Women Bishops 2011 Print BW

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31Women Bishops Understanding the Arguments 2011

Women Bishops

U auJane Steen

Mark Steadman

Afrming Catholicism UK & Society of Catholic Priests 2011


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2 Women Bishops Understanding the Arguments 2011


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1 How come this debate? page 5Sub-heading / explanation

2 Why (not) Women Bishops? page 7Sub-heading / explanation

3 By what means women Bishops? page 14Sub-heading / explanation

4 The Archbishops Amendment page 16Sub-heading / explanation

5 The Draft Measure in Dioceses page 18Sub-heading / explanation

6 But what about ...? page 20Sub-heading / explanation

7 The question for the Synods page 21Sub-heading / explanation

Conclusion page 22About the Authors page 23

Contents


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Introduction

If you are a member of a diocesan synod you will have a meeting in the near futureat which your Synod will be asked if it approves the General Synods draft lawconcerning women bishops. This is a matter of such significance that the churchasks as many as possible of its people to become involved in the decision makingprocess. The General Synod can only proceed with this legislation if at least half ofthe dioceses do support the draft law. Your views and your vote matter. You need

to have reflected on the issue, listened to those you agree and disagree with andprayed about what your decision might be.

In many dioceses, deanery synods will also think about this issue, and their viewscan inform the diocesan synod. PCCs or parish groups might also want a discussion.These are all important ways for the whole church to come to a mind.

Both authors of this Guide believe that men and women should be ordained to theepiscopate. But the material here also tries to explain why not everyone agrees.It is impossible to do justice to any arguments in a guide of this size, so we offerheadline points, not exhaustive treatment.

In 1911, a prime ministers son described a compromise as two people agreeingto do what they both think is wrong. The Church of England does not need a

compromise like that. It is easy to feel overwhelmed by a decision such as this,where all the options seem to hurt someone. But the last day of debate on the draftMeasure in the General Synod of July 2010, people for and against women bishopsrecognised in their speeches that everyone would have to sacrifice something if weare to continue as one Church of England. The Holy Spirit guides the Church, andwe must open ourselves and commit ourselves to the Spirit as we play our part indiscerning Gods will in this matter.

Women BishopsU u


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The Church of England agreed to ordain women as priests in 1992. It did so in1994. In 2000, the General Synod asked the House of Bishops for further studyon women bishops. The Bishop of Rochester chaired the resulting study group,which published Women Bishops in the Church of England? (2004). General Synoddiscussed this and a further group chaired by the Bishop of Guildford producedWomen in the Episcopate. In July 2006, the Synod passed a motion to welcomeand affirm the view of the majority of the House of Bishops that admitting womento the episcopate in the Church of England is consonant with the faith of the Churchas the Church of England has received it and would be a proper development inproclaiming afresh in this generation the grace and truth of Christ.

A group to draft legislation was appointed, chaired by the Bishop of Manchester.This reported on the issues involved. In July 2008, General Synod requested draftlegislation, by February 2009 which would admit women to the episcopate andmake special arrangements for those opposed, through a statutory and nationalCode of Practice. The February 2009 Synod meeting set up a Revision Committeeof General Synod bishops, clergy and laity; some members of the committee did,and some did not, want women bishops. The Revision Committee revised the draftlegislation. In July 2010, Synod commended, with small amendments, the work ofthe Revision Committee to the Dioceses.

The Synod Reports on these debates show that a lot of theological thinking hasbeen done over women bishops. Much of the debate has been about how to carefor those who would not accept the ministry of such bishops. We now turn to thearguments in the current debate.

hoW Comethis deBate?

1


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We can group the discussion about women bishops in the Church of Englandunder three headings: Scripture, Theology, and the Church of England. Some ofthe arguments apply just as well to women in ministry as priests, (e.g. as curates,chaplains, vicars and rectors); others just apply to bishops.

What does the Bible say?

Many Scriptural texts address relations between Christians and between men andwomen. Some texts receive particular focus in the current debate. But although welook at texts below, Scripture is not simply a collection of (sometimes contradictory!)proof texts. It is important to ask what, overall, God is saying to the Church throughand beyond Scripture.

