Philadelphia Ordinations (1974)

On July 29, 1974, at Philadelphia’s Church of the Advocate, eleven women were ordained to the priesthood in the Episcopal Church during a service conducted by retired bishops Daniel Corrigan, Robert L. DeWitt, and Edward R. Welles. The event—later known as the ordination of the “Philadelphia Eleven”—was carried out against the church’s stated canons at the time and was immediately contested by Episcopal leaders as irregular. Supporters testified to sincere vocation, describing the moment as costly courage and obedience to conscience; others mourned it as a breach of ecclesial order that risked bending the church to cultural pressure rather than Scripture.

Key Figures and Setting

The Church of the Advocate, located in North Philadelphia, had become a prominent setting for public witness and reform-minded activism, making it a symbolically charged location for a contested service. The women ordained—Merrill Bittner, Alla Bozarth, Alison Cheek, Emily Hewitt, Carter Heyward, Suzanne Hiatt, Marie Moorefield, Jeannette Piccard, Betty Bone Schiess, Katrina Swanson, and Nancy Wittig—were not obscure figures; many were already engaged in parish ministry, education, and advocacy. The participating bishops, though retired, invoked apostolic succession and pastoral responsibility, while critics argued that retirement did not remove the obligation to honor the church’s received discipline and the plain meaning of its canons.

Legacy and Christian Reflection

The controversy helped accelerate denominational decisions: in 1976 the Episcopal Church’s General Convention approved the ordination of women, and subsequent actions sought to regularize earlier irregularities. For many, the episode remains a touchstone for debates about authority, biblical interpretation, and the nature of faithful reform.

Scripture commends both courage and order. “But everything must be done in a proper and orderly manner” (1 Corinthians 14:40). At the same time, believers facing hard questions are invited to seek wisdom rather than heat: “Now if any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault” (James 1:5). The lasting lesson is not merely institutional change, but the call to pursue truth with humility, prayer, repentance where needed, and steadfast devotion to God’s Word, honoring Christ as the Head of His church.