Patricia Brennan

Patricia Anne Brennan AM (15 April 1944 – 6 March 2011) was an Australian medical doctor and a prominent campaigner for the ordination of women in the Anglican Church of Australia. She became a member of the Order of Australia in 1993.

Early life and education Patricia Anne Wilkinson was born on 15 April 1944 in Hurstville, New South Wales, Australia. Her father, George Wilkinson, worked as a compositor, and her mother, Eileen Nugent, worked in hospital as a matron. Wilkinson was one of three daughters born to the family. Her parents were Anglican and she was herself drawn to the faith at an early age. As a young woman, she attended St. George's High School, where she learned to debate.

Movement for the Ordination of Women After her return to Australia, Brennan observed the stark contrast between the independence she had as a medical practitioner and a missionary working in Africa, and the more limited role she was expected to play as a wife in Sydney's Anglican church culture. Despite having a medical degree and background in mission work, she felt she was treated primarily as "somebody's wife". Frustration over the differences between what she had accomplished in Africa and what she was expected to do at home led her to question the limitations women faced in the church in Australia. in 1976, it became the only diocese in the country to restrict the role of churchwarden, the highest lay leadership position in a local church, to men only. Through her leadership in the Australian organisation, Brennan became a visible and outspoken advocate for women's ordination within the Anglican Church of Australia. Three women, including Stewart, conducted the protest dressed in albs, a garment worn by priests when leading services. They timed the event to coincide with the start of the Anglican Church in Australia's general synod, which was being held in Sydney.

While it started in Sydney, MOW grew to become a national organisation, with chapters in Melbourne, Canberra and Perth. Brennan became the first national president and was vocal in urging for greater opportunities for women in the Anglican Church in Australia. An articulate and dynamic speaker, she travelled widely to speak at conferences and public events. She was frequently quoted in media coverage on the topic of women and the church in Australia, gaining her both acclaim and notoriety as a feminist Christian. she was once depicted in a cartoon as holding an AK-47 and standing over the dead body of a male priest.

Brennan also established the Australian Feminist Theology Foundation and took a leading role in organising two national feminist theology conferences, held in 1988 and 1991.

Leaders from MOW, including Brennan, attended the Lambeth Conference in England in 1988, where women's ordination was once more discussed.

Death and legacy Brennan died in 2011, aged 66, of pancreatic cancer.

Her papers are held at the State Library of New South Wales. The Liverpool sexual assault clinic was renamed in her honour in Sydney.

Select publications Brennan, Patricia. "O Sydney, Sydney, killing the prophets...", Women-Church: Australian Journal of Feminist Studies in Religion, no. 40 (2007): 60–65. Digitised version of no. 40 (2007) available on JSTOR Open Community Collections, University of Divinity Digital Collections, Mannix Library