The old order

Genesis 3:16 makes inequality in marriage a consequence of the Fall. I Timothy3:16 says that the writer permits no woman to teach or have authority over a man;she is to keep silent. Paul says this in I Corinthians 14:34 as well. And before theresurrection, Jesus appointed twelve men, whom he also named apostles (Mark 3:

14), although many, including women, followed him (Mark 2:15, Luke 8:3).

and the new?

Genesis 1:27 is very clear that before the Fall, God created humanity, male andfemale, in his image. In the New Testament, Paul also allows women to pray andprophesy (I Corinthians 11:2f) and he seems quite happy with women in ministry(Romans 16:1). And after the resurrection, Jesus himself made a change.

The post resurrection reality

In John 20:17-18, the risen Jesus tells Mary Magdalene to proclaim the resurrection

to the disciples. The only other person so distinctively called to this proclamationafter Jesus rising was Paul. Before the resurrection, then, Jesus called Jewish men,in accordance with the Jewish law. After it, he called a woman to announce theresurrection and a Jew to go to the Gentiles.

Why (not)Women Bishops?

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We can see that Mary Magdalene is sentto instruct the first (male) Christians.Her task is to go and tell people ofthe resurrection. Some argue that thismeans that this is the limit of her task,it is simply evangelistic and there isnothing about her presiding over theremembrance of the Last Supper. Thisis important as there are those that saysuch presidency is an apostolic task andcan only be exercised by those who areapostles. Luke talks of the twelve at theLast Supper as being apostles, whilstJohn refers to them as disciples. It ison this basis that some argue that asonly the twelve are properly describedas apostles then only men can exercisethis ministry. Yet it is assumed in1 Corinthians that all members of thechurch are present and welcome atthe Lords supper and it is not clearthat such presidency is limited solelyto men. An apostle is one who is sent with a particular task that apostolictask is essentially to tell others aboutJesus. The apostle is also an evangelist.Mary is given a task, to be an apostle

to the other apostles. Since this timethe understanding of the apostolictask has developed and is often seenas belonging to Episcopal ministry.Sometimes Bishops are described as thesuccessors of the apostles. If Mary, inher time, can be entrusted with the keyapostolic task of telling others about theresurrection then many question why women cant be entrusted with whatthis apostolic task is now understoodto be.

Is the ordination ofwomen good theology?The debate about women bishops is adebate about faithfulness: faithfulnessto Scripture, faithfulness to the teachingof the Church, faithfulness to otherChristians. We have chosen threetheological topics concerning Godsfaithfulness and ours.

IncarnationJesus came to redeem humanity -men and women. The incarnationdemonstrates Gods faithful, steadfastlove for humanity. Individually, westill sin. But the Incarnation makes arestored relationship with God possiblethrough Jesus. This could imply that thehousehold of God should always beordered in accordance with such textsas I Timothy 3:16 and that Genesis 3applies to the Church. Or it could implythat the church, as the community

of those accepting this restoredrelationship, should have structuresreflecting our created equality (Gen1:27), as the Incarnation reverses theFall. Women bishops in the Church ofEngland should be one part of fullyestablishing an apostolic ministry whichbears witness to what Jesus has donefor us.

Baptism

Baptism makes us members of theChurch, and incorporates us into Christ.Of course baptism does not destroyhuman difference. But women andgirls are as fully baptized into Christ


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as men and boys. We all, regardless ofgender, participate in the life of Godthrough being baptized into the deathof Jesus. This is what St Paul says inGalatians 3:27-28: As many of you aswere baptized into Christ have clothedyourselves with Christ. There is no longerJew or Greek, there is no longer slaveor free, there is no longer male andfemale. The Archbishop of Canterburyagreed, in the July 2010 General Synod,that this has consequences for ministry.

MinistryWe can only exercise Christian ministryif we are baptized; all priestly ministryis Christs, for Scripture tells us that wehave one high priest, Jesus (Heb 4:14).We have seen that men and women areequally baptized Christians. So if thebaptism of women and girls leads to thesame union with Christ as the baptismof men and boys, then it leads to thesame participation in Christs ministry.On the other hand if Genesis 3 and I

Timothy 3 are privileged over Galatians3 and John 20, this argument fails andso we need to hear overall what theSpirit is saying.

