Patricia Wilson-Kastner papers, 1944 -- 1998

Summary Information

Abstract

Patricia Wilson-Kastner was a Roman Catholic nun, United Church of Christ pastor, Episcopalian priest, and Trinity Church Professor of Preaching at General Theological Seminary in New York City. The collection contains correspondence, sermons, publications, course material, notes, and photographs related to Wilson-Kastner's parish and academic career.

Description

Scope and Contents

This collection consists of notes, sermons, and subject files relating to Wilson-Kastner's work in the ordained ministry. Also included are correspondence, lecture notes, church bulletins, diplomas, journals, published articles, clippings from magazines and newspapers, and a small amount of audiovisual material.

• Series 1: Early life and the Order of Sisters of St. Mary Namur, circa 1944 -- 1969

  This series documents much of Wilson-Kastner's childhood and family life, and contains a birth certificate, family photos, and early journal writings.

• Series 2: University of Iowa, circa 1970 -- 1974

  This series contains correspondence, course syllabi, and teaching notes from Wilson-Kastner's PhD work at the University of Iowa. Her certificate of ordination, wedding photos and marriage certificate are also in this series.

• Series 3: United Theological Seminary and St. Christopher's Church, circa 1975 -- 1983

  This series consists of course notes for teaching and notes for writing, church bulletins, sermons, and photos.

• Series 4: General Theological Seminary, circa 1975 -- 1991

  This series consists of extensive notes, correspondence, newspaper clippings, and writings regarding the ordination of women in the Anglican Church worldwide. Notes and drafts of journal articles are included, as are reviews of Wilson-Kastner's books. Also included are clippings, correspondence, course syllabi, hand written lecture notes and chapters copied from other textbooks. Reports and notes pertaining to ecumenical dialogue between the Episcopal Church and the Roman Catholic and Methodist Churches are included as well as committee meetings on incorporating inclusive language into the Eucharist, notes on stewardship within the church, and sermons preached at Christ and St. Stephen's Church and Church of the Holy Apostles, both in Manhattan.

• Series 5: Church of the Resurrection, circa 1980 -- 1992

  This series consists of clippings, correspondence, conference notes on ecumenical dialogue and inclusive language, notes on stewardship and women's ordination, sermons and journal writings, drafts of books, photos of church members and church functions, and correspondence related to the conflict in the parish.

• Series 6: St. Anne's and the Holy Trinity, circa 1990 -- 1998

  This series consists of clippings, course syllabi and notes, files on ecumenical dialogue, inclusive language, and sermons preached at St. Ann's and Holy Apostle's church in Brooklyn, New York. Files on the continuing struggle for the ordination of women are included.

• Series 7: Restricted material, 1967 -- 1997

  This series contains correspondence and other materials including minutes, statistics, reports, items related to Patricia's death, and an Autobiographical sketch Psychotherapy journal.

• Series 8: Oversized materials, circa 1970 -- 1990

  This series contains diplomas, prints and artwork, certificates, calendars, and guest books, as well as books written by Wilson-Kastner and copies of journals in which she is published. Also included are one audiotape and one videotape of her last service, celebrated on January 11, 1998 at Holy Apostle's Church in Brooklyn.

Burke Library record group:

Archives of Women in Theological Scholarship (AWTS)

Arrangement

This collection is arranged in 8 series: 1. Early life and the Order of Sisters of St. Mary Namur; 2. University of Iowa; 3. United Theological Seminary and St. Christopher's Church; 4. General Theological Seminary; 5. Church of the Resurrection; 6. St. Anne's and the Holy Trinity; 7. Restricted material; and 8. Oversized materials.

• Series 1: Early life and the Order of Sisters of St. Mary Namur, circa 1944 -- 1969
• Series 2: University of Iowa, circa 1970 -- 1974
• Series 3: United Theological Seminary and St. Christopher's Church, circa 1975 -- 1983
• Series 4: General Theological Seminary, circa 1975 -- 1991
• Series 5: Church of the Resurrection, circa 1980 -- 1992
• Series 6: St. Anne's and the Holy Trinity, circa 1990 -- 1998
• Series 7: Restricted material, 1967 -- 1997
• Series 8: Oversized materials, circa 1970 -- 1990

Using the Collection

Conditions Governing Access

This collection contains some restricted material. Restrictions related to specific material are listed in the detailed contents list.

