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| The Bishop of London |
"The 1994 cohort" doesn't sound very exciting but it's a group to which I am very proud to belong. It means the thousand plus women who were ordained in 1994 after a very long wait to become priests.
My personal thirtieth anniversary was back in April but the C of E has had various events over this last year commemorating the contribution of women (both ordained and lay) to the ministry of the church. On Friday the 1994 cohort was invited to join in the national celebration in London and over a hundred of us accepted the invitation. Since 1994 many of those thousand women have "been promoted to glory" and others are too frail to make the journey to London.
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| A "Popemobile" to take me across King's Cross Station! |
My good friend E, (a priest of a mere twenty years standing!) came with me and helped me and without her I wouldn't have been able to go. We travelled by train and taxi to make things as easy as possible for me.
First I went to Lambeth Palace (the official home of The Archbishop of Canterbury) where "the cohort" was treated to a wonderful afternoon tea. Then coaches took us to St Paul's Cathedral where the Bishop of London, Sarah Mullally, presided at a memorable Eucharist.
Thirty years ago we were regarded with a great deal of suspicion by both clergy an laity. It would be hard to imagine the C of E without its clergy women today. Thanks be to God!
