158–159 During the late 1960s, Schiess worked with the Syracuse National Organization for Women chapter to reform the Episcopal church.
She earned her Master of Divinity degree in 1972 from the Rochester Center for Theological Studies but was denied ordination due to her sex.
[4] Schiess credited Betty Friedan's 1965 book The Feminine Mystique and the foundation of a chapter of the National Organization for Women in Syracuse with inspiring her to pursue priesthood and change in the Episcopal Church.
[5] Schiess and 10 other women, later known as the Philadelphia Eleven, were ordained in Pennsylvania by a group of retired bishops on July 29, 1974.
[6] Emily Hewitt, a friend of Schiess's from the Episcopal Peace Fellowship had asked her to join the group.[3]p.
The Episcopal Diocese of Central New York refused to grant Schiess a license to perform priestly duties.
[8] In November 1976, Ned Cole, the bishop who had blocked Schiess' ordination, indicated that he would have her ordained in ceremonies to be held in January 1977.