Ordinary Eve
Women bishops - For or against?
If you aren't a member of the Anglican communion (and even if you are) you may be wondering what there is to say on this subject - after all, if women can be priests in the Church of England then it is a natural progression for them to become bishops, right? Not necessarily. This July the Synod again debates the issue with the suspicion that it might finally come to pass that we have women Bishops.
Change of heart
In recent years the Church of England has changed it's previous position. Its previous position was that taking care of a parish and carrying out communion for them is all that God has called women to do. Being a bishop is not something that can be viewed as a natural progression for women working in the Church of England if they have been called as priests - but it is for men.
Thankfully (some might say logically) the Synod changed its mind and declared that it is theologically acceptable for women to be bishops. Theoretically.
However, there are still many in the Church of England who don't feel comfortable (putting it lightly) with women priests. This is despite the fact that our governing body, the Synod, (elected by us and called by God) has decided that it is God's will that women serve as priests in our Churches and that the calling that they have felt for many years is a true and God-given one.
But from a purely logical point of view this situation is a nonsense. A priest is a priest, whether male or female. What is is that suddenly stops a priest from being a bishop simply because they are female?
One of the reasons I love the Anglican Church is that it manages to combine within its sturdy stone walls the evangelical and the liturgical traditions, monasteries and incense with Alpha courses and worship services. But that ability to combine the disparate ways that we worship and relate to God, which makes us so strong in ecumenism and understanding, also means that we are constantly pulling and pushing against each other in our understanding of what God wants for the church. What is interesting about this issue is how it has polarised us along different lines than usual. Forward in Faith (Catholic) and Reform (Evangelical) who are at polar opposites of religious practice are united, not just against the ordination of women bishops, but of women priests at all.
What are the arguments?
The arguments against the ordination of women focus on
1)Apostolic Succession - the tradition of men functioning as priests as ordained by Peter through Christ
2)Women's submission to men expressed by Paul in 1 Corinthians 11.3 "I want you to understand that the head of every man is Christ, the head of a woman is her husband, and the head of Christ is God."
But there are different interpretations first of the action and second of the statement which make it acceptable for women to be priests and in 1992 the General Synod voted in favour of the ordination of women. So once those arguments have been overruled what is to stop women becoming bishops?
Something fundamental is going on here that relates to our understanding of God and how he works in his Church. I remember hearing a debate on the ordination of women over dinner in 1991. It was mooted that this was an issue of women's rights, but I felt strongly that this was wrong. No one has the right to be a priest - and that includes men. It is a particular calling to a difficult but amazing role in God's church and as such it is up to God who is or isn't going to be one.
If I truly believed that it was God's will that women should be priests then all I had to do was wait for God to sort it out. If it wasn't his will it wouldn't happen. This might be a simplistic way of looking at the issue and in other circumstances it would be. Saying that the 2nd World War for instance came about through God's will would be ludicrous but this is different. We are talking about a large number of believing Christians, praying to be guided by God. They might be imperfect but if God can't manage his own General Synod what hope for the rest of his plans?!
Baby steps
The Rochester report bacj in 2005 made baby steps towards the ordination of women bishops, and subsequent pronouncements have added to those greatly upsetting some members of our Church. But I believe passionately that God has called women to be priests and bishops. So what is the way forward?
We are not a human community, we have to be subject to God and we are always saying that we are. So let's put our money where our mouth is and do it. Leave it to him to direct his Synod and his people for in the words of Gamaliel in Acts
"if this idea or this work is of men, it will come to nothing. But if it is from God, you can't stop it; in case by chance you are found to fight against God" Acts 5,38 39
Katie Streten
