New beginnings and great hopes: memories of a joyful day

Victoria Slater (pictured below) was one of the the 66 women to be ordained priest on that momentous April weekend ten years ago. She was pictured by The Door photographer (below) just minutes after the service in Christ Church Cathedral. Here, she recalls what the day means to her.

THERE are a lot of mixed memories of the day that I was ordained priest. It was a time of great change for me personally. I had moved to Oxford from Manchester only a few weeks before in order to start a new job as chaplain to Sobell House Hospice and The Churchill hospital. I was living in a rented room and didn’t know any of the women clergy in Oxford. It felt very strange not to know anyone on the preordination retreat we had at Mansfield College. So it really was a time of new beginnings for me.

‘I was congratulated a great deal by people who simply recognised it as a sign of justice and equality’

The day itself was filled with many emotions. The ordination service in Christ Church was a solemn but joyful occasion. What I remember most was the laying on of hands when I was aware of the support of the friends taking part with whom I had journeyed for many years. After the service we emerged into Tom Quad to greet people and have photos taken. I remember feeling a great burst of joy and relief as the fact that it had finally happened hit me. There were tears and lots of hugs from friends and family. I remember being especially touched by the number of colleagues with whom I had worked in the then Manchester Royal Infirmary who had travelled down to support me. There was even a friend from the Isle of Skye.

I think that even as it happened, I was very much aware of the paradoxical nature of the event. For those of us who had waited, prayed and campaigned for a long time, this was very much a culmination and fulfilment and it was certainly that on a personal level. But also it was the end of one era and the beginning of something new albeit in continuity with what had been before. I was also aware how much significance the ordination of women held for many who were not even part of the church: I was congratulated a great deal by people who simply recognised it as a sign of justice and equality.

I think it took a while for the momentous nature of the occasion to sink in as I began my work here in Oxford. After ten years of priestly ministry it all seems a long way away but memories remain of a day filled with celebration and with hope for the future.

Revd Victoria Slater is chaplain to Sobell House Hospice and The Churchill Hospital in Oxford.

Tears of joy: Revd Victoria Slater, photographed by Frank Blackwell