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The historical survey in Chapter II has shown that women began to offer themselves for service in the church for a variety of tasks. The best known of these tasks are: parish and diocesan work, church social work (formerly called moral welfare work) and work overseas. Few are aware, however, of how wide is the range of service now given by women. A modern list must also include: chaplaincy work in universities, hospitals, prisons and the Forces, evangelistic and counselling work, educational and youth work and the care of alcoholics, drug addicts and deprived children, and of the aged.
None of these areas is the exclusive concern of one group of women: nor are all involved in every sphere, but for convenience we take first the work of three special groups, the religious orders, the church social worker and the Church Army. The work of the deaconesses and licensed lay workers in parishes and elsewhere will be treated thereafter.
The Religious Orders
The emphasis on ‘good works’ of the early days of religious communities has changed to a stress on the essence of the religious life itself as being of greatest value. Therefore ministry is seen as exercised through a community of freely committed women, in terms of worship, in intercession and reparation for the needs of the world through the eucharist, daily offices and private prayer. In witness, externally by distinctive dress and pattern of life expressed in the evangelical counsels of poverty, chastity and obedience, and the sharing of the common family life, and as a sign of the primacy of God and his total demand on men. In work, as centres of spirituality on which the world can draw, and ‘outgoing’ service such as evangelistic, pastoral, educational and institutional work.
In this corporate ministry, it is the community which undertakes the specific work; one job may be shared between several sisters, or one sister may undertake more than one job at a time. The community itself functions under the authority of the diocesan, either at his invitation or by his permission after invitation by parochial, chaplaincy or educational bodies. Thus the individual religious functions directly under the corporate authority of the community and indirectly under the authority of the diocesan and/or priest concerned. A community may be recognised as working in a particular sphere but the individuals carrying out the work may change.
It would appear that only in the case of the Community of St Andrew do sisters individually hold the bishop’s licence in the dioceses in which they work, and this is because they are deaconesses as well as members of a religious community. The Working Party believes that further thought should be given to this matter. Where a specially qualified sister undertakes a particular piece of work, for example in a parish or university chaplaincy, it would surely be appropriate that diocesan authority should be given by way of licence or other authorisation, especially if the service given includes liturgical functions and preaching. This matter might usefully be discussed by CWMC with the Conference of Mothers Superior.
The Church Social Worker
The Working Party received valuable evidence from an officer of the Church of England Committee for Diocesan Moral and Social Welfare Councils both as to the historical background and the present position; written and oral evidence from those in the field was also obtained. Within this specialised field our task has been to see its relation to the rest of women’s ministry, especially in the matter of accrediting.
Church social workers are, like other social workers, eagerly awaiting the publication of the Seebohm Report on the Personal Social Services. Until this report appears, it is difficult to sketch the future pattern in this field. However, it is assumed by many of those most qualified to judge that local authorities will increasingly assume direct responsibility for much of the social work relating to unmarried parenthood and illegitimacy which is at present done by the Church; often, of recent years under an agency agreement with the local authority. This will mean a gradual shift in emphasis in church social work which in turn may change its form and structure.
In the future, one form of church social work may be to foster in the Christian community and beyond it that caring role which the State, no less than the Church, now requires of ordinary men and women. Whatever the future pattern may be, some of the Church’s present social workers will probably have to choose between two options. Either she may continue doing a certain type of professional work (e.g. care of the unmarried mother and child) but in local authority employment, or she will choose to remain within the employ of the Church, but with a somewhat changed role. Whichever option she takes, the church social worker must be assured of the continued interest of the Church in her work. We are convinced of the need for some expression of this concern, and we hope that the right way of doing this may be developed in each place. We think, however, that the formal authority of the Church should be reserved for those in its employ, or in the employ, for example, of Councils of Churches or religious societies. We do not doubt the Christian commitment and dedication of workers in the statutory services. But in this field, as in education, the question to be asked must be ‘for what is this authority given?’; and the answer is ‘to act as a representative of the Church’.
Any social worker has the right to expect the goodwill of the Church for the task he or she is undertaking; but those engaged in welfare work on behalf of the Church ought to receive specific recognition as partners in ministry. “The evidence that we have received suggests that such recognition is neither universal nor wholehearted. Nothing should be allowed to diminish or impair these workers’ sense of being given authority by the Church for this service. Indeed, all that can be done to strengthen this partnership, whether by formal accrediting and licence, or by practical cooperation and support, is to be welcorned. For example, it is all too easy for such women to be overlooked when membership of Chapters and Synods is under consideration.
