Thecla

Yesterday Seabury observed its now-annual celebration of the feast of Thecla. This is becoming one of my favorite services of the year, I think. Partly this is because I've been satisfied with how Hope and I have planned the service each year. Partly this is because the two Thecla sermons I've heard have been good ones. I think they have done well affirming Thecla as a model and inspiration for women in ministry while simultaneously insisting that Thecla is important for men as well as women - that she is a saint of the whole church, not just half of it. (Ok, only the Eastern Orthodox officially recognize her as such anymore, but still.) Plus, Thecla's just really darn cool.

Since she is a saint of the Eastern church and some of us feel she ought to be one in ours, Hope and I are working toward putting her up for inclusion in Lesser Feasts and Fasts. If you're somewhere in the Episcopal Church (another seminary, for example) and would like to help us in that by celebrating Thecla where you are, please let me know, and I'll be happy to email you the collect and readings we use, and a sample ordo if you'd like. (The Eastern church celebrates her on September 24, but we transfer her to a day more congenial to Seabury's academic calendar.)

(If you're at Seabury and already celebrated Thecla yesterday, come to today's service review at noon at the high table!)