Unstoppable

Her voice had a distinctive rasp to it, the timbre only decades of smoking could cultivate. 

Barbara. Or as I knew her, The Right Reverend Barbara C. Harris, the first woman to be consecrated bishop in the Anglican Communion. 

In 1974, in Barbara's home church, eleven women were "irregularly ordained," disregarding a centuries-old ban. Known now as the "Philadelphia Eleven," this group forced the wider Episcopal Church to include women as members of the clericus. Barbara served as crucifer that day, leading a procession that would one day lead to her own.

Now, fifty years later, it's no surprise to any of us who knew her that she led the charge. Despite her diminutive size, Barbara was always the ring leader, the crusader, the voice for justice. She was unstoppable ... because she had to be.

As we mark Black History Month, I raise up the memory of Barbara Harris. A titan and a disciple. 

"Middle children, especially left-handed middle children, tend to be fiercely independent. I think I fit that model. I was always the one who took risks and dared to do adventurous things." - The Right Reverend Barbara C. Harris