Tribute published on the CMS website
Created by kip 8 years agoTributes for Joyce Bennett - first British woman Anglican priest
20 July 2015 Categories: News
Public tributes have been paid to the Rev Joyce Bennett, a former CMS mission partner who became the first British woman to be ordained priest in the Anglican Communion.
Joyce died, aged 92, on 11 July 2015. The Independent reported her inspirational status in the movement for women's ordination and her life was celebrated on BBC Radio 4's Last Word. The Church Times has also published an obituary.
Joyce was ordained as a priest with Jane Hwang by Bishop Gilbert Baker in 1971.
Theirs was the first fully-constitutional women’s ordination in the Anglican
Communion.
The first woman priest in the Anglican Communion, Florence Li Tim-Oi, was
ordained in the Diocese of Hong Kong in 1944.
Joyce was a mission partner in Hong Kong from 1949 to 1983. On arrival in Hong
Kong, she began teaching at St Stephen's Girls' College. From 1968 she was
principal of St Catharine’s School for Girls, Kwun Tong. On her return to the
UK she was based at St Martin in the Fields where she ministered to the Chinese
congregation, though she was only permitted to serve as a deacon.
Following a history degree at London University, Joyce taught in Cornwall for
two years before starting CMS missionary training in 1947.
The CMS Yes magazine which paid tribute to her distinguished service in 1984,
said that St Catherine's School was regarded as a model for the church's
involvement in education.
She shared in the ministry at St Barnabas Church in Hong Kong and said that her
ordination had allowed her to minister more fully to the girls in the school
and to reach out to their families and friends as well.
In 1976 she was nominated by the governor of Hong Kong to sit on the
Legislative Council and was appointed a justice of the peace. She was awarded
the OBE in 1979 for her services to education and the community in Hong Kong.
Just before she left Hong Kong she received an honorary degree from the
University of Hong Kong.
Although she spoke out and campaigned on many issues in Hong Kong, her voice
was not prominent in the campaign for women's ordination. However, "her
presence resonated in the movement", said Christina Rees of WATCH (Women
and the Church), talking to the BBC's Last Word programme.
20 July 2015 Categories: News
Public tributes have been paid to the Rev Joyce Bennett, a former CMS mission partner who became the first British woman to be ordained priest in the Anglican Communion.
Joyce died, aged 92, on 11 July 2015. The Independent reported her inspirational status in the movement for women's ordination and her life was celebrated on BBC Radio 4's Last Word. The Church Times has also published an obituary.
Joyce was ordained as a priest with Jane Hwang by Bishop Gilbert Baker in 1971.
Theirs was the first fully-constitutional women’s ordination in the Anglican
Communion.
The first woman priest in the Anglican Communion, Florence Li Tim-Oi, was
ordained in the Diocese of Hong Kong in 1944.
Joyce was a mission partner in Hong Kong from 1949 to 1983. On arrival in Hong
Kong, she began teaching at St Stephen's Girls' College. From 1968 she was
principal of St Catharine’s School for Girls, Kwun Tong. On her return to the
UK she was based at St Martin in the Fields where she ministered to the Chinese
congregation, though she was only permitted to serve as a deacon.
Following a history degree at London University, Joyce taught in Cornwall for
two years before starting CMS missionary training in 1947.
The CMS Yes magazine which paid tribute to her distinguished service in 1984,
said that St Catherine's School was regarded as a model for the church's
involvement in education.
She shared in the ministry at St Barnabas Church in Hong Kong and said that her
ordination had allowed her to minister more fully to the girls in the school
and to reach out to their families and friends as well.
In 1976 she was nominated by the governor of Hong Kong to sit on the
Legislative Council and was appointed a justice of the peace. She was awarded
the OBE in 1979 for her services to education and the community in Hong Kong.
Just before she left Hong Kong she received an honorary degree from the
University of Hong Kong.
Although she spoke out and campaigned on many issues in Hong Kong, her voice
was not prominent in the campaign for women's ordination. However, "her
presence resonated in the movement", said Christina Rees of WATCH (Women
and the Church), talking to the BBC's Last Word programme.