Immediate Action

Women in Ministry:
A Study

Published by Church Information Office
Church House, Westminster, SW1. 1968, pp. 52-58

The Working Party has already indicated that, though major changes in the patterns of ministry for women will depend on the Church’s answer to a variety of questions, some improvement can and should be made now. It hopes that the Ministry Committee of ACCM and the Council for Women’s Ministry will begin their work on such improvement at once and will press for action from the appropriate authorities.

The Deaconess Order

The report, Women and Holy Orders, made certain recommendations concerning deaconesses, of which the first is the most substantial:—

‘(a) That the next Lambeth Conference be asked to reconsider its previous pronouncements on the subject (possibly in the context of a wider consideration of the relevance of the Christian ministry) and to state positively what is the status of a deaconess.’

This question will presumably be considered by the Lambeth sub-committee on the diaconate. We find it impossible to attach any clear meaning to the words used by the special committee of the Lambeth Conference 1930 on deaconesses, ‘an Order sui generis’, and believe that it has contributed to the present confused thought about deaconesses. The questions to be answered are:—

(1) If the Order is sui generis, in what sense is it an ‘Order of the ministry’ and what is the meaning of ordination to it? Did the Church of England revive the ancient Order of Deaconesses in 1862, or did it instead create some new Order?

(2) If the Order is not sui generis, what is it? How is it to be distinguished from the diaconate? Is it essentially part of the ordained ministry of the Church or within the lay ministry?

The remaining recommendations in the report are largely matters of detail(1) and would be covered by Mr Porter’s amendment to the Bishop of Chester’s motion in which he asks that deaconesses should exercise the same liturgical and pastoral functions as deacons.(2) The simplest way to make such provision would be to alter all the relevant Canons, Resolutions and Regulations on deaconesses to provide that they exercise the functions of a deacon. This would mean that a deaconess, if licensed by the bishop, would by virtue of her ordination be able to read the Epistle and Gospel and assist in the distribution of Holy Communion; take Morning and Evening Prayer, and preach at any service; administer Baptism and take churchings and funerals. If it were desired that deaconesses should officiate at weddings, legislation would be necessary since a deacon is able legally to perform a marriage as he is a clerk in Holy Orders, though it is not properly one of his liturgical functions.

The Service for the Making of a Deaconess will, in any case, need to be revised; the description of the office is inadequate even for the present functions performed by a deaconess (see Appendix p. 67).

The Working Party was asked to consider whether a deaconess, serving as a hospital church sister, might administer the reserved sacrament in case of need. This is already being done in some parishes, and would clearly be covered if the functions of a deaconess were those of a deacon. (We think that it would be appropriate for a bishop also to give special permission to a licensed lay worker to do this if pastoral need so required, for example, in a hospital.)

Some special provision is made in the draft Synodical Government Measure for membership of councils and synods at parish and deanery level, but not in the Diocesan or General Synods, though a deaconess is eligible to stand for election (see Appendix p. 73). At all three levels (general, diocesan and deanery) she would, however, be a member of the Houses of Laity. Any alteration of her status would inevitably raise the question whether this membership would any longer be appropriate, and, if not, in what other way she might share in synodical decisions.

Accredited Lay Ministry

Lay men and women who are full-time church workers are, to some extent, identified both with the clergy and with the ordinary church members: with the first because of their common professional involvement in ministry, and with the second by virtue of their common lay status. This can, and should, enable them to act as links between the two groups; but in order to do so, they need to be sure of their identification with both. It is perhaps because of this identification with the clergy that some object to professional lay workers acting as representative laity in synods. Special provision may, therefore, be needed lest such persons are wholly excluded from the councils of the Church (see Appendix p. 73).

Mr Porter’s amendment also suggests that licensed women workers should exercise the same pastoral and liturgical functions as are permitted to a Reader in the Canons (see Appendix p. 68: Canon E.4). Such pastoral functions are already exercised by women, but an attempt to include a description of function in Canon E.7 was resisted since it would rapidly have become out of date.

Under the Convocation Regulations (see Appendix pp. 71, 72), women may already be licensed to exercise almost all the liturgical functions of a Reader, while reading the Epistle and Gospel and distributing Holy Communion will henceforth be regulated by Canon B.12: any lay worker would be eligible for such authorisation. Action is now needed to amend the Convocation Regulations so that licensed lay workers may preach at Holy Communion, since this restriction has been removed from Canon E.4 on Readers.