Who has authority in theChurch of England? isit a Church which canmake its own decisions?

The Reformation did not change English

church structures; England continued tohave bishops and priests, dioceses andcathedrals. This is partly why the Churchof England is described as catholic and

reformed. But what do these structuresmean?

The Diocesan Bishop is both PrincipalMinister and Ordinary in the diocese,and therefore has the responsibility toprovide ministry and exercise Ordinaryjurisdiction (that is basically to beresponsible for governing the life ofthe diocese). The Diocesan Bishop hasthese responsibilities by virtue of beingBishop of the Diocese. In the Church ofEngland, bishops can only be Bishopof Somewhere, just as vicars can onlybe Vicar of Someplace. Ministry andgovernance go together. This is formallyand legally the case and is governed byCanon law and statute law.

Other bishops in a diocese exercisethe Diocesan Bishops ministry andresponsibilities. They do not exercisetheir own ministry because all ministry ina diocese is the Diocesans and is sharedby the Diocesan Bishop with others.Delegation is the formal mechanismfor Episcopal sharing. An Area Bishop is

likely to have responsibilities delegatedthrough a formal Scheme. Suffraganbishops and others may have lessformal arrangements. As a vicar mightdelegate responsibility for the youthgroup to the curate but remain the vicarand ultimately responsible, so it is in adiocese. The Diocesan Bishop cannotgive away the responsibilities whichcome with the diocese. They can onlybe delegated.

We see this when parishes receive newministers. They are given the DiocesanBishops licence to exercise (thebishops) ministry or the Bishop says,Receive this cure, which is yours andmine (again it needs to be remembered

... all priestlyministry is Christs,for Scripture tellsus that we haveone high priest,

Jesus.


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that a licensing presided over by Areaor Suffragan Bishop they still act in thename of the Diocesan).

Delegation is a key term in thedebates over womens ministry. In1993, the Episcopal Ministry Act ofSynod created the Flying Bishopsin response to women priests. Thisenables a parish which does notaccept women priests to petitionthe Diocesan Bishop to delegatesome responsibility for that parishto a bishop who will not ordainwomen. But even if parishes regardthemselves as belonging to a flyingbishop, they actually belong to thediocese. There is no such thing asthe Ebbsfleet Apostolic Area, theFulham Jurisdiction and so on.

The flying bishop ministers bydelegation.

Women Bishops and theChurch of England

We consider the catholicity of Church ofEngland, its sacraments and its relations with other churches. Then we lookmore at women bishops and delegating

ministry.

Being the Church

The Church of Englands place aspart of the universal Church, doing what the Church does is, for some,threatened by women bishops. Why isthis? It may be because, if the Church

of England thinks it can ordain womenwhen neither Rome nor the Orthodoxdo, then it is schismatic, not a properpart of the universal Church. Or it maybe because, although the Church ofEngland is properly part of the universalChurch, this is such an important issuethat the whole Church, East and West,must decide together. Canon A1 (thefirst of the Church of Englands CanonLaws) says that no member of theChurch of England is at liberty to denythat the Church of England truly belongsto the Church of Christ. If the Churchof England is part of Christs Church, itdoes what the universal Church does.So if the Church of England has womenbishops, women are bishops. Insteadof women bishops making the Churchof England questionable, the Church ofEngland, by virtue of its participation inthe universal Church, guarantees that women bishops are properly bishopsand so they may minister, delegateministry and exercise delegated ministry.

Sacramental assuranceFor some, women cannot be priests, asrain cannot be butter; even if Rome and


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the Orthodox ordained women, it wouldstill be impossible. If women cannot bepriests, they cannot preside at the HolyCommunion, where the priest acts inChrist, making his body and bloodavailable. A man has to do this becauseJesus was a man; thus Jesus malenessis more important than his humanity, orhis Jewishness and so on... Those whotake this view of the effect of genderdifference share a problem with those who believe the Church of Englandlacks the authority to proceed aloneon the ordination of women. In shorthand, this is described as sacramentalassurance. If women cannot be prieststhen they certainly cant be bishops, asyou have to be a priest before beingordained as a bishop. Therefore theycannot do those other things bishopsdo, including confirming or ordaining;

