St. James Cathedral in Seattle is a very lively parish as well as a Cathedral. We have a very robust liturgical and musical life, and a wide range of outreach and faith formation programs.

We wanted an event which would highlight St. Phoebe – and also foreground discussion around women and the diaconate.

For the prayer, we held a celebration of Evening Prayer from the Liturgy of the Hours. This is part of the rhythm of life at St. James Cathedral – we offer Evening Prayer every Sunday, so at least some of the parish is familiar with the Liturgy of the Hours. At the service, our women’s choir led the singing, our pastor presided, and a local woman leader preached. We could have invited a woman leader to preside as well – but we felt that it was important for the priest to be present. Our hope was that it would help people imagine what it would look like for men and women to collaborate together in the celebration of the liturgy. By celebrating Evening Prayer, rather than Mass, we were also able to demonstrate how much is already possible within the parameters of Church practice. Laypeople are only allowed to give reflections at Mass under very limited conditions. In the Liturgy of the Hours, lay preaching is already permitted.

Following the prayer service, Anna Robertson of Discerning Deacons and St. James Pastoral Assistant for Liturgy, Corinna Laughlin, shared the podium shared the podium to talk about women in the diaconate. Corinna covered the history of the practice, who women deacons were, what they did, and why they vanished. Anna talked about the present—the state of the question today and the work of Discerning Deacons to keep the dialogue going.

For us, this was a lovely and meaningful way  to introduce both St. Phoebe, and the question of women deacons, to our community.