19.11.2025
‘Their ministry gave other women confidence’ – First Women Lay Readers Celebrated
Dublin and Glendalough’s pioneering women lay readers were celebrated on Sunday (November 16) with a special service of Choral Evensong to mark the 50th anniversary of their commissioning. Lay ministers from all over Dublin and Glendalough gathered in Christ Church Cathedral to honour the women who led the way and their archbishop for enabling their ministry.
Daphne Wormell, Patricia Hastings–Hardy, Joan Rufli, Audrey Smith and Thea Boyle were personally selected and trained by Archbishop Alan Buchanan. They were commissioned by him in 1975.
Two of the original five women to be commissioned were at the service with Thea Boyle robing in the original eye catching magenta gown, joined by fellow lay reader Sylvia Armstrong from Clondalkin who read the Old Testament lesson. Joan Rufli was in the congregation. The New Testament lesson was read by the Revd John Tanner who is the current warden of lay readers and the prayers were led by Thea Boyle and Carol Casey.
The sermon was preached by Canon Dr Ginnie Kennerley, herself a former wearer of the magenta gown, who celebrated the 35th anniversary of her ordination recently. She described Archbishop Buchanan as a “true sower of the seed” when it came to enabling women’s ministry, making it visible and opening the way for women’s ordination in the Church of Ireland.
She sent good wishes to Audrey Smith who was not well enough to attend the service and remembered with gratitude the lives and ministry of both Daphne Wormell and Patricia Hastings–Hardy.
Canon Kennerley recalled the launch of Daphne’s memoir ‘With Dignity and Grace’, written with her daughter Julia. The launch in Christ Church Cathedral 12 years ago also saw the presentation of a cross she left in her will for the Church of Ireland’s first woman bishop to Bishop Pat Storey.
She said the first women lay readers were very visible in Dublin and Glendalough in their striking magenta gowns, which were designed by the Archbishop’s wife, and St Patrick’s blue readers’ scarves.
“My recollection is that women lay readers were well accepted from the beginning, reading services, leading prayers and occasionally preaching – and it’s to the credit of these first five that this was so. They took care not to confront any opposition, but concentrated simply on doing the best job they could; and this paid dividends. Their ministry gave other women the confidence to believe that they too could be accepted in the role and to become aware of a call they might otherwise have ignored. The training at the time was very thorough, demanding considerable reading and essay writing over a couple of years. The women in particular took it very seriously indeed,” Canon Kennerley said.
The number of women lay readers rose steadily and in Dublin and Glendalough there are now 25 women readers listed and 27 men. She expected that the number of women would shortly exceed the number of men as five women and one man have just entered training.
In vacancies, Canon Kennerley observed, it can be a case of “all hands on deck” for leadership of Sunday services and she expressed gratitude to the Revd John Tanner for all his organisation and guidance and to the readers’ secretary, Dee Huddleston. She wondered if the ministry of lay readers was sufficiently appreciated and encouraged or if they should be given more responsibility. In some parishes, she said, readers are routinely involved in worship by the rectors while in others they may feel they are only used as stop gaps.
She concluded by thanking the first five women who were commissioned and Archbishop Buchanan but also commending all who have followed and those who have encouraged them along the way.
