My vote: Florence Li Tim-Oi
Nicolaus von Zinzendorf is not personally offensive to me, but he was an early advocate and deployer of Christian missionaries, and such missionaries (Moravian like Zinzendorf and otherwise) have had such a negative impact that I cannot support him.
Florence was the first ordained to the priesthood in the Anglican Communion. During the 2nd Sino-Japanese War, she helped refugees and administered communion with permission by her bishop due to the lack of actual priests available, and was unofficially ordained by him in 1944. The next decades would see her persecuted for her faith by the Communist government of China. She was officially recognized in 1971, and lived the rest of her life in Toronto. The first woman to get any kind of official recognition in a leadership role in any Christian denomination must be pretty special, which is why Florence gets my vote. Sorry Moravians.
Nicolaus von Zinzendorf is not personally offensive to me, but he was an early advocate and deployer of Christian missionaries, and such missionaries (Moravian like Zinzendorf and otherwise) have had such a negative impact that I cannot support him.
Florence was the first ordained to the priesthood in the Anglican Communion. During the 2nd Sino-Japanese War, she helped refugees and administered communion with permission by her bishop due to the lack of actual priests available, and was unofficially ordained by him in 1944. The next decades would see her persecuted for her faith by the Communist government of China. She was officially recognized in 1971, and lived the rest of her life in Toronto. The first woman to get any kind of official recognition in a leadership role in any Christian denomination must be pretty special, which is why Florence gets my vote. Sorry Moravians.
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