Ann Holmes Redding

Last updated

Anne Holmes Redding (born October 22, 1951) is a former Episcopal priest, who was defrocked in April 2009 for having become a Muslim in March 2006. She grew up in Cheyney, Pennsylvania. Her father, Louis L. Redding, was a prominent civil rights lawyer in Delaware. [1]

Redding identifies with both faiths "100 percent", explaining that this is possible in the same way that she can be both an African American and a woman. [2] Her remarks have evoked excitement and controversy among both the Episcopal and Muslim communities. She continues to worship in the Episcopal Church, as well as with Al-Islam Center of Seattle.

Redding was placed under pastoral direction by Geralyn Wolf of the Episcopal Diocese of Rhode Island, which has disciplinary authority over her, in July 2007. Following the 15 months of pastoral direction and six months of inhibition, Redding was deposed ("defrocked") by Wolf on April 1, 2009, one week after her 25th ordination anniversary. [3]

Redding is a graduate of Brown University (AB, 1976), the General Theological Seminary (M Div, 1983), and Union Theological Seminary (PhD, 1999). She has taught at Pacific Lutheran University, Payne Theological Seminary, and the Interdenominational Theological Center, among other institutions. At the time she became a Muslim, she was Director of Faith Formation and Renewal at St. Mark's Episcopal Cathedral, Seattle, where she continued to work until she was laid off (along with two colleagues) in March 2007. She was visiting assistant professor at the School of Theology and Ministry at Seattle University from September 2007 through June 2008.

Redding has continued to speak, preach, teach, and write since the convergence of Islam and Christianity in her faith and practice. Venues include Riverside Church in New York City, Oberlin College in Ohio, the Claremont School of Theology in California, and the Center for Spiritual Living, St. Stephen's Episcopal Church, Seattle First Baptist Church, and Westside Unitarian Church in Seattle. She is the co-author, with Jamal Rahman and Katheen Schmitt Elias, of Out of Darkness Into Light: Spiritual Guidance in the Quran with Reflections from Christian and Jewish Sources (Morehouse Publishing, 2009).

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Seminary</span> Institution for educating students in theology

A seminary, school of theology, theological college, or divinity school is an educational institution for educating students in scripture and theology, generally to prepare them for ordination to serve as clergy, in academics, or mostly in Christian ministry.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ingrid Mattson</span> Canadian activist and scholar (born 1963)

Ingrid Mattson is a Canadian activist and scholar. A professor of Islamic studies, she is currently the London and Windsor Community Chair in Islamic Studies at Huron University College at the University of Western Ontario in London, Ontario, Canada. Mattson is a former president of the Islamic Society of North America (ISNA) and was described as "Perhaps the most noticed figure among American Muslim women" in a 2010 New York Times article.

The Episcopal Divinity School (EDS) is an unaccredited theological school in New York City. Established to train people for ordination in the American Episcopal Church, the seminary eventually began training students from other denominations. The school currently does not enroll any seminarians, and states that it is currently "exploring multiple models for theological education."

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hartford International University for Religion and Peace</span> Theological college in Hartford, Connecticut, United States

The Hartford International University for Religion and Peace is a private theological university in Hartford, Connecticut.

John Neil Alexander is a bishop and the Custodian of the Standard Book of Common Prayer in The Episcopal Church. He is Professor of Liturgy, Emeritus, and Quintard Professor of Theology, Emeritus, in the School of Theology of the University of the South, Sewanee, Tennessee. He served as dean of the School of Theology at the University of the South from 2012 to 2020, and is Dean Emeritus. From 2001 to 2012, he was the 9th Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Atlanta.

Carolyn Tanner Irish was an American bishop. She was the 10th Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Utah. At the time of her election and consecration in 1996 she became the fourth woman in the Episcopal Church to hold the office of bishop.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Seminary of the Southwest</span>

Seminary of the Southwest is an Episcopal seminary in Austin, Texas. It is one of nine accredited seminaries of the Episcopal Church in the United States. Seminary of the Southwest forms Christian leaders pursuing ordination within the church, as well as those interested in lay forms of ministry, including chaplaincy and counseling.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Geralyn Wolf</span> American bishop (born 1947)

Geralyn Wolf is an American bishop who was the twelfth diocesan bishop of the Diocese of Rhode Island in the Episcopal Church. Wolf was consecrated as bishop on February 17, 1996.

Alison Mary Cheek was an Australian-born American religious leader. She was one of the first women ordained in the Episcopal Church in the United States and the first woman to publicly celebrate the Eucharist in that denomination.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Danielle Tumminio Hansen</span>

The Rev. Dr. Danielle Elizabeth Tumminio Hansen is a writer, intellectual, practical theologian, and Episcopal priest whose expertise is in the intersection of spirituality and cultural life. She is currently a professor in practical and pastoral theology at Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Michael Joseph Murphy</span> American Catholic bishop

Michael Joseph Murphy was an American prelate of the Catholic Church. He served as Bishop of Erie, Pennsylvania, from 1982 to 1990.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Josiah Idowu-Fearon</span> Anglican bishop in Nigeria

Josiah Atkins Idowu-Fearon is a Nigerian Anglican bishop. Since 2015, he has been Secretary General of the Anglican Consultative Council. He was previously the Bishop of Kaduna diocese and the Archbishop of the Province of Kaduna in the Church of Nigeria.

Jean Dalby Clift was an American priest of the Episcopal Church and a pastoral counselor in private practice. She was the author of books in the fields of psychology and spirituality. "Dr. Clift has had many roles in her life, including lawyer, spiritual director, pastoral counselor, author, lecturer, workshop presenter, priest, mother, grandmother, and poet." She lectured and gave workshops in the United States, Australia, Europe, Asia and Africa on such topics as pastoral counseling, prayer, spiritual growth, journaling, pilgrimage, and the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator. Three of her five books were co-authored with her husband, the Reverend Wallace Clift.

James Michael Mark Dyer was bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Bethlehem from 1982 to 1995.

The Philadelphia Eleven are eleven women who were the first women ordained as priests in the Episcopal Church on July 29, 1974, two years before General Convention affirmed and explicitly authorized the ordination of women to the priesthood.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pamela Cooper-White</span>

Pamela Cooper-White is the Christiane Brooks Johnson Professor Emerita and Dean Emerita of Psychology and Religion at Union Theological Seminary in New York.

Ben Campbell Johnson was an American ordained minister in the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) and a professor emeritus of evangelism and spiritual direction at Columbia Theological Seminary. He is known for his work in church renewal movements and on interfaith relations between a variety of faith traditions.

Jeffery Tribble is an ordained elder in the African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church and a professor of ministry with research interests in Practical Theology, Congregational Studies and Leadership, Ethnography, Evangelism and Church Planting, Black Church Studies, and Urban Church Ministry. Academics and professionals in these fields consider him a renowned thought leader. Tribble's experience in pastoral ministry allows for his work to bridge the gap between academic research and practical church leadership.

References

  1. Rhodes, Jerry. "Redding Hall: Building dedication honors civil rights pioneer Louis L. Redding". UDaily. University of Delaware. Retrieved 15 September 2023.
  2. Local News | "I am both Muslim and Christian" | Seattle Times newspaper Archived August 24, 2007, at the Wayback Machine
  3. Episcopal Priest Ann Holmes Redding has been defrocked | Seattle Times Local News Web site (accessed Apr. 2, 2009) Archived April 2, 2009, at the Wayback Machine