Last Updated on July 18, 2023 by Kittredge Cherry
Nancy Ledins made national news as “America’s first female Roman Catholic priest” and first transgender Roman Catholic priest after gender confirmation surgery in 1979. She died on July 18, 2017, at age 82 in North Carolina.
Newspapers nationwide covered her transition with bold headlines such as “The Priest is a Lady” and “Former Father William Now a Woman: Priest’s Sex Change May Pose Test of Church Law.”
Ledins didn’t seek to continue serving as an official priest following her transition, but ministered in her later years at Wedgewood Church, a Charlotte church affiliated with American Baptist Churches USA.
Members of Wedgewood Church remember her fondly and built a memorial garden in her name. After the church moved to a new location, the garden ceased to exist. But the Rev. Dr. Nancy Ledins Gardens lives on in this video filmed on the former church grounds. The garden featured chime towers, bells, trellises and wind sculptures.
Ledins was born in Ohio on July 27, 1932, with the birth name William F. Griglak. Presenting as male, Griglak became a priest in 1959 with the Missionaries of the Precious Blood, a Catholic religious order. Griglak served as an Army chaplain in Vietnam, pastored in Detroit and Colorado, and earned a PhD in psychology from Catholic University of America. Gender-confirming surgery was performed on Holy Thursday 1979.
“The Priest is a Lady” was the headline for an article about Nancy Ledins in the Orange County Register on Sept. 14, 1980.
Reporters often raised technical issues surrounding Ledins’ status as a priest. Ledins was still considered a priest, even after resigning from official church roles in 1969.
As religion writer John Dart wrote in the Los Angeles Times in 1980,
“Ledins… might be the first woman priest in Roman Catholic history in a technical sense since she never sought to be returned officially to lay status, has never been summarily notified of such by the church and, by the usual understanding of church law, is still a priest – though not a legally functioning one.”
All the attention put Ledins in danger with a car bombing and other threats.
In 1996 she moved to Charlotte, where she avoided publicity and often helped lead worship at Wedgewood Church. There she preached, prayed, sang, baptized and blessed the church in many ways, according to co-pastor Ayers. Her loving spirit is obvious in the church’s video of Ledins singing a benediction in Latin.
“There are no sufficient words, there is no poetry, adequate enough to describe what Rev. Dr. Nancy Ledins meant to Wedgewood Church. Even ‘God Incarnate among us’ does not fully capture who Nancy was, what she did, and what she represented for us,” Ayers told Qspirit.net. “First and foremost, she was Nancy. And she was also our hero, our friend, our example, our wise one, the person who had endured much and was not bitter, but full of love and joy.”
Transgender Christian books
BESTSELLER AT Q SPIRIT
“Transfaith: A Transgender Pastoral Care Handbook” by Chris Dowd and Christina Beardsley with Justin Tanis.
This practical resource can help congregations welcome transgender people. Chapters cover terminology, church writings on trans people, theological reflections, Bible studies with discussion points, extensive bibliography, and liturgies such as a rite for preparation for surgery and a renaming ceremony, A chapter on transgender people in the United States is written by Tanis, who directs the LGBTQ center at Pacific School of Religion. Dowd has pastored multiple churches and Beardsley is a Church of England priest. Beardsley’s book “This is My Body: Hearing the Theology of Transgender Christians” was the #1 bestseller on Q Spirit’s Top 35 LGBTQ Christian books of 2016. Published by Darton, Longman and Todd Ltd.
BESTSELLER AT Q SPIRIT
“This Is My Body: Hearing the Theology of Transgender Christians” by Christina Beardsley and Michelle O’Brien (editors).
Transgender Christians speak for themselves in this collection. They give voice to faith and theology grounded in specific yet diverse experiences beyond the usual gender identity imposed by church tradition. The book brings hope, anger and grace, plus a review of the latest theological, cultural and scientific literature. Many contributors come from the Sibyls, a confidential spirituality group for transgender people and allies in the United Kingdom. Foreword by Susannah Cornwall. Beardsley is a Church of England priest, hospital chaplain and activist for trans inclusion in the church. Raised Anglican, O’Brien does advocacy, research, lecturing and writing on intersex and trans issues. Published by Darton, Longman and Todd Ltd.
BESTSELLER AT Q SPIRIT
“Transgender, Intersex and Biblical Interpretation” by Teresa Hornsby and Deryn Guest.
Biblical affirmation for LGBTQI people is presented by two well-known Bible scholars. They show that in the Bible, gender identity and sexual orientation are always dynamic categories that do, and must, transition. The book examines familiar (e.g., Gen 1; Revelation) and less familiar (2 Sam 6; Jer 38) scriptures to reveal the bias that makes heterosexuality and a binary two-gender system seem divinely ordained. They critique how biblical texts are used in Christian positional statements on transsexuality and provide statistic on violence against trans persons. Teresa Hornsby is religious studies professor at Drury University, Springfield, Missouri. Deryn Guest is lecturer in Biblical hermeneutics at the University of Birmingham, England. Published by SBL Press (Society of Biblical Literature).
BESTSELLER AT Q SPIRIT
BARGAIN ALERT: Lowest-priced book on the list
“Transfigured: A 40-Day Devotional for Gender-Queer and Transgender People” by Suzanne DeWitt Hall.
Be transfigured by the inclusive love and insights in this 40-day devotional for only $10. “Transfigured” is aimed at gender-queer and transgender people, but anyone will be blessed by its liberating scripture-based meditations. Meet “our gender-full God” and the Biblical eunuchs who became “non-binary heroes.” Discover how the Bible affirms gender complexity, transformation and freedom. Each day concludes with an inspirational quote from a variety of thinkers, from classics such as Saint Bonaventure and C.S. Lewis to contemporary trans trailblazers such as Austen Hartke and H. Adam Ackley. This is Volume 2 of the “Where True Love Is” series. The first volume was a bestseller on Q Spirit’s Top 25 LGBTQ Christian books of 2017. Foreword by Paula Stone Williams, a transgender woman, Colorado pastor and popular speaker on LGBTQ rights. The author is a freelance writer and HuffPost blogger who lives in Massachusetts with her wife. Published by DH Strategies.
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Related links:
Transgender Woman’s Ministry Continued Long After She Left Priesthood (New Ways Ministry)
Nancy Ledins profile (LGBT Religious Archives)
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Top image credit:
Nancy Ledins at baptism ceremony in 2016 (courtesy of Wedgewood Church)
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This post is part of the LGBTQ Saints series by Kittredge Cherry. Traditional and alternative saints, people in the Bible, LGBT and queer martyrs, authors, theologians, religious leaders, artists, deities and other figures of special interest to lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender and queer (LGBTQ) people and our allies are covered.
This article was originally published in November 2018, was expanded with new material over time, and most recently updated on on July 17, 2022.
Copyright © Kittredge Cherry. All rights reserved.
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