Conditions Governing Use

Some material in this collection may be protected by copyright and other rights. Information concerning copyright, fair use, and reproduction requests can be consulted at Columbia's Copyright Advisory Office.

Preferred Citation

Item description, AWTS: Patricia Wilson-Kastner papers, series #, box #, folder #, The Burke Library at Union Theological Seminary, Columbia University in the City of New York.

Custodial History

For appendices including PWK's bibliography and computer files, please consult the legacy finding aid by contacting Burke staff.

Immediate Source of Acquisition

G. Ronald Kastner, husband of Patricia Wilson-Kastner, donated her papers to the Archives of Women in Theological Scholarship in 1999. Additional materials were received in 2000.

About the Finding Aid / Processing Information

Columbia University Libraries, Burke Library at Union Theological Seminary

Processing Information

When the Burke Library acquired Wilson-Kastner's papers, an attempt was made to maintain the original order she imposed throughout the course of her career. Sermons are grouped by church year, and then by liturgical calendar (for example, Palm Sunday before Good Friday, Easter before Pentecost, Ordinary time, Advent, Epiphany). Dates are followed when they are provided. When Wilson-Kastner preached at two different churches within the same time period, they are organized by church when possible and then by liturgical calendar. Folded materials were flattened. Newspaper clippings were photocopied on acid free paper. Staples, rubber bands, and metal clips were removed and replaced with plastic clips. All materials were placed in acid-free folders and boxes. Computer files from Wilson-Kastner's desktop and laptop computers were transferred to a CD-ROM. A listing of these files may be found in and appendix of the legacy finding aid, though much of this material is restricted (please contact burkespecial@library.columbia.edu for more information). In 2024, Box 1 and Box 39 were deaccessioned from the collection due to their contents being out of current collecting scope; also in 2024, the contents of Boxes 36-38 were added to Box 35. The finding aid was created by Leslie Reyman in 2000, and edited by Leah Edelman in 2024.

Revision Description

2024-07-16 PDF converted to EAD and description updated by Leah Edelman.

Biographical / Historical

Patricia Ann Wilson was born on September 18, 1944 in New York City to Woodrow and Mary Wilson, the oldest of 4 children. She grew up in Dallas, Texas and graduated from Our Lady of Good Counsel High School in 1962, and was voted Most Likely to Succeed by her peers. She joined the Order of Sisters of St. Mary Namur in Dallas in 1962. She was named Sister Jeremy after the Old Testament prophet Jeremiah, an agitator, who was thrown into a cistern by his enemies. During her six years in the Order, Sister Jeremy became an English and Religion teacher at Nolan High School in Dallas, Texas. The nuns encouraged her to be better educated in philosophy and theology, but as her education progressed she found that her doubts made it impossible to continue in that part of the church. She was forced from the Order of St. Mary because of her political activity in 1968, when she led a rump convention for Eugene McCarthy in Fort Worth. When she made the front page of the papers in her religious habit, the Mother Superior said she was not to show her face at the motherhouse again. Later that same year, she was gassed in Grant Park in Chicago during the demonstrations surrounding the Democratic National Convention at which Hubert Humphrey was nominated for President. Wilson graduated Summa Cum Laude with a Bachelor of Arts in English in 1967 and received a Master of Arts in Theology in 1969, both from the University of Dallas. She moved to Iowa City, Iowa to pursue a doctoral degree in world religions at the University of Iowa. During this time Wilson changed her denominational affiliation. In 1973 she joined the United Church of Christ, and served as Pastor of the Welsh Congregational Church in Iowa City, Iowa for two years. After changing her area of study, she received a PhD in religion from the University of Iowa in 1973. There she met her future husband, George Ronald Kastner, a doctoral student in comparative literature. They were married in Iowa City on May 26, 1974. In 1975 she became the first woman faculty member of United Theological Seminary in New Brighton, Minnesota. Wilson-Kastner first became Assistant for three years, then Associate Professor for four years of Historical and Constructive Theology. During this time she also was a visiting faculty member at Luther Northwestern Seminary in St.Paul, Minnesota and at the University of Iowa in Iowa City. But by 1976 Wilson-Kastner was beginning to feel she wanted more theology and liturgy than the United Church of Christ could give her. She met with the Bishop and the Standing Committee of the Episcopal Diocese in Minnesota; was interviewed by the faculty at Seabury Western, the Episcopal seminary in Chicago; and read the appropriate books in preparation for a second ordination. In April 1979, she was ordained a deacon, and then in September of that same year she was ordained as a priest in the Episcopal Church in the Diocese of Minnesota. While continuing as professor at United Theological Seminary, she served three years as Priest Associate at St. Christopher's Church in Roseville, Minnesota. In 1982 Wilson-Kastner became the Trinity Church Professor of Preaching at General Theological Seminary in New York City. During her seven years there she also served as a Priest Associate at the Church of the Holy Apostle (two years) and then at Christ and St. Stephen's (four years), both in Manhattan. Feeling the need for a less academic focus in her life, in essence wanted to 'practice what she preached,' Wilson-Kastner decided to seek full time parish work. In February 1989 she became the Rector of the Church of the Resurrection in North Carolina. Three months after taking on the responsibilities as rector, Wilson-Kastner underwent surgery. A lengthy recuperation seemed to drive a wedge between her and members of the church community. On her return to work, Wilson-Kastner began changing the liturgy from the monastic model that the congregation was used to, to liturgy that followed the prayer book more closely. In 1992, Wilson-Kastner became Rector or St. Ann's and the Holy Trinity Church in the Brooklyn Heights neighborhood of Brooklyn. Soon after arriving at St. Ann's, Wilson-Kastner attempted to evict the St. Ann's Center for Restoration and the Arts (SACRA) from the church, with the support of the vestry (the church governing board). High-level meetings between the diocese, the SACRA board and Wilson-Kastner led to a peaceful resolution of the situation in 1993.

