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Subscribe to RSSPrayers were said at the Church of England Synod on Monday as it prepared for a crucial vote on whether or not to allow the ordination of women bishops. Penny Marshall of ITV News reports.
The Rt. Rev. Justin Welby, the newly appointed archbishop of Canterbury and future leader of the Church of England, made one thing clear at his first press conference: he is in favor of women becoming bishops.
It's a contentious issue that has come to threaten the long-term unity of the Church of England, and a historic vote on the matter will take place Tuesday in London at an extraordinary meeting of the General Synod, the Church's governing body.
Matthew Lloyd / Getty Images file
Rt. Rev. Justin Welby speaks during a press conference after the confirmation of his appointment as archbishop of Canterbury in London, Nov. 9, 2012.
"I will be voting in favor," Welby told assembled reporters covering the announcement of his appointment, "and join my voice to many others in urging the Synod to go forward with this change."
Those in favor of female bishops have been vocal: more than 1,000 members of the clergy and senior laity signed a letter published in several British newspapers Monday urging support for this issue.
In 1989, Barbara Harris made history in Massachusetts when she became the first woman ordained as a bishop in what is known as the Anglican Communion, an international association of Anglican Churches with about 85 million members worldwide. The archbishop of Canterbury is the symbolic leader of this movement but he has no authority outside England.
Twenty-three years later the Church of England still has no female bishops in its hierarchy, an issue that has been bitterly debated for more than a decade. Women were ordained priests for the first time in England in 1994, and today one in five Church of England priests is female.
A clear majority of both priests and churchgoers are in favor of women bishops, but problems have arisen over how to provide for the minority of parishes -- about 3 percent across the country -- that are opposed to women bishops on the grounds that it goes against the Bible's teachings.
There is a fervent desire to accommodate these traditionalist parishes and avoid splitting the church, but agreeing on a language to appease their concerns without being discriminatory against women has proven difficult.
Dr. Rowan Williams, the outgoing archbishop of Canterbury, has devoted much time during his 10-year tenure to brokering a compromise.
Williams sought compromise on a language that would allow parishes to choose to be served by a male bishop who "respects" their views -- for example, a bishop who was never involved in the ordination of a woman. The wording of earlier versions of this compromise was deemed to be discriminatory against women, but it's hoped that the latest version of the text is sufficiently nuanced to be accepted by all.
Speaking after delivering a sermon to a congregation of several hundreds, Hugh Palmer, the rector of All Souls Langham Place, said he fears agreement at the Synod will be hard to reach. He thinks the provisions being made for those opposed are acceptable, but wonders how easy it will be for their needs to be met in 10 years' time.
Ironically, given the problems the upcoming vote is causing for church leaders, many in Palmer's congregation admit to not having given the matter any thought.
"In my day-to-day life as a Christian this is not the biggest issue," says one churchgoer.
Jane Ross, visiting from Scotland, commented: "Women bishops. I don't know what all the fuss is about."
But another parishioner, who didn't want to be named, argues: "It is not in the Bible. If we walk away from what God said - what is left?"
The motion has to be endorsed by two thirds of the Synod - which has three levels, representing bishops, the priests and the laity, respectively. Results are expected to be particularly close in the third category.
If the motion does not pass, it will be seen as damaging to the unity of the Church of England, and a blow to the legacy of Rowan Williams. A failure to pass will also cast a dark shadow over the beginning of Welby's tenure as archbishop.
Either way, there is yet another contentious issue headed straight to the archbishop's intray - that of whether to allow gay weddings to be officiated in the church. The road ahead is far from smooth.
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If women are allowed to become bishops, will men be able to become nuns?
Pawns
"I commend to you our sister Phoebe, a deacon of the church at Cenchreae, so that you may welcome her in the Lord as is fitting for the saints, and help her in whatever she may require from you, for she has been a benefactor of many and of myself as well." - Romans 16:1-2
I'm not making argument for women bishops or pastors, only pointing out a single scripture.
so did God change his mind about women after roughly 2 millenniums or what's the deal here.
