From British Vogue-
On
23 April 1994, approximately a month after it became possible for women
to do so, I was ordained as a priest in Lichfield Cathedral. I remember
it clearly. It was a bittersweet day. We left the ceremony through the
great west doors, and I can still see the image of the other women in
attendance, those who had given a lifetime of ministry, but, because of
their age, had now missed their own opportunity to join the priesthood.
That day, I felt the same emotions that surround giving birth: you’ve
gone to the hospital, made it through labour, and there you are in a
room with a beautiful baby, overjoyed, and yet very aware that in the
next room or cubicle there may be a woman who has lost hers.
Faith
is who we are. It’s not a coat or a hat – something that we put on and
take off depending on the weather. I was 14 years old and living in
Montego Bay, Jamaica, when I first had a sense that I was being called
to ministry. For me, the vocation was about leadership, pastorally
caring for people and guiding in the liturgy. It was quite strange,
given that no women were allowed to occupy such roles then, to feel
called to something that didn’t exist.
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