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tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37333775159225748242014-10-14T16:58:19.668+01:00YES 2 Women BishopsPromoting the case for women bishops in the Church of EnglandYES to women bishopshttp://email@example.com:blogger.com,1999:blog-3733377515922574824.post-48909491617792925742014-07-19T13:24:00.001+01:002014-07-19T13:24:15.236+01:00We are historyWe are delighted to be closing down this website, based on the rather wonderful announcement from the Church of England below.

Church of England to have women bishops

14 July 2014
The General Synod of the Church of England has today given its final approval for women to become bishops in the Church of England.

 The vote in the General Synod on the measure was carried by the required two-thirds majority in the three constituent parts of the Synod: the House of Bishops, the House of Clergy and the House of Laity.

 The voting results were as follows:

 House of Bishops: Yes 37 No 2 Abstentions 1
 House of Clergy: Yes 162 No 25 Abstentions 4
 House of Laity: Yes 152 No 45 Abstentions 5

 This means the first woman bishop could potentially be appointed by the end of the year.

 Today's vote comes 18 months after the proposal was last voted upon in November 2012 when the proposal failed to achieve the required two thirds majority in the House of Laity.

 The Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, said:

 "Today is the completion of what was begun over 20 years with the ordination of women as priests. I am delighted with today's result. Today marks the start of a great adventure of seeking mutual flourishing while still, in some cases disagreeing.

 The challenge for us will be for the church to model good disagreement and to continue to demonstrate love for those who disagree on theological grounds. Very few institutions achieve this, but if we manage this we will be living our more fully the call of Jesus Christ to love one another. As delighted as I am for the outcome of this vote I am also mindful of those within the Church for whom the result will be difficult and a cause of sorrow.

 My aim, and I believe the aim of the whole church, should be to be able to offer a place of welcome and growth for all. Today is a time of blessing and gift from God and thus of generosity. It is not winner take all, but in love a time for the family to move on together."

 The Archbishop of York, Dr. John Sentamu, said:
 "This is a momentous day. Generations of women have served the Lord faithfully in the Church of England for centuries. It is a moment of joy today: the office of Bishop is open to them.

 To those who ask "what took you so long?" my answer is that every decision has a cost and there will be those within our body who will be hurting as a result of this decision. Our answer to the hurting should not be "get over it" but rather "we will not let go until you have blessed us."

 We move slowly because we move together. But in moving together we achieve not only what is just but also model what is right. As the African Proverb says: "Whoever walks fast, travels alone. Whoever walks far, walks in the company of others."

The Synod also approved an Amending Canon, together with an Act of Synod which will rescind the 1993 Act of Synod when the Canon is 'enacted' (ie formally made) by the Synod.
 The Measure, Canon and Act of Synod are part of a package which also includes a Declaration made by the House of Bishops (which amongst other things sets out five 'guiding principles') and Regulations, to be made once the Canon is enacted, providing for a mandatory disputes resolution procedure.

 Following today's vote the Measure will be submitted by the Synod's Legislative Committee to the Ecclesiastical Committee of Parliament, which will produce a report on it. If it is to pass into law the Measure must subsequently be approved by both Houses of Parliament. If they approve it, it will receive the Royal Assent and be brought into force by the Archbishops.
 The Canon can then be returned to the Synod, in November if the Parliamentary processes are completed sufficiently quickly, so that it can be formally enacted. It is at that point that the law will be changed, so as to allow women to be consecrated as bishops."YES to women bishopshttp://firstname.lastname@example.com:blogger.com,1999:blog-3733377515922574824.post-73753136400063589042014-07-07T22:31:00.000+01:002014-07-07T22:31:43.892+01:00The final vote?On 14 July, General Synod will for the second time hold a final approval vote on legislation to admit women to the episcopate. Just 15 months since the last legislation failed, we face another crunch vote with significant implications for the future of the Church of England. Despite passing by the required two thirds majority in the Houses of Bishops and Clergy in 2012, previous legislation fell six votes short in the House of Laity and Synod was sent back to the drawing board.

Whilst Synod is made up of the very same individuals as were in role 15 months ago, this vote will take place in a very different mood from the last attempt. Prayerful engagement and discussion between supporters and opponents of women bishops, and strong leadership from our Archbishops and Bishops, has transformed the context for this vote. We are hugely grateful to everyone involved in this process.

And so, we encourage all our supporters to pray with us that the Holy Spirit will guide Synod members as they decide how to vote. It is with great joy that we saw the legislation overwhelmingly endorsed by all 42 diocesan synods which were able to meet and vote on it, including both of those which rejected the last legislation, so we approach the final vote with a spirit of hope.

It seemed unimaginable after the legislation fell in November 2012 that in less than two years new legislation could be passed. And yet, it is obvious to any observer that the outcome of this vote is by no means certain, so we pray for the outcome this time to conclude this process.

We are also acutely aware that for some, this development is difficult and troubling. We pray especially for them now, that they will take heart from the positive engagement over the past 15 months, and the commitments made by the Bishops for their continued place in the Church.YES to women bishopshttp://email@example.com:blogger.com,1999:blog-3733377515922574824.post-43478062385085830262014-03-21T15:33:00.000Z2014-05-25T10:01:42.199+01:00Legislation on its way: running tally of diocesan votesThe process for legislating to admit women to the episcopate now requires that the the latest rules are sent to the 44 dioceses of the Church of England for each of them to vote on. Last time round 42 of these passed the legislation, with just London and Chichester narrowly voting against.

We're hoping for a clean sweep this time to send a clear message to general synod that this measure has the broad support of the Church. So with thanks to Peter Owen, we'll be keeping the running score available here as and when the votes come in.

