[Magdalen] Ginny Wilder called to St. Anne's, Winston Salem

[Ginga Wilder]

Forgive me for a bit of psychological waxing.
I am, of course, 'proud' of each of my children and grandchildren.  Pride
in a person is a dangerous thing, if that pride reflects a need to 'take
parental (relational) credit' for the life the object of one's pride.  That
sort of pride says, "you do what you do well and that reflects well on me
as parent, partner, friend, etc."  I work somewhat successfully at trying
to keep that kind of pride in check.

Rather than that sort of selfish pride, I want you to know that I feel joy
and gratitude for the life Ginny (and my other children) are living.  I
rejoice that she was ordained a priest after years of struggle with
God/Church after being rejected by a part of the Church when she understood
herself as a gay person with a call to the priesthood.

This story may seem incredible, but save possible lost details from my
fading memory, the story is accurate and true.
One afternoon in 1976, as I prepared supper, Ginny, who was 4 at the time,
came bounding down the stairs, into to kitchen.  Her eyes were opened wide,
she looked at me and proclaimed, "God wants me to be his priest!"  She had
been playing in her room when she heard God's voice call her and set her on
this course.  We did not pay much attention to a preschooler's
proclamation.  We did not make much ado over it and yet, I never forgot
it.  I did speak with our priest, almost in jest, and his response was that
we needed to take her to the pediatrician to determine what might be going
on in her brain.

Ginny struggled in high school with her need to come out.  She asked to go
to a boarding school for her senior year of high school...in order to sort
herself out.  At Easter break of that year - 1991, she confided in us that
she was a lesbian.

In the next few years, Ginny experienced great rejection from the parish
and diocese in which she hds been a respected youth of leader.  She was
told not to apply for her job as a staff member at Camp St. Christopher;
she chose to study youth ministry at a VERY conservative college in
Swananoa, NC - when they learned she was gay, they did a witch hunt, trying
to find her in compromised situations.  The laid hands on Ginny whenever
some of the authorized students saw her, asking her to tell them she was
not gay.  For the second semester at that school, they told her she could
not live on campus, although she could continue to attend classes.  Rather
than telling John and me about these things, Ginny investigated another
college just down the mountain from the conservative college.  She applied,
was accepted and told us she would be attending Warren Wilson College now.
She shared a tidbit of her experience at the other school but not much.  It
was enough for John and me to support her choice to change schools.  Warren
Wilson is a work, study, service school...Ginny's service was serving as a
youth minister at an Episcopal church in Asheville, NC.  She did maintain
this connection to God, but she ran like hell for 10 or so years from
God/Church.  She reports that one day when she was driving through the
mountains, she heard from God again...this time, "Go to Church."  And, the
rest of the story is her recommitment to God and her journey to ordination.

So I rejoice in Ginny's journey and also that she will be rector of St.
Anne's, Winston Salem, NC. As stated in my original post, St. Anne’s
Episcopal Church was established during the Civil Rights era in response to
the congregation’s robust call to support social justice ministry as a
faith community.  Their website says, “…St. Anne’s continues to be an
energetic and welcoming faith community seeking to live into the Gospel by
loving one another and accepting people where they are regardless of
identity, labels, and backgrounds.”  Let us rejoice and pray for St. Anne’s
and for Ginny Wilder as they join together to hear and follow Christ.

I am also very proud of my daughter for stepping along her journey where
the light of Christ is shone.

Blessings,
Ginga Wilder


On Mon, Aug 7, 2017 at 6:09 AM, ME Michaud <michaudme at gmail.com> wrote:

> Good Catholics pray for vocations every day,
> and nothing gives such a sense of relief and pride
> as raising a son or daughter who is a priest or religious.
>
> A strong part of my childhood, full of power and mystery.
> -M
>
> On Sun, Aug 6, 2017 at 10:08 PM, Mahoney, W. Michael <wmmah at stoneledge.net
> >
> wrote:
>
> > It's odd, you know.  I am not sure why one should be any more proud of a
> > family member of friend becoming a priest than one becoming something
> else,
> >
>