.

01:21:54.234 --> 01:21:58.933
Our Alison, ongoing
source of Sophia wisdom.

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Alison would want me to insist

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that the Philadelphia
ordination was the wake up call

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to get moving and do what
Jesus of Nazareth did,

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stand with the marginalized
and embody courage

01:22:15.768 --> 01:22:21.433
in the face of cruelty and
lies and bullying and violence.

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(gentle piano music)

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How many in the family?

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[Woman at foodbank] Seven.

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Seven.

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It was no coincidence that
the 11 of us were white.

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We were the only women at that
time in the Episcopal Church

01:22:37.234 --> 01:22:39.601
who were prepared to be
ordained to the priesthood.

01:22:39.601 --> 01:22:43.867
And that in itself says
something about the whiteness

01:22:43.934 --> 01:22:47.434
and undoubtedly the racism
and this white supremacy

01:22:47.434 --> 01:22:50.233
of the church that had
placed us where it did.

01:22:51.234 --> 01:22:53.567
(gentle paino music
continues)

01:22:54.601 --> 01:22:58.400
I don't believe this is just
Episcopal Church history.

01:22:59.101 --> 01:23:05.633
I think that the Episcopal
Church in the year 1974

01:23:05.700 --> 01:23:12.333
was the context for a much
deeper and broader issue.

01:23:14.468 --> 01:23:20.500
Misogyny, homophobia, racism
are of the same cloth,

01:23:22.700 --> 01:23:26.666
symbolic of much deeper
lack of consciousness

01:23:27.967 --> 01:23:30.966
that exists today
in our country.

01:23:32.834 --> 01:23:35.533
(music builds)

01:23:41.500 --> 01:23:43.500
[All] We believe in
one holy Catholic

01:23:43.500 --> 01:23:45.301
and apostolic church.

01:23:45.367 --> 01:23:49.333
We acknowledge one baptism
for the forgiveness of sin.

01:23:49.467 --> 01:23:51.934
We look for the
resurrection of the dead

01:23:52.000 --> 01:23:55.500
and the life of the world
to come, amen.

01:23:56.334 --> 01:23:59.000
[Nancy] I think the church
was a new church,

01:23:59.000 --> 01:24:00.067
became a new church,

01:24:00.067 --> 01:24:02.567
and is still struggling
to being a new church.

01:24:05.568 --> 01:24:10.066
I don't know what it's
gonna look like,
but it's gonna be very
different than what it was.

01:24:10.066 --> 01:24:11.699
And that's okay.

01:24:12.733 --> 01:24:14.234
I've birthed this baby.

01:24:14.367 --> 01:24:16.067
I don't, you know,
it's gotta grow up.

01:24:16.067 --> 01:24:17.699
We gotta help it live.

01:24:19.034 --> 01:24:22.567
(gentle piano music)

01:25:12.967 --> 01:25:16.500
(gentle music continues)

01:25:40.101 --> 01:25:43.600
(gentle music continues)

01:26:15.166 --> 01:26:17.833
(gentle music)

01:26:27.034 --> 01:26:32.033
(gentle music continues)
(choral harmonizing)

01:27:37.633 --> 01:27:40.567
(emotional music)

01:28:57.834 --> 01:29:01.699
(emotional music continues)