It wasn't God's mind that changed... God has always elevated women.
are you saying the leaders of the Catholic Church have been oppressing women? aren't they the ones who have been teaching the words of God?
if they have been doing the opposite of God's teachings, why should we take anything they have to say seriously? assuming you are a religious person.
When the Episcopal church started to ordain women many parishes simply did not want one in a pastoral role. So, these newly ordained deacons and priests ended up lackeys in the diocesan offices, and a few years down the road - guess what - they all want to be bishops. The tradition avenues for promotion within the Episcopal churches were threefold - be a first class pastor, be a first class scholar, or be a first class administrator. Sometimes we would get 'lucky' and a candidate for bishop (or archbishop) had two of three or three out of three. How about letting MERIT decide, and if there are few women ordained bishop the reasons will NOT include prejudice.
I would really like to know were in the bible it says women cannot be bishops, priests or deacons? And I am talking about in plain language, not some interpretation of the bible that has been translated so many times. If there are people out there that do not want a female bishop, priest,deacon, then let them break away from the church and start one of their own ( which has already happened were females are not included.
The church never seems to move forward.
Mind you I am only talking about the Church of England and members of the Anglican community in my post NO ONE Else's
Mark, I'm not sure what your comments about Catholics have to do with this article or the thread you've posted under. This is the Church of England (Anglican), not the Catholic Church.
@Sees Thru Gloss - Foolish remark. Men wouldn't want to be nuns: They follow rules that most men couldn't follow for even one day. Like being truly humble Servants of Jesus and following His Way. The Anglican Church (UK) and the Episcopal Church (US) both have nuns and monks.
what i fear is that when they start giving the power of the church over to women they will soon dominate the entire church.
And after that will the next step be the ordaination of homosexuals? That is what has happened in the Episcopal church USA and that resultes in splits.
I think that women being bishops is just another hole in the dike.
But that's not quite the same as a "Holy Dyke".
Organized religion's first rule: oppress women. It's like clockwork, whether you are christian, muslim, or jewish.
E Jensen,
I do hope your comments are that of scarcasm. Otherwise, you REALLY need to come out of the dark ages.
You Think, Just Maybe, Women should rule the world to see If they can run the place sanely??? We Men are TOTALLY IN(@!$%#!ng)Sane. FACE IT.
Phantom,
Because women aren't irrational, prone to mood swings, incapable of violence and cruelty and brutality? Thinking that men should be subordinate is just as retarded as thinking that women are inferior and should be oppressed.
FARK ya'll and your rules. Us Lesbos always succeed in doing as we please.
We will always overcome the politics of your Judaeo Christian bullhockey.
Seriously," getagrip". lol
Why don't they vote on the evidence for their god? There happens to be none. Should be a quick vote.
Actually, Atheist-69, religious people never have any trouble finding all sorts of evidence to support their beliefs. One should note however, that many such folks also are convinced they see clear images of the faces of their long dead religious heroes (such as Mary and Jesus, despite no one today having the slightest idea what they looked like) in table scraps, backs of road signs, candle drippings, etc. Alas.
Indeed, Yahweh's power has been reduced to toast. How he must long for the good old days.
Why the need to prove that there is a God? Can you prove there is not one ? No you cannot. So it's a stalemate.
E. Jensen
what i fear is that when they start giving the power of the church over to women they will soon dominate the entire church.
And after that will the next step be the ordaination of homosexuals? That is what has happened in the Episcopal church USA and that resultes in splits.
I think that women being bishops is just another hole in the dike.
Umm sexual preference is a natural phenomenon and God made nature......... I would love to hear how you bigots can reconcile these two facts.
It isn't necessary to worry too much about what 3% of the parishes think given that they're probably dominated by people who will be dead in a few years. There's only so much that can be done to accommodate such a small minority.
