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 | 2000-JUL: At the meeting of the mid-year General Synod of the Church of England a number of resolutions to approve female consecrations failed to receive support. Venerable Judith Rose, the Archdeacon of Tonbridge, then introduced a private member's resolution that would commit the church to study the possibility of consecrating women as bishops: |
"That this Synod ask the House of Bishops to initiate further theological study on the episcopate, focusing on the issues that need to be addressed in preparation for the debate on women in the episcopate in the Church of England, and to make a progress report on this study to Synod within the next two years."
It passed "overwhelmingly." Rev. Rose had been one of the first women to be ordained in the Church of England. She commented: "Because of my age I am never going to be a potential candidate, although the color purple suits me quite well." 1
When a tabulated vote was demanded by conservatives, the bishops voted 36 to 1 for the resolution; "clergy members by 154 to 39 and laity by 165 to 49." Those opposed expressed concerned that Church unity would be further threatened. They are also concerned about the long-term effect on ecumenical discussions with the Roman Catholic Church which does not allow ordination of women or even internal discussion of the issue by its leaders. 1
An unidentified Anglican nun from the Community of St Andrew told the synod, "We cannot be fully human and the Church cannot be fully united in its ministry unless there are some women as well as men bishops." 2
The Right Rev David Hope, Archbishop of York where the Synod was held, had previously opposed women priests. He voted in favor of the resolution, saying:"The threefold nature of Holy Order as it has been traditionally understood in the Church of England is that in theory at least a deacon may become a priest and a priest become a bishop. Certainly, that is how it has been both understood and practiced thus far for male persons, so why not for female persons?"
The Right Rev Michael Nazir-Ali, the Bishop of Rochester, also voted in favor. But he expressed concern that the consecration of women may threaten unity in the church or some dioceses. Anglicans who are unable to recognize a bishop because of her sex may feel excluded and marginalized. 3
| 2001-MAR-19: The Church of England established a working party consisting of a chairperson, five women and five men to study the issue of female bishops. Two ecumenical representatives -- one from the Roman Catholic Church and the other from the Methodist Church were also included. The group is called the House of Bishops’ Working Party on Women in the Episcopate. The Bishop of Rochester, Dr Michael Nazir-Ali, was selected to chair the group. He commented: |
"The unity of the Church is very important but it can never contradict the Church's basic commitment to justice ... Some people have said that, because the Church of England now ordains women to the priesthood, it is only natural that they should also be appointed bishops. My view is that we are now at the start of a process, rather than reaching the end of one." 4
| 2002-MAR: Victoria Combe, religion correspondent for The Telegraph said: |
"When women enter the episcopate, most traditionalists are expected to either leave the Church or form their own province within the Anglican Communion." 5
| 2002-JUL: An interim working party report
on female bishops was discussed at the General Synod:
| ||||||||
| 2002-SEP: A conservative group, Forward in Faith, has requested the creation of a "free province." This would be a separate province within the Anglican Communion to which Anglicans could belong if they cannot remain in a province where there is gender equality for the selection of bishops. It would also like the new province to receive a substantial share of the Church of England's property and investments. This would be a unique situation within the Anglican Communion: their own province and the Church of England's existing two provinces would function in an overlapping manner within the same geographical area of England. Director Stephen Parkinson, said, |
"If they consecrate women as bishops, that's the end. If the Church fails to deliver the free province we want, then vast numbers of traditionalists will be freed to leave for Rome, the Orthodox Church, or some form of 'continuing Anglicanism'."