 Diocese	 Bishops	 Clergy	 Laity	 Result	 date

  	 For	 Against	 Abs	 For	 Against	 Abs	 For	 Against	 Abs

 Bath & Wells	 1	 0	 0	 59	 3	 1	 57	 1	 0	 carried	 22 Mar 2014

 Birmingham	 1	 0	 0	 33	 2	 1	 37	 0	 1	 carried	 22 Mar 2014

 Blackburn	 2	 1	 0	 31	 19	 2	 50	 14	 1	 carried	 3 Apr 2014 	 link

 Bradford	 1	 0	 0	 31	 0	 1	 37	 0	 2	 carried	 22 Mar 2014

 Bristol	 2	 0	 0	 13	 0	 0	 21	 2	 0	 carried	 29 Mar 2014

 Canterbury	 1	 0	 0	 34	 3	 1	 52	 3	 1	 carried	 8 Mar 2014 	 link

 Carlisle	 2	 0	 0	 33	 1	 0	 37	 2	 1	 carried	 15 Mar 2014

 Chelmsford	 4	 0	 0	 50	 7	 0	 55	 11	 1	 carried	 1 Mar 2014

 Chester	 2	 0	 0	 37	 10	 3	 48	 7	 3	 carried	 21 May 2014 	 link

 Chichester	 1	 1	 1	 36	 22	 2	 54	 20	 0	 carried	 17 May 2014 	 link

 Coventry	 2	 0	 0	 21	 0	 1	 33	 0	 0	 carried	 12 May 2014 	 link

 Derby	 2	 0	 0	 25	 3	 0	 25	 5	 1	 carried	 10 May 2014 	 link

 Durham	 2	 0	 0	 32	 2	 0	 49	 2	 1	 carried	 17 May 2014

 Ely	 1	 0	 0	 33	 3	 0	 41	 5	 2	 carried	 15 Mar 2014

 Europe	  	  	  	  	  	  	  	  	  	  	 unable to meet deadline

 Exeter	 1	 0	 0	 42	 11	 2	 53	 5	 2	 carried	 17 May 2014 	 link

 Gloucester	 2	 0	 0	 35	 0	 0	 45	 1	 1	 carried	 1 May 2014 	 link

 Guildford	 1	 0	 0	 34	 3	 2	 36	 1	 3	 carried	 1 Mar 2014 	 link

 Hereford	 1	 0	 0	 35	 0	 0	 33	 0	 1	 carried	 29 Mar 2014

 Leicester	 2	 0	 0	 29	 6	 0	 42	 2	 1	 carried	 17 May 2014 	 link

 Lichfield	 3	 0	 0	 44	 2	 0	 44	 9	 3	 carried	 22 Mar 2014

 Lincoln	 1	 0	 0	 57	 3	 0	 43	 2	 1	 carried	 29 Mar 2014	 link

 Liverpool	 1	 0	 0	 45	 1	 1	 50	 0	 2	 carried	 22 Mar 2014	 link

 London	 3	 0	 0	 40	 10	 7	 43	 17	 1	 carried	 15 May 2014 	 link

 Manchester	 3	 0	 0	 37	 8	 2	 45	 6	 2	 carried	 22 May 2014

 Newcastle	 2	 0	 0	 41	 2	 1	 36	 3	 1	 carried	 7 May 2014 	 link

 Norwich	 3	 0	 0	 37	 4	 1	 31	 2	 0	 carried	 29 Mar 2014

 Oxford	 3	 0	 0	 47	 3	 0	 57	 1	 3	 carried	 22 Mar 2014	 link

 Peterborough	 1	 0	 0	 45	 2	 2	 40	 4	 7	 carried	 22 Mar 2014 	 link

 Portsmouth	 1	 0	 0	 36	 1	 2	 31	 1	 3	 carried	 29 Mar 2014	 link

 Ripon & Leeds	 1	 0	 0	 37	 0	 0	 35	 1	 2	 carried	 1 Mar 2014 	 link

 Rochester	 1	 0	 0	 44	 7	 3	 46	 6	 4	 carried	 21 May 2014

 St Albans	 3	 0	 0	 46	 3	 1	 65	 0	 4	 carried	 15 Mar 2014 	 link

 St Edmundsbury & Ipswich	 1	 0	 0	 48	 0	 2	 62	 0	 1	 carried	 1 Mar 2014

 Salisbury	 2	 0	 0	 35	 0	 3	 48	 1	 2	 carried	 15 May 2014 	 link

 Sheffield	 2	 0	 0	 24	 8	 1	 29	 8	 0	 carried	 8 Mar 2014	 link

 Sodor & Man	 1	 0	 0	 18	 2	 0	 35	 0	 1	 carried	 6 Mar 2014 	 link

 Southwark	 3	 0	 0	 45	 6	 0	 62	 6	 4	 carried	 8 Mar 2014	 link

 Southwell & Nottingham 	 0	 0	 0	 29	 2	 0	 29	 1	 0	 carried	 5 Apr 2014 	 link

 Truro	 2	 0	 0	 26	 1	 0	 37	 2	 0	 carried	 10 May 2014 	 link

 Wakefield	 1	 1	 0	 41	 8	 2	 30	 9	 1	 carried	 8 Mar 2014	 link

 Winchester	 2	 0	 0	 37	 5	 1	 45	 4	 0	 carried	 15 Mar 2014 	 link

 Worcester	 2	 0	 0	 23	 0	 0	 36	 1	 0	 carried	 30 Apr 2014 	 link

 York	 2	 0	 0	 32	 1	 0	 40	 1	 4	 carried	 10 May 2014

 TOTALS	 75	 3	 1	 1557	 174	 45	 1824	 166	 68

YES to women bishopshttp://firstname.lastname@example.com:blogger.com,1999:blog-3733377515922574824.post-23452439317703144052014-01-18T10:33:00.000Z2014-03-20T21:17:27.173ZNew year, new measure, new hope?Happy new year!

It isn't long after we add the wise men to the nativity set before the agenda for the next session of General Synod in February gets us thinking about our hopes for women bishops in 2014.

Let's start with a recap of where we got to in 2013. If we're honest, it was a bit of a surprise for us how quickly and positively the year went. A year ago, we were digesting the disastrous failure to pass the measure to admit women to the episcopate in November 2012. There was little hope of substantive progress in 2013, with a blocking minority established in synod and positions on all sides appearing to harden.

Nevertheless, strong leadership from the House of Bishops and positive facilitated conversations between the key campaigning groups and within synod changed the mood. By the end of the year, synod had overwhelmingly approved a package with a simple motion to remove all legal discrimination against women in the episcopate, along with a draft declaration from the House of Bishops to provide provisions for those who cannot accept women bishops for genuine theological reasons.

But there is still a long way to go.

We are now at the point where the draft legislation must go through the process of revision. This is the stage which puts the detailed wording of the legislation to a high degree of scrutiny to ensure it is sound and workable. In an innovation for this process, this process will be conducted in the main session of General Synod, rather than a small committee, to help the measure proceed as quickly as possible.

Whilst this measure is very simple, there remains a danger that amendments are made during the revision process which introduce elements of discrimination, so we urge synod members to keep the legislation unamended through the revision stage.

After revision, comes referral to the dioceses. At this stage, each diocesan synod is required to debate and vote on the proposed legislation. It will only proceed if more than half the dioceses approve. The previous legislation was approved by 42 of the 44 dioceses, so it is unlikely that it will fall at this stage.

After the dioceses, the legislation can return to General Synod for final approval. This is the point at which the vote requires a two thirds majority in favour, in each of the three 'houses' within Synod - Bishops, Clergy and Laity. Whilst there is the potential for the minority who blocked the measure last time to reassert their blocking minority, we are encouraged that in November 2013, General Synod approved this package with an overwhelming majority in all three houses. This vote achieved a far greater majority than was ever achieved during the progress of the previous legislation.
So our prayer for 2014 is to see the final completion of the legislation this year.

This will be remarkable speed (for the Church of England). We are grateful to all who have participated in 2013 for the progress made. These thanks go particularly to those who are opposed to women bishops but have approached this process with a fresh heart and an open mind, to Justin Welby and the House of Bishops who have pressed for continued dialogue when it felt hopeless.

We're not there yet. But we begin 2014 full of hope.YES to women bishopshttp://email@example.com:blogger.com,1999:blog-3733377515922574824.post-27366947540437339562013-11-17T20:57:00.001Z2013-11-18T06:53:31.703ZThe new proposals explainedThe beginners guide to the new draft legislation on women bishops.

With kind permission from Dave Walker

The measure allowing women bishops is very simple. It is copied in full at the bottom of this post. Most of the wording relates to legislative technicalities. The important stuff, theologically speaking, is contained in a single clause, with just three sub-clauses.

The legislation states that it will become lawful for women as well as men to be priests and bishops.

Simple.

However, that isn't the end of the package. In addition, the deal reached in the Steering Committee which drafted this legislation included two other related components.

The first of these is a declaration from the House of Bishops, with a draft prepared for them by the Steering Committee (page 16 on). This declaration makes clear that the Church of England has reached a clear and unequivocal view on the issue of ordained women's ministry, but also recognises that those who maintain theological objections to that position remain within the spectrum of Anglican teaching and tradition on the matter, so the Church of England is committed to ensuring a place for their flourishing.

This declaration sets out that Parochial Church Councils may pass a resolution such as, "This PCC requests, on grounds of theological conviction, that arrangements be made for it in accordance with the House of Bishops' Declaration on the Ministry of Bishops and Priests.", which would trigger arrangements for alternative episcopal oversight. The resolution also provides guidance on a number of the controversial issues which proved sticking points in the last legislation, such as the appointment of incumbents and the choice of bishop to provide alternative oversight.

What seems to have changed the game this time round, however, is the final piece of the puzzle - a mandatory grievance procedure (draft from page 24 on). This provides a mechanism for those who are not satisfied by the arrangements put in place or the behaviour of their bishop to put their complaint to an independent reviewer. This seems to have done the job of providing a greater degree of assurance to those who will be seeking alternative episcopal oversight that they will be treated properly.

The crucial question is whether this package will get through Synod's 'two thirds majority' requirement, where the previous package failed. The signs are looking good at this point. The Steering Committee which produced this legislation contained senior members of the major groups both in favour and opposed to women bishops, and we hear from the Archbishops that there were no opposing votes when the package was put to a final vote in the Steering Committee. We've also had a statement from Forward in Faith, the main Anglo-Catholic group opposed to women bishops, saying that this package is better than the last and that they will recommend their members abstain, rather than oppose, provided it remains in tact.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Bishops and Priests (Consecration and Ordination of Women) Measure

1 Provision for consecration of women as bishops and for continuation of provision for ordination of women as priests

It shall be lawful for the General Synod to make provision by Canon for enabling women, as well as men, to be consecrated to the office of bishop if they otherwise satisfy the requirements of Canon Law as to the persons who 5 may be consecrated as bishops.

It shall continue to be lawful for the General Synod to make provision by Canon for enabling women, as well as men, to be ordained to the office of priest if they otherwise satisfy the requirements of Canon Law as to the persons who may be ordained as priests.

The Priests (Ordination of Women) Measure 1993 (No. 2) is repealed.

2 Amendment of Equality Act

In Schedule 6 to the Equality Act 2010 (c.15), there is added at the end—

"Bishops

4 The office of diocesan or suffragan bishop is not a public office.".

 3 Repeals

The enactments mentioned in the Schedule are repealed to the extent specified in the second column of the Schedule.

 4 Citation, commencement and extent

This Measure may be cited as the Bishops and Priests (Consecration and 20 Ordination of Women) Measure.

This Measure comes into force on such day as the Archbishops of Canterbury and York may jointly appoint.

Subject to subsections (4) and (5) this Measure extends to the whole of the Provinces of Canterbury and York except the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man.

This Measure may be applied to the Channel Islands, as defined in the Channel Islands (Church Legislation) Measures 1931 and 1957, or either of them, in accordance with those Measures.

If an Act of Tynwald or an instrument made under an Act of Tynwald so provides, this Measure extends to the Isle of Man, subject to such exceptions, adaptation or modifications as may be specified in the Act of Tynwald or instrument.

YES to women bishopshttp://firstname.lastname@example.com:blogger.com,1999:blog-3733377515922574824.post-8335000280601344022013-11-17T18:06:00.004Z2013-11-17T21:22:09.954ZLooking ahead to the November General Synod session
Synod member Rebecca Swinson gives us an update on what will be happening at the November Synod session.

This week, General Synod will be meeting for 3 days from 18th to the 20th November. I'm sure that the significance of these dates will not be lost on many as it will be a year since the final appoval vote to allow women into the episcopate was defeated.

The agenda for this group of sessions is again dominated by this issue although there has been a change in approach. On Tuesday we will meet in small groups to reflect on the legislation before the main debate on Wednesday. During the main debate, we will look at both the report from the Steering Committee and then whether the draft legislation and amending canon are considered for revision in the full Synod or in a revision committee. If done in the full Synod, this would be probably be done in February and the legislation can then be referred to the dioceses.

Of course, this is not the only issue on the agenda. Alongside various other pieces of legislation, synod will be discussing the Church School of the Future report, evangelism, a diocesan synod motion from London looking at how synod conducts its business and how lay representatives are elected. All of these are important and substantial issues in their own right.

Please pray for the whole of Synod during the week, particularly as we meet in our small groups and debate the proposed legislation. The Church of England have released a synod 'prayer guide', which maybe helpful. Although it has been a long road, we have made considerable progress since July. It is important to be thankful for those who have given up their time to continue working on this issue over the past few months.
YES to women bishopshttp://email@example.com:blogger.com,1999:blog-3733377515922574824.post-7195989252537875002013-09-23T08:55:00.001+01:002013-09-23T08:55:47.293+01:00Homily for College of Bishops' Meeting by Rosemary Lain-PriestlyIn September, the College of Bishops for a day to discuss the 'Transformations Agenda' around the experience of ordained women in the Church of England. Present at the meeting were 44 ordained women representing each diocese. Here is the excellent homily preached by Rosemary Lain-Priestly at that meeting, with kind permission from Rosemary.

