Episcopal Women’s History Project (EWHP)
Episcopal Women’s History Project (EWHP)
The Episcopal Women’s History Project (EWHP) was founded in 1980 to preserve the stories of women in the Episcopal Church. Its founders, Mary Donovan and the late Joanna Gillespie, collaborated with women church leaders to start this organization, and it is still telling women’s stories. Our mission statement is: The Episcopal Women’s History Project honors women’s ministries in the Episcopal Church by listening, recording, and continuing to tell their stories.
EWHP is principally known for three things: its storytelling, primarily through the Lenten series; its grants; and its awards. The Lenten series was born from an idea of EWHP President, The Rev. Jo Ann Barker, and this coming Lent will mark our fourth annual Lenten series.
Each week of Lent an Episcopal woman is featured by someone telling her story and unique contribution. Featured stories have been about deaconesses, powerful teachers, civil rights activists, women priests including one of the Philadelphia Eleven, the first woman bishop, a hymn text writer, a missionary, women in religious orders, filmed interviews with women who persuaded General Convention Deputies to approve the ordination of women, a judge and other interesting and sometimes colorful figures. These have been recorded and are available on the Episcopal Women’s History Project YouTube channel.
EWHP also gives grants to scholars to complete research about women in the Episcopal Church. These are often awarded to cover travel costs to research sites—and in one recent grant to cover the cost of publishing the history of a religious order. EWHP funded some of the early costs of making the recently released film Philadelphia Eleven, marking the 50th anniversary of the ordination of the first women priests in the Episcopal Church.
Finally, we offer awards to those who have published a major article or book on the history of a woman in the Episcopal Church, and we recognize women who have made a difference in their parishes or dioceses.
We have a new scholarship called the Matilda Dunn Scholarship for a non-traditional woman of color pursuing higher education or seminary. We also have collaborated with the Historical Society of the Episcopal Church and the editor of Anglican and Episcopal History, The Rev. Dr. Sheryl Kujawa-Holbrook, to republish many articles about women and their contributions in the church. This special issue is being released in conjunction with the Philadelphia Eleven film in celebration of the 50-year anniversary of the ordination of women.
En nuestro sitio web, Chapelofthecrossms.org, uno puede notar algo un poco diferente a la página web habitual de la iglesia. En la pestaña “Participar” hay una sección que se exhibe como Gremio de sepultureros. Así mismo, esto es lo que a continuación aparece: nosotros, como grupo, cavamos las tumbas de nuestros miembros. Si hace clic en la pestaña indicada, dice: “Aquí en la Capilla cavamos nuestras tumbas a mano. Todos y cada uno de nosotros están invitados a unirse a esta experiencia verdaderamente espiritual. Hay algo en ser parte de la excavación que te hará meditar sobre tu propia vida. Usando picos y palas, amorosamente brindamos un lugar de descanso eterno para aquellos de nosotros que hemos ido a estar con Él. Ya sea que quieran excavar u observar, todos son bienvenidos. Algunos traen una espalda fuerte para laborar, otros traen comida y bebida (esto es el sur), algunos traen oraciones y otros traen un corazón agrietado. Hay algo muy especial en el compañerismo que proporciona y rodea ser parte del Gremio de Sepultureros. Únete a nosotros.”