C of E moves towards receiving women bishops
-11/07/05
Fourteen of the 38 member churches of the 70 million strong worldwide Anglican Communion have already approved of women bishops. This evening that moved closer to fifteen, as the Church of Englandís General Synod meeting in York voted to begin removing the legal obstacles to women in the episcopate.
Because the Church of England is established by law under the English Crown, legislation in parliament is necessary for such a change to be enacted, and this is likely to take some time.
But the first stage, after a long period of debate and an enquiry chaired by the Bishop of Rochester, the Rt Rev Michael Nazir-Ali, was for the Churchís governing body to signal its willingness to enable women to be made bishops.
This required (and achieved) a two-thirds majority in all three sections of Synod ñ the houses of laity, priests and bishops.
Those who see the Churchís scripture and tradition as a dynamic legacy favour the move. But some catholics and evangelicals who consider the deposit of faith to be fixed are opposed.
The Bishop of Reading, the Rt Rev Stephen Cottrell, said in York today that he believed the great majority of Church of England members would welcome women as bishops.
And the Bishop of Southwark, the Rt Rev Tom Butler, moving the motion, countered arguments that only men could represent Christ. He pointed out that as well as being male, Jesus was also an Aramaic speaking, first-century Palestinian Jew.
These cultural and biological factors were not restrictive of Godís action in and through Jesus Christ, said Bishop Butler. Other speakers argued that the Church should mirror the full image of God, male and female, in its orders.
Women have routinely been ordained as priests in the Church of England since 1994, and in the Anglican communion for 17 years.
There are now Anglican women bishops in the USA, Canada and New Zealand. Eleven were present at the 1998 Lambeth Conference, including the Rt Rev Penny Jamieson from Dunedin, New Zealand, the first woman ordained bishop at diocesan level.
In May 2004, the Rev Rt Bavi Edna Rivera became the US Episcopal Church’s first Hispanic female bishop, overseeing more than 102 congregations and 33,000 members in Western Washington.
Women supporting the C of E measure sang and prayed outside the conference hall at York University today. Dr Christina Rees of WATCH (Women and the Church) later welcomed the result of the vote with enthusiasm.
Beforehand, she had declared: ìOur greatest ally in this cause will be our faith in a loving God and our reliance on the power of God’s love to transform and reconcile. ÖWe must never forget the underlying reasons why we have been working for such an eventuality.î
The run-up to the Synod decision was soured at the beginning of the month by a letter to the Church of England Newspaper from 17 bishops, including six diocesans, seeking to delay the discussion.
They included the Bishop of Durham, the Rt Rev Tom Wright, a prominent biblical scholar. Bishop Wright is actually in favour of women in the episcopate, and like the Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, sees no theological obstacle.
However, Englandís fourth most senior bishop has been worried about the possibility of further splits in the Church of England over the issue, following on from rancorous arguments about sexuality.
Christina Rees of WATCH described the bishopsí letter as ìan insultî to the thousands of women serving as priests, many of whom wrote letters of protest to the signatories.
Refuting claims about lack of time for debate, she said: ìThis 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.î
Bishop Tom Butler concluded: ìThe Church of England, Catholic and Reformed, has before acted prophetically for the wider Church. Womean priests, vernacular liturgy and married clergy have all been pioneered by our Church and have proved to be a blessing to other communions also. The same I believe will be true of the women’s orders which we are pioneering today.”
C of E moves towards receiving women bishops
-11/07/05
Fourteen of the 38 member churches of the 70 million strong worldwide Anglican Communion have already approved of women bishops. This evening that moved closer to fifteen, as the Church of England’s General Synod meeting in York voted to begin removing the legal obstacles to women in the episcopate.
Because the Church of England is established by law under the English Crown, legislation in parliament is necessary for such a change to be enacted, and this is likely to take some time.
But the first stage, after a long period of debate and an enquiry chaired by the Bishop of Rochester, the Rt Rev Michael Nazir-Ali, was for the Church’s governing body to signal its willingness to enable women to be made bishops.
This required (and achieved) a two-thirds majority in all three sections of Synod – the houses of laity, priests and bishops.
Those who see the Church’s scripture and tradition as a dynamic legacy favour the move. But some catholics and evangelicals who consider the deposit of faith to be fixed are opposed.
The Bishop of Reading, the Rt Rev Stephen Cottrell, said in York today that he believed the great majority of Church of England members would welcome women as bishops.
And the Bishop of Southwark, the Rt Rev Tom Butler, moving the motion, countered arguments that only men could represent Christ. He pointed out that as well as being male, Jesus was also an Aramaic speaking, first-century Palestinian Jew.
These cultural and biological factors were not restrictive of God’s action in and through Jesus Christ, said Bishop Butler. Other speakers argued that the Church should mirror the full image of God, male and female, in its orders.
Women have routinely been ordained as priests in the Church of England since 1994, and in the Anglican communion for 17 years.
There are now Anglican women bishops in the USA, Canada and New Zealand. Eleven were present at the 1998 Lambeth Conference, including the Rt Rev Penny Jamieson from Dunedin, New Zealand, the first woman ordained bishop at diocesan level.
In May 2004, the Rev Rt Bavi Edna Rivera became the US Episcopal Church’s first Hispanic female bishop, overseeing more than 102 congregations and 33,000 members in Western Washington.
Women supporting the C of E measure sang and prayed outside the conference hall at York University today. Dr Christina Rees of WATCH (Women and the Church) later welcomed the result of the vote with enthusiasm.
Beforehand, she had declared: ‘Our greatest ally in this cause will be our faith in a loving God and our reliance on the power of God’s love to transform and reconcile. ÖWe must never forget the underlying reasons why we have been working for such an eventuality.’
The run-up to the Synod decision was soured at the beginning of the month by a letter to the Church of England Newspaper from 17 bishops, including six diocesans, seeking to delay the discussion.
They included the Bishop of Durham, the Rt Rev Tom Wright, a prominent biblical scholar. Bishop Wright is actually in favour of women in the episcopate, and like the Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, sees no theological obstacle.
However, England’s fourth most senior bishop has been worried about the possibility of further splits in the Church of England over the issue, following on from rancorous arguments about sexuality.
Christina Rees of WATCH described the bishops’ letter as ‘an insult’ to the thousands of women serving as priests, many of whom wrote letters of protest to the signatories.
Refuting claims about lack of time for debate, she said: ‘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.’
Bishop Tom Butler concluded: ‘The Church of England, Catholic and Reformed, has before acted prophetically for the wider Church. Womean priests, vernacular liturgy and married clergy have all been pioneered by our Church and have proved to be a blessing to other communions also. The same I believe will be true of the women’s orders which we are pioneering today.”