Disciple: Why I Answered ‘Yes’

A reflection by a member of the Philadelphia 11

By the Rev. Marie Moorefield Fleischer

Having grown up in North Carolina as the oldest child in an active Southern Baptist family, by the time I was in high school I found myself with more and more questions about religious matters. So when I studied for my bachelor’s degree at Wake Forest University, my major was religion. When I studied for my divinity degree at Vanderbilt Divinity School, my primary focus was pastoral care and counseling. I had begun college as a Baptist; I finished seminary as an Episcopalian. I enjoyed Episcopal liturgy, liked the broad range of theological positions held by Episcopalians, and felt more in step with the growing involvement of The Episcopal Church in addressing issues of social justice.

A year after seminary, I moved to New York City, participated in a theological education project funded by Trinity Church Wall Street called “Seminary of the Streets” and began to work in administration for Calvary Episcopal Church on Gramercy Park. The General Convention of The Episcopal Church had authorized ordination of women as deacons in 1970, and at the time there was hope that the 1973 General Convention would authorize the ordination of women as priests. Sponsored by the rector and vestry of Calvary Church, I began the process of preparation for ordination to the diaconate. I was ordained as a deacon in the Cathedral of St. John the Divine in June 1973 by Bishop Paul Moore, Diocese of New York. As a deacon in The Episcopal Church, I was considered to be clergy authorized to conduct worship services with one major exception: I could not celebrate Holy Communion until I was a priest.

[Image: Marie Moorefield Fleischer (second from right) at the 40th anniversary celebration of the Philadelphia 11. Photo by Mary Frances Schjonberg/Episcopal News Service]

While I remained canonically resident in the Diocese of New York, I moved to Topeka, Kansas, in the fall of 1973 to begin work as a chaplain in a psychiatric hospital. It was at Topeka State Hospital that I received word that the 1973 General Convention had defeated legislation that would have authorized the ordination of women to the priesthood. I remember sitting in my office and talking on the phone about this development, wondering what my future would be. There were times when I felt very alone.

As chaplains at Topeka State Hospital, we were responsible for conducting a worship service each Sunday, and we preached on a rotating basis. As I had not had a preaching course in my studies, this was a learning experience for me. The first thing I learned was to keep the sermon short as many listeners have short attention spans. I also learned that there may be little feedback from the listeners. Indeed, I often felt the words of my sermon were like pennies I was pitching in a well and never hearing them hit the water. I also learned about staying focused on the message of the sermon no matter what the distraction—including the man sitting on the front row talking out loud to a person only he could see! Over the years, in many different settings, I have seen these lessons be useful.

The second half of the service each Sunday was Holy Communion. While the congregation was small, and the music room where we met was small as well, those persons wanting to receive Holy Communion were invited to come and stand in a circle around the altar for the consecration of the bread and wine (which in this case was grape juice as many participants were on medications that prohibited use of wine).

As I stood in the circle of people around the altar, I noticed that many of them were seeing and hearing and responding to what was being done in this Holy Communion. They were participating in a different way with these concrete items—bread and juice—and familiar words of the liturgy. They were engaged in what was happening. I knew from what I observed in that circle around the altar that in this ministry of chaplaincy to which I felt called, it was essential that I be able to celebrate Holy Communion, something so obviously meaningful to these patients I was trying to serve. Still, I knew that I could not celebrate Holy Communion until I became a priest.

When I was asked in the spring of 1974 whether I wanted to be ordained as a priest on July 29, 1974, my answer, based on what my experience with patients at Topeka State Hospital had taught me, was “Yes.”

I was ordained as a priest on July 29, 1974, at the Church of the Advocate in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania by Bishop Robert DeWitt.

The Rev. Marie Moorefield Fleischer, retired, was a member of the Philadelphia 11. Here long career as a priest included service in the Diocese of North Carolina as canon to the ordinary from 2001 through 2006.