Episcopal Asian American Ministries - in the Diocese of Long Island, NY: Year of the Horse

From the PARISH NEWSLETTER of
St. Andrew's Episcopal Church
Saratoga, CA

By the Rev. Debbie Low-Skinner

January 31st marks the start of the Chinese New Year of the Horse.

Also, January 24th marked the 70th anniversary of the ordination of the Rev. Florence Li Tim- Oi, who was the first woman priest ordained in the Anglican Communion.

Both dates are worthy of note.

The Year of the Horse promises (according to one website) to be “a year of great energy and power for those who can grab hold and hang on. You won't get left in the dust if you've planted a lot of seeds in the previous Snake year (2013).” If you were born in the Year of the Horse (i.e., 1930, 1942, 1954, 1966, 1980, 1992) you “will want room to run, so have big dreams and goals worthy of a powerful steed and you'll ride your way to success.”

According to astrologer and feng shui expert Susan Levitt, this Year of the Horse will be "a time of fast victories, unexpected adventure, and surprising romance."

Speaking of unexpected adventures and surprises, both were true for seminary-trained deaconess Florence Li Tim-Oi, when Anglican Bishop Ronald Hall of Hong Kong made the unprecedented move in 1944 of ordaining her a priest. He wasn’t trying to make a symbolic gesture in support of women’s ordination. He simply saw this as filling a dire pastoral need, in response to the dearth of priests in China in the midst of World War II.

Florene Li Tim-Oi served in Macau until after the war. Then, in the face of opposition by the Anglican Communion, she chose to not exercise her priesthood. She faithfully continued to serve in a parish in Hepu then at the cathedral in Guangzhou.

For 16 years, while the Cultural Revolution closed churches, she was forced to work on a farm then in a factory and undergo “political reeducation”.

In 1981 she was allowed to visit family members in Canada. To her great joy, she was licensed as a priest by the Diocese of Toronto and lived there until her death in 1992. On the Episcopal liturgical calendar, she is recognized as a saint and her feast day is January 24th.

I give thanks for her courage and faith, and for paving the way for other women priests to serve in the Anglican Communion. These include the first Episcopal women priests (called the Philadelphia 11) ordained in 1974; the Rev. Fran Toy, the first Episcopal Asian-American woman priest, ordained in 1985; my ordination in 1997; the Most Rev. Katharine Jefferts-Schori ordained Presiding Bishop in 2006; and the Diocese of El Camino Real's own Bishop, the Rt. Rev. Mary Gray-Reeves, ordained in 2007.

These events may not have taken place in a Year of the Horse. But, serving the Episcopal Church as women priests, has been a wild ride for us all! And we are all still holding on to see what God has next in store for us and our ministries.

Wishing you all “Gung Hey Fat Choy”!

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