Trott, Newark. All were lay women except Piccard and Schlachter, who had been ordained deacons the previous

year. This body authorized the creation of regularly scheduled publication, named it Ruach -- a feminine gender

Hebrew word meaning wind, spirit, moving energy -- and Fran Trott became its editor and publisher.

On July 10, 1974, four bishops and seven women deacons met to discuss a possible ordination. The date of

July 29th was set, and there was agreement to be as quiet about it as possible. Each woman told her diocesan

bishop, and Bishop Ogilby of Pennsylvania immediately sent a letter to "his" clergy forbidding their participation.

The news was out! Meanwhile, one of the four bishops withdrew, and four additional women agreed to join the

original seven.

HISTORIC ORDINATIONS

At 11 o'clock in the morning of Monday, July 29, 1974, almost 2,000 witnesses joined in a service of

ordination and holy Eucharist as retired bishops Edgar Welles, Robert DeWitt and Daniel Corrigan ordained

deacons Nancy Wittig, Carter Heyward, Jeannette Piccard, Marie Moorefield, Katrina Swanson, Emily Hewitt,

Alla Bozarth-Campbell, Merrill Bittner, Alison Cheek, Suzanne Hiatt and Betty Schiess as priests in the Church of

God. Also present was diocesan bishop Antonio Ramos of Costa Rica, prevailed upon by his brother bishops not to

take an active part so as not to be prey for censorship or deposition. The preacher was Charles Willie, vice

president of the House of Deputies, and Barbara Harris -- who at that moment in time was still a lay woman -- was

the crucifer. Dr. Willie's sermon spoke for many when he said, "I participate in this service today not because I

want to speak out but because I can not remain silent... as a child of God who has decided to make no peace with

oppression."

The church erupted, as everyone -- it seemed -- had something to say about this most controversial event in the

life of The Episcopal Church. All of the new priests' diocesan bishops requested that they refrain from performing

any priestly functions, and Presiding Bishop John Allin called an emergency meeting of the House of Bishops. As

the bishops gathered in Chicago on August 14 -- many of them having interrupted their vacations -- there was some

hope that they would exercise leadership by affirming and recognizing the ordinations, even while admitting their

irregularity.

Thirteen resolutions were introduced, ranging from formal charges against the four bishops to outright support

of the ordinations. Bishops Charles of Utah, Frensdorff of Nevada and Trelease of Rio Grande led the fight for the

middle ground of inhibiting the eleven women from functioning as priests until General Convention assented and

calling on the House of Bishops to urge approval of the principle of ordaining women. That middle ground was not

to be, however, as the eventual resolution coming out of the meeting declared that Bishops Welles, Corrigan and

DeWitt had exceeded their authority and the ordinations were invalid until the General Convention said otherwise.

While nine of the eleven women priests were present throughout the House of Bishops meeting, none were

officially consulted at any point in the proceedings.

Excerpts from the statement of the women priests are worthy of note:

We are shocked and saddened that the House of Bishops has seen fit to escalate the conflict and disunity in our

Church by declaring our ordination to the priesthood invalid... We must rather ask by what authority it rules on

such a weighty question; the House of Bishops is not The Episcopal Church, but merely one half of its bicameral

legislature... We are not persuaded that doctrinal decisions belong in a legislative assembly... We call upon the

theologians of our Church to offer guidance on the basic question of doctrine and polity... We cannot accept the

decision of the bishops, and each of us will make her own decision as to how and when to affirm the priesthood she

knows to be hers.

On August 18 Dr. Willie resigned his position as Vice President of the House of Deputies in protest of the

bishops' statement which he referred to as a "blatant exercise of male arrogance."

On receipt of a grant of $22,540 from the Board for Theological Education, coordinators were hired to build

networks of women and men concerned about the role and status of women in the church: Pat Steiner for the

Midwest, Mary Page Rollins for the south, Cyndi Jones for the west coast and Alice Stebbins for the northeast.

Acting on a mandate from the Caucus steering committee, Columba Gilliss, Carter Heyward, Alice Mann, Susan