I really like my job. I think one of the most special things for me about my job is I get -- and in my church we have a very liturgical tradition -- so I get all dressed up in this alb with a stole and the whole deal, and … I'm a priest. And … they don’t even make priests’ clothes very well for women yet. And it's not like, it's certainly not like attractive anyways. And there are all these little girls in my congregation, just tons, who have probably never seen a woman dressed like that and standing up and presiding at the element and preaching a sermon, and preaching a sermon that I hope is relatively balanced between being emotional, and educational, and theological, and intellectual and all of those things. And that I think is really neat. I never saw that growing up, and now they can. Especially, in my own church setting.
The Reverend Jill Williams is an ordained priest in the Episcopal Church. Jill was born in Worcester on April 4, 1981. She attended high school in West Boylston and college in Florida. Following graduation from college, Jill sensed a call from God and began a one-year discernment process within the Episcopal Church. As a result, she was accepted into a program at Virginia Theological Seminary. She completed a Master's Degree in Divinity and is an ordained priest in the Episcopal Church. Jill is currently the Associate Rector of St. Francis Church in Holden, her home parish as a child. She also teaches dance. In this interview Jill touches upon the uniqueness of her position as a young female clergy-person, even commenting on the limited availability of vestments for female priests. She speaks of her hopes to be a good role model for girls who may have never encountered a female priest. She also talks of the future and her desire to one day combine her professional aspirations with her plans to be a mother.