From the classroom to the pulpit

A woman cannot become a priest Catholic Church because it is not allowed. This upset ARC Professor and former Catholic Janine Schenone who since switched to the Episcopal Church, to become a priest after completing Divinity school. Schenone came to the American River College campus in 2001 to teach English and technical communication. She realized her true passion in life was to become a priest at the Episcopal Church with the hope of "spreading the good news of Jesus Christ-his love, comfort, and challenge to others and to share what he has done for me and others, including the marginalized, the outcast, and the disenfranchised." "I loved my job, and still love it," she said. "A year and a-half ago I felt a powerful sense of wanting to preach." Starting next semester, Schenone will begin preaching full-time and teaching part-time. Next semester, she will pursue her life's dream when she begins attending seminary to obtain a master's in divinity from Yale Divinity School. "God made me want to become one," she said referring to her inspiration to become a priest. Schenone first visited an Episcopal Church in 2003 and learned women may be ordained priests. Since then, the thought has not left her head. The thought of women not being allowed to preach was Schenone's main factor in her conversion to the Episcopal Church. "It wasn't fair to me," she said, "I needed to be in a place where the spiritual gifts of women were allowed to flourish." Schenone's family has been very supportive of her conversion and desire to preach. She has even inspired one of her three children to switch denominations. The Episcopal Church is known for its diversity. It began ordaining women priests in 1976 and their first openly-gay priest was ordained in 1989. "I believe we need to give up our attachment to the idea that one religion or philosophy is better than another to move forward," she said.