Fran Toy (born August 9, 1934) is an American Christian priest, and the first Asian American woman to be ordained in the Episcopal Church.[1][2] Toy became the first female warden at the Episcopal Church of Our Savior Church, Oakland in 1974. Toy is also the first female cleric to be elected as a deputy to General Convention from the Diocese of California 1988.[2] Additionally, she is the first deployment officer employed in an Episcopal seminary to serve on the national church's deployment board from 1994 to 2000.[2]
Toy grew up in Oakland's Chinatown, California,[2][3] where she also grew up going to the Church of Our Savior, a Chinese congregation in Oakland.[1] Her and her family were part of the working class as they lived in Wilma Chan Park, formerly Madison Square Park.[3] Toy's mother was the first woman to open up a school in Chinatown.[2] Her childhood home was destroyed by urban renewal due to the arrival of Bay Area Rapid Transit.[3]
Toy graduated from the University of California, Berkeley[2] in 1956.[4] In 1984, she graduated from the Church Divinity School of the Pacific (CDSP) with a Master of Divinity.[2][5]
Following in her mother's footsteps, Toy began her career as an educator, teaching in an elementary school in Oakland, California for 18 years.[2]
Toy became the first female warden at the Episcopal Church of Our Savior Church, Oakland in 1974.[2] In 1987, Toy was a member of the Committee of the Full Participation of Women.[6] She is the first female cleric to be elected as a deputy to General Convention from the Diocese of California 1988.[2] She is also the first deployment officer employed in an Episcopal seminary to serve on the national church's deployment board from 1994 to 2000.[2]
On June 6, 2008, Toy spoke at the opening of the Episcopal Asiamerica Ministries Consultation in Kaoshiung, Taiwan. There, she gave a welcoming and thanksgiving to the host Diocese of Taiwan.[7]
