From Episcopal Life Online-
Tears, cheers, joy, applause and an "all-new spirit" filled the packed Church of the Saviour in Hanford, California, June 27 as the Rev. Suzanne Lynn Ward became the first woman ordained a priest in the Episcopal Diocese of San Joaquin.
"This, my brothers and sisters, is a big deal day," said the Rt. Rev. Edna Bavi "Nedi" Rivera, bishop suffragan of the Seattle-based Diocese of Olympia, and provisional bishop for the Diocese of Eastern Oregon, who was guest preacher.
"Suzy's ordination is … about the church, about the raising up and revealing of the Body of Christ, a coming out of the tomb, and being made new," said Rivera, who compared the celebration to Christmas, Easter, Pentecost and a family reunion all rolled into one.
The ceremony was also a sign of God's "unlimited, extravagant, persistent, challenging and indiscriminate love," Rivera said. "There are a whole lot of people out in that world who think that Christianity is about building walls and judging and making lines in the sand." But she added that the ordination was a sign of "the good news of Jesus Christ … that all are welcome."
"To be back in this place, this diocese for this event – I'm going to have trouble holding it together," said an emotional Rivera. She and Ward grew up together at St. Paul's Church in Visalia where her father, the late Rev. Victor Manuel Rivera, was rector. Later, as third bishop of the Central California Valley diocese, he declined to ordain women..
So did his successor Bishop John-David Schofield who, along with a majority of the 47 congregations in the diocese, voted in November 2007 to realign with the Argentina-based Anglican Province of the Southern Cone.
However, policies have changed under the leadership of Bishop Jerry Lamb, who has served as provisional bishop of the Stockton-based San Joaquin diocese for 16 months. He said on June 27 that the diocese and its 19 congregations are stable and moving forward. San Joaquin was founded as a missionary diocese in 1911
More here-
http://www.episcopal-life.org/81803_111509_ENG_HTM.htm
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