Catherine Palmer Nichols

The ministry of Canon Catherine Nichols is sustained by the reflection of God that is revealed to her in others. It is a truism of Christianity that the primary revelation of God was in the person of Jesus. Catherine follows the path of Jesus through her pastoral care as she greets the world with the knowledge that God works through people. The central theme of her life in the Church has been to engage and challenge the structures of the Church, and society at large, to help correct injustices that have hindered the full participation of those who are disenfranchised. In this mission, she has worked for the ordination to the priesthood of women in the United Kingdom as well as the ordination of gays and lesbians in the larger Episcopal community. She also pastors her flock at Trinity: in addition to leading worship and preaching sermons, she supports Trinity's many lay ministries which include people visiting or writing letters to homebound members, delivering food to bereaved families, and knitting prayer shawls for those in the hospital. She counsels those in trouble, or sick at heart, and she actively participates and organizes a variety of Cathedral events such as Elderwise and parish get-togethers. She is a mighty force for good!

Catherine was born in New Hampshire; a premature baby whose mother knew that she would survive because of her energetic kicking and crying. After enduring three blood transfusions, baby Catherine came home. Her mother was right. She is a fighter and one who is determined to make a mark for social justice - again, following the footsteps of Jesus. Catherine's father was an Episcopal priest and she, along with her two sisters, grew up in the church rectory. While she had always gravitated toward seminary, this was not a path that was open to women. Instead, she graduated from Radcliffe College with a degree in American Colonial History. Soon after, she completed two master's of music degrees, one in flute and the other in Music History and Literature. During her early professional life of teaching both flute and Music History in a variety of university settings, Catherine juggled family (she and her husband had two children, a boy and a girl), home and work. During these early years, she and the children followed her husband through a variety of university postings as he completed his medical degrees and internships. However busy and challenged in her personal and professional life, Catherine yearned to study at seminary and for a life in the church as a priest. This became possible in 1977 when The Episcopal Church's legislative body passed women's ordination. Two years later she enrolled at The Episcopal Divinity School in Cambridge, MA, studying at the same seminary as did her father half a century earlier. Given her own struggle to become part of the priesthood, (one that is tightly woven into the fabric of her life); it is not surprising that Catherine has always taken up the fight for equal rights in the Church.

Catherine's path, structured by her willingness to work against injustice and the historical imperative for change, was at the forefront of women's ministry. Her first posting was to Texas where she was the fourth woman priest in a diocese with about 277 male priests. Her first position in Houston was at a suburban church where the presence of a woman priest came as quite a shock to some members of the parish! She then served at an inner city cathedral where she was appointed the first female Canon Pastor in Texas. When asked how she coped she said "I talked a lot about Jesus!" Catherine served in Texas for eight years before she became rector of her own parish in Middlebury, Vermont, where she led the congregation for twelve years.

Catherine moved to Portland in 2005 to enjoy being part of her granddaughter Taylor's life, and to serve as Canon Pastor at Trinity Episcopal Cathedral. She is a shining person whose life reveals the love of God for us all.

Honored By Trinity Episcopal Cathedral. Written by Cheleen Mahar