Rosemary Lain-Priestly is a priest and writer living and working in London. She is Dean of Women and Chair of a national network of female clergy who works for the full inclusion of ordained women across the Church of England. Learn more about her on her website.

Homily for College of Bishops' Meeting, September 2013, Rosemary Lain-Priestly

The meeting focussed on the Transformations Agenda, which addresses the theology and experience of ordained women's ministry in the Church of England. The bishops were joined for the day by the Transformations Steering Group and one female priest from each diocese.

'You gave me no kiss … she has not stopped kissing my feet … her sins, which were many, have been forgiven; hence she has shown great love.' (From the Gospel reading, Luke 7.36-end)
Poor Simon the Pharisee. He may have expected some flak from his colleagues about his controversial dinner guest, but I doubt he anticipated the embarrassment of that same guest rating his hospitality so low. 'No water, no kiss, no oil', Jesus observed. Was Simon always so inattentive, so emotionally distant from those he invited into his house? Or was it just Jesus that he needed to keep at arms' length?

It was unfortunate for Simon that the woman who crashed his party was so extravagant in her attentiveness, so passionate in her fragility, that she prompted a parable in which he became the ungrateful debtor and she the one pregnant with faith and love.

It's probably important to say in this gathering that I'm not actually making a point about gender. Any of us could be Simon – reticent and a little suspicious of otherness and difference. Any of us could be the woman – intuitive and perceptive in her vulnerability. Given particular circumstances we take our place in either corner, not only in our encounters with God, but in our relationships with one another.

Richard Rohr, the Franciscan contemplative, writes: 'Intimacy lets itself out and lets the other in … In intimate moments, you have been touched by something you cannot yet endure or carry, but you still love the touch and the invitation to carry … It is always grace'.

Do we, who through the laying on of hands are charged with reflecting God's love in the world, have the courage to allow ourselves to be touched by our equivalent of 'sinners'? Touched by those of whom we are suspicious, or afraid; by those who threaten our respectability or our settled perspective on who God is and what God is about? Can we let ourselves out and the other in?

I wonder whether we as leaders in this church might actually be at that stage in the adventure of intimacy. It seems to me that the touch has been felt and the first tentative attempts are being made at discerning how, together, to nurture the gift that is in all of us to proclaim the Gospel?

After all, the boys have let the girls into the room. The girls need to be gracious in their encounters with those who were already here. The boys, in turn, might need to cope with the furniture being (at the very least) rearranged a little. And the newcomers, of course, need to leave the door open behind them. As Suzanne Moore has said of some of the most powerful American women 'What's notable … is that they understand the need not to pull up the ladder behind them, but to keep building more for any girl who wants to climb'. We might not like the word 'climb' but we know what she means. There is work to be done, too, on a theological response to the issue of envy. (And before anybody wastes time looking for the Suzanne Moore quote in an academic publication, I read it in a magazine in the hairdressers.)

Sahar Delijani's Children of the Jacaranda Tree is a beautiful and searing account of the effects of regime change in Iran from the 1980s until the present day. It tells of how what, for some, appears to be revolution, for others does not go far enough to constitute genuine freedom. The final pages offer tendrils of hope, signified by a tentative relationship between a man and a woman whose families were at one time on different sides in the conflict. There is no way towards healing without the willingness of people with conflicting histories to risk the grace of intimacy.

So, are we going to be the ones to whom God says, 'You were so uptight, so distracted, so full of fear that you gave me no water … no kiss … no anointing – and neither did you do that for each other'? Or, in the knowledge of the many things for which we have all been forgiven, will we say yes to the touch and the invitation? We must surely find the courage to do that, for the sake of an institution that is bruised by the history of our misunderstandings and a world that needs an emotionally intelligent church to live out God's mission with the unguarded extravagance of love.YES to women bishopshttp://email@example.com:blogger.com,1999:blog-3733377515922574824.post-74154582370005975572013-09-14T20:05:00.000+01:002013-09-14T20:05:51.809+01:00Church in Wales says YES to women bishopsAfter a long debate at the Church's Governing Body, the eventual vote in support of women bishops was decisive. The Church in Wales has joined the Anglican churches in Scotland and Ireland in removing the legal bar on women in the episcopate.

The process in the Church in Wales has mirrored the Church of England's struggle with this issue, with a vote at the Governing Body being lost in 2008 by just three votes. In Wales it was the House of Clergy which failed to reach the required two thirds majority on that occasion. But on 12 September, the Governing Body voted on a new Bill. During the debate, amendments had been brought to remove measures which had been introduced to delay the introduction of women bishops until a further Bill was agreed covering provision for those who cannot accept women bishops for theological reasons. The final vote was a straight yes or no decision, and the Governing Body said a clear YES.

In the end, the House of Laity voted in favour by 57 votes to 14 with two abstentions. The House of Clergy voted yes by 37 votes to 10, and the House of Bishops was unanimous in favour. Following the vote, loud cheers came spontaneously in the room.

The structure of the legislation passed in Wales was similar to that currently being proposed in the Church of England. A simple measure removing the legal barrier to women being consecrated as bishops was passed, with a resolution that a code of conduct now be developed by the House of Bishops.

This move will clearly add to the pressure on the Church of England, demonstrating that our brothers and sisters across the border have faced exactly the same challenges and have come out the other side with a clear YES to women bishops.

YES to women bishopshttp://firstname.lastname@example.com:blogger.com,1999:blog-3733377515922574824.post-56538372094786638952013-07-18T21:43:00.000+01:002013-07-18T21:43:42.712+01:00Synod's resolveIt has now been over a week since the General Synod of the Church of England has formally restarted the legislative process to admit women to the episcopate. Poor synod members sat through hours of facilitated discussions and long debates before finally concluding:

That this Synod:
(a) reaffirm its commitment to admitting women to the episcopate as a matter of urgency;
(b) instruct the Appointments Committee to appoint this month a Steering Committee to be in charge of the draft legislation required to that end;
(c) instruct the Business Committee to arrange for the First Consideration stage for that draft legislation to be taken at the November 2013 group of sessions, so that the subsequent stages can follow the timetable set out in paragraph 141 of the annex to GS 1886;
(d) instruct the Steering Committee to prepare the draft legislation on the basis described in paragraphs 79-88 of the annex to GS 1886 as 'option one' with the addition of a mandatory grievance procedure for parishes in which diocesan bishops are required to participate and invite the House of Bishops to bring to the Synod for consideration at the February 2014 group of sessions a draft Act of Synod or draft declaration to be made by the House to accompany the draft legislation; and
(e) urge that the process of facilitated conversations continue to be used at significant points in the formulation and consideration of the draft legislation.

There is quite a bit of synod speak in there, so allow us to simplify:

1. General Synod opted for the simplest form of legislation as recommended by the House of Bishops. This means that women will become bishops without any reservation or qualification, and provision for those who cannot accept women bishops will take the form of an Act of Synod or a declaration from the House of Bishops.

2. Two amendments were passed, which added point (e) above to continue the process of facilitated conversations between those with differing views on the matter, and adding in the point in paragraph (d) which introduces a mandatory grievance procedure should any naughty bishops disobey the rules when this comes into force.

3. It is notable that whilst we do not have the full voting records yet from Synod, there were quite a number of amendments which were tabled and voted down. Some of these, appear to have garnered the support of around a third of the House of Laity, although a number of the votes did not involve electronic voting, so we will never know the full details of who voted for what. Nevertheless, this would appear to be the same blocking minority who halted the previous legislation. Should this blocking minority remain opposed to the legislation in the form passed by Synod last week, it would again fail at the final approval stage - the only stage which requires a two thirds majority in each house.

So where does this all leave us? A few thoughts:

1. It seems premature for anyone to try to decide whether this form of legislation is acceptable or not. Whilst on the face of it, the proposal seems to be closer to what supporters of women bishops wanted and further from what opponents wanted, the reality of how this works will be in the Act of Synod or House of Bishops declaration which will set out the provisions for those opposed. There is a bit of a phoney war already underway with opponents of women bishops claiming that only provisions set out in the face of the legislation are adequate. In truth they already operate very happily under an Act of Synod which is detested by women clergy. This would imply that this form of provision is perfectly acceptable in other areas for those who cannot accept women bishops. It is perfectly possible, therefore, that any new Act of Synod provides precisely the provisions that opponents are looking for and is problematic for supporters of women bishops, so we really don't yet know what the final package will look like. There is still a lot of work to do.

2. The synodical arithmetic has clearly not changed in any significant way - opponents remain opposed and supporters remain supportive. If it were put to another final vote today, requiring a two thirds majority in each house, it looks like it would still fail. For this reason, the legislative timetable is intriguing. In theory the final vote could come in the last sitting of the current synod, before elections are held and a new synod is formed. It seems implausible that a final vote will be held in the current synod session if it looks like the blocking minority remains opposed to the legislation in the run up to the final vote. Instead, the final vote will be shunted into the next Synod session when a new group have been elected, in the hope that the blocking minority is removed. Such a tactic is high risk, as there is no guarantee that this would be the outcome of synod elections. This means that unless some hearts and minds are won over in the next 12-18 months, synod elections will be dominated by this issue as each "side" seeks to get more of their number into general synod.

3. We're back on our way. We must remain hopeful that Synod will succeed this time. The resolution passed last week is strong and positive, and so must we be. We must give thanks to those who have worked to make this happen, and resolve to pray and support them in the months and years ahead until we finally see the day when Christian women are able to fulfill their divine calling and serve as bishops.

YES to women bishopshttp://email@example.com:blogger.com,1999:blog-3733377515922574824.post-72248432970907602172013-06-08T07:50:00.001+01:002013-06-21T20:03:51.611+01:00Making sense of the new proposals for women bishopsThe House of Bishops have published new proposals for the admission of women to the episcopate. In this article, we set out simply what they have said.

