Tag Archives: gender equality

Pauli Murray’s Reflections on Issues Dividing the Church

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Following our Chapel Camp on the eve of the ordination of the Philadelphia 11, we turn to listen to Pauli Murray’s reflections on the issues that were dividing the Church at the time. From her March 18, 1977, conversation with Heather Huyck (on audiotape streamed by the Schlesinger Library), we learn about her activism prior to the vote on ordination in 1976.

She regularly supported the women seeking ordination, attending the major events from 1973-1976, writing letters to bishops, and participating in the conferences and discussions leading up to the 1976 General Convention. Pauli said that she chose not to attend that convention. She had just entered seminary and was refreshingly candid about her position. She said she told herself, “It’s your business to prepare yourself for the priesthood… and then when you’re prepared you have something to say… I thought the best thing was for me to stay home and pray.” Continue reading →

Pauli Murray on Women’s Ordination

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July 24th, 2024

Our upcoming Chapel Camp on July 29, 2024, will mark the 50th anniversary of the ordination of women as priests in the Episcopal Church. The first ordination of women took place on July 29, 1974, at the Church of the Advocate in Philadelphia.

The litany written by our Assistant Bishop, the Rt. Rev. Carol Gallagher, for this commemorative year emphasizes both the struggles and firmness of faith of the Philadelphia 11 and the brave women who followed the path to ordination.

We write today about Pauli Murray’s contributions to the movement for women’s ordination a few years leading up to 1974. Pauli actively championed women’s issues before considering her own ordination as the first African American woman to become a priest in 1977. She described her efforts in this way:

“The burgeoning women’s movement absorbed much of my energies, for I was serving on a faculty committee to improve the status of women at Brandeis, on the national board of the ACLU to win support for the ERA, and on the Commission on Women organized by Church Women United and chaired by my good friend Thelma Stevens.” (Song in a Weary Throat, p. 545) Continue reading →

Pauli Murray’s Legacy

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Following Emmanuel’s July 2023 dedication of the Pauli Murray statue that graces our pulpit, we have some related news from her niece, Rosita Stevens-Holsey, and officially, from the U.S. Mint. The Reverend Dr, Pauli Murray Quarter was released on January 2, 2024 as one of the new set of American Women Quarters. The design and significance of the coin are described here.

We have also learned that Pauli Murray scholarship is continuing apace. A recent
collection has been published, To Speak a Defiant Word: Sermons and Speeches on Justice and Transformation. Edited by Anthony B. Pinn, this work builds on Pinn’s previous research and includes sermons, lectures, and speeches.

Lastly, of interest to us is the growing list of recipients of the annual Pauli Murray Book Prize for the best book in Black intellectual history. Sponsored by the African American Intellectual History Society, and first awarded in 2018, the list of recipients includes authors writing on Black history, Black internationalism and environmental Justice, and Black politics and activism. The winners also write a series of posts on the Society’s blog, Black Perspectives which is a global forum for news and public scholarship.

–Mary Beth Clack, Cindy Coldren, Pat Krol
–Published in This Week @Emmanuel Church Jan. 3, 2024