wfn.org | Episcopalians: 'Philadelphia 11' pioneer Hiatt dies of cancer

[dmack@episcopalchurch.org]

May 30, 2002

2002-141

Episcopalians: 'Philadelphia 11' pioneer Hiatt dies of cancer

by Jan Nunley

(ENS) The Rev. Dr. Suzanne Radley Hiatt died Wednesday, May 30 
after a long struggle with cancer. Sue, as she preferred to be 
called, was widely acknowledged as the "architect" of the 
"irregular ordination" of 11 women to the Episcopal priesthood 
in July, 1974, on the Feast of St. Mary and Martha at the Church 
of the Advocate in Philadelphia. Two years later, General 
Convention officially approved the ordination of women and then 
"regularized" the Philadelphia ordinations.

"Regardless of what your opinion of her actions is, it is often 
through the untiring efforts of pioneers such as Sue Hiatt that 
change is brought about," remarked the Rev. Jayne Oasin, social 
justice officer at the Episcopal Church Center in New York.

A lifelong academic, Hiatt graduated with her B.A. from 
Radcliffe in 1958 and received her M.Div. from the Episcopal 
Theological School (ETS) in Cambridge, Massachusetts in 1964. 
Post-graduate work included a Master's of Social Work from 
Boston University in 1965 and two honorary doctorates, an LL.D. 
in 1998 from Regis College in Massachusetts and a D.D. in 1998 
from the Episcopal Divinity School (EDS) in Cambridge, MA. For 
the quality and depth of her work since graduation from 
Radcliffe, she was made an honorary member of Phi Beta Kappa in 
1984. 

In 1974, Hiatt was ordained priest by Bishop Edward Wells in 
Philadelphia as one of the first 11 women ordained in the 
Episcopal Church. She began her professional career as an 
academic at EDS in 1975 and became a full professor of pastoral 
theology in 1981. In 1996, Hiatt became a member of the 
Ecclesiastical Court in the Diocese of Massachusetts. She 
retired in 1998 from EDS as emeritus professor of pastoral 
theology and but kept an active schedule.  

They called her 'the bishop'

Hiatt was referred to as "the bishop" among the "Philadelphia 
11" for her organizational skills. In a column titled "In honor 
of an unofficial bishop" (The Episcopal Times, June 2001), 
Massachusetts bishop suffragan Barbara Harris paid homage to 
Hiatt for her role in the groundbreaking ordinations.

"The guiding spirit and driving force of the 1974 Philadelphia 
ordinations was the Rev. Suzanne Radley Hiatt," Harris wrote. 
"Sue, who served as suburban missioner for the Diocese of 
Pennsylvania, truly embodied the role of deacon. She worked 
alongside of members of the Philadelphia Welfare Rights 
Organization, bringing the church to the world, and in suburban 
parishes, bringing the needs of the world to the church. She was 
unequivocal, candid and forthright to all, never temporizing 
with oppression or its reality. The Church of the Advocate was 
her 'home parish' and we were proud to have her as the first of 
five women from that congregation to be ordained," Harris wrote.

"Never elected or consecrated (though she should have been), Sue 
has served as 'shepherd' and unofficial bishop to hundreds of 
women theological students, aspirants, postulants, candidates, 
deacons and priests over the years of her teaching and pastoral 
ministry," Harris wrote. "She also was a role model for many 
ordained men of the church. I well remember a service, again at 
the Advocate, where male clergy, in order to 'complete,' as it 
were, their own ordinations, came forward to receive the laying 
on of hands by Sue, others ordained with her and members of the 
'Washington Five,' who had been ordained the following year.

Pastor and mentor to a generation

At a Boston celebration of the 10th anniversary of the 
consecration of Bishop Harris to the episcopate, Hiatt gave an 
audit of how things stand for women. "I'm afraid that's kind of 
a downer," she said, referring to bishops at Lambeth 1998 who 
"tried to do some fairly retrogressive things about women 
bishops...What is fairly appalling is that in all of the reports 
we get about Lambeth it is hardly mentioned. No question that 
the ordination of women has changed the face of ministry. It's 
made a kinder, gentler church, and those of you who remember the 
church of the old days would probably agree to that. But we 
haven't come as far as we should. The real problems that women 
are having in the world are much greater." 

In a 2001 letter to Hiatt, Presiding Bishop Frank T. Griswold 
wrote:

"I am writing on behalf of the House of Bishops to 
express our appreciation for your ministry which, as a priest of 
the Diocese of Massachusetts, has included more than 25 years as 
a distinguished member of the faculty of the Episcopal Divinity 
School. We are also grateful for your pastoral and mentoring 
care to a new generation of women clergy in the Episcopal 
Church, some of whom are members of this house.

In addition to commending you for your enduring contribution to 
the many communities this church seeks to serve, we add our 
prayers as you journey through these difficult days with cancer.

May the deathless love of the risen One enfold and sustain you 
always."

A memorial service will be held at the Episcopal Divinity School 
in Cambridge on Monday, June 17, at 6 p.m. Her family asks that 
gifts in her memory be made either to: Chilton House, 65 Chilton 
St., Cambridge, Massachusetts 02138 or The Suzanne R. Hiatt 
Chair in Feminist Pastoral Theology, Episcopal Divinity School, 
99 Brattle St., Cambridge, Massachusetts 02138.

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--The Rev. Jan Nunley is deputy director of Episcopal News 
Service and a former student of the Rev. Sue Hiatt.