Alison Mary Cheek (April 11, 1927 – September 1, 2019) was an Australian-born American religious leader. She was one of the first women ordained in the Episcopal Church in the United States and the first woman to publicly celebrate the

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in that denomination.

Early life and education

Alison Mary WesternSchudel, M. (September 12, 2019). ALISON CHEEK: 1927-2019: FIRST FEMALE PRIEST TO ADMINISTER SACRAMENTS IN AN EPISCOPAL CHURCH. ''Chicago Tribune.'' was born on April 11, 1927 in

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to Hedley and Dora (Whiting) Western. Her father was a fruit farmer, and her mother was a homemaker. Western graduated from the

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in 1947Episcopal Clerical Directory 2011, p. 161 and married her economics tutor, Bruce Cheek.Bird (2013) The couple moved to

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for his fellowship at

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and then back to Australia two years later. They returned to the United States in 1957 when Cheek's husband was hired by the

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in Washington, D.C. Cheek became a lay minister at several churches in the area."Alison Cheek." ''The Christian Century'', vol. 136, no. 21, October 9, 2019, p. 17. ''Gale Academic OneFile.'' Cheek had become active as a lay leader at St. Alban's Episcopal Church in

Annandale, Virginia Annandale () is a census-designated place (CDP) in Fairfax County, Virginia.Virginia Theological Seminary Virginia Theological Seminary (VTS), formally the Protestant Episcopal Theological Seminary in Virginia, is an Episcopal Church (United States), Episcopal seminary in Alexandria, Virginia. It is the largest and second-oldest such accredited se ...

because she was increasingly being asked to lead programs at the church. In 1963, she was one of the first two women admitted into the school's

Master of Divinity For graduate-level theological institutions, the Master of Divinity (MDiv, ''magister divinitatis'' in Latin) is the first professional degree of the pastoral profession in North America. It is the most common academic degree in seminaries and ...

program, graduating in 1969. Although she was not seeking ordination when she enrolled, she suddenly felt a call to become a priest while on a retreat.McDaniel, p. 2.4 With four young children at home, her bishop dissuaded her from considering ordination, and it took her six years to complete her degree part-time.

Path to ordination as an Episcopal priest

Following graduation from the seminary, she was hired as a lay minister at Christ Church in

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, where she was in charge of pastoral ministry and allowed to preach a few times. She then began training and working with the Pastoral Counseling and Consulting Centers of Greater Washington and the Washington Institute for Pastoral Psychotherapy, returning to St. Alban's to continue pastoral ministry as a laywoman. Eventually, however, her rector encouraged her to enter the ordination process in the Diocese of Virginia, and she was ordained as the first woman deacon in the South on January 29, 1972. When the House of Deputies voted against women's ordination in 1973, Cheek was motivated to work with other women and supporters to change the church's mind. On July 29, 1974, she and 10 other women were ordained at the Church of the Advocate in

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, and in August she was installed as assistant priest at the Church of St. Stephen and the Incarnation in Washington. On November 10, 1974, Cheek became the first woman to celebrate the

in an Episcopal church, in defiance of the diocesan bishop. ''

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'' magazine named her as one of 1975 twelve Women of the Year for her advocacy and action on behalf of women's ordination. She appeared on the cover in clerical dress. During the 1970s, Cheek studied at the Washington Institute of Pastoral Psychotherapy and opened her own counseling practice. After Cheek's husband died in 1977, she became a priest at Trinity Memorial Church in Philadelphia, where she also co-directed a Venture in Mission fundraising program. Cheek later attended at the

Episcopal Divinity School The Episcopal Divinity School (EDS) is an unaccredited theological school in New York City. Established to train people for ordination in the American Episcopal Church, the seminary eventually began training students from other denominations. T ...

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, where she was hired as the Director of Feminist Liberation Studies in 1989 and earned her D.Min. degree in 1990.Episcopal Clerical Directory 2011, p.161 In 1996, Cheek joined the Greenfire Community and Retreat Center in Tenants Harbor, Maine, where she served as a facilitator, teacher, and counselor, and later became active with St. Peter's Episcopal Church in Rockland. In 2013, Cheek retired, moving to North Carolina.

Activism

Cheek was active in the movement for female priests in Australia. She also became active in marginalized groups such as the gay movement, black movement, and women in poverty, sticking to the margins of the church to exercise her ministry.

Death

Cheek died at her home in Brevard,

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, on September 1, 2019.

Notes

References

*Bird, Mary Alice (August 2013), "Celebrating Summer Passages: Farewell to Our Good Friend, Alison Cheek,"
The Rock
', Retrieved September 8, 2013 *McDaniel, Judith Maxwell (2011), ''Grace in Motion: The Intersection of Women's Ordination and Virginia Theological Seminary'', Brainerd, Minn.: RiverPlace Communication Arts {{DEFAULTSORT:Cheek, Alison 1927 births 2019 deaths 20th-century American Episcopal priests 21st-century American Episcopal priests Australian Anglicans Australian Anglican priests Australian emigrants to the United States Episcopal Divinity School alumni Episcopal Divinity School faculty Women Anglican clergy People from Adelaide University of Adelaide alumni Virginia Theological Seminary alumni