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The Power of Alumnae: The Bishop (Paula Clark '80)
Paula Clark can pinpoint the exact moment when she was first called to serve God. It was during a Friday NCS chapel service when she was in 8th grade. The speaker was a priest in the Episcopal Church. While Clark can’t recall her name, the memory from that morning is clear: “I remember listening closely to her sermon and knowing beyond a shadow of a doubt that I was called to the priesthood.”
Clark told her mother what had happened at school that day. Her mother didn’t approve of women serving as priests and told Clark that, if she became one, she would not attend her ordination. Clark says, “If it wasn’t a good idea to her, it wasn’t a good idea, period.”
She tucked the idea away, graduated from NCS, earned her undergraduate degree from Brown University and a master’s in public policy from the University of California, Berkeley. She held positions in the public, private, and nonprofit sectors, including a stint in D.C. government, a role at a private engineering firm, and a position at a Prince George’s hospice that she loved. Clark married Andrew McLean and raised a daughter, Micha Green.
After her mother passed away in 1999, Clark untucked the idea that had never faded. “It was like, girl, you better do it now or not do it at all,” she says. Clark first confessed her call to the then-Bishop of Washington Jane Holmes Dixon, who thought it was a good idea. Then Clark confessed to her parish priest who put together a discernment committee so Clark could formally begin the process. When the committee and Dixon affirmed her call, Clark became a postulant.
Clark attended Virginia Theological Seminary and never looked back. She became a priest at St. Patrick’s Episcopal Church in Northwest D.C., managing outreach programs, preaching, and celebrating on Sundays. She loved serving as a chaplain for kindergarten through 2nd grade.
After a time, Clark became a priest in charge at St. John’s Episcopal Church in Beltsville, Md. She was eventually called as rector, but says the selection process, with a broad candidate pool, resembled the reality tv show, The Bachelor. Clark says, “You watch them date other people.” She was delighted about the appointment. Clark says, “They’re the best thing going, an incredible parish that offered everything that a priest could ask for. We were rocking and rolling there, doing really great things.”
It wasn’t long before Mariann Budde, then the new Bishop of Washington, asked Clark if she would work with her in the Diocese. Clark says, “I’ve always had a big mouth, and so I talked very candidly.” Clark sought a platform to address social inequities and cites Tamir Rice, the 12-yearold Black boy who was shot in 2014 in Cleveland by a white police officer, as the reason she left St. John’s for the Diocese. In her interview, she recited a litany of names of people who lost their lives due to “a lack of justice.”
Through that experience, Clark saw firsthand what it was like to be bishop. An opportunity opened up to be Bishop of Michigan. Though that didn’t work out, Clark then applied to be Bishop of Chicago. She submitted the application with minutes to spare and was selected.
Health challenges and the death of her husband delayed her ordination until September 2022. Then Clark, resplendent in robes and sparkly red Air Jordans, was ordained as the first woman and first Black Bishop of Chicago, responsible for 123 congregations.
Clark still feels the call and is glad she never gave up the dream. She says, “God did not make a mistake in that calling. God had the plan.”
Back
Clark told her mother what had happened at school that day. Her mother didn’t approve of women serving as priests and told Clark that, if she became one, she would not attend her ordination. Clark says, “If it wasn’t a good idea to her, it wasn’t a good idea, period.”
She tucked the idea away, graduated from NCS, earned her undergraduate degree from Brown University and a master’s in public policy from the University of California, Berkeley. She held positions in the public, private, and nonprofit sectors, including a stint in D.C. government, a role at a private engineering firm, and a position at a Prince George’s hospice that she loved. Clark married Andrew McLean and raised a daughter, Micha Green.
After her mother passed away in 1999, Clark untucked the idea that had never faded. “It was like, girl, you better do it now or not do it at all,” she says. Clark first confessed her call to the then-Bishop of Washington Jane Holmes Dixon, who thought it was a good idea. Then Clark confessed to her parish priest who put together a discernment committee so Clark could formally begin the process. When the committee and Dixon affirmed her call, Clark became a postulant.
Clark attended Virginia Theological Seminary and never looked back. She became a priest at St. Patrick’s Episcopal Church in Northwest D.C., managing outreach programs, preaching, and celebrating on Sundays. She loved serving as a chaplain for kindergarten through 2nd grade.
After a time, Clark became a priest in charge at St. John’s Episcopal Church in Beltsville, Md. She was eventually called as rector, but says the selection process, with a broad candidate pool, resembled the reality tv show, The Bachelor. Clark says, “You watch them date other people.” She was delighted about the appointment. Clark says, “They’re the best thing going, an incredible parish that offered everything that a priest could ask for. We were rocking and rolling there, doing really great things.”
It wasn’t long before Mariann Budde, then the new Bishop of Washington, asked Clark if she would work with her in the Diocese. Clark says, “I’ve always had a big mouth, and so I talked very candidly.” Clark sought a platform to address social inequities and cites Tamir Rice, the 12-yearold Black boy who was shot in 2014 in Cleveland by a white police officer, as the reason she left St. John’s for the Diocese. In her interview, she recited a litany of names of people who lost their lives due to “a lack of justice.”
Through that experience, Clark saw firsthand what it was like to be bishop. An opportunity opened up to be Bishop of Michigan. Though that didn’t work out, Clark then applied to be Bishop of Chicago. She submitted the application with minutes to spare and was selected.
Health challenges and the death of her husband delayed her ordination until September 2022. Then Clark, resplendent in robes and sparkly red Air Jordans, was ordained as the first woman and first Black Bishop of Chicago, responsible for 123 congregations.
Clark still feels the call and is glad she never gave up the dream. She says, “God did not make a mistake in that calling. God had the plan.”
