A NEWLY-ORDAINED curate in Ashburton was among women clergy who marked the 30th anniversary of the ordination of women to the priesthood. 

Some of the first women to be ordained as priests in the Church of England took part in the celebration event in Exeter.

The 11 women who had been ordained in 1994 included the Acting Bishop of Exeter, the Rt. Revd Jackie Searle.

They were joined by other women clergy for a special choral evensong at Exeter Cathedral, followed by a celebration event in the Bishop’s Palace Garden.

Among them was Rev’d Jenny Weigel, newly ordained curate in the Ashburton and Moorland Mission Community, who said: ‘I feel deeply grateful to all the women who have gone before me, especially those first cohorts being ordained in 1994. 

‘They waited patiently and courageously, and forged this way for themselves and for us. The first women’s ordinations took place in March 1994 following years of campaigning by equal rights groups.’

The first women were ordained priests in Exeter Diocese on June 26 1994.

Bishop Jackie, who was ordained at St Paul's Cathedral in 1994 while eight months pregnant, said:‘It’s been an incredible privilege for me to be part of this journey, to see how women are flourishing in ministry in Devon and how far this Diocese has come.’ 

Prayers were said at the special evensong by Canon Cate Edmonds, who was ordained in 1995. 

She said: ‘We give joyful thanks for the women who persevered in following God’s call for their lives, overcoming obstacles of prejudice, self-doubt and lack of resources.’

This year also marks the 80th anniversary of the first woman to be priested in 1944 and the 10th anniversary of the first woman to be consecrated as a bishop in 2014.

The Dean of Women in Ministry for the Diocese of Exeter, the Revd Prebendary Samantha Stayte, said the celebration was a special one: ‘It was deeply moving to see the women who were the pioneers at the event. 

‘They are the people who paved the way for my generation and those after me.

‘Seeing so many women from across Devon gathered together is normalising the fact that women are priests, older women, younger women, married women and single women are priests.

‘It shows how far the church has come in a very short time.’

Rev’d Jenny Weigel was three and growing up in a Christian family in East Germany in the Lutheran Church in 1994 so was surrounded by female priests as women had been ordained there since the early 1960s. 

She said: ‘For me as a girl it was just such a normal thing to see a woman leading a parish and presiding over communion. 

‘So it was quite a surprise, and a bit of a shock to be honest, when I came to Devon and the Church of England in 2017 and realised how much of an issue it still is over here. 

‘It’s such a joy to see our female bishops and women in other significant leadership roles within the church.’