This week in Christian history: US missionary leaves for Africa, first female Anglican priest ordained

By Michael Gryboski, Mainline Church Editor Sunday, January 21, 2024

First woman ordained in Anglican Communion – Jan. 25, 1944

A painting of Florence Li Tim-Oi (1907-1992), the first woman to be ordained a priest in the Anglican Communion. | Anglican Communion News Service

This week marks the anniversary of when Florence Li Tim-Oi of Hong Kong became the first woman to be ordained a priest in the worldwide Anglican Communion.

Bishop Ronald Hall presided over the ordination in Macao, which occurred amid the violent upheaval of World War II and the destabilizing Japanese occupation of much of China.

After the war, Li agreed to relinquish her priestly vows in response to opposition from the broader leadership of the Anglican Church, though she continued to serve in various ministerial roles under the Communist Chinese regime.

In 2018, Li was added to the Episcopal Church’s Lesser Feasts and Fasts calendar of saints, along with former Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall and Pauli Murray, the first African American woman to be ordained a priest in the Episcopal Church.