Arts & Entertainment

Pioneer Episcopal Priest Travels to Framingham

Rev. Susan Bowman was one of the first female priests to be ordained by the Episcopal church. She was in Framingham yesterday to read from and sign copies of her memoir "Lady Father."

Yesterday, one of the first female priests to be ordained by the Episcopal church Rev. Susan Bowman was at in Framingham.

The Albany-based priest was a long way from home. She said she came to Framingham after visiting a friend, she met online. The Massachusetts friend has a connection to Endicott College and she spoke there earlier.

Rev. Bowman read from and signed copies of her memoir "Lady Father" yesterday. Residents can still still receive an autographed copy of her book by visiting her website at http://ladyfather.com.

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Bowman, a writer and a grandmother, was ordained as an Episcopal priest in the mid 1980s. She said she wrote the book to tell of her experiences of discrimination during the ordination process and in some of the parishes she served in.

In her book, she talks about being a "reluctant pioneer" and  her journey "against the flow." The book is filled with anecdotes for her decades in the ministry.

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According to her website, the title of her book comes from a name given to her by Father Bill Hoffman in 1986. 

"I was a brand new priest and Fr Bill was a dyed-in-the-wool, old-school, Episcopal priest.  We had both been asked to serve as Spiritual Directors on a Cursillo weekend along with Fr Norm Baty.  Since Fr Bill was the head of the Spiritual Director team, I knew he had agreed to have me serve with them on the team and I foolishly assumed that he was, therefore, a supporter of women’s ordination. He greeted me when I arrived with no inkling that he was uncomfortable with the idea of sharing sacramental duties with a woman.  After 4 days of worshiping, praying, and sharing priestly duties together, I was shocked to hear him say to those gathered for the closing ceremony that he had not been a supporter of the idea of ordaining women to the priesthood before our weekend began.  I was even more shocked to hear him state:  “But after serving with Susan Bowman this weekend, I want to say that the ‘Lady Father’ is OK.”

She said she has been "Lady Father" ever since. It is even on her license plate. And now the title of her memoir.

 


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