Hillside Parish Magazine Extracts
August 2005

August 2005 I was not alone in being appalled at the Bishop of Europe's recent letter, supported by 11 other bishops. Although by no means perfect, we have a synodical system in this church which has coped so far with the ordination of women. The subject has been much debated, and this seems a move to stall the process outside of the machinery set up to deal with it. Even many who were opposed to the process, long ago, agreed then that if women were to be ordained to the priesthood the step up to being a Bishop should be included. As it is, many women like Liz do some of the Bishop's work for them as they serve as Diocesan Directors of Ordinands, Advisory Board to the Ministry Selectors (Church equivalent of RCB) and also members of review panels of future ordinands. Where Bishops have ignored the advice of such people set apart to select candidates there has often been disaster. If women are capable of doing jobs that Bishops delegate to them on their behalf, then they are capable of being Bishops themselves.

The big mistake is that the Church fails to heed its own advice and rulings. So that despite the decision of Synod we then had flying bishops foisted on us but no complementary sanction whereby there was alternative episcopal oversight for those who had a bishop who was opposed to the ordination of women. As a result the C of E muddles on, and this particular letter can only perpetrate that muddle if anyone heeds it.

In the event General Synod voted to move ahead towards the consecration of women as bishops, so there has been unnecessary reaction and heartache. Common sense must be encouraged to prevail, however much our confidence in some of our bishops may be shattered. However, there are other areas where the Church needs to avoid shooting itself in the foot: because if it is inconsistent in this age of disbelief it will only increase that disbelief. Rather we must take the reality of God, manifested in those made in his own image, male and female, and bring God to light in our lives for others to see. No, don't put them in a bushel under the bed!

I read all this as one of the many ways in which we exclude God and therefore restrict his Kingdom and block the channel of grace that is God at work. To have women bishops indicates that their office is flawed by our own humanity - until we make room for it to be filled out by the full spectrum of our humanity, which is, male and female. Obviously God is constrained by the laws of nature when it comes to incarnation and Mary as the Mother of Jesus, but there are plenty of indications in the N.T. that women in their own right often took a lead or played a prominent part. Obviously the lot that fell on Matthias, in Acts, to replace Judas was not going to fall on a woman as a woman was not considered as a likely candidate - yet the daughters of deacons went on to exercise a very full and valid ministry.

So we must beware of excluding God, whether (i) in the wider public area of the Church in operation or (ii) locally through a smallness of mind that sees the Church as a set of response boxes set by some perceived diocesan agenda. God is in the everyday, in the daily utterance we give out and in the example of our lives. All our effort should go into making his Kingdom a reality, where we give our prayerful best, at home or at work as we achieve success, encouragement and greater strength. There is no shame in trying! Be a person of prayer and action - not otherwise!