Fleming Rutledge

Alice Fleming Rutledge (née Parker) (born November 24, 1937), known as Fleming Rutledge, is an American Episcopal priest and author. Ordained to the diaconate in 1975, she was one of the first women to be ordained to the priesthood in the Episcopal Church.

Rutledge is widely recognized in the United States, in Canada, and in the UK as a preacher and lecturer who teaches other preachers. Her particular expertise is the intersection of biblical theology with contemporary culture, current events and politics, literature, music and art. She has often been invited to preach in prominent pulpits. She is a noted Tolkien scholar, bringing a Christian perspective to the study of the writings of J. R. R. Tolkien, who was a devout Roman Catholic.

Family and education

Rutledge was born Alice Fleming Parker on November 24, 1937, in Richmond, Virginia. She graduated from Sweet Briar College in 1959 magna cum laude with highest honors in English and was elected to Phi Beta Kappa. She received her Master of Divinity degree from Union Theological Seminary in New York in 1975. She was awarded an honorary Doctor of Divinity degree from Virginia Theological Seminary in May 1999.

Ordained ministry

In 1975, Rutledge was ordained as a deacon. In January 1977 she became one of the first women to be ordained as a priest in the Episcopal Church.

Rutledge worked at Christ's Church, Rye, New York, creating and leading a Christian program for high school pupils. During the 1980s, she served as an assistant priest, and later as a senior associate priest, at Grace Church in New York City, where she took an active part in renewing the church's mission. The parish became well known for its young congregation and for its evangelistic sermons. Wood writes that Rutledge avoids the Manichean trap of supposing that the novel is the tale of good versus evil, something that he states Tolkien "abominated", as the book constantly shows that the "allegedly good" can be dangerously complacent, while the "supposedly evil" can do noble things, and the divide between good and evil runs along "the crooked line cleaving every human and hobbitic, every dwarvish and elvish heart". The Crucifixion: Understanding the Death of Jesus Christ (2015) Advent: The Once and Future Coming of Jesus Christ (2018) Three Hours: Sermons for Good Friday (2019) Means of Grace: A Year of Weekly Devotionals (2021) Epiphany: The Season of Glory (InterVarsity Press, 2023)