Leaving behind the familiar for a new faith experience

I was raised Catholic. I’ve attended Catholic school my entire life—a grand total of 17 years following my graduation this coming May. However, despite these many years, I’ve never seen a woman in the dominant role on the altar. Sure, girls and women have served as altar servers, members of the choir, and lectors, but never in the same capacity as what I saw at the mass I attended officiated by Rev. MariClair Partee Carlsen.

As a part of my Feminist Theologies course, taught by Millie Feske, Ph.D., I attended an Episcopal service officiated by a woman in order to gain perspective about women in the clergy. My friend and I drove further into West Philadelphia to St. Mary’s, Hamilton Village, located on the campus of the University of Pennsylvania.

The experience of an Episcopal service was unlike anything I’d ever seen, especially because I cannot recall having ever gone to a non-Catholic service. I attended a Lutheran preschool, but don’t recall going to any church services. The atmosphere at St. Mary’s was very different than my Catholic parish at home, and I was surprised by the strong sense of community. The woman seated in front of us came over and introduced herself and spoke with us, and Partee Carlsen approached us before the service to introduce herself and welcome us to St. Mary’s.

The welcoming spirit came to light even before we set foot in the church, though. My friend and I were confused as to exactly where to go and which door to enter in, and a man who was also attending the service showed us the way, welcomed us, and wished us a good day.

Everyone was welcoming and warm, and it was interesting to see how differently the congregation acted in comparison to Catholic parishioners. When Partee Carlsen made the announcements, people from the congregation were invited to speak; one announcement that really struck me was a woman who asked the congregation for help on behalf of her daughter for a science fair project. I’ve never encountered anything like that; usually the announcements at Catholic Mass are strictly about parish happenings, and are said only by whoever is acting as cantor. It was, for lack of a better word, heartwarming, to see someone directly reaching out to their fellow members of the congregation.

I also found it interesting that their coffee hour was held right in the sanctuary of the church. I’m not sure if St. Mary’s has a basement, but every Catholic church event I’ve been to that involves a post-Mass gathering always happens either in the church basement or the parish hall, which are sometimes the same thing.

The actual service didn’t differ from the Catholic Mass as much as I had expected, but there was something inspiring about seeing a woman lead the service. When Partee Carlsen introduced herself to our group prior to the service, she hadn’t yet changed into her vestments, but it was still sort of shocking to see a woman wearing the collar, something I had only ever before seen worn by Catholic priests.

In all my years of attending Catholic mass, I have never been so moved by a homily, and I’m not sure if Partee Carlsen’s impact had more to do with the grief of the election results and the fear of the events that followed, or the fact that seeing a woman on the altar was so inspiring. In any case, the service at St. Mary’s has helped me feel just the slightest bit more hopeful in light of the fear and violence that has occurred across America over the past few weeks.