One of Australia’s first female Anglican priests, LIBBY GILCHRIST, has recently written a book about her “journey to priesthood”. She speaks with DAVID ADAMS…
One of Australia’s first female Anglican priests when she was ordained in 2005, LIBBY GILCHRIST has recently written a book about her “journey to priesthood” The Tapestry: One Woman’s Journey to Priesthood. Having retired in 2010 and now an honorary associate priest at Sorrento/Rye Anglican Parish in Melbourne, the 68-year-old, who with husband Stuart has three children and six grandchildren, speaks about why she decided to write it, the challenges she’s faced on her journey and why it’s important to have women in church leadership…
Congratulations on the book. What made you decide to write it?
“Initially I felt the need to write simply to come to grips with the different facets of my journey to priesthood, the difficulties as well as the joys. It is not a history so much as the story of my own personal journey.”
Why now?
“I began to write when I retired in 2010. It took me over a year to write the basic story, and then several more years to review and edit it. Once at this point I was encouraged by many people to try to have it published so that the present and coming generations of women, and men, within the church might have some understanding about the history of women’s leadership in the church. It was also so that women and men outside the church may gain an insight into a wider perspective of the often different and difficult path that women are faced with in their life’s journeys. The further years of review were important as they allowed for a process of ‘composting’ – that is, after some years of retirement, to look hard at what I had written and how I had written it, trying to make sure that it expressed what I wanted and needed to say.”
IN SHORT – LIBBY GILCHRIST
Someone whom I admire?….”Rev Ian Crooks, my spiritual director for many years. He had a profound positive impact on my spiritual development, allowing me to find the path forward that was the right one for me. As I have since trained for spiritual direction myself, I have gained a better understanding of how difficult this probably was for him. He was also a supportive friend throughout my journey to priesthood.”
A Bible verse that’s really spoken to me?…”Isaiah 30:21 – ‘And when you turn to the right or when you turn to the left, your ears shall hear a word behind you, saying, “This is the way: walk in it”.'”
A favourite book?…“The Divine Dance: The Trinity and Your Transformation by Richard Rohr with Mike Morrell”.
The book is called The Tapestry based on an “embroidered painting” you started in your final year of studying for your Bachelor of Theology. Why did you start making it and what does it represent for you?
“I began the tapestry for a subject that I could frame myself. I was involved at the time in hospital chaplaincy, working a lot with cancer patients, and so with the guidance of my tutor I decided to make a tapestry about the journey of grief. It rapidly changed to become my own personal journey of grief within the church, and by the time I finished the work, and a journal that was presented with it, I realised that I had made something of huge importance to me personally – a visual representation of my journey. It has also had significant meaning for others to whom I have shown it, with many relating to the different aspects and images of a wider journey of grief.”
When did your own journey with Christ begin? I gather it was during a visit to friends in Sydney that you had an experience which changed the way you saw God?
“Yes. I had gone to visit a priest, Rev Ian Crooks, and his wife, Margaret, who had previously worked in the parish in which we lived. While there I was planning to have a talk with Ian about my difficulties with prayer. However before we talked, I had what I can only call a significant spiritual renewal experience. It tipped me upside down and called me towards a path to God that I had had no idea even existed.”
When did you first feel a “calling” to enter the priesthood – can you describe was that was like?
“A few months after the spiritual renewal, I was sitting on a beach while the family were happily swimming, when I realised that I was thinking in terms of ordination within the church. It was completely unexpected and not very welcome as I had just gone back to teaching after the birth and early years of our three children, and therefore I fought against it for some months. That heralded months of turmoil until I gradually learned to say ‘yes’ to God.”
What was the greatest challenge you faced in your journey to becoming an Anglican priest?
“Firstly it was to come to terms with the calling myself. It was not part of my plans for the next number of years. Then there was the fact that fulfilling such a call was not even possible in the Anglican Church at that time, and finally the fact that there were many priests in the diocese in which we lived who were strongly against the change to accept women priests. The journey therefore held challenges on many fronts – personal, legal (as with church law) as well as within the clergy of the diocese.”
What’s been your greatest help on that journey?
“My prayer life, my growing relationship with God, my family, close friends and my spiritual director.”
Why do you think it’s important there are women in church leadership?
“As a priest friend once said to me ‘with the advent of women priests, the ordained ministry is complete’. We are all different, and leadership within the church needs both men and women to find and maintain a balance within the church: a balance of outlook, of male and female issues, and of acceptance and love for those who for whatever reason are different, in order to be able to minister to all within God’s family, to bring God’s love to all and present that love in a way that is understandable and desirable to as many people as possible.”
Would you like to see more women in leadership in the Anglican Church? What do you see as the main barriers for women entering the priesthood today?
“Yes. Many women are only offered part-time positions, or assistant positions rather than fulltime senior positions. I am not sure of all the reasons for this, but think that perhaps it could be that there is still not a full acceptance of women priests, and that in time this will change. I hope so. There are also dioceses within the Australian Anglican Church where women are still not allowed to be ordained to the priesthood. The most influential of these is, of course, Sydney Diocese.”
Any tips for balancing the demands of being in church leadership with family life?
“It’s difficult, but just as with all faith issues love is the key. To have a partner who is understanding and supportive, and who has a strong faith is important. I was so fortunate in this.”
What’s your advice for someone who has what they feel is a God-planted dream that seems impossible?
“Never give up, and pray like crazy!”
