Members of the congregation at a Wilmslow church have been shown a film scripted by their minister as part of morning worship. The local premiere was also attended by three members of the Green Room theatre group who helped to make the film.
'Constance', a short film about a pioneer woman minister, was the idea of Rev Dr Kirsty Thorpe, minister of Wilmslow United Reformed Church. She and fellow minister, Kevin Snyman, wanted to publicise the story of Constance Coltman (1889 to 1969) who was ordained in September 1917 at the height of World War One.
Dr Thorpe commented: 'With Mothering Sunday being on March 6th and International Women's Day two days later this was an ideal occasion to highlight the role of women in the church.
"When it was first shown in London last year I was disappointed but not surprised to hear how many of the objections to women in ministry from 100 years ago are still heard now."
The film, which received a small grant from URC central mission funds and was partly shot in Wilmslow and owes much to Ronnie and Sonia Dykstra and fellow actor David Reynolds of Wilmslow's Green Room theatre group.
The congregation was also surprised to hear an unexpected local connection to the story which Dr Thorpe has found. The principal of the Oxford college which accepted Constance Coltman for her training, which began in October 1913, had earlier married a young woman from Wilmslow.
Dr Thorpe became interested in Constance Coltman while writing her book Daughters of Dissent, published in 2004, and has continued to research her life story. After studying history and theology at Oxford, Constance and her fiancé were ordained to minister side by side in the East End of London. She was the first woman to be ordained in a mainstream Christian Denomination.
Photo:(left to right): David Reynolds, Sonia Dykstra, Rev. Dr Kirsty Thorpe and Ronnie Dykstra.
The film can be viewed on Youtube.