a person confirmed or ordained by awoman bishop is not really confirmedor ordained. This gives rise to a furtherproblem: if the woman bishop is nota bishop then the people she ordainscannot be priests (whether they aremen or women). So if a man who wasordained priest by a woman bishopbecomes a bishop, he is a sort of wolf insheeps clothing: looking like a priest orbishop, but not one really. If he presidesat the Eucharist, people do not receiveJesus body and blood (although theymay think they do), John 6:53-56 isunfulfilled, and there is no salvation. Ifthe Church is not offering salvation, itis not the Church. And the only way forthe Churchs sacraments to be assured,

is for men to be ordained by men, andto be known to have been ordainedby men, all the way back to the firstApostles.

If we consider the earlier argumentsabout the Church of England as Church,we see a different way to look at this.However doubtful we might be aboutthe personal worthiness of an individualpriest or bishop, the sacraments theycelebrate are true and valid because theChurch guarantees the effectiveness ofthe ministry of those entrusted with thatministry.

Reception

In order for a decision of the church toendure, it must be said to have been

received, over a period of time, by the whole church through the guidanceof the Holy Spirit. Some take this tomean that any change in the Churchof Englands ordination needs to bereceived by the rest of the church (bywhich is generally meant by those whoargue in this way the orthodox churchesof the East and the Roman CatholicChurch). However, it is often said, evenin the Church of England, that theordination of women to the priesthoodhas not yet been received. If womenare not regarded as priests by the wider

Church, some would say that it is clearlyinappropriate to ordain women bishops.

The difficulty with this argument is thatthe orders of male Anglican priests are


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not received by the Roman Catholicand Orthodox churches. For thesechurches, there is no valid ministry andno sacramental assurance in the Churchof England.

One alternative to this seeming cul-de-sac, is to return to the argument that theorders the Church of England confersare those of the universal church.Rather than saying that therefore, the whole church must accept them, wemight equally well say, since its ordersare those of the universal church, thenthose whom it ordains are truly bishopsor priests.

Reception is a difficult concept inthis debate partly because thereis considerable debate about whatreception actually is and how youdetermine when the process isconcluded. Indeed, it might be said thatreception has yet to be fully received bythe whole Church! However, at its heart,reception rests on an understandingthat the Spirit leads and guides theChurch and we shall return to this whenconsidering the prophetic voice of theChurch of England.

Will women bishopsimprove or damageEcumenical Relations?

Despite what we have said aboutthe Church of England being able toordain women bishops, some wouldargue that the fragmented nature ofChristianity means that we need to lookto Christians in other denominationsover this decision.

This may be because Rome has indicatedthat relations with the Church of England would be harder if we have women

bishops. However, formally Rome doesnot talk to the Church of England alone,but rather to the Anglican Communionthrough the Anglican Roman CatholicInternational Commission, or ARCIC.Some provinces of the AnglicanCommunion have had women bishopsfor over 20 years, yet this has notstopped dialogue. The Popes invitation,of November 2009, to disaffectedAnglicans to set up a sort of Anglicanbranch within the Roman CatholicChurch (known as an ordinariate) hasadded a further dimension. Thosejoining must accept the doctrine of theRoman Catholic Church and Anglicanpriests will need to be ordained (not,

according to Rome, reordained,because they do not consider Anglicanclergy to be ordained). The Ordinariate will be part of the Roman CatholicChurch but allowed to retain aspects ofAnglican identity in its worship. It is tobe self-supporting and accountable tothe Vatican. Some have seen the Popesoffer as pastoral and generous; otherssee it as assimilating Anglicanisminto Roman Catholicism, whereastrue ecumenism should recognisedifference. Some in the Roman CatholicChurch have wondered if joining themfor a negative reason (we dont likewhat the Church of England is doing)is the right approach. The Archbishopsof Canterbury and York respondedcourteously but there is a sense theoffer was undermining of ecumenicalprocess and relationships.

Other ecumenical relations could beimproved by the ordination of womenas bishops: for example, with theMethodist Church. And the Churchof England has formal agreements

allowing for the inter-changeability ofministry with some Lutheran Churchesthat have women Bishops.


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A Prophetic Voice?