Four options

The House of Bishops appointed a Working Group to look at the options. The report of this working group was published in full. It set out four options for new legislation. In a preface to the Working Group report, the Archbishops set out the principles on which they wanted to move forward. These principles were essentially that they consider the Church to have reached an clear conclusion on the matter of women bishops, and that any new legislation should not include discrimination against them in any form. However, they also sought a solution which would provide for those who cannot accept women bishops for genuine theological reasons, and hoped that all could remain and flourish in the Church.

Option 1

a simple measure which removes bars on women becoming bishops

the removal of previous arrangements for those who oppose women priests (the old Resolution A & B arrangements, and the Act of Synod which introduced the "flying bishops")

provision for those who cannot accept women bishops by means of either a new Act of Synod or a Declaration from the House of Bishops

We don't yet know exactly the shape of this alternative provision, but we do know that it will be provided on a national basis and that any such Act of Synod or Declaration will be available prior to final approval of the measure, so the provision can be seen and debated in full.

Option 2

The same components as Option 1, but with reference in the measure to the new Act of Synod, with a clause that provision under these means can only be changed with a special majority in General Synod

This option would definitely not use a House of Bishops Declaration, but instead use an Act of Synod

In practical terms this would operate in exactly the same way as Option 1, but it would increase the legal force of the Act of Synod or Bishops Declaration, and make it harder to change them in future.

Option 3

a much more complex option, which includes the same components as Option 2, but also retains some of the legislation passed in 1993 (Resolution A and B processes) to allow parishes to pass resolutions preventing women priests from either presiding at communion or acting as priest in charge

significant modification of the 1993 legislation would be required for this to work

The House of Bishops have said that they don't like this option much, as it is highly complex.

Option 4

this option is to put all the required provisions in a new measure, which contains all provision for those who cannot accept women bishops in the face of the measure

In the covering paper from the Archbishops, they state that the House of Bishops would not support Option 4. Since their support is required in Synod to pass legislation, that is no longer an option. They also state grave concerns about Option 3, so that seems unlikely too. They have proposed a motion for the July 2013 Synod session supporting Option 1.

FAQs

What is an Act of Synod? Great question! Despite its legal sounding name, it is not actually a law. When Synod passes a measure, this is then referred to Parliament and becomes primary legislation. When an Act of Synod is passed, it is not referred to Parliament and it is not law. It is, however, the view of Synod as to how the Church of act. This is the means by which the 'flying bishops' were established in 1993 to provide provision for those who could not accept episcopal oversight from a bishop who ordained women.

When will all this actually happen?  Don't hold your breath. The timetable set out is for a new measure to be passed by Synod in 2015. To achieve this, Synod will need to decide on its desired option in July 2013, the new measure be drawn up by a committee, then voted on again by Synod to refer it to the diocese. Then a majority of diocesan synods need to vote on it, before referring it back to General Synod for the final vote. At almost every point, the process can be derailed by various procedural hitches which could delay things, so 2015 is very much a best-case scenario. A more likely date would be 2016 or 2017.

Can't they just amend the previous measure and vote that through? No. The rules are that a failed measure can't be reintroduced in the same Synod session. The current Synod session ends in 2015, so introducing something totally new could actually be quicker. And besides, there isn't much support for the old measure now that it has failed. Supporters of women bishops thought it was too much of a compromise and opponents voted it down in the House of Laity, so are not likely to pass it again without some significant change.

So is this 'stronger' or 'weaker' provision for those who cannot accept women bishops than the last legislation?  A good question. On the face of it, Option 4 seems stronger and Option 1 seems weaker. However, that is overly simplistic, and depends on what the proposed Act of Synod or Bishops Declaration actually say. It is possible that these could include even stronger provisions than were previously proposed.

YES to women bishopshttp://email@example.com:blogger.com,1999:blog-3733377515922574824.post-33136676038324139962013-04-27T08:57:00.000+01:002013-05-10T22:36:04.252+01:00The debate to come - a new way?In May the House of Bishops will publish their proposals for the future shape of legislation to admit women to the episcopate, ahead of a debate at the July session of General Synod. The Church Mouse looks forward to what we can expect from this:

1. we can expect a legislative bundle which makes creative use of the instruments available to achieve exactly what we had on the table in November 2012.

The House of Bishops consultation on this matter stated that there was no appetite to return to the previous legislation as a basis for future legislation. Nevertheless the overall principles of what we're trying to achieve have not changed. Whatever we see in May will still constitute the admission of women to the episcopate, the principle of a single bishop in each diocese and a mechanism for alternative oversight for those who cannot accept the authority of women bishops.

That was the deal before, and it remains the only game in town.

Some opponents of women bishops have suggested alternative structures of authority within the Church for opponents - essentially variants on the old argument for a third province - but there are no indications for that this is now a credible way forward. All these options end up with a segregated portion of the church where women are not allowed. This is not acceptable, and has been explicitly ruled out on numerous occasions.

So what we can expect is something that uses some new instruments, such as an Act of Synod or an alternative non-legislative measure, to re-articulate pretty much what we had before.

One key difference is that there will not be a reliance on a future instrument, as we had previously with the infamous 'Code of Conduct'. We can expect to see the whole package in one go.

Those hoping to see some magic formula emerge that nobody thought of before will be disappointed.

2. we should not expect to see the actual draft legislation

We simply are not at that point yet. The process is that General Synod should approve the overall form of the legislation now, then it will be sent to a revision committee to be bashed into shape before we have a proper draft for General Synod to send back to the dioceses for approval. We are a long way from a fully fledged piece of legislation. Whilst there is a clear intention from the Archbishop of Canterbury and the House of Bishops to move on this as quickly as possible, there is a long process ahead. Even if there was complete consensus on this issue, the absolute earliest possible it could clear the required process would be in 2015. More likely, it will run into the next Synod session in 2016 / 17.

3. we can expect a lot of huff and puff from onlookers

If past form is anything to go by, various interest groups will find the things they don't like in there and put out statements saying that it is intolerable and amounts to discrimination or forcing them out of the Church. We must remember that the country will be watching how we handle this issue closely.

A new way?

Justin Welby has commented widely that he hopes to find a new way for us to disagree on some of the key issues of the day, and this is one of them. He has initiated a series of face-to-face discussions between key interested parties, which are reported to have been very positive.

Nevertheless, every statement from the various lobby groups on this issue has been more entrenched than their positions prior to the November vote. WATCH have now said they won't support any alternative provision for those who cannot accept women bishops which is written into the legislation, and want an entirely voluntary scheme. This would be weaker than the 2012 proposal they supported, which included a statutory code of conduct to govern the scheme for alternative oversight. By contrast Reform have said that they will only accept legally binding provisions which require a two thirds majority of Synod to modify. This goes way beyond the current provisions under the 1993 Act of Synod, which contrary to the implication of its name is in fact not a legally binding instrument and can be removed by a simple majority of Synod.

After the November vote which shattered our hopes of having women bishops in the near future, Reform and the Catholic Group who jointly orchestrated opposition in Synod put out a statement saying that they would commit themselves to finding a new way forward. Those of us who believe that it is a simple act of obedience to the clear teaching of the Bible and the leading of the Holy Spirit that we make this move are equally committed.

So it is this Mouse's hope that reaction to whatever is proposed finds a positive way to express itself. Instead of finding the bits we don't like and stamping our feet with anger at them, let us find a vision for how we can work with the proposals and make it work. Let's express our desire that everyone remain and flourish within our Church.

Most of all, it is essential that groups do not use their opportunity to grab a few column inches in the newspapers to set out their negotiating position in Synod, hardening their public positions to try to strengthen their argument when it comes to Synod for debate. This has happened too often, and has the effect of hardening positions and making compromise impossible.

Perhaps as well as a new legislative proposal, we can listen to our Archbishop and find a new way of discussing it too.

The Church Mouse

YES to women bishopshttp://email@example.com:blogger.com,1999:blog-3733377515922574824.post-34820150708484018662013-04-15T20:24:00.000+01:002013-09-20T21:48:16.719+01:00Infographic: women bishops in the Anglican CommunionNow updated to include the Church in Wales' decision to admit women to the episcopate.
And updated again to include the appointment of Bishop Pat Storey in the Church of Ireland.

Here is an infographic round-up of the status of women in the episcopate around the Anglican Communion. You an download the full size file here.

At this point, around a third of the Anglican Communion has either consecrated women bishops or has no legal bar to their consecration. This will rise to two thirds once the Church of England completes its process to admit women to the episcopate.

In none of these provinces is there any statutory provision for those who oppose women bishops.

There are currently only five provinces which do not ordain women at all. These are Central Africa, Melanesia, Nigeria, Papua New Guinea and South East Asia.

YES to women bishopshttp://email@example.com:blogger.com,1999:blog-3733377515922574824.post-24384713863160620972013-04-13T20:18:00.000+01:002013-04-13T20:19:34.592+01:00Grab Your Energy Bar And Get Ready For The Marathonby Rev'd Jody Stowell

Right, earlier this week the Y2WB team had one of our, now regular, meetings at a fab little restaurant on the South Bank. We eat, drink, update each other, pin down some actions (eventually) and discuss possible strategies for the future. Each of us comes from a slightly different perspective and we have different connections which help for us to try to assemble something of a 'big picture' when it comes to the campaign for women bishops in the Church of England. We are people with connections with WATCH, Fulcrum and General Synod, as well as experience on social media, writing, campaigning and general CofE 'goings on'.

We know that all of these organisations cannot, by themselves, do everything, and so one of the things that Y2WB would like to do is to join the dots between some of the campaign strategies, and to be right behind some of the other campaigning groups who have been at it for a lot longer than most of us have. Unashamed to get our pom poms out and cheer along the sidelines – because God knows, we have to be in this together.

