Roman Catholic Womenpriests : Third St. Louis are Roman Catholic Womanpriest to be ordained

PRESS RELEASE

Third St. Louis area Roman Catholic Womanpriest

to be ordained

Release Date: October 1, 2009

Contacts:

Rev. Rose Marie Hudson, 636-208-5598

Rev. Elsie Hainz McGrath, 314-477-6089

Deacon Marybeth McBryan, 314-277-3212

Deacon Marybeth McBryan, of St. Louis, will be ordained a priest on November 1, 2009, All Saints Day. The celebration will be in her home community of Therese of Divine Peace, with Bishop Joan Clark Houk officiating.

Marybeth has been heavily involved in parish ministries in the Archdiocese of St. Louis for nearly 30 years. A mother and grandmother, she is a former teacher in both parochial and public schools, and has also served on the Board of Education of the St. Louis Public Schools. Marybeth has a Master’s in education with secondary degrees in administration and counseling, and has accrued 40+ hours in theology, liturgy and religious education. She is currently a part of the music ministry and serves as deacon at Therese of Divine Peace, and will continue on the ministerial staff there following her ordination as priest.

Roman Catholic Womenpriests continue to validly ordain women and marginalized men to the Roman Catholic priesthood in an effort to bring reform and renewal into an unjust hierarchical structure that is increasingly misogynous and misoneist. Rather than looking backward and inward, Roman Catholic Womenpriests continue to look forward and outward in the spirit of Vatican II. We are here. We are ministering. We are growing. We are not going away.

The ordination is at 5 p.m. on Sunday, November 1, 2009, with the Therese of Divine Peace Inclusive Community. The Therese community meets at First Unitarian Universalist Church of St. Louis, 5007 Waterman Blvd. The ordination will take place in the sanctuary, and a light reception will follow in the Fellowship Hall.

Therese of Divine Peace Inclusive Community celebrates together every Sunday at 5 p.m. Regular services take place in Hope Chapel, at the rear of the First Unitarian complex. Our liturgy has continued without interruption since December 1, 2007, because we strive to imitate Jesus, who always and everywhere made clear to everyone that ALL ARE WELCOME.

Further information is available at www.thereseofdivinepeace.org.

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