The Church of England has both clergy

and laity involved in Synodical decisionmaking. In some churches, it is harderto determine how the Spirit might beleading the whole church (not just theclergy), because the people have novoice (at least not directly). We shouldalso remember here the Churchof Englands relation to the wholeuniversal Church, which we discussedabove. This has been debated since theEnglish church broke from Rome at theReformation. However, it is sometimessaid that developments then weresubsequently seen in other churches.

We might argue that on the questionof women bishops too, the Church ofEngland is acting prophetically for otherChristian churches, enabling the Spiritto be discerned in the leading forwardof the Church.Now we return to delegation.

Women Bishops andDelegation

Jurisdiction We have seen that, in

the Church of England, ministry andjurisdiction go together in the person ofthe bishop. No one can delegate whatis not theirs, and so if a woman cannotbe a bishop, she cannot delegateministry. This is the problem which theArchbishops amendment tried to solvein the July 2010 Synod and we look atit later. Of course, if a woman can be abishop, and the church guarantees thatthis ministry will be valid and authentic,then the delegation problem goes away.

Headship

We have looked at some of the biblical

texts on men and women. We said thatGenesis made inequality in marriage aconsequence of the Fall. We can findarguments a little like this in Paul. ICorinthians 11: 2-3, for example, andEphesians 5:23 offer a sort of hierarchyof subordination, with the divine at thetop, husbands in the middle and wives atthe bottom. But there are two points toremember here. First, both passages areabout relations between husband andwife, not minister and church. Callingbishops Father in God, or seekingmale ministerial leadership may blur

the New Testament distinction betweenrelations in the domestic household andin the household of God.

Furthermore, we should rememberthat Paul wrote to a specific culture. ICorinthians 11 does not prohibit womenfrom ministry; it explains the appropriatecultural norms to be observed if menand women are to co-operate in wayscompatible both with Christianity and with their society. Here, Paul does notuse Christianity to overthrow culture, but

neither does he let culture compromisethe radical equality of Christians.

Finally, however we interpret headshipor some of the other Scripturalprinciples, we should consider whetherthey are commanded norms ofScripture, or symptoms of the society inwhich Scripture was written. We mightcompare charging interest (usury),divorce and slavery. Usury and divorceare variously prohibited in Scripture andslavery is accepted. Christians todayoften see it the other way around.


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The Revision Committee considered five ways of drafting which would enable both those infavour of women bishops and those opposed to remain within the Church of England. They were:

Simplest possible legislation

Separate Dioceses;

Transferred Episcopal Authority;

The Society Model;

Delegation.

When General Synod debated the legislation in July 2010, it also had before it The Archbishops Amendment

The Revision Committee Report describes the debates it had. It is online athttp://www.cofe.anglican.org/about/gensynod/agendas/july2010/gspapers/gs1708-09y.pdf.

Here, we consider each of the options in turn.

The Simplest Possible Legislation, or single clause, legislation, would have enabled womento become bishops without any legal provision for those opposed. It would not have offeredmechanisms like Resolutions A and B in the 1993 Priests (Ordination of Women) Measure, by

which parishes could avoid female priests or vicars. It would not set up another Episcopal MinistryAct of Synod though the House of Bishops could do so. The Revision Committee rejected itpartly because General Synod requested simple (but not the simplest) legislation with a Codeof Practice and partly because some conservative evangelicals and some conservative catholicssaid they could not accept it. The Revision Committee decided not to legislate those holding thesetheological convictions out of the Church of England. It sought to maintain the highest possibledegree of communion within dioceses and within the Church of England.

Separate Dioceses for those opposed to women bishops were also considered. The bishopsof these Dioceses would always be male so at first sight this seems a simple and coherent way forward. However, there are complications. We have seen that bishops are Bishop ofSomewhere. But the parishes opposed to women bishops are not all in the same place. TheRevision Committee rejected the separate dioceses option, partly because of this fragmentation.It also felt that separate dioceses would institutionalize division. The Separate Dioceses option

was tested again in the July 2010 Synod, and overwhelmingly rejected.

By What meansWomen Bishops?


