Mary Michael Simpson (December 1, 1925 – July 20, 2011) was an American minister. In 1977, she became one of the first women to be ordained a priest by the American Episcopal Church and was the first woman to hold the office of

canon Canon or Canons may refer to: Arts and entertainment * Canon (fiction), the material accepted as officially written by an author or an ascribed author * Literary canon, an accepted body of works considered as high culture ** Western canon, th ...

Life and career

Born in

Evansville, Indiana Evansville is a city in Vanderburgh County, Indiana, United States, and its county seat. With a population of 118,414 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is Indiana's List of cities in Indiana, third-most populous city after India ...

, Simpson grew up in

Texas City, Texas Texas City is a city in Galveston County, Texas, United States, on the southwest shoreline of Galveston Bay. Texas City is a deepwater port on Texas's Gulf Coast, as well as a petroleum-refining and petrochemical-manufacturing center. The popu ...

. She was raised a

Methodist Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a Protestant Christianity, Christian Christian tradition, tradition whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and John's brother ...

but in her senior year of college she became an Episcopalian. She subsequently entered the New York School for Deaconesses and Other Church Workers in New York City from which she graduated in 1949. After graduation she spent six years as a

missionary A missionary is a member of a Religious denomination, religious group who is sent into an area in order to promote its faith or provide services to people, such as education, literacy, social justice, health care, and economic development.Thoma ...

Liberia Liberia, officially the Republic of Liberia, is a country on the West African coast. It is bordered by Sierra Leone to Liberia–Sierra Leone border, its northwest, Guinea to Guinea–Liberia border, its north, Ivory Coast to Ivory Coast–Lib ...

. Upon her return to the United States, she became a religious sister and took her life vows with the Order of Saint Helena in

Vails Gate, New York Vails Gate is a Hamlet (New York), hamlet (and census-designated place) in Orange County, New York, Orange County, New York (state), New York, United States. The population was 3,368 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. It is part of the ...

in 1956. She was soon after appointed the head of a girls' school operated by the order, Margaret Hall in Versailles, Kentucky, where she remained for about a decade. She then returned to the convent in Vails Gate to become director of novices. -
Updated link
in NY Times archive. In 1973 Simpson became actively involved in the women's movement in the Episcopal Church for the first time after a proposal to allow women priests in the church had been defeated. She had previously not been a vocal advocate for the role of women in the church, although she had privately supported the ordination of women. In 1974 she was appointed a deacon at the

Cathedral of St. John the Divine The Cathedral of St. John the Divine (sometimes referred to as St. John's and also nicknamed St. John the Unfinished) is the cathedral of the Episcopal Diocese of New York. It is at 1047 Amsterdam Avenue in the Morningside Heights neighborhoo ...

in New York City and spent the next three years on the staff of that church working as a pastoral counselor. In 1977, Simpson became one of the first women to be ordained a priest in the American Episcopal Church, the first religious sister to be ordained, and the first female

. She was the first ordained woman to preach at

Westminster Abbey Westminster Abbey, formally titled the Collegiate Church of Saint Peter at Westminster, is an Anglican church in the City of Westminster, London, England. Since 1066, it has been the location of the coronations of 40 English and British m ...

when she visited London in April 1978. At that time, the

Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the State religion#State churches, established List of Christian denominations, Christian church in England and the Crown Dependencies. It is the mother church of the Anglicanism, Anglican Christian tradition, ...

had not approved the

ordination of women The ordination of women to Minister of religion, ministerial or priestly office is an increasingly common practice among some contemporary major religious groups. It remains a controversial issue in certain religious groups in which ordination ...

. Simpson's visit brought together Anglican groups in favor of women's ordination and led to the founding of the

Movement for the Ordination of Women The Movement for the Ordination of Women (MOW) was the name used by organisations in England and Australia that campaigned for the ordination of women as Deacon#Anglicanism, deacons, Priest#Anglican or Episcopalian, priests and bishops in the Angl ...

.Jenny Daggers, "The Emergence of Feminist Theology in Britain", in ''Time, Utopia, Eschatology. Yearbook of the European Society of Women in Theological Research'' (Peeters, 1999), p. 139. Simpson died in

Augusta, Georgia Augusta is a city on the central eastern border of the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. The city lies directly across the Savannah River from North Augusta, South Carolina at the head of its navigable portion. Augusta, the third mos ...

in 2011 at the age of 85.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Simpson, Mary 1925 births 2011 deaths Women Anglican clergy People from Evansville, Indiana People from Texas City, Texas 20th-century American Episcopal priests