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25 years ago today, the first women were ordained priests in the Church of England. After decades of waiting, hoping, pressing for women to be able to follow their calling, and looking for ways to address the concerns of those who disagreed, it happened.

Not long after my ordination, I was standing at the altar celebrating communion under the Dome at St Paul鈥檚 Cathedral in London in the middle of the day with hundreds of people in the building. A man stood looking at me intently for some time before he asked one of the cathedral staff 鈥渨hy is that priest speaking in a woman鈥檚 voice?鈥� For him, it was simply not possible to have a person who was both a priest and a woman. Something didn鈥檛 compute. Wasn鈥檛 imaginable.

In the gospel of John, Jesus says to one of his closest disciples, Mary Magdalene: 鈥済o and tell my brothers that you have seen me鈥�. He asks her to be the sole bearer of life-changing resurrection news as a witness directly to his male followers. In contrast, elsewhere in the New Testament, St Paul wrote in a letter 鈥淚 do not permit a woman to teach a man鈥�. My answer to Paul has always been respectfully 鈥� well, Jesus did. This isn鈥檛 just about ordaining women in a society where the majority of people live their lives without reference to church. It鈥檚 about the possibilities of women being bearers of new truth in society too, learning to be courageous speakers even to a predominantly male establishment when they think they won鈥檛 be believed.

And so I say 鈥� what an immense blessing to be alive in this generation. But I also want to say yes to the spirit of adventure that such a fundamental change can release. For me, this creative future will mean being an ever more compassionate church served by many more priests from minority ethnic backgrounds; served by many more priests who are free to express their love for their beloved, whoever they are. Many more priests women and men - energetic and curious, willing like Mary Magdalene, to hear new truth, ready to speak up and be counted as she was. And that this sacrificial priesthood is offered as a gift to a society increasingly unfamiliar with the Christian story.

And so on this anniversary, remembering the creativity and courage that it represents, I want to say in solidarity Me too. And with high expectation; What鈥檚 next?

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