So, just to let you know some of the updates that we talked about and where we are at the moment: There was a meeting in February of the WG (Working Group: group of people working on moving forward to get a legislation that can be voted on) and certain representatives from groups/organisations that have a vested interest (WATCH, Reform, etc), after this meeting, there was a consultation paper (GS Misc 1042) that was published and anyone was invited to tell the WG what they thought of it. Once that had happened, the WG met again. Then we had a bit of silence. And at the beginning of this week the WG and the representatives met again to discuss the way forward. We don't have any news of that yet. In the future, the HoB (House of Bishops) will meet in May and then we will have GS (General Synod) in July.

In July the GS will meet together for the first time since November. Understandably there will be some relational tasks to undertake within that Synod and so that will be part of their task. However, what we need to be clear about is the fact that, although there will in likelihood be a 'process' vote of some kind in July, we are rather a long way from any kind of final vote on legislation to enable women to be bishops.

Some of the rhetoric has indicated that 'things will be sorted soon' or that 'something will happen this July'. We can understand the desire for this to be true, but the reality is that there will possibly be a hiatus on any final legislation until at least July 2015.

Do not panic and do not get discouraged if this is news to you. The plain truth is that we are likely to be in for a long haul on this – but it will be worth it.

We will give you information about what we think might be some good actions for moving forward with this as we think about it/the information becomes available. There will be things that need to be done, we need to remain in momentum, even if the surface seems to be still – but everyone knows that still waters run deep. The work under the surface that we do now will have every consequence for the future.

So, do whatever you need to do to be someone who has energy for the long haul – grab a snack, gird your loins, sing 'eye of the tiger' once or twice.

We'll bring the drinks. YES to women bishopshttp://firstname.lastname@example.com:blogger.com,1999:blog-3733377515922574824.post-23226629494366417602013-03-17T16:24:00.001Z2013-03-19T07:12:03.868ZConference Report from Women Bishops: Church in all its Fullness

Bishop Graham Kings, Ven Rachel Treweek
Rev Stephen Kuhrt, Rev Jody Stowell

What a wonderful day we had. The Yes 2 Women Bishops and Fulcrum conference was a truly inspiring and uplifting experience. You'll find all the conference materials on this site either for those who were there to go back to and recapture the moment, or for those would couldn't make it.

The day was made up of three keynote addresses, plus interactive discussions in groups and plenary, and finally closed with a panel Q&A session with all three speakers plus Bishop Graham Kings.

The three keynote addresses were:

1. Stephen Kuhrt kicked off proceedings making a positive case for women bishops. Stephen argued that admitting women to the episcopate is not a knotty problem that needs to be solved with as little damage as possible, but will allow the full ministry of both men and women.

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2. Jody Stowell spoke movingly to put some fire in our bellies and steady us for the hard work ahead. She unpacked the Genesis creation story to show that the most faithful understanding of the text is that God created both man and woman from one flesh, and gave as a solid Biblical basis for arguing for women bishops.

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Ven Rachel Treweek

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3. Rachel Treweek gave the final address, looking at the practical issues required for admitting women to the episcopate. Rachel argued that trust is the essential component needed on all sides for the change to be made, and gave us all the job of helping to foster that trust.

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YES to women bishopshttp://email@example.com:blogger.com,1999:blog-3733377515922574824.post-77203739088844781382013-02-07T17:06:00.000Z2013-03-10T16:13:47.347ZCampaign update 7 February 2013: So where now?
In some ways the defeat of the legislation on women bishops in November feels like a lifetime ago. It was crushing to those of us who were desperately looking forward to the Church doing the right thing, but we have now had the chance to step back and reflect. This campaign was set up purely to support a YES in November, but after discussions with the team it was felt that we have to keep going. So we've decided to keep going until we see the admission of women to the episcopate. Hopefully, this day will not be to far away in the distant future.

In the short term, we'll be hosting a conference in conjunction with Fulcrum to reflect on the issues, the scriptural basis for women bishops and the way forward. There is clearly a need to keep making the case in the strongest terms.

In the long term, there is a great deal of uncertainty about the future shape of legislation in this area and the timetable for introducing it. There seems no change of reintroducing legislation in this synod, so we are unlikely to see any real progress for another two or three years, and the process itself will likely take another year or two.

So we have lots of work to do!YES to women bishopshttp://email@example.com:blogger.com,1999:blog-3733377515922574824.post-53199504492430047932013-02-07T07:43:00.000Z2013-03-17T17:45:57.018ZWomen Bishops: Church in all its Fullness

You are warmly invited to the Yes 2 Women Bishops conference on 16 March at 10.00am - 3.00pm at Christ Church, New Malden in Southwark Diocese. We will be co-hosting the event with Fulcrum, and will hear from keynote speakers:

Stephen Kuhrt, vicar of Christ Church, New Malden, Chair of Fulcrum and member of the Yes 2 Women Bishops team;

Rachel Treweek, Archdeacon of Hackney and General Synod member; and

Jody Stowell, Curate, All Saints' Harrow Weald, Editor of Fulcrum, Yes 2 Women Bishops team member and recently co-opted onto the WATCH National Committee.

The event will inspire, encourage and teach on the subject of women bishops, and give us a chance to consider the best way forward now that the Church of England is restarting the legislative process.

Stephen Kuhrt, writing at Fulcrum, explains the reasons for the conference and what you'll be getting out of it:

"What is now the best way forward for those of us still strongly in favour of women bishops?

One major lesson is that the positive value of women's ministry needs to be spelt out a great deal more. Too much of the discussion around the time of the Synod vote was centred upon the issues that its opponents were concerned about. This meant that women bishops was presented far too much as 'a problem to be solved' rather than a wonderful opportunity for the church to move forward to greater fullness and enrichment. From this basis, it was not surprising that opponents were unable to see that the 'safeguards' they sought would have fatally impaired the proper ministry of women bishops. Even those in favour of women bishops were rather too reluctant to express that this was a development that they believed would turn the church completely upside down. But this now needs saying and clearly enough to be heard. Those of us in favour of women bishops are so because we are determined to see the church becoming far more faithful to the Bible and far more relevant in its mission and ministry. The full ministry of women, is, in our opinion, completely critical to this transformation taking place and whilst opponents will obviously disagree with this, they must understand this as the reason why it is impossible for us to agree with many of the restrictions that they want imposed upon women bishops.

Second, more needs to be done to give those in favour of women bishops a greater depth of confidence in the weighty theological grounds for this. Whilst the 'biblical case' against women bishops is overwhelmingly reliant upon the deployment of two New Testament proof texts, it has nothing to compare to the overall biblical theology supporting the full ministry of women. Once again too much of the discussion has taken place on the ground chosen by opponents of women bishops. Convincing responses can and have been made on why 1 Timothy 2 and 1 Corinthians 14 do not prohibit women's full ministry (not least in Ian Paul's recent and excellent Grove book Women and Authority: The Key Biblical Texts Biblical Series, No 59). But what is now required is a firmer grasp by those in favour of the rich and overwhelming biblical theology in the context of which the proper interpretation of these texts should take its place.

Third, careful consideration and discussion is now needed of the various options in regard to the future legislation to go before General Synod. Many of us now see a single clause Measure as the only option and are ready to hold out for that. But there are others who believe that there are alternative options to be explored that can equally guarantee that the authority of women bishops is not impossibly compromised. These options need to be carefully weighed up and discussed so that those in favour of women bishops can act in a decisive and united manner."

Book your tickets here.YES to women bishopshttp://firstname.lastname@example.com:blogger.com,1999:blog-3733377515922574824.post-33630480333468545002012-11-19T08:19:00.001Z2013-03-10T16:13:47.341ZTime to prayThank you for the huge support we've had in response to this campaign. 2,100 people used this site to contact their synod reps and urge them to say YES to women bishops. And we've been part of a growing consensus arguing that a YES vote is the only credible way forward for the church.

On arrival this morning, all synod members will receive a letter from Yes2WomenBishops letting them know of the overall level of support we've seen, and the early feedback we've had from synod members is that our campaign has made a real difference.

All we can do now is watch, wait and pray. YES to women bishopshttp://firstname.lastname@example.com:blogger.com,1999:blog-3733377515922574824.post-49698725261112005272012-11-10T17:08:00.000Z2013-03-10T16:13:47.343ZCampaign update 10 November 2012: One week on
So here we are one week on from the website going live. What an incredible week. Not only has the Yes 2 Women Bishops campaign gone viral, but we've got a brand new Archbishops of Canterbury! Like the rest of the Church, those of us on the campaign will be praying for Bishop Justin, and wish him all the very best in his new ministry. Frankly, he has one of the toughest jobs in the world, so will need all our support and prayers. From our perspective it is also great news that he is a strong supporter of women bishops, and said at his press conference that he will be voting for the legislation and urging others to do the same.

In terms of the campaign, we've now seen a great number of responses from synod members, and the good news is that these are overwhelmingly positive. Some have even got in touch with us directly to thank us for setting up the website, as they receive quite a bit of correspondence from those opposed to women bishops, so they were pleased to see supporters making their voice heard.

Activity on the website has been high, and we've now seen around 1,200 people log on to urge synod to vote YES to women bishops, as well as hundreds following on Facebook, Twitter and downloading the twibbon.

But now we have just 9 days to go until Synod kicks off. Our chance to have our voice heard is a short one, so please do keep sharing with friends and family to make sure they join the campaign. If you are a vicar, please also consider including a reference to Yes 2 Women Bishops in your newsheet or church website.
YES to women bishopshttp://firstname.lastname@example.com:blogger.com,1999:blog-3733377515922574824.post-72350683160988390562012-11-06T17:09:00.000Z2013-03-10T16:13:47.345ZCampaign update 6 November 2012: Lift off
Just a quick note to let you know how things are going.

In one word - amazing!

When we started this thing, we had no mailing lists of supporters, no organisation, no network of supportive churches, no publicity and no funds (still don't). Yet through the power of social media, the grass roots of the Church are making their voice heard in a totally new way.

