The saints that give name to each of our Regional Ministry Networks in the Episcopal Diocese of Newark are from a group that was carefully chosen to be a mixture of ancient and modern saints, saints from the Americas, Asia and Africa, people of color, and multiple genders. The Rev. Florence Li Tim Oi is one of those saints. She was born May 5, 1907 and died February 26, 1992. She was the first woman ordained a priest in the Anglican Communion, and the 80th anniversary of that holy day is this Thursday, January 25, 2024. Her feast is celebrated in the Episcopal Church’s cycle of Lesser Feasts and Fasts on January 24 each year.
The Collect for her Feast day in Lesser Feasts and Fasts is:
Almighty God, who pours out your Spirit upon your sons and daughters: Grant that we, following the example of your servant Florence Li Tim-Oi, chosen priest in your church, may with faithfulness, patience and tenacity proclaim your holy gospel to all the nations, through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, in glory everlasting. Amen.
Li Tim-Oi was a living icon of faithfulness, patience, and tenacity. In the foreword to Li Tim-Oi’s memoirs, the Rev. Canon Edmund B. Der said, “She might only have been a minor character in the eight-year Sino-Japanese war, but her faithfulness and dedication in her labour along with Jesus won her the respect and love of many.” Li Tim-Oi said herself in the preface to her memoirs, “So now I reminisce about the pitter-patter of events, the raindrops of my life, as a living testimony to the Creator.” Her memoir (now out of print) is entitled Raindrops of My Life.
Mother Florence Li Tim-Oi lived a remarkable life punctuated by great hardship, rejection, and change. She herself is remarkable because of her enormous faith and persistent witness, in all aspects of telling her story, to the love of God. Her words about her life are something to contemplate in thanksgiving as this anniversary is upon us: “No one has slighted me because I was a woman priest. I have passed through countless raging tempests, through thirty years of political movement in China, and God’s hand is always there to hold me up, to conquer the darkness and rampage. God lives in human hearts and he was with me every moment.”
More about the Rev. Florence Li Tim Oi can be found at the Li Tim-Oi Foundation.
A documentary film Return to Hepu, can be found on YouTube (while somewhat dated and jarring, it is an opportunity to hear her speak in her own words).
Her memoir, Raindrops of My Life, is the source of all quotes and information not from Lesser Feasts and Fasts in this piece. It was published in 1996 by the Anglican Book Center in Toronto, Canada.
