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Origins
In July of 2010 the feast of St. Mary of Magdala was celebrated at Cathedral High School, Indianapolis, with the speaker focusing on the empowerment of women. That evening also marked Maria McClain’s announcement that she was preparing for ordination as a Roman Catholic Women Priest. In September of the same year, a group of nine people met at Rosalie Kelly’s house, where Maria introduced the Roman Catholic Women Priests as a movement within the tradition of the Roman Catholic Church. While there are different theologies of worship in RCWP, the movement makes clear that it is not Protestant, Anglican, Orthodox, or Eastern Catholic. The movement looks to Vatican II for guidance and inspiration and to faithful implementation of its documents. However, Maria explained, the concept of priesthood may evolve in the future. Those attending those early discussions, in addition to Maria and Rosalie, included Theresa Mahoney-Schoen, Mary Heins, Marybeth Colefax, Laura Blackthorn and Sandie Bello.
Maria's Journey to Priesthood
I don’t know the real beginning of my journey to priesthood. Maybe it was my devotion to the Eucharist and the Church Year that I had developed from grade school days. One thing I do know is that the convent was not the right fit for me. I stuck it out for 15 years, because I thought being a Sister of Mercy was what would fill my longing for some way to serve God and help people in need. When I was assigned to teach fourth grade in an inner city Catholic school I thought that would was be the answer. It wasn’t! Continued in Maria's Blog 
As the group grew, it met in various non-Catholic churches: Trinity Episcopal, United Church of Christ, and United Universalist Church. From the very beginning, the group discussed inclusive language in the liturgy, the scriptures, and use of feminine references to God as well as an open Eucharistic table and even whether a priest is needed to celebrate Mass -- pretty radical stuff! We studied such writings as Catholic Does Not Equal the Vatican by theologian Rosemary Radford Ruether (2008, New Press), Why the Catholic Church Must Change by Margaret Nutting Ralph (2013, Rowan & Littlefield). We also were also careful to include works such as 12 Steps to a Compassionate Life by Karen Armstrong (2010, Knopf) and Charles C. Camosy’s five practices for respectful discourse and moving beyond polarization in the church, as presented by Dr. John A. Dick in his blog of August 5, 2012 ( https://foranothervoice.com/2012/08 ).
Pink Smoke Over the Vatican, a 2011 documentary about women seeking ordination in the Roman Catholic Church, was screened several times during the early years of our community. It is still an excellent introduction to the struggles faced by those who made (and make) the difficult choice to challenge the church hierarchy and centuries of prejudice against women called to preach and fully participate in the sacramental and Eucharistic ministries of the Church. For more information, see https://arcwp.org/about-us/pink-smoke-over-the-vatican/ .
Among our early decisions was the choice of name, St. Mary of Magdala Catholic Community, after the Apostle to the Apostles. In addition to basics such as inclusive language, we agreed that, rather than mirror the hierarchical arrangement of typical parish councils, we would embrace a consensus-building form of decision making, including a Leadership Circle in which the pastor would be one member.
Early Leadership Circle
 L to R: Mary Heins, Maureen Marshall-Doss, Maria McClain, RCWP, Helen Weber-McReynolds, Barbara Pfeifle
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Ordinations
 Diaconate ordination
Maria Thornton McClain was ordained to the diaconate in 2011 (right) and became the first Indiana woman publicly ordained to the Catholic priesthood on April 15, 2012. The ceremony at Friedens United Church of Christ on the south side of Indianapolis received coverage on TV and in newspapers, to both positive and negative responses. The illustrated spread in the Indianapolis Star of April 16th (pp B1& B3) may have made the joy and determination of participants and those attending a little too clear. It provoked a full letter to the editor by then Apostolic Administrator of the Archdiocese of Indianapolis Coyne (Archbishop Tobin was not appointed until October 18th) and a "correction" to the paper's usage of the term "ordination," although the article had already stated bluntly that the church did not accept ordination of women. Nevertheless, Maria celebrated her Mass of Thanksgiving at the Unitarian Universalist Church of Indiana on April 22, 2012.
By 2013, the St. Mary of Magdala Catholic Community had established a regular Mass schedule at our current home, the Indianapolis Interchurch Center, on the 2nd and 4th Sundays of each month. Whenever a fifth Sunday fell in the calendar, it became the occasion for a a home mass and pitch-in dinner.
For many of us, one of the most moving events was our first annual observance of Holy Thursday, which combined an adapted Passover meal and traditional Eucharist, the exhilaration of witnessing an inclusive table including the womenpriests and male clergy shown below,, and the washing of everyone's feet (or hands) with its compelling call to service
One of our own, Helen Weber-McReynolds, also heard the call to the priesthood. After discernment and RCWP's program, she was ordained to the diaconate in Middleton, Wisconsin on September 9, 2017, and to the priesthood in Indianapolis on June 3, 2018. She celebrated her Mass of Thanksgiving with our community on July 29, 2018.
Helen's first Mass
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Changes
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In early 2019 , Helen became our pastor. Our celebration of Maria, upon her transition to pastor emerita on March 3rd, included this T-shirt featuring descriptors contributed by the community. Maria remains an active part of our endeavors, participating in leadership council, liturgy planning, and numerous liturgies and events. Helen, in addition to her ministry with the St. Mary of Magdala Community, works as a physician's assistant, volunteers for the Girl Scouts and food pantry, and recently completed her Master of Theological Studies degree at the Christian Theological Seminary, Indianapolis.
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Maria & Helen, September, 2018
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The COVID-19 epidemic brought many challenges, as we struggled to balance the safety of our community with liturgy and outreach. However, there have been some powerful outcomes, including the coordination of liturgies between StMM, the Brownsburg Inclusive Catholic Community, and the Home Church Inclusive Catholic Community, so that woman-led liturgies are available virtually every week in central Indiana. In addition, Zoom liturgies and discussion programs expanded our geographic reach, building connections from Minnesota to Mexico.