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thearChBishopsamendment

This proposed sharing the jurisdiction ofthe bishop with a nominated bishop sothat parishes unable to accept womensordained ministry were provided for.Sharing the jurisdiction was to beachieved by the law that is, by theMeasure for consecrating women. Boththe diocesan and the nominated bishop would have equal jurisdiction in theparish over those things that a Code ofPractice or diocesan scheme specified.The diocesan bishop would just choose

not to exercise jurisdiction.

This was not sharing by delegation,as the diocesan bishop had no part inthe process or decision about sharing.The Archbishops called it co-ordinatejurisdiction, but it looked closer totransfer (moving to a different bishop),except that in law if not in practice ministry was both left with the diocesanbishop and given to another.

The concept of shared equal jurisdictionwas a new idea. But the draft amendment

was not clear how it would work. Someof the questions asked in General Synod were about conflict, perhaps becauseit was unclear how two bishops wouldrelate, especially when one wouldnot regard the other as a bishop. Andsome speeches pointed out (perhaps onbehalf of the parishes) that no one canserve two masters.

The Archbishops sought to answer someof these questions with a comparison to

some areas of law, where two differentcourts or regulatory authorities mightshare jurisdiction. However, legalstructures usually have clearly definedterms indicating in what circumstancesthe parties will exercise jurisdiction - andthere is usually a body, such as a highercourt, supervising the relationship. The Archbishops indicated that these andother matters were to be left until thepublication of the Code of Practice. Theyrecognised that it was asking a greatdeal of the Synod to vote for somethingthey could not completely see.


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Some people enthused aboutthe Archbishops amendment;others regretted that, unlike otheramendments, it had not been to theRevision Committee for scrutiny. Much ofthe debate on the Amendment focusedon the desire for a solution rather thanon whether the Amendment wouldprovide one. On balance, it probablydid not.

This is because the Amendment tried to

create a new way for a bishop to exerciseauthority. This source was the Measure,or, since that is passed by the Churchof England, the will of the church. Butultimately, what was created was notnew enough: it was a new authorityfor exercising jurisdiction, but not newjurisdiction to exercise.

Arguably, the Amendment addressedthe wrong problem. It tried to freeparishes from the jurisdiction of womenbishops or male bishops who ordain women. But women archdeaconsexercise jurisdiction in parishes

opposed to womens ministry, withoutdifficulty. So the real issue is ministry,not jurisdiction.

Seen like this, the Archbishops Amendment clarified the nub of theissue. If a woman cannot be a bishop,and if men consecrating women areunfit to be bishops, transfer, delegationand shared jurisdiction are allunhelpful. The only solution is to ensurea line of male bishops always and

completely separated from ordaining women. The Revision Committee hadalready decided that formally institutingsuch a line in the Church of Englandthrough its laws would be creating aChurch-within-a-Church. This would beschismatic the Church rent asunder, itslines of ministry as separate from eachother as from another denomination.This did not commend itself. TheArchbishops Amendment was rejectedby due Synodical process after a tightvote and General Synod returned to theRevision Committees draft legislationand to the Churchs usual method ofsharing ministry: delegation.


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The Diocesan Synods of the Englishdioceses (and the Bishops Council of theDiocese of Europe) will be asked to debatethe legislation as the General Synod hassent it. They may also be asked specificquestions about the legislation, and theycan also frame following motions whichare comments or suggestions to help the

General Synod and House of Bishops as itmoves towards making a final decision.The legislation to make women bishopscomes in two parts:

The draft Canon: the specific piece ofchurch law that gives permission for womento become bishops;

The draft Measure: the statute law thatmakes it possible to make the Canon toenable women to be bishops and containsthe provisions to support those unable

to accept womens ministry. This is doneusing a model of delegation, but providingmale Episcopal oversight for parishes thatrequest it. A Code of Practice will governhow the system operates.

We shall look at both of these documents,beginning with the draft Measure.

The Draft Measure

Draft Measures, like Parliamentary Bills(both have the same force) are broken into

Clauses.Clause 1 of the draft Measure enables theCanon to be made to permit women to be

the draftmeasUre indioCeses

consecrated as bishops. This also repealsthe 1993 Measure permitting women to beordained as priests, and makes provisionfor the ordination of women as priests tocontinue.

