Rev. Ann Coburn, Connecticut’s first female Episcopal priest, has died

The Rev. Ann Coburn, the barrier-breaking theologian who put Connecticut at the center of the movement to open the Episcopalian clergy to women, died on June 7 at the age of 74 in Oakland, California.

The former Ann Struthers of Rye, Coburn was among the first cohort of women Episcopal priests when she was ordained at St. James”™ Episcopal Church in Danbury in December 1977, just one year after the church expanded the priesthood to include women. She was the first woman priest in Connecticut and with her husband Michael became the first married couple to be ordained together.

According to the Episcopal News Service, Coburn served at St. James”™ as a curate from 1977 to 1979 and later as rector from 1982 to 1998, where she mobilized ecumenical groups in Danbury to pursue local causes including the founding of the Daily Bread Food pantry. She later served as a canon at Christ Church Cathedral in Hartford, as rector of St. Martin”™s Episcopal Church in Providence, Rhode Island, and as interim rector of Grace Church, New Bedford, Massachusetts, and also served six terms in the Episcopal House of Deputies and from 2000-2005 on the Executive Council of The Episcopal Church.

Coburn was also director of fundraising and financial oversight for the Episcopal Peace Fellowship Palestine Israel Network and was the 2023 Cotton Fite Award recipient for her work on behalf of that endeavor.