Forty years ago today the General Convention of  The Episcopal Church voted to authorize the ordination of women.  For  many of us it is difficult to remember or imagine our church without  this expression of wholeness.  I thank God for  the bishops and delegates who claimed that gift for all of us 40 years ago. I thank God for all women in holy orders who have enriched my  life and that of all God’s people, in this diocese and throughout the church. 
Today at the House of Bishops Eucharist, a verse of the familiar hymn had particular poignancy:
One bread, one body, one Lord of all,
One cup of blessing which we bless.
And we, though many, throughout the earth,
We are one body in this one Lord.
Gentile or Jew, servant or free,
Woman or man no more.
Faithfully and gratefully,
+Alan