The Church Army
The Church Army is a Church of England society of professional lay evangelists engaged in a great variety of parochial mission and social welfare work, mainly in Great Britain. The officers, both captains and sisters, are lay people; and the Commission (1) which recently reported on the work of the Church Army considered it important that this lay character should be maintained. Many officers find a vocation within the society for life; but it is recognised that others will hold their commission only for some years before undertaking other work. Until recently a Church Army sister resigned her commission on marriage, but she may now remain a sister if her circumstances permit her to do so. In any case, she agrees to remain unmarried for three years after her commissioning.
Although Church Army officers are all admitted to the office of lay evangelist, many of them exercise their ministry in a pastoral, parochial setting.
The Commission recommended that parochial officers, as well as those within the mission department, should be equipped both for the training of lay people for ‘frontier evangelism’ and also for work in small informal groups. Special training would be needed for both these kinds of work.
The Commission also noted that ‘the parochial sisters tend to receive more official recognition from the Church than the captains. The reason for this is that they are part of a larger ministry of women. In spite of the opportunities for evangelism which most of the sisters find in their work, many of them are dissatisfied with the scope which women workers as a whole are given at present in the ministry of the Church.’
The Working Party received a long memorandum on the sisters’ work, and also written and oral evidence from officers. It was impressed by the volume and variety of the work undertaken by the society and by the dedication of its officers. Any suggestions we may make are simply intended to strengthen its position and the service it renders.
Although it is a semi-independent body, controlling its own life, the society is dependent upon the church authorities for many of its spheres of work, the accrediting of its officers, and in some cases for their payment. In the past the Church Army has pioneered work in fields where the official Church found it difficult to go. We hope that the society will continue to give such pioneering work a high priority: to use its officers as ‘commandos’ rather than ‘garrison troops’. This will require from church authorities, at central, diocesan and local level, a real understanding of the role of the Church Army, for without this understanding wrong demands may be made upon the society for the service of its officers.
The society must be left free to respond to the needs it perceives though always in close partnership with church authorities, to whom Church Army officers should be able to look for support.
Deaconesses and Licensed Lay Workers
Leaving aside the church social workers and Church Army sisters, the majority of deaconesses and licensed lay workers hold parish, deanery or diocesan posts. There is also a small but growing group engaged in specialist ministries. Some of these are an extension of the present parochial work, i.e. women working in group or team ministries, or with all the incumbents in a deanery. Others are the result of the inclusion of women either in long established chaplaincies, in hospitals, universities and the Forces, or in the newer industrial mission teams. Others, again, are working as pioneers in informal education or new areas of social responsibility. Here problems arise over who employs, who pays and who should accredit. When the whole field of extra-parochial ministry is looked at by ACCM, the lay as well as ordained ministries need to be considered.
Mere lists of roles which women occupy will not convey the content of the work. For example, one can break down the role of a parish worker into a multiplicity of tasks: visiting, counselling, preparation for baptism and confirmation, teaching in day and Sunday school, training others to teach, leading Bible and other study groups, running holiday courses and camps, taking Lent courses and sharing missions, leading women’s fellowships and youth clubs, taking services and preaching, and sometimes baptising and taking funerals. Beyond the parish, there will be courses in clinical theology, visits in local industry or hospitals, and co-operation with local welfare officers in a host of different ways. There is nothing very unfamiliar in such a list for this is just the sort of work in which clergy are involved: perhaps that is its significance. It is evident that women, by the work they do, are already sharing in the ministry of the Church, and this is precisely how many women see their calling.
A lay worker sums it up as follows: ‘In calling me to full-time work in his Church, I feel that God has called me to do what I am peculiarly fitted to do by virtue of (a) being full-time (thus being available for help, encouragement and hospitality at unlikely hours, perceiving what is undone and doing it, harnessing and organising the goodwill and skill of the laity) and (b) having trained skills (which help me to present the faith as relevant and dynamic to those I teach, discuss with, or seek to help). Every Christian is called to service and witness; I am only different by virtue of these practical circumstances, and because as an “authorised” member of the parochial team I am “labelled”, and seen to do what I do or say in the name of the Church.’
