The initial group that founded St. Mark’s in 1948 included many women, most of whom later served in leadership positions in the parish. In March of 1948, the committee charged with organizing the original church corporation included three men and two women (Mrs. Redlick and Mrs. Lynn). In May of 1948, a Board of Directors was elected that included five men and four women (Mrs. Lynn, Mrs. Pope, Mrs. Poole and Mrs. Ferguson). Note, these women were always referred to by their married names…their first names were never included in the minutes until the 1960’s. In July of 1948, the first Bishop’s Committee for the St. Mark’s mission was elected and again included five men and four women (Mrs. Lynn, Mrs. Pope, Mrs. Poole and Mrs. Ferguson). It seemed that St. Mark’s was starting off strong in terms of including women in key leadership roles on the governing boards of the congregation.
But when the first slate of 12 members for election to the Vestry of St. Mark’s Parish was presented in December of 1948, the ballot included 12 men…and no women. And so it went…in 1949, 1950, 1951, 1952, and 1953 there were no female nominees on the Vestry slate. Mrs. Poole (who chaired the nominating committee in 1952) noted that “from a list of twenty-five to thirty capable men” the committee had chosen five nominees. Women were, apparently, not even considered for a role on the Vestry (St. Mark’s Vestry Minutes).
Although there were no women on the Vestry, there was strong female leadership in the Parish. The Women’s Auxiliary oversaw a surprising number of parish programs and raised money independently to support those programs. The Women’s Auxiliary, in fact, had a lot of power and Canon West, St. Mark’s Rector from 1951 To 1961, had a complicated relationship with the WA! More on this in a future article.
Whether it was on his own initiative, or via pressure from the Women’s Auxiliary, in December of 1953 Canon West “indicated his wish that we have two women on the vestry next election.” (St. Mark’s Vestry Minutes). During the January 1954 Annual Meeting, Canon West stated that “he is requesting for the first time we have two women placed on the Vestry.” (St. Mark’s Vestry Minutes). The Vestry put forward two men as their nominees, and then the Women’s Auxiliary was asked to nominate two candidates. Their nominees were Mrs. Glenn (Sybil) Kenyon and Mrs. Richard (Mary) Kennedy. Sybil Kenyon and Mary Kennedy were the first two women to serve on St. Mark’s Vestry and served from 1954-1958. Both also served in many other leadership roles at St. Mark’s over the years and Mary Kennedy served on the Vestry again during an especially turbulent time in the life of the parish in the early 1960’s.
From 1955 on there were always at least two women on the Vestry. It wasn’t until many years later that membership on the Vestry was truly inclusive and women were represented in equal numbers on this important governing group in the Parish.
(Note: The picture above (left) is Rosemary Foos, Rev. Catie Greene and Mary Kennedy on the occasion of Mary’s 98th birthday in 2007 and right Mary Kennedy. Mary was a member of St. Mark’s for 64 years – from 1948 until her death in 2012 at the age of 102!)
