This year marks 30 years since the first women were ordained in March 1994, by Bishop Barry Rogerson in Bristol Cathedral. This group of 32 pioneering women became the first female priests in the Church of England’s centuries-long history.
The very first of the first was Revd Angela Berners-Wilson, thanks to her surname beginning with the letter B. This week, Angela, who is a quarter Spanish, has been in Spain and caught up with Mother Doreen and Fr Hilary in Salinas.
Today, despite 30 years of women´s ministry, only 32% of priests in the Church of England are women, although they represent over half of the church´s self-supporting clergy. Here in our Chaplaincy, following Rev Sheila´s departure, we have a team of 5 clergy, but only 1 of whom (Mother Doreen) is a women.
But things are still changing. Apparently figures for ordinands who began their training in September 2023 are very different: 206 (58%) are women,
Picture from left to right: Fr Hilary, Mother Doreen, Revd Ken Ehrman, Bishop Sally Dyck, Revd Angela Bernes-Wilson