Mary Kay Kusner says a sense of social justice drove her to become this state's first "womanpriest."
She is a priest in the Roman Catholic tradition.
But the church forbids female clergy, so she has been excommunicated.
Kusner said her ordination had another consequence: "I had never planned to grow a church."
A
year later, the 51-year-old Iowa City woman is doing just that.
Kusner,
a married mother of four, marked the first anniversary after her
controversial ordination by leading Mass for about 20 people Sunday
afternoon here.
What started as a small group of about 10 people
meeting regularly in homes has now grown into a community called Full
Circle with 25 to 30 core members who attend twice-monthly Masses that
Kusner leads. Another 50 supporters are on the mailing list.
Regenia
Nicolosi, a bishop in the Roman Catholic womenpriests movement,
ordained Kusner in June 2010 at a ceremony attended by nearly 300 people
at First Christian Church here.
About two dozen clergy members from
churches throughout the area were in attendance, Kusner said.
"I
can remember having fear and trepidation of what it was going to mean,"
said Kusner, who works as a chaplain at University of Iowa Hospitals.
"But actually, it's been a real affirmation that people are really ready
for this, that so many people who grew up Catholic are ready for this."
The
Davenport, Iowa, Diocese issued a statement in the weeks preceding her
ordination reaffirming the church's condemnation of the practice.
Bishop
Martin Amos said any ordained woman or anyone involved in the
ordination of women is automatically excommunicated.
More than 100
women now have been ordained in the worldwide movement, which
reportedly began with Catholic bishops' secret ordination of seven women
in 2002 in Germany.
The organization says those first ordinations
gave its subsequent ordinations legitimacy by following "apostolic
succession."
But last year the Vatican added the ordination of women to a
list of the most serious crimes against the church.
Since August, Kusner has been presiding over Sunday afternoon Masses at New Song Episcopal Church here.
For
some Full Circle members, the community has become their primary
church. For others, it's a supplement to Sunday morning Mass elsewhere.
"I
experienced it myself; it's a difficult leap for people to go from a
sanctioned, traditional Catholic church to something that is
unsanctioned, uses inclusive language and has a woman pastor," Kusner
said.
"It's a big jump. So we have some people who actually go to
traditional church in the morning, and our liturgy in the afternoon.
They're still trying to figure out where they are."
Mary Nappi
grew up Catholic, but she said because she is gay, she had been "sort of
ushered out" of her church. She has been attending Full Circle services
since September.
"I had a double lung transplant in November, and
she personally and the community itself has helped both my partner and I
get through the surgery and everything afterward," Nappi said of
Kusner.
Kusner, who grew up in a devout family in Ohio, said she
had long struggled to balance her personal beliefs with the stances of
the church.
"I was feeling hypocritical for a long time that I
wear this hat of Catholic, but my beliefs are very liberal," Kusner
said.
"I was certainly raised very traditional, my parents were very
traditional, but I always believed that women should be ordained, gays
should be able to marry - things that are big no-nos in the Catholic
tradition."
Full Circle's Masses follow a format traditional
enough to be familiar to Catholics, but with some notable differences.
After her homily, for instance, Kusner engages the congregation in a
dialogue about the readings.
After growing up viewing priests as
the final authority on spirituality and people to be revered, Kusner
said she takes a different approach.
"Now what I feel like I
embody is a very approachable human being who in no way is judgmental or
wanting to convey that image, because I believe our God is an
incredibly loving, open God," she said. "So if I can embody that kind of
a priest, that for me is deeply satisfying."
Jerry and Mary Nixon
hosted meetings for the faith group in their Iowa City home before Full
Circle began to grow in size, and they were among the members who
encouraged Kusner to pursue her ambitions of priesthood.
"We try
to be very inclusive," Jerry Nixon said of Full Circle. "God never
turned anybody away that I know of, and God has no religion, that I know
of. ... I think that's how Mary Kay is, she's very open to people."