Forward in Faith represents about 1,000 Church of England clergy and perhaps 6,000 laity. 8
Another conservative group, "Cost of Conscience" commissioned a research organization "Christian Research" to conduct a poll among priests and laity concerning consecration of female bishops. They found:
|
Meanwhile, a rival group, Women in the Church, disagrees. Chairperson Christina Rees said:
"The overwhelming majority of people have welcomed and are accepting women's ministry. If people cannot accept the decisions of every decision-making body in the Church, then perhaps they are in the wrong Church."
| 2002-JUL: The topic is not mentioned in the minutes of the general synod. Presumably, future action will await the final report of the Working Party. | ||||||
| 2002-NOV: Ditto. | ||||||
| 2003-JUL: Ditto. | ||||||
| 2004-FEB: Ditto. | ||||||
| 2004-JUL: At the General Synod:
| ||||||
| 2005-NOV-02: The report of the House of Bishops’ Working Party on Women in the Episcopate was finally published. It is titled "Women Bishops in the Church of England?" Its chairperson, the Rt. Revd. Dr Michael Nazir-Ali, Bishop of Rochester, said: |
"We have tried to do this as comprehensively as possible and hope that our report will prove to be a useful resource for discussion and debate in the Church as a whole ... Our meetings have demonstrated a basic unity, not only in faith and a commitment to scholarship but often also in theological approach."
The Working Party considered three questions:
|
The report outlines various paths that the Church of England can take in the future, but does not make any recommendations. The report concludes:
"We need to give the highest priority to deepening the quality of our love for the other members of the body of Christ, perhaps especially those with whom we most strongly disagree on issues such as the ordination of women to the episcopate." 11,12
The Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, and Archbishop of York, Dr David Hope, said, "We are happy to commend it for prayerful study within the dioceses of the Church of England and to invite other Churches in the Anglican Communion and our ecumenical partners to let us have their reflections on it."
| 2005-FEB: At the General Synod, the bishops, priests and laity voted to consider the Working Party's report and to revisit the topic at the 2005-JUL General Synod. They would decide at that time whether to start the process of removing legal obstacles to the consecration of women as bishops. |
Bishops' letter in advance of the 2005 General Synod:
The five-day General Synod began on 2005-JUL-08 in York, England. In late 2005-JUN, a group of seventeen bishops arranged to have a letter published in the Church of England Newspaper. They recommended the continuation of the Church's policy of excluding women bishops. They expressed concern that if the Church allowed all priests to be considered for consecration as bishops, irrespective of their sex, relations between the Church and the rest of the Anglican Communion could be jeopardized. Other provinces may not be able to accept diversity within the Communion. The Communion is already under extreme stress because of policies by the Episcopal Church, USA and the Anglican Church of Canada towards equal rights for homosexuals and bisexuals. The bishops wrote:
"There is ample evidence from church history, not least, and most recently, in the Anglican Communion, that actions by individual provinces touching the scriptural and traditional faith and order of the Church, actions that inevitably unchurch those who cannot accept such changes, do not serve the unity which Christ asks of his Church."
Rt. Rev. Tom Wright, one of the seventeen bishops said: "This matter touches profoundly both the order and identity of the Church of
England and its place in the Church as a whole."
Christina Rees, Chairperson of Women and the Church, said that the letter was "an insult" to the thousands of women priests
currently in the Church of England. She said that most of the church membership accept the concept of female bishops. She feels that further
delay would only damage the Church more. She commented: "This has been on our agenda for 30 years. The time is now right. The exasperation most
people in the Church feel that this has not happened yet is very high. We have already exhausted the issues." 13
One unidentified "senior source" in the denomination said:
"I am spitting tacks about this letter. What is so disingenuous about it is that we effectively decided to have women bishops when we voted for women priests. This letter will have an enormous impact. It will bring out into the open what many of us feared — that there is a loss of nerve in the house of bishops. Even some bishops who are naturally in favor believe the time is not now right, and this is hugely disappointing for us." 14
Movement towards female consecration:
According to "Forward in Faith," a conservative group opposed to the consecration of women as bishops:
"On 11th July 2005 the General Synod of the Church of England decided to prepare legislation to allow women to become bishops. That legislation could be approved by 2008, with the first woman bishop consecrated in the Church of England not long afterwards."15
In reaction to the Synod's decision:
| The Bishop of Ebbsfleet, Andrew Burnham, said that if women were consecrated as bishops that: "A woman bishop wouldn't be a bishop because a bishop is someone whose ministry is acceptable through the ages to all other bishops....Bishops would no longer be what they say they are. I would have to leave." He indicated that if gender discrimination ended, he would consider becoming a Roman Catholic. Bishop Burnham is a "flying bishop" who looks after parishes in the Church of England that have rejected women as priests. |
| The Bishop of Fulham, John Broadhurst, predicted an exodus of clergy unless a separate area of the Church of England was created from which women would barred from becoming bishops and where members who cannot accept gender equality can consider their church home. He is reported as saying: "The introduction of women bishops without proper provision [for opponents to the concept] would be intolerable." 16 |
| Forward in Faith (FiF) suggested that: |
"When we have women bishops...there will be serious doubt as to whether they actually are bishops in the One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church. (Our Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox sisters and brothers will be certain that they are not!)."