Clauses 2, 3 and 5 are concerned withmaking provision for those who are

unable to accept the ordained ministry ofwomen or women in leadership positions.The remaining Clauses contain incidentalprovisions, such as technical details of howthe Measure will come into force.

Clause 2 covers Diocesan Schemes. Theseare a straightforward part of the provisionfor those not in favour of women bishops.Each diocesan bishop will, after consultingwith the diocesan synod, make and publisha Scheme which will provide for thepastoral and sacramental care of parishes

that request it. In this Scheme the diocesanbishop will nominate a bishop who willlook after such parishes. The only legalcondition is that this bishop be male.

The Synod and the Revision Committeedebated whether the male bishop shouldhave to be ordained in male succession. Thiswas rejected, to avoid both a separate lineof ministry and legal distinctions betweenbishops. The legislation proceeds on thebasis that all Church of England bishopsmust be regarded as properly bishops.

There is, however, nothing to preventparticular dioceses ensuring particularcharacteristics in their own arrangements.


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The bishop nominated by the diocesanscheme will have certain functionsdelegated to him by the diocesan bishop.These functions will include, but are notlimited to, the celebration of the sacramentsand other divine worship and pastoralcare. The nominated bishop will also haveto be (or be made) a member of the House

of Bishops of the diocese concerned. Thismeans he will need to be a working EnglishBishop (not someone who is retired).

The Measure assumes that the normalposition for a diocesan bishop is to ordainwomen to the priesthood. However, it alsorecognises that not every diocesan bishopwill feel that it is right to ordain women aspriests. So the diocesan scheme can alsoinclude a declaration from the bishop thathe will not ordain women to the priesthood.In such circumstances the scheme must

then make provision for the ordinationof women as priests and their ongoingsupport.

The Scheme has to be reviewed regularly. Itmay be changed.

Clause 3 allows parishes to request maleepiscopal ministry under the Scheme. Thisprovides for a parish to write a Letter ofRequest to their diocesan bishop. The Letteris sent in the form specified in the Measure

(a pro-forma is provided) and on receipt

of it the bishop implements the Scheme.The letter can be withdrawn by the PCC on

giving notice as specified in the Measure.The PCC must pass a resolution to send orwithdraw a Letter of Request, at a meetingat which either two-thirds of the PCC ispresent, or an absolute majority (that isover half of all the members) votes infavour of making of the request. The vicarhas the right of veto over this decision.

If there is no vicar, a PCC may resolveto send the diocesan bishop a Letter ofRequest during a Vacancy. This letter asksthe bishop and patron for the provision ofa male vicar. It also ensures that only maleclergy minister during the vacancy. Clause3 ensures that the bishop notifies a parishof a forthcoming vacancy and explains whoreceives copies of Letters of Request.

Clause 5 establishes a national statutory,Code of Practice to ensure some consistency

across dioceses. Anyone doing anythinggoverned by the Measure must have regardto this Code. This is a legal obligation,which is set out in Clause 6. Failure to haveregard to the Code could result in seriousdisciplinary proceedings. The Code willprovide a framework for the operation ofthe Measure. It has not yet been drafted, sothis Guide cannot comment on it, neithercan Diocesan Synods give their views on it.However, the House of Bishops will havedrafted the Code before General Synodmakes a final decision on the legislation.The Measure cannot become law until the

Code has been made and published.

This concludes our look at thedraft Measure.


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Here we look at some current provisions which disappear,and consider possible future situations.

Resolutions A, B and CResolutions A and B are in the 1993 Priests (Ordination of Women) Measure,which is primary legislation. Resolution C is a made-up term for requesting theflying bishops established by the Act of Synod, which is an agreement withinthe Church of England and not legislation.

Resolution A currently enables a parish to avoid a woman presiding at Holy Communionor pronouncing absolution. Resolution B enables a parish not to have a woman vicar.These would disappear under this Measure. The Letter of Request system replacesthem. Some have felt that parishes are less protected as a result. However, a Letter

of Request in a Vacancy allows a parish to request a male vicar. And it is the vicarwho decides who ministers in the parish. Evangelical parishes who accept womensministry but not female oversight, should find this particularly helpful.