Because of the wide variety of licensed lay workers, we believe that permission to exercise liturgical functions should not be automatic but should remain a matter of the bishop’s licence. Such permission should normally be given to parish workers, but it may be less important perhaps to give it to certain others, e.g. church social workers. Someone who is not licensed to take services and preach must not feel that she is in any way a second-class worker. For status among lay workers ought not to depend on the performance of liturgical functions but upon the fulfilment of an appropriate ministry.

Accrediting: The Future

Accredited lay ministries must be clearly seen to be accredited: present practice is altogether too haphazard. The IDC (1) should not continue as the sole qualification for an accredited woman worker. Until recently, most Church Army sisters obtained the IDC at the end of their training, but the new Church Army training, approved by both ACCM and CWMC, is no longer related to the IDC, and other arrangements for recognition have to be made. The requirements appropriate for some of the newer specialist ministries, e.g. lay persons on the staff of university chaplaincies, also need more thought.

The position of laymen is even more confused. Some are admitted to the office of Evangelist, some are licensed as Readers, others seem to receive no formal accrediting. Any future accrediting should be concerned with the professional lay ministry of both men and women. It will need therefore to be under the control of ACCM, though full use should be made of the long experience of CWMC in this field. It should take the form of recognising a number of somewhat varied trainings, covering at least the following: those trained in pastoral and evangelistic work and church social work who now receive the IDC, and Church Army officers. Any training regarded as adequate for accrediting should, as now, include theology and the relevant professional expertise. Candidates must have been selected by some recognised church authority and show evidence of Christian life and commitment.

As a recognised society within the Church, the Church Army should continue to select and train its own officers. The Church would as at present accredit these officers for their service in the Church. (4)

At present, the Letters of Admission to the office of Evangelist (for captains) and to the office of Sister Evangelist (for sisters) vary (see Appendix p. 75). It is difficult to see why this should be so, and we suggest that those responsible should consider whether every Church Army officer should not be admitted to the one office of Evangelist. This would not cut off the sister from other women workers, but would enhance the status of women’s work generally. It would seem wise to do this as soon as possible, and preferably before the admission of women to the office of Reader.

The Chief Secretary of the Church Army raised with the Working Party whether there should be a Canon on the office of Evangelist. It seems strange that since such an office was officially recognised by the Church in 1897/8, there has been no recognition of it in the revised Canons. This matter was considered in a rather summary manner in 1960, and we think further thought should be given to it.

We also revert to the comments on the accrediting of members of religious orders and church social workers in Chapter IV. Accredited ministry has been, and will remain wider than those to whom a specific commission is given: in some sense, members

of religious communities and lay missionaries are within the accredited ministry. Further, some work is undertaken both by those who hold the bishop’s licence and by other Christian men and women who serve with no explicit church authority. We think that, while there can be no absolute rule, where work is specifically undertaken in the name of the Church, some explicit accrediting of trained persons is desirable.

The Working Party has been concerned with professional lay ministry (in the sense of trained and full-time workers), but it notes that some voluntary workers, e.g. Readers, are already officially accredited. It is important that some group other than ourselves should consider all these questions in relation to voluntary workers, including Readers.

Conditions of Work

In Chapter VI, we have drawn attention to the way in which traditional custom and practice may prevent a woman serving to the full. Such matters need not be described further, but we record our conviction that improvement in this field would not only be beneficial in itself, but would be some evidence of a change of outlook towards the role and work of women in the service of the Church.

The Supply of Women: Marriage, Part-Time Word and the Future

No improvement in status or conditions will be of much value if the supply of women able and willing to serve the church simply vanishes. We therefore draw attention to the figures in the footnote.(5) From these, it will be seen that from 1962-66 there was a slight rise in the number of deaconesses, (6) a marked increase in the number of church social workers, and some increase in the number of those in religious communities.(7) On the other hand, there has been a serious decline in the number of lay workers (other than church social workers) and Church Army sisters. Provisional figures for 1967 show a slight improvement but the Church is plainly not recruiting enough women for service, especially in parishes. What are the reasons for this? Contemporary opinion sets a high value on loving care and service, and many Christians see the proclamation of the Gospel in such terms. This may partly account for some reluctance to serve within the traditional parochial and evangelistic spheres, and be one of several reasons for the larger number of church social workers. (8)

In the past, when many of the more senior workers entered its service, the Church, with teaching and nursing, was one of the few fields of personal service open to women. This is no longer so and a vast range of welfare services now competes for those women who are fitted for work in this field. The reservoir of unmarried women on which all the caring professions have relied in the past has more or less disappeared. This is due both to the changed ratio of men to women in the population and to early marriage which is now almost universal.

