Local Anglicans will have the opportunity to start off the New Year at an historic service in Somerset when for the first time a Bermudian Anglican woman is the priest in the pulpit.

Rev. Joanna Pauline Hollis was ordained into the Priesthood on December 10 in Santa Barbara, California. Rev Hollis' ordination is thought to be the first of a Bermudian woman in the Anglican faith. The Anglican Church of Bermuda only this year overturned 400 years of tradition and voted in favour of women clergy on the Island.

The move passed by a majority vote of the Synod in June with many local Anglicans saying it was long overdue. According to Anglican Bishop the Rt. Rev. Patrick White, no women had ever applied for a vacancy in Bermuda.

He said it was likely that because they knew the stance of the local church, no one challenged it as a case of discrimination.

Just in time to take advantage of the new ruling, Rev. Joanna Hollis, youngest daughter of Archdeacon Emeritus, Arnold Hollis, graduated from seminary school in California. In May, Rev. Hollis obtained a Masters in Divinity from the Church Divinity School of the Pacific. In June, she was ordained as a Deacon in the Episcopal Church of United States.

Rev. Joanna Hollis said she had no immediate plans to work in Bermuda and would go where she was called to minister. Her father said he was delighted and proud of her accomplishments and would not try to influence her work decisions.

Rev. Hollis was ordained into the Priesthood on December 10 in an evening ceremony at the church where she currently serves as Associate Rector-Trinity Church, Santa Barbara, California.

Asked how she felt after the ordination Rev. Hollis said: "I am extremely happy to have gotten to this point in my life, and I am so glad that my family was there to experience this with me. Also, I am very grateful to all of those who have supported me through prayers and gifts."

She will be in Bermuda with them for the holidays and has agreed to deliver the sermon on January 3 at St. James Church in Somerset where her father is the priest in charge.

"With the permission of the Bishop of Bermuda, she will celebrate and preach at the 10.30 a.m. service at St. James Church, Sandys," her father said in a prepared statement. "Everyone is welcome to worship with us and to fellowship with us in the Parish Hall after the service, especially the many well wishers from all over Bermuda."

Before embarking on her seminary studies Rev. Hollis taught Japanese in Japan for two years. She obtained a Bachelor of Arts in Sociology and Japanese, having spent her third year at Doshisha University.

After teaching she attended the Monterey Institute of International Studies where she obtained a Masters Degree in teaching a foreign language.

She also won a prestigious Fulbright Scholarship to study advanced Japanese in Japan during a summer break.