In our community here at St. Elizabeth Catholic Church in Richmond, VA we celebrated St. Phoebe Day throughout the month of September 2024. To advertise our event, we had a bulletin insert the first Sunday of September explaining the history and significance of St. Phoebe before our celebration officially began.

For each of the following four Sundays throughout the month, a different woman from our parish community shared a brief reflection about her own sense of calling to ministry and leadership as part of the homily after the priest celebrant. Additionally, after Communion each of those Sundays, eight different parish ministries were highlighted and all of the women involved in each of those ministries came forward to receive a beautiful St. Phoebe prayer/thank you card and to be blessed by the community. By the end of the month, about 30 different ministries were named, and the women ministers in each were blessed and acknowledged.

This felt like a beautiful way to uplift and recognize the many wonderful female leaders in our parish community who minister to all of us so selflessly. For many, it was deeply meaningful to see women sharing their reflections as a part of the homily. Our celebration throughout the month also raised awareness of St. Phoebe and the Synod, and we also inclusively thanked, appreciated and recognized all of the women in our parish community who serve in a variety of capacities. We hope that the many women who have labored for our community in seen and unseen ways felt cared for, appreciated and acknowledged.

The first speaker who shared centered her reflection on the theme of “just say yes,” listing the many times she had heard a vocational calling in her own life and had responded affirmatively. This was transformative for her. She implied this extends more broadly to us as a church — now is the time to “just say yes” to the inclusion of women in the permanent diaconate.

Having our celebration spread out over the course of the month worked well for our community. Throughout the month, for four Sundays in a row, parishioners were reminded of St. Phoebe and examples of women in leadership and ministry roles acknowledged and celebrated.

Our community’s celebration of St. Phoebe Day reminded us to look around at countless women who respond generously with their time, talent, and treasure instead of exclusively looking at the “usual suspects” of more high profile church leaders.

As a whole, we are grateful for this experience in our parish and for the opportunity to uplift St. Phoebe in this way. We will continue to learn about St. Phoebe, to pray for women’s inclusion in the life and leadership of the Church, and together, to uplift and celebrate the ministry of women in our midst. St. Phoebe, pray for us!