My Journey to Ordained Ministry

You have landed on my website in honor of my memoir, “Lady Father.” This book is about my journey to ordained ministry – from a semi-illiterate Episcopalian who grew up in the church (St. Paul’s in Petersburg, Virginia), but basically learned nothing to a seminary-trained ordained priest. In this journey I basically learned most of what I was supposed to know in seminary. I also learned many things I didn’t want to know about the discrimination against women that was rampant in the church of the 1980’s. This was my journey and as it played out over the years, I kept saying to myself, “I really need to write a book.” So, I did.

Lady Father is brutally honest but kind as no one who hurt me is named and there is no hint of unforgiveness or bearing grudges. It is also uplifting, humorous, and even triumphant, especially in the secondary journeys of the two Bishops who didn’t accept women’s ordination. They struggled with their own consciences to come to the conclusion that ordination is indeed God’s business and he is in charge of who is ordained in the church. (Of course, a lot of responsibility is given to Bishops and Commissions on Ministry to lead the discernment process for aspirants to the diaconate and priesthood.)

MY HEROES

I would be remiss if I didn’t tell the world that these 2 Bishops, who faced so much anger and betrayal from the clergy and lay people of their Dioceses, are my heroes. They both accepted me from the beginning and as we worked together, they came to see that, indeed, women can be priests, and good and faithful ones.

So, I built this website to tell people about my memoir but also to share with my visitors some of my musings and reflections on different topics. I also included some sermons preached in the years I spent as a part-time “Pastor-on-loan” to a small Methodist congregation in White Creek, NY. There are articles on church issues as well as women’s issues. There are things that made me laugh, things that made me cry, and things I was able to learn along the way.

I even included tales of some holidays I spent with my grandchildren and with other family members. If you read these, as well as the page Who is Lady Father?, you will get to know me rather well. Hopefully, you will be ready to read Lady Father, my journey to ordained ministry.

MORE!!

You can also sign up (below) to receive emails regarding the life of Lady Father and to register for my monthly newsletter, “Ring Around the Collar.” There is also an article series about God, designed to get you thinking about what God means to you, what God is like, and where God is in this world. Stay tuned for a subscription series about relationships with God.

So, I hope you will browse the site, read all the stimulating and inspirational writings and I sincerely hope you will want to purchase a copy of my memoir. It is all true. Please leave me any comments you like and I will answer every one. Now that I have completely retired from parish ministry, I have way more time to spend making this website a “work of art” and marketing my “baby,” Lady Father.

Blessings on you all,
Susan+