Calvary Episcopal's first female senior rector brings a fresh perspective

COLUMBIA —The spirited, lyrical voice of a gray-haired Irish woman breaks the silence inside Calvary Episcopal Church as the Eucharist service begins. It is the voice that brings the somber, traditional service to life as it speaks, and the congregation echoes in response.

The animated voice invigorates the congregation as the worship service progresses from sermon to Communion. The Rev. Paula Robinson shares upcoming events in the church with excitement and comes into her element as the service concludes. She greets the congregation, embracing individuals and offering them the "peace of God" as they depart the church.

Since she arrived in March, Robinson has energized Calvary with her presence and vision for the church.

Robinson is Calvary’s first female rector, or head priest. This first is not so groundbreaking for a woman who was one of the first females to be ordained in Ireland, nor for a congregation accustomed to the leadership of female priests.  

Though the Calvary congregation and the national Episcopal Church fully support women in the priesthood, the worldwide Anglican Church is not uniformly progressive in its views of women priests.

In 2006, Katharine Jefferts Schori became the first female presiding bishop in the Episcopal Church. “It is a wonderful thing for me. She is bright, articulate, pastoral, ” Robinson said.

However, Robinson tells how Schori met with resistance upon attending this summer’s Lambeth Conference, a gathering of bishops that meets every 10 years. “It was a big thing. Some bishops and archbishops did not want to walk beside her in procession. They thought she was illegally ordained because she was a woman,” she said.

In some parts of the Anglican Church, women are still not allowed to be ordained. It was just this year that female priests in the Church of England were allowed to serve as bishops.

This animosity carries over into some regions of the United States, but the attitude is quite different in Missouri, and in Columbia. Robinson sees the Missouri Diocese as “fairly welcoming” to women.