In February 1995, Wilson-Kastner again moved to evict the St. Ann's Center from the church, with the backing of Bishop Walker. This time, however, the vestry was not in support of the action and passed a resolution opposing the eviction. Wilson-Kastner began legal proceedings in civil court (City of New York) to enforce the eviction. The vestry counter-sued stating that the rector could not evict without the approval of the vestry. In May 1995, the vestry formally asked the bishop to dissolve the pastoral relationship. Within weeks Wilson-Kastner asked the bishop to remove her as rector of St. Ann's, but the bishop made no decision. In December 1995, the vestry voted to change the bylaws of the parish. In January 1996, Wilson-Kastner and Clarence Clark (a previous senior warden on the vestry) filed a restraining order in New York State Supreme Court claiming that the election of the new vestry was illegal because, according to church law, only the rector can call for a vestry election and must preside over the meeting. The Bishop of the Diocese of Long Island, Orris Walker, rendered a decision known as a "Godly Judgment" on the matter in March 1996. He would dismiss the rector providing that all the members of the vestry resign and that all physical properties be handed over to the bishop. Members of the vestry refused to resign. The stalemate lasted a year. The bishop surprised Wilson-Kastner on January 24, 1997 with a "Godly Judgment" dissolving her pastoral relationship with St. Ann's and the Holy Trinity church effective January 31, 1997. Wilson-Kastner had taped a letter of resignation to Bishop Walker's office door the previous week. That gave Wilson-Kastner only one week to leave the church. Although this ended her professional relationship with the church, she was still connected to the church because of the newly elected vestry's refusal to pay the agreed upon compensation package and back wages. Disagreements remained, however, over financial matters involving Wilson-Kastner, the parish and the diocese as well as responsibility for the conflict itself. In the fall of 1996, while the conflict at St. Ann's was in its final stages, Wilson-Kastner became adjunct professor at Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary, Evanston, Illinois. In the spring of 1997, she was appointed an adjunct at Auburn Seminary, New York City. At the time of her death, January 1998, Wilson-Kastner was Vice President of the Board of Trustees of Mercer Theological School in Garden City, NY. She was also serving as interim priest at the Church of the Holy Apostles in the Windsor Terrace neighborhood of Brooklyn.

Subject Headings

The subject headings listed below are found in this collection. Links below allow searches for other collections at Columbia University, through CLIO, the catalog for Columbia University Libraries, and through ArchiveGRID, a catalog that allows users to search the holdings of multiple research libraries and archives.

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Name
Wilson-Kastner, Patricia -- : Archives	CLIO Catalog	ArchiveGRID