Director's Statement
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I am not Episcopalian. I was raised in a Congregational Church, and to me this story is for everyone. It is about how to break down barriers with grace, and be true to oneself in the process. And it is about standing up to institutions that do not allow all people to be who they are called to be.
The story of the first Episcopal women priests has been under the radar for decades. Perhaps this is because they disregarded certain institutional edicts, or maybe because their story is inconvenient. After all, they challenged the very core of patriarchal culture. These pioneers have taught me new ways to think about whose history is recorded and remembered, and who does the work of remembering. And they provide a vision for what a just and inclusive community looks like in practice. If we are serious about loving every human being as they are, then we must find new ways forward that disrupt the hierarchies we have inherited, and replace them with the same kind of radical inclusivity demonstrated by these priests. My greatest hope is that viewers will watch, listen deeply, and engage with others about how you might stand up so that all of us can live fully who we are called to be. |
The Movement to Tell the Story
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This film has been in production for eight years because of the challenge of securing financing. Out of determination not to let this keep us from finishing the film, in late 2021 a group of laywomen and clergy came together to help build a movement to fund the film from the grassroots. They are known as the “Film Funders Circle.” Together with their efforts, and many other people who helped to spread the word, we have built a movement to “tell the story.” Over 1,200 individual donors and countless volunteer hours have fueled the production.
This is your story. I will always be grateful that it was lifted up by the people who understand how important it is to document the struggles of our past, and who have a keen vision for how these “irregular” ordinations teach us lessons that are so crucial for our future. |
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Film Funder's Circle
Katie Courtice Basquin
Cynthia Black
Heather Huyck
Jean Jackson
Lorna Jordan
Nan Peete
Margaret Rose
Susan Russell
Ames Sheldon
Katie Sherrod
Fredrica Harris Thompsett
Cynthia Black
Heather Huyck
Jean Jackson
Lorna Jordan
Nan Peete
Margaret Rose
Susan Russell
Ames Sheldon
Katie Sherrod
Fredrica Harris Thompsett
The Team
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MARGO GUERNSEY
Director Margo Guernsey is a documentary Director/Producer, impact strategist, and founder of Time Travel Productions LLC. Her films include Councilwoman (America ReFramed 2019) and No Time To Fail (America Reframed 2023). Prior to film, Margo worked as a union organizer, non-profit development director, and Spanish/English translator. Margo’s work has received support from Chicken & Egg Pictures, ITVS, Catapult Film Fund, GoodPitch, Perspective Fund, Ford Foundation, and the National Endowment for the Humanities. She speaks both Spanish and English and holds an MFA in Film (University of Miami), MA in History (UMass Amherst), and a BA in History (Brown University). Margo teaches producing as affiliated faculty at Emerson College, and she is a current member of the Board of Directors of the Documentary Producers Association.
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NIKKI BRAMLEY
Co-Director / Director of Photography Nikki's work as a Director of Photography ranges from independent documentaries to high-end commercial projects. Recent broadcast credits include: Councilwoman (America ReFramed 2019), Breaking Big (PBS 2018), Seeing Eyes/Feeling Heart (American Masters 2018), NOVA “Addiction” (2018), NOVA “Prediction by the Numbers" (2017), Frontline (2017, 2015). Nikki graduated from the S.I. Newhouse School of Communications at Syracuse University in 2002 with a BS in Television, Radio and Film Production.
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M.E. AND KATIE ECCLES Executive Producers |
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RABAB HAJ YAHYA
Editor Rabab is a Palestinian-American documentary editor based in New York. Best known for the award-winning feature documentaries, The Feeling of Being Watched (Tribeca, 2018 | POV, 2019) for which she won Best Editing Award (Woodstock, 2018) as well as the Critic’s Choice-nominated Speed Sisters (Hot Docs, 2015 | Netflix). More recently she edited HBO’s Legends of the Underground (Tribeca, 2021| HBOMax) and Another Body (SXSW, 2023) which won the Special Jury Award for Innovation in Storytelling at SXSW. Rabab is a Sundance Institute Documentary Edit and Story Lab fellow (2014) and advisor (2023). And served as a mentor for KSFEF, Chicken & Egg, and BGDM.
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MYRA BOUTROS
Additional Editing Born and raised in Beirut, Myra earned a Master’s degree in Filmmaking and Television production with honors from the Lebanese Academy of Fine Arts - University of Balamand. In 2012 Myra moved to Boston, where she worked as an Assistant Editor on various PBS productions including American Experience, American Masters, and NOVA. She just wrapped editing her first feature length documentary Growing Through COVID-19 (not yet released). Myra is fully trilingual and has edited movies in English, French and Arabic.
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HEATHER MERRILL
Associate Producer Heather has worked in documentary production for more than 10 years. Her associate producer and research credits include work on numerous independent films, programs for Discovery, Showtime and the WORLD Channel, as well as work for the PBS series American Experience, American Masters, and NOVA. Her favorite topics have included women wrestlers, the roots of the modern Israeli-Palestinian conflict and disaster studies.
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Supporters
The DeBoccles Foundation | Episcopal Church Constable Fund | Quaker Hill Foundation
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Nonnie & Rick Burnes
Thomas J. Brown Dorothy Carey Christ Church, Cambridge, MA Christ Church, Short Hills, NJ Heather Huyck & Charles Clapper Episcopal Church in Delaware Paige & Peter Fisher Mary D. Glasspool Carol & Sherwood Guernsey Episcopal Diocese of Indianapolis Frances Hall Kieschnick |
Debra McLeod
Episcopal Diocese of Newark Episcopal Diocese of Pennsylvania K. Jeanne Person Susan B. Sasser Mary Slensky St. Peter's Episcopal Church, Morristown, NJ The Episcopal Foundation of Texas Fredrica Harris Thompsett Episcopal Diocese of Washington Washington National Cathedral |
This film was also supported by over 1,200 individual donors and countless volunteer hours. A complete list of funders is available upon request.