Bermuda's first female Anglican priest has spoken of the "significance and importance" of her groundbreaking new role.

Reverend Joanna Hollis was ordained in Santa Barbara, California on December 10 and has joined her father, Archdeacon Emeritus, Arnold Hollis in becoming an Anglican priest.

The Anglican Church of Bermuda only this year overturned 400 years of tradition and voted in favour of women clergy on the Island.

Rev. Hollis obtained a Masters in Divinity from the Church Divinity School of the Pacific in May and in June, was ordained as a Deacon in the Episcopal Church of United States.

She is now Associate Rector at the Trinity Church where she was ordained into the Priesthood.

Rev. Hollis spoke at her father's church, St. James Church in Somerset yesterday morning in what is deemed to be the first time a woman has preached.

"I preached about spiritual blessings. Basically I talked about God's love and grace is all around us and if we pay attention to what God is doing around us then we can recognise this love and this grace. I spoke about the spiritual blessing in Ephesians and I kind of compared that to the blessings of my mother."

Speaking about being the first female Bermudian priest, Rev. Hollis, who prefers to be called Joanna, said: "I think at this point, I haven't wrapped my head about it because you know in California where I am, I'm not thinking about it because there's females all over the place. But I am coming to realise the significance and the importance.

"It doesn't have anything to do with me personally, but it's important for the women of Anglican church in Bermuda and in general. It's pretty significant and I am honoured to be the one who's representing this movement."

The 34-year-old said this sermon was the third she'd preached and was honoured to speak at the church she grew up in.

"It's also interesting to preach where my father's been for over 30 years and speak to people who have basically seen me in diapers. I think there's some surrealness to it."

Rev. Hollis also spoke about the escalating violence in Bermuda.

"My first reaction to hearing about all the violence is sadness. I have always thought of Bermuda as one of the safest places and I am realising that that's no longer the case and it's really sad for me. I think that this community has the power to really come together and work with each other, work with the Police, work with the people who are in the gangs to, you know, talk about what is the meaning of all of this.

"There's no meaning in this except for maybe greed. That's not really meaning, it's greed. It's a sad situation but my feeling is that Bermuda has the power to really do something about it."

l See tomorrow's The Royal Gazette for an in-depth interview with Rev. Hollis and her views on homosexuals in the church, why she decided to become a priest and whether or not Bermudians have accepted her.