At the time of writing we are three and a half days since the website was launched and almost 750 ordinary Church members have logged on and contacted their general synod representatives to urge them to back the legislation on women bishops.

I thought I'd give you an example of the feedback we've been getting from General Synod reps who have been receiving this correspondence, posted on our Facebook page:

At the last count 34 e-mails received - thanks. But to anyone reading this I'd like to keep this up until the day of the vote (or even more each day) I don't mind my in box being full! And please spread the word not only within parishes but into different ones. It really is helpful to have evidence of what many of us know (but some refuse to recognise) - that this really is what the vast majority of people want. The C of E serves everyone not just its congregations, so hearing the opinions of everyone is important. Thank you

The feedback we've heard from Synod members is that lobbying from a small minority of opponents of women bishops has been hard, so your messages of support are making a real difference to redress this balance, and almost all the feedback we've seen has been very positive about the campaign.

So the message at this point is that the initial reaction to this campaign has been incredible and very positive. But we must keep up the momentum and show that support for a YES vote on the 20th is broad and deep within the church.
YES to women bishopshttp://firstname.lastname@example.com:blogger.com,1999:blog-3733377515922574824.post-25182621570413235672012-11-01T20:38:00.000Z2013-03-14T05:40:24.280ZWhy Yes 2 Women Bishops
Much has been said and written setting out the reasons why the history of the early church and the Bible point us to the conclusion that the episcopate should be shared equally by men and women. Here we provide a tiny selection of links to some important and notable contributions to these arguments.

1. N.T. Wright makes the Biblical case for full equality of men and women, and made the point quite clearly that the case for women bishops is based on the Bible, not trendy cultural ideas of "progress"

2. Rowan Williams makes the case from an Anglo-Catholic perspective.

3. Diarmaid MacCulloch offers his reading of the Church's history

4. Archbishop Justin Welby summed up his view in July 2012 during his time as Bishop of Durham in a pastoral letter to his diocese: "As is widely known, I am committed to and believe in the ordination of women as bishops. I hold these views as a result of careful studies of the scriptures, and examination of the tradition an ways in which the Church globally has grown into new forms of ministry over the two thousand years of its existence. They are not views gained simply from a pragmatic following of society around us, but are ones held in all conscience and with deep commitment."

5. Two books have been published since the Church of England's failure to pass the legislation on women bishops in November 2012. Maggi Dawn's Like the Wideness of the Sea: Women Bishops and the Church of England has received rave reviews, and Bishop Steven Croft & Paula Gooder have written Women and Men in Scripture and the Church: a guide to the key issues which includes Biblical reflections and study guides (due for publication on 28 March 2013).

If you would like to explore the arguments further, the following sites provide a range of views.

The Church of England website provides a history of the issue starting at 1975 and numerous links to official church documents on the subject.

The Archbishop of Canterbury is posting a series of videos setting out the arguments in favour of a YES to women bishops on his website.

Women And The Church (WATCH) have been the principal organisation campaigning for women bishops for many years.

REFORM is the conservative evangelical organisation which opposes women bishops, principally on the grounds of male headship.

Forward in Faith is the Anglo-Catholic organisation which opposes women bishops, principally on the grounds of apostolic succession.

Fulcrum is the open evangelical organisation which supports women bishops, and has done much theological and Biblical reflection on the issue.

YES to women bishopshttp://email@example.com:blogger.com,1999:blog-3733377515922574824.post-44698082663739708102012-10-31T20:40:00.000Z2013-03-10T20:40:19.806ZMedia
For media enquiries, please contact Vicky Beeching by email, or Jody Stowell either by email or on 07940269148.

You can also reach The Church Mouse via email and we will get back to you as soon as possible.

Articles of note which mention the Yes 2 Women Bishops campaign

God and Politics Women bishops - surely the time has come

Thinking Anglicans yes2womenbishops - another new website

The Church Times Synod women-bishops vote appears too close to call

Ekklesia Saying 'yes' to women bishops

Fulcrum Yes2WomenBishops

The Telegraph Women Bishops will have to accept discrimination to exist

Vicky Beeching writes about Yes 2 Women Bishops in the Guardian

The Church Mouse has published two posts on women bishops (Part 1 and Part 2)

The Times The Real Vicars of Dibley and Their Struggle (£)

The Church of England Newspaper Yes2WomenBishops?

Church Times As Synod vote nears, both sides slug it out online and in print

PRESS RELEASE ISSUED 4 NOVEMBER 2012

For immediate release: Sunday 4th November 2012

Church members mobilise on social media to support a decisive vote in favour of women bishops

Ahead of the crucial vote on women bishops at the upcoming meeting of the General Synod of the Church of England, church members are mobilising on social media sites Facebook and Twitter to encourage Synod members to vote YES.

The Yes 2 Women Bishops initiative was launched by the popular blogger The Church Mouse. It is already attracting huge support from ordinary church members who have so far had no say in the lengthy process of drafting and introducing the legislation.

Yes 2 Women Bishops was born out of discussions on the social media site Twitter, and now has a website which lets church members email their General Synod representatives and urge them to vote YES to women bishops in November.

The Church Mouse said, "Rowan Williams launched a campaign called 'Enough Waiting' to encourage a YES vote in November, as it is believed the vote will be close. Chatting about the issues on Twitter, it was clear that many people wanted to get involved. A few tweets later, and we had a campaign mobilised. I was inundated with offers of support to help get the word out. A few days later and we had engaged hundreds of supporters to spread the word."

General Synod member Rebecca Swinson has been helping the campaign and commented on the idea behind it, "We don't want to re-hash the arguments for women bishops, or to debate the merits of the legislation as presented. Those debates have already been had. We want to provide an opportunity for those who have watched the debate and concluded that they want General Synod to pass the legislation to have their voice heard."

Theologian and social media expert Vicky Beeching said, "This is an example of the social media 'digital revolution' in full flow; giving a voice to the people, a sense of standing together, and a direct channel to appeal to the decision makers. Our 'Web 2.0' world gives everyone the potential to have a voice. We need 'Church 2.0' where all those in the pews get to have a say on important matters. Hopefully, Synod members will listen to what these church members are saying."

Other high profile supporters include Jody Stowell from the evangelical group Fulcrum and Graham Kings, Bishop of Sherborne.

Contacts:

Jody Stowell email@example.com.<wbr></wbr>uk or @rad_disciple

Vicky Beeching vicky@vickybeeching.<wbr></wbr>com (www.vickybeeching.com) or @vickybeeching

Bishop Graham Kings can be contacted at gsherborne@salisbury.<wbr></wbr>anglican.org or @bishopsherborne

The Church Mouse churchmousepublishing@<wbr></wbr>gmail.com or @thechurchmouse

Notes to editors:

1. On 20 November, General Synod will undertake the final vote on whether to admit women bishops. The background to this can be found on the Church of England website at http://www.churchofengland.<wbr></wbr>org/our-views/women-bishops.<wbr></wbr>aspx

2. Yes 2 Women Bishops can be found at http://yes2womenbishops.<wbr></wbr>blogspot.com, http://twitter.<wbr></wbr>com/yes2womenbishop and http:/<wbr></wbr>/facebook.com/yes2womenbishops

YES to women bishopshttp://firstname.lastname@example.com:blogger.com,1999:blog-3733377515922574824.post-82188644080108740952012-10-30T20:41:00.000Z2013-12-01T18:00:59.081ZAbout Us
This site was created by The Church Mouse. It is completely independent of the Church of England, and all organisations within it. Its original purpose was to campaign for a YES vote on women bishops in the November 2012 General Synod session. Since that vote did not carry a sufficient majority in the House of Laity, this site will remain and refocus.

Yes 2 Women Bishops is not an organisation, and has no leadership or members. It is simply a place for Church members to make their voice heard on this crucial issue.

The principal contributors to this website are The Church Mouse, Rebecca Swinson, Jody Stowell, Vicky Beeching and Graham Kings, Bishop of Sherborne.

The former Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams, initiated a campaign to this end, called Enough Waiting. This provided many of the arguments in favour of a YES vote on November 20th. We do not intend replay the arguments for and against on this site, but merely to provide a place for supporters of women bishops to voice that support and to urge General Synod to say YES to women bishops.

There are many 'special interest groups' who have been around for many years loudly voicing their positions. Groups representing particular wings and factions within the Church have made their views known and the arguments have been played out in agonising detail.

Yet there has been no attempt to let ordinary church members voice their opinions. Surveys have been clear that the vast majority (around 75-80%) of the Church, and the public at large, want women bishops.YES to women bishopshttp://firstname.lastname@example.com:blogger.com,1999:blog-3733377515922574824.post-78049465843227475992012-10-29T20:42:00.000Z2013-03-10T20:43:01.199ZShow your supportThere are a number of things you can do to show your support.

2. Go to the Yes 2 Women Bishops Facebook page and click 'Like', the Share it with your friends.

3. Add the #EnoughWaiting Twibbon to your Twitter or Facebook avatar.

4. Add the YES to Women Bishops badge to your blog or website - right click on the image opposite, and select 'Save as'. Then upload the image to your site.

5. Most importantly, whatever else you do please pray for the Archbishops, the House of Bishops and the General Synod as they decide on the best way forward.YES to women bishopshttp://firstname.lastname@example.com:blogger.com,1999:blog-3733377515922574824.post-42605594438628819992012-09-01T17:16:00.000+01:002013-03-17T16:18:36.611ZGod's Song in a Strange Land: Conference address from Jody StowellWe're delighted to publish below the text of Jody Stowell's conference address from 16 March 2013, at our Church in all its Fullness Conference.

The song that we just heard was the award winning and fabulous Emeli Sande (Read All About It) and I think she captures some of what we need to own as those who want to see the image of God restored between men and women.

