Fran Toy (August 9, 1934 – December 28, 2024) was 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 was also the first female cleric to be elected as a deputy to General Convention from the Diocese of California 1988.^[2] Additionally, she was 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] She 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] Fran Toy died on December 28, 2024, at the age of 90.^[8]

• Ordination of women in the Anglican Communion