On July 29, 1974, eleven women were ordained to the priesthood by Bishops Daniel Corrigan, Robert DeWitt, and Edward Welles II in a service at the Church of the Advocate in Philadelphia. The “Philadelphia Eleven” were the first women ordained to the priesthood in the Episcopal Church: Merrill Bittner, Alla Bozarth-Campbell, Alison Cheek, Emily Hewitt, Carter Heyward, Suzanne Hiatt, Marie Moorefield, Jeanette Piccard, Betty Schiess, Katrina Swanson, and Nancy Wittig. At the time, the cause of women's ordination was gathering steam, but General Convention had not yet approved it. These ordinations were at first considered "invalid," but then declared to be "valid but irregular" because they followed the ordination service in the Prayer Book and were performed by bishops in good standing. Just two years later, in 1976, General Convention officially approved the ordination of women, and the ordinations that had taken place earlier were regularized.
Yesterday, we remembered those eleven. We give thanks for the women who said yes to God then, so that many others who stand on their shoulders could say yes to God now.