Because that is why we are here today, we have a big vision – for men and women to live up to their first calling, that of being the Image of God. It is not a small vision. It's not an easy vision. But it is God's vision.

I believe that this is God's Vision, and I want you to believe that too – to feel it in your bones, so that even when they are dry bones, God's breath is all you will need to bring you to life again.

There is fire in the belly of that song

'Let's get the TV and the Radio to play our song again, it's bout time we got some airplay of our version of events'

The way that we see things needs to be made known.

There's a sniff of revolution about it, especially for those of us who have felt so often that we are told not to complain, to stay silent, otherwise we'll sound 'ungracious' – but I think Emeli Sande speaks to us of fanning a burning ember back into life….and it is a fire that we need to stoke, it's a song of liberation.

And songs have always been important to those experiencing oppression, slavery, apartheid, exile, exclusion. From the Psalms of lament and exile (By the river of Babylon), to the redeemed slave trader John Newton and the abolitionists (Amazing Grace), to the slaves in the Southern states of America (Gospel songs), to the black South Africans (We are marching in the Light of God) – they sang in order to keep their hearts strong in the face of everything around them telling them that they are wrong, that their cause is dead, that they will never see their hope realised, that their dream is deferred for ever.

Songs and music sneak into the soul where sometimes nothing else will. When the mind has become overloaded with heavy legislation which, quite frankly, seems designed to sap the life and energy from any God created human being because it speaks of death, not life, so often.

The conversation revolves around and around getting absolutely nowhere, and killing us if we're not careful.

Now I'm very grateful to those who go into those spaces, and it needs to happen and we need to be there, but we also need to know what it is and what it can do to our soul, so that we can be there and not have our joy sucked from us.

So…when our minds are overloaded and our hearts are sick – because as Proverbs tells us a dream deferred makes the heart sick – song brings life, breathes life into us again. Song sneaks in our ears, and brushes our skin without us inviting it to, and we can find that something is implanted in our mind and heart, taking root, and we suddenly find that we've started dancing.
________________

After Synod a lot of people were very tired. Not just a physical or mental tiredness, but a deep spiritual weariness. The discussions and conversations around the women bishops legislation had gone on for a very very long time. In a very real way all hope was on November. There was not another option, all options had been exhausted.

We need to learn to sing our song again.

Those who are part of the Synod processes and for the majority who are not, thisis our job, this is our part of this history making - we need to let our song of justice, equality and liberation infect us all over again. Because it is infectious, this song of ours: because it's God's song.

You know it… it seeps into the marrow of your bones, because it is about the restoration of our very being, our first calling, to be the image of God.

But I don't think that we've been very good at singing it. The joy of the song, in many ways, got stolen from us. Songs are not really welcome in legislative process I find. In order to work with our system – which we have to work with – there has been a silencing of the song that was the point of working through the process in the first place.

It has been tough to remember that the Sabbath was made for humanity and not humanity for the Sabbath, or rather Synod was made for the Song, not the Song for Synod.
_____________________________________

In the Celtic tradition of which I am also a part, they have a continual question that is asked of their communities, and they must always remember to ask it in order know that they are being faithful to their calling, and that question is this:

'How can we sing the Lord's song in a strange land?'

You may recognise it from Psalm 137, that Psalm of exile and pain and oppression.

By the rivers of Babylon we sat and wept
when we remembered Zion.
There on the poplars
we hung our harps,
for there our captors asked us for songs,
our tormentors demanded songs of joy;
they said, "Sing us one of the songs of Zion!
How can we sing the songs of the Lord
while in a foreign land?

It was a joke at first: 'sing for us' - but then – Israel sang in that place. It became imperative – moving swiftly from the inherent sense that we gain from the Psalmist of 'well we can't! We can't sing in this place', to 'May my tongue cling to the roof of my mouth if I do not remember you, if I do not consider Jerusalem my highest joy.'

We must sing the Lord's song, even when the land is strange. Even when the place seems hostile. This is the Lord's song and it must be sung. It is a deeply subversive act.

To sing to Synod, to sing to a committee – is there any land stranger? Anything quite so dissonant?

Yet in the words of Emeli Sande 'If no-one ever hears it, how we gonna learn your song?' There are people out there who want to hear this song, I see it all the time when I tell this story of human beings made equally in the image of God, there is a light that sparks in the darkness that people have felt consumed by when it comes to this issue, and once lit, the darkness will not overcome it.

And we have a right to use this Gospel language, because that's what we believe this is. This cause is at the heart of the Gospel. We believe this is God's song, this is God's story in a strange land, and it has been God's song since the beginning.

We're talking specifically about women bishops today, but this is a much deeper cause than that, and I think that most of us know that. The reality of women bishops in the Church of England will be transformational, as Stephen says, but it is also a sign and a symbol that we are no longer willing to collude in the system of the world that says women are not quite the same type of human as men and that this means, in reality, that they, women, bear the brunt of poverty; that they become privatised human beings, unable to represent humanity in all places and spaces, because the true humanity is really to be found in the male; that when food, medication and education become scarce, then they are given to men first.

And the longer that it takes for that 'Holy Spirit tongues of flame' mitre to be placed on a woman's head in the Church of England, the longer we collude in what is not right, what is not God's song in a strange land. We are naked before the whole world and our shame is paraded for all to see.

I hope we don't sit here in order for women to progress up a career ladder: that is not what this is about. And it's not even about human rights….but it is about what is right.

This is why I am utterly utterly convinced, in my bones, that the interpretive key to all of this is found in the Genesis passages, those beautiful pieces of poetry and prose telling us of the beginning of human beings and their place in Creation, their place with each other and in God.

Briefly, before we look at Genesis, it's important to recognise that there are some assumptions that we inherit, whether we like it or not,

Adam was made first

Adam was involved in creating Eve

Adam named Eve

Eve is Adam's helper because she is created from him

There is a deep psychological impact that happens in our psyches, which comes from imbibing these assumptions: priority of Adam, Eve's relationship to Adam as Creator as well as to God, the power of Naming as ownership, Eve's purpose as being 'for' Adam. We must not underestimate the power of these assumptions.

Okay, let us move on to the text.

Importantly, we need to understand what the words are ACTUALLY saying.

Genesis 1.26-27

'Then God said, "Let us make 'adam' in our image…So God created 'adam' in his image…'

The word that has traditionally been rendered 'Man' in our bible translations has never been intended to be understood as 'male' 'a man'. It was always understood that this means 'Man' in the inclusive sense, this is the only way it actually makes sense with the following verse which speaks of 'male and female' included in the term. This now tends to be rendered 'humankind' to be more truthful to that understanding.

But more than that, this word is a rhetorical device. The 'adam' is made from the 'adamah', which is the dust. Some translators have suggested that the rendering of this word might be better put 'dustling' or 'groundling'.

This creature is not specifically Male, but is the one who is made from the dust – the 'adam' from the 'adamah'.

A note about inclusive language – Using language which includes male and female is not, or doesn't have to be seen as a silly or OTT, but actually it represents the biblical text more truthfully. To use 'Man' has meant that we have learnt to interpret this verse in such a way that our psychology works with assumptions about men and women, which are not actually biblical and are probably more built on a secular anthropology.

Try using 'woman' inclusively to mean 'man or woman' and we'll see how inclusive it really is – sometimes it is important to deliberately 'jar' our own senses in order for us to become aware of the lenses that we have been given and we simply forget we have them.

I have been part of two theological college settings – in one college inclusive language was a given, it was simply part of the DNA, at the other it was derided and seen as a joke, political correctness gone mad. I'll let you guess which one I came out of having been brought to life and which one left me diminished as a human being. Serious point. Be aware of the language because language creates the world that we live in, it doesn't solely describe it, it can prescribe the world you create.

Moving to the Genesis 2 story:

'So the LORD God caused a deep sleep to fall upon ha'adam, and he slept…the rib that the LORD God had taken from the adam he made into a ishshah and brought her to 'ha'adam'. Then the 'ha'adam' said,

"This at last is bone of my bones
and flesh of my flesh;
This one shall be called ishshah, for
out of iysh this one was taken."

As we've said the creature who is created the adam, has the gender neutral word, because the language is being used to paint a picture – it is a rhetorical device used to great effect, the adam is made from the adamah, the dust, the dustling from the dust, or the groundling from the ground.

This is the image of God at play in the mucky and messy stuff of Creation. God gets down and dirty with us, forms us out of the mud – God is not affronted by the material nature, but loves it and shapes us with great intimacy, with language of touch and breath. Don't we miss this poetry when it is offered to us as a mechanistic factory line of human creation?!

So this adam has been created in God's image.

Put with the Hebrew names in plain sight, we can see that the creature – theadam who goes to sleep, is not quite the same as the creature who wakes up.

There is a redefinition, they are no longer found within each other in the adam, but they are defined by each other in the iysh and ishshah.

Phylis Trible puts it like this: Only in responding to the female does the man discover himself as male. No longer a passive creature, 'ish comes alive in meeting 'ishshah'

Even though there is that continuity between the adam and the iysh, the language leaves us with no room for misunderstanding – this is not the same creature, the one who wakes up is not quite the same as the one who slept.

There is a mirroring found in this poem that spills out from the 'iysh': hebecomes himself and she is called into herself as woman. They belong to each other and are defined by each other.

In other words there is no male without female and no female without male.

The image of God together! This is joyful and beautiful.

And isn't it sinful to see this shared humanity destroyed and distorted in the story that is to come?! In the distorted patterns of relationship that occur in Genesis 3, where iysh and ishshah step away from their relationship with each other and with God and things are broken.

There is a catalogue of events that happen that outline how the relationship between men and women deteriorates very swiftly. How so quickly in Genesis the pattern moves from the shared humanity of Genesis 1 and 2, to the woman being an interchangeable object, entirely incidental in the story of God with Men, who, within this distorted pattern, take on the sole ownership of the name human.

