Episcopal Press and News
Diocese of Washington Confronts Parish that Denies Role of Female Bishop
Episcopal News Service. January 17, 1996 [96-1349]
(ENS) When the Rt. Rev. Jane Holmes Dixon, suffragan bishop of the Diocese of Washington, visited St. Luke's parish on Sunday, January 14, the church was empty -- the altar stripped, even the sanctuary candle blown out. The bishop half-expected the doors to be locked and came prepared to celebrate the Eucharist in the snowdrifts, if necessary.
St. Luke's in Bladensburg, Maryland, was one of six parishes in the diocese that announced shortly after Dixon's 1992 election that a female bishop would not be welcome. But Bishop Ronald Haines wrote last summer to the three hold-out parishes to warn them that he intended to send his suffragan to make episcopal visitations in 1996.
"My decision was arrived at carefully, thoughtfully and to the best of my pastoral ability," Haines said in a January 2 letter to the parish. He cited the canonical change in 1976 that "authorized the ordination of women into all three of the ordained orders." And he pointed to the recent recommendation by the House of Bishops that the canon be enforced in all dioceses.
Haines said that he has concluded that "time will not solve but exacerbate our division" and that the election of more female bishops was creating more problems. "For those who deny the validity of the orders of ordained women, it means an ever-growing body of fellow Episcopalians whose ministry they do not recognize. It is building an ever-widening gap, rather than closing it."
"When a bishop is rejected because of gender, the community is severely impaired," Haines wrote. He promised "to be sensitive to those who do not recognize the validity of the orders of ordained women but not to the point of impairing our opportunity to move forward toward greater wholeness.
"What you intend to do is not only illegal, but completely unnecessary and very mean-spirited," the wardens and vestry of St. Luke's responded January 8. "We wish only to be permitted to live out our days in peace. We did not leave the church over this issue. We simply accepted our place as a legitimate minority," the letter said.
Contending that the proposal to implement the canon on women in the ministry will make it possible "in the near future to extinguish traditionalist ministries within this diocese," the wardens asked, "Why is it so important that you pull the trigger ahead of time?"
Asserting support for their priest "unanimously and without reservation," the letter concluded by saying that the parish fully intends "to remain a traditionalist parish until we are officially and legally excluded from this church by the canons."
In a separate letter to the diocesan standing committee, the wardens said that the visitation "represents nothing but harassment, invasion and a gross violation of the rights of St. Luke's Parish.
As a makeshift congregation of about 60, drawn from other parishes in the diocese, gathered for the first mass celebrated by a female at St. Luke's, Dixon said, "This is the day the Lord has made." But nine members of the parish finally joined the congregation, including one man who brought wine and bread for the Eucharist. "I did it because I think it's proper for a lady to be a bishop," Earl Taliafero told the press. "There's nothing wrong with it."
Sally Bucklee of nearby Laurel, a member of the church's Executive Council, said that the highlight for her was when members of the congregation offered the elements. She called it a "healing moment," an obvious gesture of hospitality. She also expressed delight that Dixon was so "calm and dignified" in what was potentially a very tense encounter.
As former president of the Episcopal Women's Caucus, Bucklee also pointed out that "this was an important moment in our history for bringing women fully into authoritative and sacred roles. It was another step in saying that this is right," she added.