Posted on: 21st May 2024

The service on Saturday, May 4, also included the commissioning of five new Women’s Ministry Advisers for the diocese, one in each episcopal area.

On Sunday, May 8, 1994, 12 women were first ordained priest in Bradford Cathedral by the Rt Revd David Smith, then Bishop of Bradford.

This followed years of campaigning, including the foundation of the Movement for the Ordination of Women (1979-1994), which led to the General Synod of the Church of England passing a measure in 1992 that paved the way for the first ordinations of women as priests in the spring of 1994.

The service looked to celebrate the diversity of ministry that the ordination of women has enabled, celebrating not just the last thirty years but also the coming thirty years.

It aimed to honour the costly discipleship journey of those who made the way by walking it, those who are treading those paths today, and those who will tread new and unimagined paths of ministry in the future.

The service also made space to give thanks for those men who have cheered women on their way, and for all who have set themselves aside to make room for the ministry of others.

Read the full article HERE.