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Just before 5pm on 11th November 1992 the Archbishop of Canterbury read, ‘House of Bishops, Ayes 39, Noes 13; House of Clergy, Ayes 176, Noes 74; House of Laity, Ayes 169, Noes 82………I declare the motion carried.’ The Synod vote made history – women would be priests in the Church of England. The Church had proved that it was alive and could change; it was open to the Holy Spirit and responsive to that Spirit; it was a Church which valued women. Women, at last, were accepted and affirmed. Ten year’s on, it is a good time to reflect on the past decade and to hear from some of the women who subsequently became priests.
A year before that vote, Monica Furlong had written about women and power in the Church. She had observed, ‘Attempting modestly to catch a small fish, to get women ordained, we were astounded to discover that we had got Leviathan at the end of the line’ (Monica Furlong, A Dangerous Delight, SPCK 1991, p11) – a Leviathan whose true nature is still being discovered. One year after the vote, the General Synod passed an Act that is without historical precedent – it allowed for the creation of ‘flying bishops’, whose task would be to provide episcopal support and pastoral care for those who could not accept such care from their own bishops. PCC’s could place their parishes in the care of such a bishop, so providing the necessary safeguards for some of those opposed to women’s ordination and ensuring that traditionalist clergy did not run the risk of becoming ‘tainted’ by a bishop who may have laid hands on a woman to ordain her.
Many stories of bad practice have since been told as female clergy, and male clergy who do not oppose women’s ordination, have suffered discrimination from traditionalist laity and clergy. In her chapter in Act of Synod – Act of Folly ? (Monica Furlong, Act of Synod – Act of Folly, SCM Press 1998, p56) Judith Maltby comments that a bishop ’can deny the resurrection, the Trinity, and the incarnation; he may be a racist, liar or thief…... But if he ordains a woman to the priesthood, you can call in a ‘safe pair of hands’.’
A Review Group was set up to see how the Act was working and its Report, produced in 2000, was a whitewash, with almost all critical reference to the Act expunged. There was no mention of the hundreds of letters sent in which described discrimination and bad practice. Its only really beneficial effect was the debunking of the use of the phrase, the ‘two integrities’ – whilst people may hold differing views about women with integrity, it was nonsense to speak of ‘two integrities’. The Rev Valerie Bonham, speaking in the debate on the Report in the General Synod voiced her concern, ‘Now we are being called into question, not just by those who in conscience cannot accept our ministry but by those very bishops who have encouraged us, affirmed us and ordained us’.
Nerissa Jones, and others, make the point that by ordaining women the Church sent the message that it stopped thinking of women as lesser creatures, that there was a strong sense that women were being affirmed and accepted in a new way.
The next step, ordaining women as bishops, will be a sign to the Church and the rest of society, that women are valued as much as men are valued – although it will, perhaps, be another generation or two before women are deployed primarily for their gifts and experience. However, do we want a church that has females doing what males have been doing for centuries, or a church that is willing to become something new as it embraces a fuller humanity ?
Women will have to continue to stand against the particular demons that attack the feminine in this culture: low self-esteem, the necessity of being ‘nice’ above all else, of being pliant, always accommodating, self-effacing. They are having to get accustomed to being considered unreasonable when they stick up for themselves and of being considered hard when they respond to situations with firmness. The weaker sex, it seems, is routinely expected by the Church to shoulder much greater burdens of discrimination and bad treatment, while showing a much greater ability to forgive, absorb, build bridges and rise above such treatment. John Saxbee reflects that ‘perhaps we will only be fully a whole and healthy church when a woman priest can go ill, or astray, or slightly dotty without women’s ministry as a whole being thereby diminished – as if male clergy didn’t just occasionally fall victim to these all too human experiences !’
In the wake of the Stephen Lawrence inquiry, the Church began to tackle its own racism, admitted that it was institutionally racist and put into action a programme of racism awareness training. Some of the questions asked in regard to the Church and racism are also relevant when asked about women. Is the Church a place of haven for women; is it modelling best practice in treating women with respect and honour; is it including women at every level of its life ? Eradicating sexism will bring a new experience of wholeness to both women and men. The ordination of women gives a reciprocal gift to men……of receiving priestly ministry from people of the other gender.
The ordination of women has already broken down some walls that divided people, and women’s priestly ministry has begun to draw in many who had previously felt themselves excluded by the Church.
Christina Rees
There is one discussion stream following this article
| Congress Overview | Lead 1 Journey to Priesthood |
Lead 2 Dreams Can Come True |
Lead 3 Moving on - brilliant, but rough ride |
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