A Visit with The Rev. Joyce, Day 15: Tuesday, 2/2/2010

Hearing various voices about female clergy in the Anglican Church of Kenya (ACK), I wanted to hear someone tell me about their first hand experience so I made an appointment to meet with The Rev. Joyce, a friend I had met on my first visit to Kenya when she was serving on the staff of the cathedral.  She is now the vicar at St. John's.

A bit of history:  The first woman was ordained a priest in the ACK in 1987.  There is no canonical restriction prohibiting a woman from being consecrated as a bishop.  There are still two diocese within the ACK that have not ordained a woman.

I was surprised that she was not aware that we had elected The Rt. Rev. Katherine Jefferts Shori as our presiding bishop in 2006.  Don't we Americans often think that we are the center of the universe?  She was greatly encouraged by this news! 

Joyce has been a priest for 10 years, but before that she was a lay leader in the Church Army, an evangelical missionary society in the Anglican Communion.

She described a climate in which women have to work doubly hard to prove themselves.  It is esential for women to be successful because to be unsuccessful cast a cloud over all women.  It is a double standard because each man stands on his own merit. 

There is still resistance in some places, but acceptance is growing.  In Kenyan society in general gender issues and the role of women are evolving. 

Though there are cultural difference between the U.S. and Kenya, I couldn't help but see more similarites than differences between the struggles for women's equality in the two countries.  While the struggle is not over in the U.S. we are a bit further along.

With regards to women in The Episcopal Church, there has been a long hard battle for full inclusion.  I believe we are now shining a bright light leading others in the Communion forward.  I can't help but believe the same is true for LGBT persons in the church.

At the end of our discussion, without mentioning specific issues Joyce and I agreed that while we may go kicking and screaming the church will ultimately find itself where God would have it be!