The intention is that, if the draft Measure becomes law, the Act of Synod will berepealed. This means that the current flying bishops arrangements end. However, thesuffragan sees of Ebbsfleet, Richborough, and Beverley remain all the while bishopsare appointed to them. The Code of Practice might make further arrangements forthese. Dioceses may make their own arrangements with male bishops whose ministrywould be welcomed in petitioning parishes. There has never been statutory provisionfor the flying bishops scheme and there will not begin to be so.

Money

Financial arrangements were made for clergy who left the Church of England becauseof women priests within 10 years of the 1993 Measure. About 500 clergy did so,at a cost of nearly 28 million; 58 returned, keeping their compensation payment.The General Synod decided not to make similar arrangements for those opposed towomen bishops. It would be difficult to afford and divert money from mission. TheHouse of Bishops will consider some provision in cases where genuine hardship wouldresult if priests felt that they had to leave the Church of England because women werebishops.

The Amending Canon

The amending Canon is the draft of the change to the Canons of the Church of

England. In order for women to be ordained as bishops the Canons of the Church ofEngland, which provide part of the legal framework of the Church, must say that thisis possible. So it sits beside the Measure. It too has been subject to the same scrutinyas the Measure and will need to be approved in order for women to be made bishops.

BUt What aBoUt ?

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At the heart of the discussions that will be had in Diocesan and Deanery Synods willbe the question are you happy with the draft Legislation; in this booklet we havetried to offer both an explanation of the legislation, but also some of the issues thatlie behind it.

In particular we have considered

If women bishops are consonant with Scripture and its understanding of

Ministry after the resurrection

Whether there is a good theological for the ordination of women where wehave looked at the incarnation, baptism and ministry

The nature of the Church of England - how Episcopal ministry works

If the Church of England has the authority to make these decisions andquestions of Sacramental Assurance and Reception

The effect on Ecumenical relations and the ability of the Church of England tobe prophetic

We have looked at delegation and how this works and considered questionsabout Headship

We have looked at the various models by which those opposed to womenbishops might be cared for and touched on some of the debates about these

In the light of the assumption that the Archbishops amendments to thelegislation in July 2010 would solve the problems we have spent timeexamining this

Then we have looked at the legislation itself and some of the practical issuesthat surround it

Naturally much has been written elsewhere on this subject and we would encourage

those that want more detail to search out the many official reports and other materialthat has been published in this area. What we have sought to do is to raise key pointsand offer some brief reflections on them.

the QUestionfor synods

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The debates about how to legislate for bishops and how to provide for those whoare opposed demonstrate two views of law. One wants everything crystal clear,so that everyone knows their obligations. The other says that simple frameworkswhich trust individuals and encourage working together are better.

The legislation sent to the dioceses from General Synod is more of the second sort.It relies on our understanding of belonging one to another. In this belonging wehave to let grace have a chance to triumph. The cataclysmic tearing apart of theChurch of England predicted in 1993 did not happen, because people tried to worktogether in grace. Pray God this continues to be the case, whatever the outcomeof these deliberations.

ConClUsion:the letterkills, BUt thespirit gives life


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Jane Steen

Jane is Canon Chancellor of Southwark Cathedral and Directorof Ministerial Education in the Diocese of Southwark.

Mark Steadman

Mark is parish priest of St Philip with St Mark, Camberwelland Area Dean of Bermondsey in the Diocese of Southwark.

The Society of Catholic Priests (SCP)

The Society of Catholic Priests is a growing society of men and women serving asPriests throughout the Anglican Communion. The society is seeking to promotepriestly spirituality and Catholic Evangelism. It has a membership of over 600priests, divided into international Provinces and Diocesan Chapters. In line withCatholic principles we are in full communion with our Diocesan Bishops. TheSociety has chapters in the UK and Europe, North America and Australia.

Affirming Catholicism

Affirming Catholicism is a movement of inspiration and hope in the AnglicanCommunion, bringing together and strengthening lay and ordained people whorecognise the positive, inclusive and joyful currents in the Catholic tradition ofChristianity.

aBoUt theaUthors


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St Marys Parish OfficeStoke Newington Church StLondonN16 9ESTel 078 9185 1722

Design. Absence/Presence

www.affirmingcatholicism.org.uk

www.scp.org.uk

Documents

Women Bishops 2011 Print BW