Harris, Barbara Clementine

(b. June 12, 1930). First female bishop in the Anglican Communion. She was born in Philadelphia. Harris studied at the Charles Morris Price School of Advertising and Journalism at Villanova University, and at the Urban Theology Unit in Sheffield, England. Harris worked for 14 years with the Sun Oil Company. She was a member of the Church of the Advocate in Philadelphia, and led the procession on July 29, 1974, when eleven Episcopal female deacons were irregularly ordained to the priesthood. She was ordained deacon on Sept. 29, 1979, and priest on Oct. 18, 1980. Harris was priest-in-charge of St. Augustine of Hippo Church, Norristown, Pennsylvania, 1980-1984, and also worked as a prison chaplain. She was executive director of the Episcopal Church Publishing Company, 1984-1988. On Feb. 11, 1989, Harris was consecrated Suffragan Bishop of Massachusetts. She has been an advocate for the dispossessed, the poor, and those on the margins of society.