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Friday May 9th 2008 |
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Friday May 9th 2008 |
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June 12
Harris was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. She attended Saint Barnabas Episcopal Church in her hometown and developed a strong relationship with its vision. She graduated from Philadelphia High School for Girls in 1948 and enrolled in college, but did not complete her course work. In 1958 a public relations firm, Joseph Baker Associates, hired Harris, believing that she had great potential to enter this field and succeed. Two years later, Harris married. The relationship was short-lived and she divorced by 1963. Politically, as a young African American woman, she felt it her duty to be a part of the civil rights struggle. Her participation in freedom rides, voter registration, and marches with Dr. Martin Luther King in Selma, Alabama, focused Harris's attention on the importance of fighting injustice and inequality. She went on to work as a chief public relations executive at the Sun Oil Company but always held her interests in the Episcopal Church, religion, and in the struggle for justice. Harris's voice increased in the church in 1974 when she lent her support to a group of Episcopal bishops who defied a ban on ordaining women as priests. Harris became so engulfed in the issue of women's rights in the church that she contemplated becoming a priest herself. By October 1980 her dream became a reality, as she was ordained. Harris's early assignments varied from serving as chaplain in a Philadelphia County prison and working in small parishes to becoming executive director of the Episcopal Church Publishing Company. Harris wrote for the liberal Episcopal magazine “Witness” and began to receive worldwide coverage in the Anglican community. Her ascension as bishop was a major event in the religious world. The Lambeth Conference, the once-a-decade meeting of the international Anglican hierarchy, decided in early August 1988 to allow for the ordination of women as bishops in the church, and this resolution set the stage for Harris to be elected. Her election in September 1988 to be the Episcopal Bishop for the state of Massachusetts created great celebration as well as turmoil. She defeated many prominent candidates, including other female priests, in order to achieve her status. In response to her victory counter-protests were launched. Several conservative priests revolted, some breaking ties with the church completely, while top Anglican leaders, such as Robert Runcie, the archbishop of Canterbury, refused to acknowledge female bishops in England. Ecumenical ties between the Roman Catholic Church and the Anglican Church were also strained as the Catholic Church wholeheartedly opposed women entering the priesthood. Harris, for her part, took the controversy in stride and did not let the spotlight detract her from her mission. Always been outspoken, she was willing to battle potential challenges to her election as bishop, a stand that won her the admiration of many of her critics. Once elected and a consecrated bishop, Harris continued to advocate for diversity in the Episcopal Church and the entire Anglican community. Her command of a 96,000-member Boston-based diocese made her a powerful force to be reckoned with in deciding church policy and programs. Realizing that with great power came greater responsibility; Harris toned down her rhetoric but did not alter her message. She remains what she always was‑an activist critic of the status quo who constantly strives to break new ground. On July 29, 1999, Harris gave a sermon in commemoration of the 25th Anniversary of the Ordination of Women. There she lambasted the church's decennial conference at Lambeth, in which the value of having allowed women into the clery was questioned. She spoke eloquently of the new surge in opposition to women in the clergy and the fight that lies ahead. Harris faces mandatory retirement at the age of 72 in 2003. Reference: An Encyclopedia of African American Christian Heritage by Marvin Andrew McMickle Judson Press, Copyright 2002 ISBN 0-817014-02-0
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The African American Registry®, The African American Registry® Copyright 2005, 2006
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