As a result of this early marriage, almost every profession has seen the necessity of drawing back into service those who, having trained before marriage, have reached the point when they can return to work, either full or part-time. Some professions have gone further and have developed schemes for the training of married women. Apart from the former London course and the present Josephine Butler College short course for church social work, the Church has so far done very little, and fuller consideration should now be given to this.

Whatever confusion there may have been in the past (see Chapter II) it is now clear that the deaconess makes no promise of celibacy. A certain number of deaconesses are married after ordination, and some married women have been ordained. In each case, it is a matter of personal decision ‘at their own discretion, as they shall judge the same to serve better to godliness’ (Article XXXII). Until 1967, every Church Army sister had to resign her commission on marriage, but action taken on the recommendations in an interim report of the Commission on the Church Army now allows her to remain a sister on marriage when circumstances permit. Already eight sisters have been re-commissioned and five sisters have retained their commission on marriage. Other licensed lay workers have, of course, always been free to marry but this has generally meant leaving parish work: more married women, however, have remained in church social work and administration.

Why has the Church not made more use of the service of married women? Partly because it has been reluctant to draw married women outside the home for paid work (though not, be it noted, for many hours of voluntary work). Part-time paid work is also seen as a threat to the vast amount of voluntary work on which the Church relies at the parish level. This tends to ignore the fact that what is being paid for is substantial periods of skilled work, not simply goodwill. Married women may not be free at some of the times of day when the present parish workers have done a good deal of their work and the best use of such women would call for a new and flexible approach to traditional patterns. They might, in turn, draw in and train new voluntary workers from among their own friends.

If the Church intends to make serious use of such women, it will need a double source of supply. There will be the women who, as in other professions, train before marriage, work for a short period, cease work on marriage and return later when family circumstances permit. If this possibility were more readily accepted, young women who expect to marry might see more point in training for such work. The second source of supply will be those married women who are prepared to offer for service after marriage. Their training will need to be provided mainly within the diocese, and we understand some experiments are already being made. At the same time, dioceses must be prepared to adapt salary and grant regulations to encourage part-time work.

It would be wrong to regard these workers as in some sense second best. We believe that they might well bring a breadth and maturity of outlook which would enliven their work and enrich the experience of their colleagues.

Over the years, women have often seen work that needed doing and done it, receiving in the process such encouragement, payment and authority as the contemporary Church was disposed to give. Always the needs seem great and the labourers few. Each age throws up new patterns of ministry to meet its own needs: we believe that our own age is no exception.

Notes

(1) (b) That functions at present assignable at the discretion of individual bishops (such as Churchings and Baptism in Church) should be considered by the bishops and, when agreed upon, made of general application.

‘(c) That the duties of a deaconess set out in Canon D.I Clause 2 be extended to apply to the whole congregation.

‘(d) That it should be decided whether the deaconess may, by virtue of her office, administer the Chalice and read the Epistle.

‘(e) That the restriction in Canon D.I Clause 3a, “in case of need”, be removed.’ (See Appendix 67.)

(2). also, for Lambeth Conference Resolution, Appendix pp. 61-63.

(3) Inter-Diocesan Certificate.

(4) Our attention has been drawn to a problem which could arise in the future, for sisters trained under the new scheme who will not hold the IDC. At present most sisters have the IDC which they retain if they leave the Church Army, though Letters of Admission as a Sister Evangelist are returned. Any arrangements for accrediting Church Army officers would need to determine what should happen in such a case,

(5) .Full-time Church Workers

(6) Since the minimum period of (additional) preparation for ordination as a deaconess was shortened in 1959 from six months to one month, more women have been able to offer for ordination.

(7).The figures for religious communities are total numbers, including those at home and abroad, and do not specify whether they are engaged in ministerial tasks or not.

(8).Other reasons are better conditions of pay, service and status, more responsibility, wider outreach into society, and the provision of special training for older women.

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