They suggest that the ordination of a male or female priest by a female bishop would not be valid. A member of the laity will not be able to know whether any of the sacraments celebrated by a priest were valid. FiF continues:
"So, when we have women bishops and you receive Holy Communion or receive absolution or anointing at the hands of a male priest you will no longer be able to be certain that those sacraments or sacramental actions will be valid." 15
On an unrelated matter, the members of Synod voted 293 to 1 against legalizing physician assisted suicide. This appears to be in response to The Assisted Dying for the Terminally Ill bill was introduced in the House of Lords in 2004.
Vote approving female consecration:
The General Synod of the Church of England decided on 2006-JUL-08 at a meeting in York, England, to allow, in principle, women priests to be consecrated as bishops. The vote was 288 to 110 after a three-hour debate. Since it carried by more than a two-thirds majority among the bishops and clergy, legislation could then be created to implement the decision.
Organized religions are not known for speedy change, but it is perhaps remarkable that the Church of England ordained its first female priest only 12 years previously. However, they emphasized that although the theological impediments to consecration of women had been resolved, procedures to implement the change had not been worked out. Church spokesperson Ben Wilson said that "2012 was bandied about [for the first consecration], but that is looking a little premature now." Archbishop Rowan Williams has suggested that the best path forward might be to split the Church of England into two groups: one who discriminated against women as bishops and one who accepted gender equality. That way, conservative parishes could secede from dioceses led by a female bishop.
Current status in the Anglican Communion:
As of 2006-SEP, three of 38 Provinces have already consecrated women bishops: Canada, New Zealand, and the United States. An additional seven, including Ireland, Scotland and the Sudan, have approved women bishops in principle, but have not appointed any to date.
The path forward:
If consecration of women as bishops is eventually implemented, the relationship between the Methodists and Anglicans in England will probably become closer. However, an additional strain would appear in the relationship of the Anglican and Roman Catholic church. To the Roman Catholic Church, even the ordination of women as deacons is a hot-button item. Debate and dialogue by clergy in that Church is suppressed.
After the Church of England first ordained women as priests in 1992, 720 priests found the situation so intolerable that they felt compelled to leave the denomination. About 400 priests joined the Roman Catholic Church. The exodus opened up 720 posts for female priests to fill. There are no firm estimates about how many will leave if women are allowed to be consecrated as bishops. Allowing female bishops would mean that some male priests would be under the authority of a woman. Conservative clergy might find this so unacceptable that they might abandon the church in droves.
Some conservatives -- mostly Evangelicals and Anglo-Catholics -- have suggested that a third province be created within the Church of England, in addition to the existing two provinces of Canterbury and York. The new province would confine women to the laity: it would have no female priests or bishops. Individual parishes could then switch to the new province and could review their decision every five years. According to Forward in Faith:
"The new province would not be a new Church, but simply a separate part of the Church of England where those who cannot accept the innovation of women priests and bishops would be able to continue to live their lives as loyal members of the Church of England holding fast to the faith our Church has received from the time of the Apostles."
