Dr. E. Dorothy Asch
(Volunteer) Lay Assistant
Dr. E. Dorothy Asch grew up in a family with no faith connections and an invalid mother. By the time she was 12, God had made it clear to Dorothy that she was His. Dorothy asked a friend to bring her to church (Methodist, as it happened) and “that was that.” Dorothy’s first answer to the question, “What do you want to be when you grow up?” was “A Navy Chaplain”—in an era when that was impossible. While this path was denied her, she went on to break new ground for women in other ways.
Dorothy earned a B.A. (psychology major and science minor) from Adelphi University in 1943, and then served in the Navy for the latter years of World War II. Upon discharge Dorothy attended Garrett Biblical Institute, a Methodist seminary in Evanston, Illinois, where in 1948 she earned a B.D. (the equivalent of today’s M.Div.), complete with the usual homiletics and liturgics classes and student pastorates. The first sermon Dorothy preached as a seminarian had the theme “Soap, Soup, and Salvation,” pointing out that people can’t hear the message of Jesus if they lack adequate food and shelter. As she noted about this recently, “Some things don’t change.”
Upon graduation from Garrett, Dorothy held an associate minister post in a large Methodist Church in Ohio. After a year, Dorothy moved to Scotland, where she earned a Ph.D. in theology from the University of Edinburgh in 1951. After graduation she taught religion at a college in Kentucky and then at a girl’s boarding school in New York. It was while she was teaching at the girl’s school that Dorothy was confirmed into The Episcopal Church. She states that she wanted more frequent communion and “fell in love” with the beautiful language of the 1928 Book of Common Prayer. Dorothy left the girl’s boarding school for much a more satisfying position at the World Council of Churches in Geneva, Switzerland, which led to serving at the 1954 World Council of Churches Conference in Evanston, Illinois. After leaving the World Council of Churches, Dorothy worked as Director of Christian Education and Lay Assistant in Episcopal churches in the Midwest.
She finally landed at St. Thomas’s, New Haven, in 1959. This was the beginning of Dorothy’s realization that she was on a difficult path: her journey was not always comfortable and her contributions were not always recognized. One of Dorothy’s first undertakings at St. Thomas’s was to work with the rector to found St. Thomas's Day School. The Rev. William R. Robbins had started a nursery school in 1956, the year that is marked as the beginning of the Day School, but the building of a multi-grade educational institution began with Dorothy’s arrival in 1959. Functionally if not in title, Dorothy served as head of school and Jane-of-all-trades, coordinating admissions, hiring, and finances. While spending much time on the Day School, Dorothy’s titled position was Director of Christian Education and Lay Assistant. In that role, Dorothy managed the Sunday school and trained the Sunday School teachers (building Sunday School enrollment to 125 children from birth through high school). She also led a thriving adult education program—and even managed to sing in the choir.
Dorothy left St. Thomas’s in 1968 and worked for several churches in the area. She returned to St. Thomas’s in 1985, upon the arrival of the new rector, the Rev. Michael F. Ray. Since then she has been heavily involved in parish ministry as a volunteer lay assistant. She has served as a pastoral visitor and in a variety of liturgical roles, including training sacristans, altar servers, and other service participants (adults and youth) and working with seminarian interns. Dorothy offered her considerable liturgical skills to the church near and far, serving on the Diocesan Liturgical Assistants committee, working on the Diocesan Liturgical Committee’s handbook, and preparing curricula for liturgical assistants and lector training. In this capacity she traveled to teach at churches around the Diocese.
Now vibrantly and inspiringly in her 90s, Dorothy still serves in the Church office three mornings a week. Besides miscellaneous administrative tasks, she coordinates and trains lectors, intercessors, and liturgical assistants, and brings extensive and invaluable experience and skill to liturgy planning with the clergy and music director.
Dorothy earned a B.A. (psychology major and science minor) from Adelphi University in 1943, and then served in the Navy for the latter years of World War II. Upon discharge Dorothy attended Garrett Biblical Institute, a Methodist seminary in Evanston, Illinois, where in 1948 she earned a B.D. (the equivalent of today’s M.Div.), complete with the usual homiletics and liturgics classes and student pastorates. The first sermon Dorothy preached as a seminarian had the theme “Soap, Soup, and Salvation,” pointing out that people can’t hear the message of Jesus if they lack adequate food and shelter. As she noted about this recently, “Some things don’t change.”
Upon graduation from Garrett, Dorothy held an associate minister post in a large Methodist Church in Ohio. After a year, Dorothy moved to Scotland, where she earned a Ph.D. in theology from the University of Edinburgh in 1951. After graduation she taught religion at a college in Kentucky and then at a girl’s boarding school in New York. It was while she was teaching at the girl’s school that Dorothy was confirmed into The Episcopal Church. She states that she wanted more frequent communion and “fell in love” with the beautiful language of the 1928 Book of Common Prayer. Dorothy left the girl’s boarding school for much a more satisfying position at the World Council of Churches in Geneva, Switzerland, which led to serving at the 1954 World Council of Churches Conference in Evanston, Illinois. After leaving the World Council of Churches, Dorothy worked as Director of Christian Education and Lay Assistant in Episcopal churches in the Midwest.
She finally landed at St. Thomas’s, New Haven, in 1959. This was the beginning of Dorothy’s realization that she was on a difficult path: her journey was not always comfortable and her contributions were not always recognized. One of Dorothy’s first undertakings at St. Thomas’s was to work with the rector to found St. Thomas's Day School. The Rev. William R. Robbins had started a nursery school in 1956, the year that is marked as the beginning of the Day School, but the building of a multi-grade educational institution began with Dorothy’s arrival in 1959. Functionally if not in title, Dorothy served as head of school and Jane-of-all-trades, coordinating admissions, hiring, and finances. While spending much time on the Day School, Dorothy’s titled position was Director of Christian Education and Lay Assistant. In that role, Dorothy managed the Sunday school and trained the Sunday School teachers (building Sunday School enrollment to 125 children from birth through high school). She also led a thriving adult education program—and even managed to sing in the choir.
Dorothy left St. Thomas’s in 1968 and worked for several churches in the area. She returned to St. Thomas’s in 1985, upon the arrival of the new rector, the Rev. Michael F. Ray. Since then she has been heavily involved in parish ministry as a volunteer lay assistant. She has served as a pastoral visitor and in a variety of liturgical roles, including training sacristans, altar servers, and other service participants (adults and youth) and working with seminarian interns. Dorothy offered her considerable liturgical skills to the church near and far, serving on the Diocesan Liturgical Assistants committee, working on the Diocesan Liturgical Committee’s handbook, and preparing curricula for liturgical assistants and lector training. In this capacity she traveled to teach at churches around the Diocese.
Now vibrantly and inspiringly in her 90s, Dorothy still serves in the Church office three mornings a week. Besides miscellaneous administrative tasks, she coordinates and trains lectors, intercessors, and liturgical assistants, and brings extensive and invaluable experience and skill to liturgy planning with the clergy and music director.
