The Dream of God Still Waits: Scholarship on the History of Anglican & Episcopal Women - A Review Essay

Sociologists and theological educators suggest that women's entry into the ordained ministry represents the most significant transformation in pastoral leadership in the twentieth century, if not since the Reformation.1 Without a doubt the events of July 1974 transformed my life. For me the importance of women's history was a critical part of that transformation. The ability to read and to study about women's religious leadership generations before my own gave voice and a vision to my own generation in the midst of the struggle for the ordination of women to the priesthood, and beyond the events of 29 July 1974. At the time, many believed that the church, too, would be transformed. 1 often wonder if we have lived into the promise of those days, and if not, where have we fallen short of that dream?The articles in this issue of Anglican and Episcopal History represent the voices of women who participated in that ordination service, and beyond, and reflect on how the church was transformed, and the many ways we continue to fall short of the dream of full access to ministry and leadership for all people. This issue is also an opportunity for us to take stock of where we have come in Episcopal and Anglican women's history in the past generation, and look to the task of new scholarship now and in generations still to come.Forty years is not a long time in historical terms to assess the impact of women clergy on the Episcopal Church. While gender is always an issue, it is not always the issue in every given situation. As a denomination, we have studied women to some extent since 1919. By the end of the twentieth century, there were nine Episcopal women bishops and approximately two thousand women clergy, fourteen percent of all clergy, numbers which have continued to climb to the present year. While women clergy are visible throughout most of the Episcopal Church, especially since the election of our presiding bishop in 2006, many ordained women encounter considerable challenges to living out their vocations. A report issued by the Church Pension Fund in 2006 reports a consistent compensation gap between full-time male and female clergy, with women earning on the average seventeen percent less than men.2 As Bishop Barbara C. Harris stated in a speech to the Episcopal Women's Caucus in 2000, the church is a strange land where despite so-called progress, people of color, women, and lesbian and gay people continue to struggle to claim a place.3Data from the end of the twentieth century indicates that the struggle for women with ordained vocations is not over. Studies as late as the 1990s indicate that not only do ordained women continue to experience hostility, but that many more readily attribute those struggles to personal limitations rather than a result of institutional sexism. One of the most common observations about ordained women is that the numbers are rising, but the impact is negligible, mostly because women are set primarily in lower and mid-level positions. There is disagreement in the literature on women's ordination regarding how much it even relates to gender equality in the church. Some authors suggest growing numbers of ordained women force the church to become more egalitarian. Some predict that the feminization of the priesthood provokes a loss of status, like in other professions historically undertaken by women, such as teaching or nursing. Others suggest the reason ordination has become more accessible is that denominations are dying. On one hand, feminists like Elizabeth Schlusser Fiorenza argue that women should be cautious about ordination, lest they fall into the trap of perpetuating clericalism, while at the same time accepting second-class status within a predominately patriarchal church. On the other hand, there are the hopeful voices who believe that despite the limitations, women's ordination is part of a revolution that will renew ministry and the church itself.1 * * 4This fortieth anniversary of the ordinations of the Philadelphia 11 is thus an opportunity to take stock of our history; to recognize the achievement of our forbearers, undertaken in ages where women had far fewer choices than our own, and to look ahead to our dreams for ministry and leadership in the future. …