A deaconess in a London parish writes of her work: ‘My duties are wide and varied. As there is no curate on the staff the vicar expects me to do the work he would normally allocate to the curate, with the exception of the purely priestly functions such as the administration of the sacraments. In addition to the normal parish duties which fall within this scope, I help with services, leading the Offices during the week, preaching from time to time (about once a month), and in the absence of the vicar, taking Matins and Evensong on Sunday. I am also on the staff of a General Hospital assisting the chaplain. All the same, some traditions die hard. Certain areas of parish work are looked upon as the woman’s prerogative purely on grounds of sex and with no regard for her particular talents or inclination. (For example: are all women more happily occupied in children’s work than in some other sphere of parish life? Is the single woman necessarily better than a married man with children of his own?)’
A number of women have reflected deeply on the implications of their call to service. ‘I see my own ministry as the call to understand and interpret the Christian faith in the world in partnership with other Christians. I became a Church Army sister in response to what I believed to be a direct call from God to serve him within this particular society. This is not to say that my former work as a social worker was not also done in obedience to God, but I was now being called to be identified with the Church in a more overt way, and for me this meant a new willingness for the whole of my life to be seen as a “sign” of Christ to others. Response to this call meant both joy and sacrifice: joy in knowing that I was where God wanted me to be and could count on his help in fulfilling this ministry; sacrifice in surrendering a good deal of freedom that I had formerly enjoyed. Becoming a Church Army sister meant being at God’s disposal in this ministry for as long as he should require, and therefore it included a readiness to remain single if necessary.’
A deaconess in the Midlands describes herself ‘as a minister to the people of the parish working in conjunction with the vicar at every level. This involves both social and spiritual contacts and as both are intermingled in the life of the individual it is not possible to carry out one’s work to the full if one is shut out from part of the spiritual side of ministry because one happens to be a woman. I feel that a parish needs a partnership of men and women on its staff. The need for a man is traditional and obvious but I am constantly coming up against occasions when I feel that because I am a woman I have been a special help to someone. I am told, “You can talk to a woman”. I also feel that many women have the greater ability to attend to details of organisation than many men.’
Women are now evidently sharing in the advantages of a team ministry. One worker in the North writes: ‘Each member of staff, woman worker included, has the pastoral oversight of one geographical area in the parish, and overall responsibility for group activities over the whole area, mine being the educational policy and the women’s work’.
A similar outlook is found among those engaged in specialist work. A Church Army sister on a mission van writes: ‘Originally, I felt that God was calling me to serve him by sharing with people something of what I knew him to be. It seemed that this could only be done with proper training and in a full-time capacity. . . Training was essential for I am now able to approach certain matters which the lay man or woman could not tackle. In this ministry of reconciliation, my hopes have been fulfilled in unexpected ways and not in the rather unrealistic way which was envisaged when God first called. Involvement with people and their needs faces one with one’s own inadequacy and the necessity of suffering with people.’
A hospital church sister, writing of a new post, says: ‘People don’t exactly know what to expect. At first, they were suspicious of my behaviour with dying patients, my authority to baptise babies, to pray with the dangerously ill people. I have tried to build up a reputation of doing this in my own right as a woman worker, an authorised representative of the church. But the thing that influenced them most was my personal conviction that God was there and that I, at least, believed in his forgiveness and strength.’
Another Church Army sister, working at the Counselling Centre, found that: ‘For the first time in my experience of church work there is no frustration where time is concerned. The greatest need of the people who come is for someone to listen to them. We, for our part, have time at their disposal without the feeling that we ought to be doing something else.’ This is borne out by a chaplains’ assistant with the Army: ‘I keep in mind the words of my first senior chaplain, who said that our job was to bring Christ to people, and how we did that must be left to the guidance of the Holy Spirit. One of my main roles is, I believe, to be available to listen.’
Finally, another deaconess writes this account of her work: ‘I see my job here as building up and strengthening the Christian fellowship and caring for all the people in and out of church. I am free to form house groups as the need for them arises with subjects wanted by the groups concerned—not all of these are religious. I have two oil painting classes and the discussions during these are often far more religious than the Bible study groups! I act as deacon in the Parish Communion, dressed in alb and amice without stole: we have women servers too. I read the Gospel, take the prayers for the Church, exhortation to repentance and say the Comfortable Words. I administer the chalice. I am on the rota with the clergy and lay readers for this. I preach at the Parish Communion and in the correct place after the Gospel. I take the reserved sacrament out to the sick and housebound. I have done all these things at the request of the PCC who were one hundred per cent for it and at my vicar’s wish and with the bishop’s permission, and now I find that I have a greater feeling of fellowship with the staff and people.’
Footnotes
(1) The Commission was set up by the Board of the Church Army to whom it reported in January 1968.
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