Events mark 30 years of women priests

November 30 marks the 30th anniversary of the ordination of women to the priesthood in the Anglican Church of Canada, and a number of events are planned.

• Renison College, an Anglican college at the University of Waterloo in Waterloo, Ont., planned on Oct. 20 to dedicate the Florence Li Tim Oi Reading Room at the college’s new library. The room is named after the first woman ordained to the priesthood in the Anglican Communion. Another pioneering woman cleric, Bishop Victoria Matthews, the first woman bishop in Canada, was scheduled to preach.

• A national gathering is planned for Nov. 28 to Dec. 1 at the Sorrento Centre in Sorrento, B.C. called Fire on the Deep Water – Fire in our Deepest Hearts that will include a celebratory eucharist and party on Nov. 30 at St. Paul’s Cathedral in Kamloops, B.C. Further information is available from Archdeacon Barbara Liotscos at [email protected].

• The national church Web site has set aside an area (www.accnotes.org/30th-anniversary) for messages and reflections about women’s ordination. Also called Weblogs, or blogs, the area includes information about commemorative events.

• A francophone celebration will take place on Nov. 30 at St. Michael’s church in Quebec City. Rev. Mia Anderson will preside at a eucharist, with Rev. Holly Radcliffe of the diocese of Montreal preaching. Both the choir director and organist at St. Michael’s are female and the choir will sing a Faure Mass for women’s voices, wrote Ms. Anderson in an e-mail to the Anglican Journal. The next day, a round table discussion involving Roman Catholics and Anglicans will tackle the subject of women’s vocations to the priesthood, ending the day with a traditional sung evensong.