It would, in essence, split the denomination into two parts, as there would be one set of rules in Canterbury and York, and a different set in the new province. 15
Related essays on this web site:
| Ordaining women as priests in the Church of England | ||||||
| Policies concerning sexually active gays and lesbians:
|
External links:
| Cost of Conscience is an association of more than 3,000 Anglican priests worldwide. It has a web site at: http://trushare.com/ |
| Forward in Faith has chapters throughout the English speaking parts of the Anglican Communion. Their web site is at: http://www.forwardinfaith.com |
| The Traditional Anglican Church maintains "... traditional faith, worship and discipline for Anglicans in England, Scotland and Wales." See: http://www.thetraditionalanglicanchurch.org.uk/ |
| Women and the Church (WATCH) "... is campaigning to see women take
their place alongside men as bishops and at ever level in the Church of
England." See:
http://www.watchwomen.com/ They sell tea towels,  T-shirts, and
other merchandise. |
References used:
The following information sources were used to prepare and update the above essay. The hyperlinks are not necessarily still active today.
- Stephen Bates, "Church of England Takes Cautious Step Toward Female Bishops. England's Anglican branch has resisted the trend toward women bishops accepted in the U.S., Canada, and New Zealand," Guardian Unlimited, 2000-JUL-10, at: http://www.beliefnet.com/
- "Church of England to consider women bishops," AD2000 journal Volume 13, #7, 2000-AUG, Page 5. Online at: http://www.ad2000.com.au/
- "Anglican Church of England Synod considers women bishops; Could be further obstacle to future union of Christians," Archbishops.org, 2000, at: http://archbishops.org/church.htm
- "Church of England Examines Female Bishops Issue," Daily Catholic, 2001-MAR-20, at: http://www.dailycatholic.org/
- Victoria Combe, "Church prepares the way for women bishops," The Telegraph, 2002-MAR-20.
- Jonathan Petre, "Schism risk over women bishops," News.telegraph, 2002-JUN-07, at: http://www.money.telegraph.co.uk/
- "Women Bishops," AnglicansOnline, 2002-JUL-02, at: http://anglicansonline.org/
- "The Anglican debate on women bishops," Catholic Insight, 2002-SEP, at: http://catholicinsight.com/
- "Women 'Bishops' may further splinter Anglicans," The Apologist's Eye, 2002-FEB-09, at: http://www.catholic.com/
- Eunice K. Or, "Anglicans Debate over Women Bishop Ordination," SpiritHit News, 2004-JUL-27, at: http://news.spirithit.com/
- Text of the "Women Bishops in the Church of England?" is available at: http://www.cofe.anglican.org/ **
- A reader's guide to the above report is available at: http://www.cofe.anglican.org/ **
- Maria Mackay, "Church of England urged not to Allow Women Bishops," Christianity Today, 2005-JUL-01, at: http://www.christiantoday.com/
- Ruth Glendhill & Jonathan Whnne-Jones, "Senior clergy move to block ordination of women bishops," Times Online, 2005-JUL-01, at: http://www.timesonline.co.uk/
- "Women Bishops - What will they mean for you," Forward in Faith, 2005-JUL-11, at: http://www.forwardinfaith.com/ **
- "Clergy warn against women bishops," BBC News, 2005-JUL-10, at: http://news.bbc.co.uk/
- Sarah Lyall, "Top Anglicans Vote to Allow Female Bishops," New York Times, 2006-JUL-09, at: http://www.nytimes.com/
- "Forward in Faith," at: http://www.forwardinfaith.com/
** These are PDF files. You may require software to read them. Software can be obtained free from:
See our news feed on women's issues. It shows 20 current news items, and is updated every 15 minutes.
Copyright © 2000 to 2006 by Ontario Consultants on Religious Tolerance
Latest update: 2006-SEP-02
Author: Bruce A. Robinson
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