It’s a big week in the Church of England. Tomorrow, General Synod (its decision making body) votes on a resolution as to whether women can become Bishops. The decision they make has the potential to affect the trajectory of my career as a priest in the church. No, I’m not saying that I have episcopal aspirations – but I would like the option to be open to me – I do not want my calling to have boundaries based upon my gender. [Having said that, a group of well-meaning friends have already begun a “Liz for lady Bish” campaign. Bless their enthusiasm…]
20 years ago, this same decision making body voted to ordain women as priests. I was an 11 year old pupil at an all-girls Church of England school in central London and had little idea that this decision would actually have a major impact upon my life. With my fellow pupils, we rejoiced that the Church had seen sense and that the female Deacon at the school’s church could now be priested. If a church can agree to ordain women, surely the same church can agree to allow them to exercise their ministry in full?
I’m not going to write about the theology of the issue. There is (obviously) a lot to be said about it, but personally, I believe that once the CofE agreed to priest women, ordaining them as Bishops had to be inevitable. I’m also not commenting on the wording of the resolution that’s going to go before Synod. No, it’s not perfect, but we can’t afford to wait any longer to make this step. Why? Because currently, nothing makes the Church look more archaic to secular society than its structural sexism.
Along with thousands of others, I am praying that God’s will is done at Synod – and I genuinely believe that God’s will is to enable all his people to fulfill the calling he places upon their lives. I think it’s highly unlikely that God only calls women to be Bishops when they live in North America, or Australia, or New Zealand – I could go on.
- Mark Russell (Church Army, former General Synod rep).
- Church of England poised to vote for women bishops in The Independent plus the open letter from a vast number of clergy that appeared in today’s issue of the same paper. [I read the entire list of names, pleased to spot many that were familiar.]
- Lesley on why it should be Yes, but why it ought to be No to the current compromise.
- Tanya Marlow looks at the pain and hurt on both sides.
- Stephen Cherry on the consequences of Yes and four reasons why it needs to be Yes anyway.
- A very balanced exploration of the conservative Evangelical view from Jake Belder.
This became a source of hilarity. A suggestion from a dear friend was “Make Me a Bishop!”. A tweet on the subject was re-tweeted by the Yes Campaign’s unofficial account, yielding the reply “I am an Episcopal Girl”. [To fully appreciate that reference, check out this video.] When I got home, I asked Facebook and got some interesting responses:
Only 8 familiar names on that signatory list for me, which is surprising given that I worked at a vicar factory for a couple of years… oh, until i remember which one!
I can guess which that was…
There were quite a few of my Dad’s former ordinands on the list (whose names I had to go through every summer while temping at the college), plus family friends. I guess it helps when you’ve lived amongst clergy most of your life!