Barbara Clementine Harris

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Barbara Clementine Harris

Barbara Clementine Harris (born June 12, 1930 in Philadelphia , † March 13, 2020 in Lincoln , Massachusetts ) was an American priestess in the Episcopal Church of the United States . She was the first woman to be ordained a bishop in the Anglican Communion , and thus also the first woman bishop of a church that followed the principle of Apostolic Succession .

Harris was active for decades in the US civil rights movement; as early as the 1960s she took part in the movement's non-violent protest marches.

Life as a layperson

Harris studied at Villanova University , Sheffield's Department of Urban Theology , and the Pennsylvania Foundation for Pastoral Counseling . Prior to her ordination , Harris was the director of public relations for the Sun Oil Company . She was an altar boy in the service at which on July 29, 1974 the first women were ordained irregularly in the Episcopal Church (so-called Philadelphia Eleven ). After the General Convention of the Episcopal Church approved the ordination of women in 1976, this was officially possible from January 1, 1977.

Life as a priestess

Her pastor at the Church of the Advocate in the North Philadelphia borough , the Reverend Paul Washington , convinced Harris's serious interest in the priestly life and recommended her to her bishop, Lyman Ogilby of the Episcopal Diocese of Pennsylvania . Ogilby ordained her as a deacon in 1979 and as a priestess in 1980.

Life as a bishop

On February 11, 1989, she was consecrated as auxiliary bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Massachusetts by Edmond Lee Browning , David Elliot Johnson and Allen Lyman Bartlett . In 2003 she retired there. Her successor as auxiliary bishop is another African American , Gayle Elizabeth Harris .

In retirement, Barbara Harris served as assistant bishop in the Episcopal Diocese of Washington and president of the Episcopal Church Publishing Company, the publisher that publishes The Witness magazine .

She died at Care Dimensions Hospice House in Lincoln in March 2020.

Works

  • Barbara C. Harris: Parting Words: A Farewell Discourse . Cowley Publications, Boston 2003, ISBN 1-56101-217-3 .
  • Barbara C. Harris: Beyond Powershift: Theological questions in a changing world (=  The Westminster Tanner-McMurrin lectures on the history and philosophy of religion at Westminster College ). Westminster College, 1993 (B0006PCK34).

literature

  • Mark Bozzuti-Jones: Miter Fits Just Fine: A Story about the Rt. Rev. Barbara Clementine Harris: The First Woman Bishop in the Anglican Communion . Cowley Publications, Boston 2003, ISBN 1-56101-220-3 .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ J. Gordon Melton: Harris, Barbara Clementine (b. 1930) . pioneer female Episcopal bishop. In: Encyclopedia of World Religions . Encyclopedia of Protestantism, No. 6 . Facts of File, New York 2005, ISBN 978-0-8160-5456-5 , pp. 261 .
  2. ↑ Episcopal News Service: Press Release # 88202 . In: Episcopal News Service . Episcopal News Service. Retrieved March 27, 2007.
personal data
SURNAME Harris, Barbara Clementine
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American priestess in the Episcopal Church of the United States
DATE OF BIRTH June 12, 1930
PLACE OF BIRTH Philadelphia
DATE OF DEATH March 13, 2020
Place of death Lincoln , Massachusetts