The Publication of the Episcopal Women’s Caucus


Winter 2003 Vol.24:1

From the Editor. . . .

In the summer of 1991, my soon-to-be husband Gayland Pool and I visited Phoenix for General Convention. I managed to find the small Episcopal Women's Caucus booth tucked away in a corner of the Exhibit Hall and joined immediately.

I left the Roman Catholic Church in which I was raised because rage was not the spiritual experi- ence I was seeking. As a young news reporter I had followed developments regarding the ordination of women in the Episcopal Church with keen interest. I had interviewed Carter Heyward when she visited a lo- cally famous liberal priest at Canterbury House at Texas Christian University after the Philadelphia ordinations. [That locally famous priest was named Gayland Pool and both of us and everyone who knew us then would have laughed out loud if anyone had suggested we would be married some years hence.]

When I heard the news that women's ordination had been passed by the General Convention in Min- neapolis in 1976, my first thought was of Carter. My second thought was that finally I knew where I could find a spiritual home. But I discovered that joining the Episcopal Church in the Diocese of Fort Worth is like falling down the rabbit's hole into some strange time- warped place.

At the time I was sure the Episcopal Church would not let this situation go on too long. Was I ever wrong! In 2003, we still have no female priests licensed to function in this diocese. The committee authorized by A045 at General Convention in Denver recommended more conversation about women's ordination ­ in 2006! We come full circle to Minneapolis still awaiting the advent of women's ordination in Fort Worth, San Joaquin and Quincy.

But at least my instincts in Phoenix were on target. The Episcopal Women's Caucus was and remains the ONLY organization in the entire church that actively cares about what is happening in my diocese and the other two where women priests are forbidden. The lat- est evidence of this caring is The Angel Project, about which you will read more in this issue.

If you are a member of this organization, you probably have your own story of why you joined [write and tell us about it]. If you're not yet a member, think about joining. This group doesn't just pay lip service to a mission statement. They actually struggle and give sacrificially to live it.

Please send us your best thoughts and ideas, your most telling essays and sermons, your prayers and poems and, of course, your letters and comments. We can’t promise to print all of them—our space is constrained by necessity—but we will publish all we can. We will be happy to accept submissions by email to Katie Sherrod (ks1246@aol.com) or Anne McConney (jamcconney@aol.com).