I'd suggest the COE worry about how to get young people to join, a problem which affects a far larger percentage of its churches.
"It is not in the Bible. If we walk away from what God said - what is left?"
Reality.
Wow! They've decided to join the 21st century; how thoughtful of them. Now if we can get the Catholic church to do the same and in addition jettison all the child abusers they're harboring into the legal system, we may be seeing a trend develop.
Why do you care what some other church believes or preaches?
And what's with all the child abuser nonsense? Are you saying there are a higher number of child abuser that are Catholic than those who are atheists or some other religion? Sounds like ignorant nonsense to me.
The real problem isn't that some priests rape children, but that the Catholic hierarchy conspired to cover up those crimes and relocate those rapists to unsuspecting communities where they raped many more kids. All they really needed to do was call the cops but they refused to do that.
The church has even paid $20K bonuses to pedophiles.
Ah, skrekk, once again you promote your usual stupidity.
When cops were called, like in the Wisconsin deaf boy's school in the 1970's, the DA's failed to take the case seriously and prosecute. So who was at fault here, hmmm?
Bonuses to pedophiles? Um, no, just a severance to avoid further costs to get rid of these priests. Hardly a bonus, for that implies some sort of reward. Would you have rather seen them hang around and drain the church further? The payout was a bargain that saved the Church from taking money away from other avenues such as their services to the poor and needy. Do you want to take money away from the homeless, skrekk? Apparently you do.
And the cover-ups - decades ago from certan (but not all) priests and bishops who themselves were quite deviant. Today mostly not, for it has happened (Bishop Finn not reporting quickly to the police in KC, for example). Yet, when it does happen, the bishops today know what to do. If they don't, then they end up like Finn. And bishops are being prosecuted and sent to prison, and being disciplined by the Vatican - Bishop Lahey in Canada, for example.
Skrekk, you never cease to amuse! Now go away, adults are talking here.
Actually the Church of England is historically just as bad on the pedophilia issue as the Catholic church still is......they've even ordained a known pedophile:
The real question is why any parent would ever trust a priest around their kids, or ever trust any religious cult with their kids.
We know that sexuality subverted is sexuality perverted.The men trying to escape their homosexual urges ultimately cave to their desires with the only outlet available,boys
j70141 in Colorado
Why do you care what some other church believes or preaches?
And what's with all the child abuser nonsense? Are you saying there are a higher number of child abuser that are Catholic than those who are atheists or some other religion? Sounds like ignorant nonsense to me.
The problem is that it has been well documented that for decades, maybe even a century or longer, that people working in the catholic church such as bishops always move known child abusers in the church to other locations rather than turn them over to the police. The church appears to be more interested in protecting its reputation rather than doing what God demands of them, protect the innocent. They just move this pedophile priests to other churches where they are free to abuse more children.
Wow. Welcome home from the dark ages, Church of England. Have you heard of electricity yet? Its really cool.
Wow...A church that's "ahead" of its kind. Well, If I ever find religion, I know the first one to check out.
As for the people living in fear of women...well, I was going to say something witty, but I think those are the ones currently living with their heads in the sand. Next to the some Republicans I know. Whatever, a religious institution is is trying to see the world of today and living it it, I give them props for trying. Hell of alot better than other religions.
Gender should not be an issue for these religious institutions. Instead, they should focus more on the morality and the goodness of their clergies.
Finally some progress.
It may be the church of England but it sounds like it is not the Church of God!
There is no such thing as the church of god. God is a fictitious character and the stories about him are myth. These religions are all *man* made (masculine used on purpose) and it shows.
With the Church of England - and the entire Anglican Communion, for that matter - it is NEVER a dull moment! The Roman Catholic Church (my church) is boring, in comparison.
Looking forward to the outcome, and following it live on Twitter.
(Pre-Response to Critics): Hey, some people follow Football, I follow Church Politics! To each one's own, eh.