The Rev. Jacqueline Means, the first woman ordained to the priesthood in The Episcopal Church after the 1976 canonical changes allowing women to become priests went into effect, has died. (Photo: Facebook)
[Episcopal News Service] The Rev. Jacqueline Means, the first woman ordained to the priesthood in The Episcopal Church after the 1976 canonical changes allowing women to become priests went into effect, has died.
Her death was announced by Indianapolis Bishop Jennifer Baskerville-Burrows in a June 3 message to the diocese, where Means had served throughout her ministry.
Her ordination on Jan. 1, 1977, followed the “irregular” ordination of 11 women in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on July 29, 1974, and four other women in Washington, D.C. on Sept. 7, 1975. Means had been ordained a deacon on April 6, 1974.
An Episcopal News Service story about a 1997 service marking her 20th ordination anniversary quoted Means as saying that when she first approached then-Indianapolis Bishop John Craine about her desire to be ordained a priest, she was “so nervous that I spilled a cup of coffee all over myself. But Bishop Craine was just wonderful.”
Baskerville-Burrows said that Means had served several congregations across the diocese. She also had been active in prison ministry, serving at the Indiana Women’s Prison and as director of prison ministries under the bishop for Armed Forces and Federal Ministries.
In the wake of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, Means was part of a Critical Incident Response Team formed by The Episcopal Church to help support dioceses and parishes in the regions affected – New York City, Washington, D.C., and Shanksville, Pennsylvania.
Baskerville-Burrows said of Means, “Jackie’s ministry shattered barriers and opened doors for generations of women called to the priesthood. Jackie was never content with simply breaking ground — she cultivated it. She gave her life to the work of healing, accompaniment and liberation, especially among the incarcerated, the unhoused, the grieving and the overlooked.”
Two General Conventions adopted resolutions marking anniversaries of her ordination: the 77th convention in 2012 noting her 35th anniversary, and the 80th General Convention in 2022 marking her 45th.
Funeral arrangements are pending.