Most distinctly this is seen in the relationship between Sarai and Abram. Abram is given a promise from God in Genesis 12 that he will be a blessing to all nations, that he will have descendants that will fill the sky – but in Abram's mind this doesn't include Sarai, she doesn't have a place in this promise, because she is simply an accident in this story, and clearly because she is unable to have children, he is entirely justified in dumping her on Pharoah when he reaches Egypt.

If you've read this story often enough you will have seen the signs in the narrative that 'going down down down to Egypt' was not going to go well for Abram. It wasn't his best idea.

He was meant to bring blessing upon all nations, but because of his treatment of Sarai, he ended up being a curse to the first nation he arrived at after this amazing promise!

But God has other ideas, God's intention for Sarai is that she is as much a part of this story as Abram is. God goes in and rescues Sarai from Egypt, he restores her to Abram, he places her once again at the very heart of the story of the People of God! Abram might think his is the only humanity necessary in God's story, but God has other ideas!

And I would suggest that this is the template, the metanarrative, that we should be using to understand the whole of the rest of scripture and what God does throughout scripture in saving and restoring the relationship of the iysh and theishshah. I would argue we see it again and again throughout Scripture: through the Hebrew scriptures, and then the Gospels and so it is impossible to read the very few proof texts of Paul and not see them in an entirely new light.

God's heart is to restore us to that poem of shared humanity – bone of my bone – WE ARE BOTH HUMAN – flesh of my flesh – WE ARE BOTH HUMAN.

At the heart of the argument that we face is the idea that we are not the same – that women cannot represent humanity in the same way as men.

The bible does not support this.

I want you to go away from here knowing without doubt, that this is God's mission, not our good idea, it's not a secular agenda, it's not progress for progress sake. In fact it is a very old idea, it is our old story and we know it within our bones, because within our bones is the same breath of God that was breathed in to the dustling and which brought us to life. It lives within us still.
_________________________

But, let's get real, that is not the story that has been told - our history, our church history and human history has advocated men as the true human.

St Aquinas says:

'As regards the individual nature, woman is defective and misbegotten, for the active force in the male seed tends to the production of a perfect likeness in the masculine sex; while the production of woman comes from defect in the active force or from some material indisposition, or even from some external influence; such as that of a south wind, which is moist…' Summa, Part I, Q92, Answer to Objection 1

Tertullian says:

'And do you not know that you are (each) an Eve? The sentence of God on this sex of yours lives in this age: the guilt must of necessity live too. You are the devil's gateway: you are the unsealer of that (forbidden) tree: you are the first deserter of the divine law: you are she who persuaded him whom the devil was not valiant enough to attack. You destroyed so easily God's image, man. ' On the Apparel of Women, Book 1, Ch 1
Or see the depiction Vitruvian Man of Leonardo Da Vinci, which was inscribed on the outside of the Space Probe Voyager as the only necessary representation of humanity.

Or this clip from Ellen:

I show you these not to depress you but to galvanise you. These things all tell us that now more than ever, there is a need for us to tell that old story, because it is God's story, the true story.

In the words of Emeli Sande

'Let's get the TV and the Radio to play our tune again, it's bout time we got some airplay of our version of events. There's no need to be afraid, I will sing with you my friend.'

We need to find our voice, to not be tamed and to sing God's song again in a strange land.
YES to women bishopshttp://firstname.lastname@example.com:blogger.com,1999:blog-3733377515922574824.post-31562487176036376412012-09-01T17:10:00.000+01:002013-03-17T16:18:53.183ZA Positive Vision for Women Bishops: Conference address from Stephen KuhrtWe're delighted to publish below the text of Stephen Kuhrt's conference address from 16 March 2013, at our Church in all its Fullness Conference.

Well thank you and can I add my welcome of you all to Christ Church, New Malden today. If I could go back in time, there are a number of things I would change about 20th November last year. Most obviously, I guess, the result of that crucial vote! But just as much, actually, the nature of the discussion and debate that ran up to it – not just on that day in General Synod but in the weeks and months that preceded it. And the reason I say this, and I'm sure many of you already agree with this, is because far too much of that discussion and debate centred upon women bishops, and women's ministry more generally, as a problem to be solved. How do we sort out this knotty problem of establishing women bishops! How do we get women bishops whilst inflicting minimum damage upon the church! That was the tone of much of the debate. This was partly due toopponents saying that they had accepted that women bishops were going to happen and that the issue was simply one of thesafeguards being provided for those opposed. But it was also, I think, through many supporters of women bishops being reluctant to spell out a really positive vision for women bishops. Perhaps because they regarded it as a 'no brainer'. But perhaps, as well, through an understandable reluctance to go through seeing such a vision immediately knocked down and the sense as well that no one opposed to women bishops was likely to change their mind.

But that positive vision for women bishops does need spelling out. The issue of safeguards for opponents is important and later on we'll be giving some thought to that. But at the forefront of the debate and discussion should surely be a vision for why this development of Christian ministry will be excitingand transforming to the ministry and mission of the church in this country. I want women bishops because I believe it is completely biblical, I want women bishops because I believe it is unfair to have an area within the church where women's gifts cannot be exercised. I can't think of where an equivalent exists for men. But more than anything, I want women bishops because I believe that, properly established, they will have a wonderfully transforming affect upon the health of the Church of England and make us so much better at the task which God has called us to, namely the evangelising or bringing of the Good News of Jesus Christ to this nation.

And for me personally this inevitably extends out of my existing experience of women's ministry and the transforming affect I have seen it have. The church that we are in today – Christ Church, New Malden was built in 1866 and its had ten vicars in its time, all of them male! But it's nonetheless had an interesting history in terms of women's ministry, not only sending scores of women abroad to serve as missionaries but having quite a flourishing of female leadership here as deaconesses and then deacons in the late seventies and eighties. Like a lot of evangelical churches, the decision to ordain women as priests in 1992 then brought a polarisation here which, in some ways, rather set these developments back. But in the last few years, women's ministry has once again really taken off here with two women curates here at Christ Church, a female Associate Vicar at our daughter church St John's and two women training as lay readers. And it hasn't just been in terms of ordained or licensed ministry because alongside this has run all sort of other developments in female leadership, not least in regard to evangelism and mission. And the affect within this parish has been really transforming with, to my mind at least, preaching, leading, presiding, evangelism and mission, pastoral care, leadership and the overall atmosphere at this church completely enhanced and enriched. Quite simply Christ Church is a loads better church for having women's ministry as fully encouraged and expressed as that of men.

And when I've sought to reflect theologically upon this I've been strongly led back to Genesis and the significance of both the man and the woman being equally created in God's image and the unique fruitfulness that results from the fullness of this image being displayed and represented through both male andfemale acting together and in union. Now Jody will be looking at such matters in greater depth later on and may well have a slightly different perspective from me on this. But myunderstanding of this and is that the re-establishment of that union of male and female together is one the decisive markers of the New Creation and that this is particularly important in terms of the church's worship because it's that worship that is meant to be a decisive, present anticipation of that future New Creation. It's this that, for me, makes sense of the huge enrichment of this church and the explosion of fruitfulness (if that's not mixing metaphors!) that has happened over the last few years as the full ministry of women has taken its place herealongside the full ministry of men. New Creation in all its exciting forms has been occurring all over the place here and, one the biggest reasons, I believe, is through male and femaleboth being allowed to fully express together in church life thatequal stewardship that they have been accorded through being created in the image of God. It's this that explains the increased richness in the preaching, leading of services, pastoral care, evangelism and mission where it has really felt, to use a musical metaphor, like going from mono to stereo. Mono is OK if you don't know there's anything better but have a stereo system and you realise how much better and deeper and richerthe music can be.

And it's in extending these principles that we find, I believe, that really positive vision for women bishops that those of us who believe in this, need to be promoting with all our might. Not just so that we get women bishops but so that we get them in theform they need to be – without the restrictions, in other words, that will stop their ministries being able to flourish as theyshould and need to if they are going to be fully authentic. And if we consider some of the key roles and functions that Bishops have within the church we then see, I believe, the hugeenrichment and enhancement that women bishops will bring and which needs to be part of the positive vision that we spell out.

And here are just a few that occur to me. Firstly Bishops as Symbols

Bishops have a vital symbolic role. We get used to hearing bishops described as symbols of unity but within this is, or should be, an important role as a role model for people to imitate as well. And if women are going to serve God fullywithin the church rather than outside of it, they need such role models within its leadership. Why do I say this? Because I've heard of so many women being inspired to serve God by the example of other women but usually outside of the structures of the church rather than within them. Often as missionaries. I've lost count, for instance of the number of women I've met who heard Gladys Alyward speak when they were children and were utterly inspired to follow her example. Fantastic and great fruit as a result but so sad that it had to be outside of the church's structures. And we need women role models within the leadership of church inspiring young girls in a similar way, don't we? A rather lovely moment for me not long ago was when my then seven year old daughter Abigail announced to me on the way to school that she might one day become a vicar. I was rather taken aback as well as quietly chuffed that my example was so inspiring. But my sails were trimmed a bit when I discussed it later on with my wife Katie and she said that it was probably less to do with my example than that of Helen and Carolyn, the curates here and Abigail seeing their ministries, seeing that it was something that girls could do and wanting to do something similar. Now perhaps you don't immediately see bishops as inspiring role models. I'd better be careful because we've got one here today! But perhaps that's just the point because they should be, shouldn't they? Really inspiring beacons of the value of giving yourself to Christian ministry in whatever form. And once we have women bishops, therefore, the symbolic value of Episcopal ministry, not least in bishops becoming genuine symbols of unity, will be dramatically enhanced. That's one aspect of as positive vision for women bishops that I'm excited about but another is…

Bishops role as Preachers and Teachers I don't want to be guilty of falling into unhelpful gender stereotypes but I do believe that men and women preach rather differently and when both are allowed full expression the result is an incredibly increased richness in terms of style, content and above all relevance. The old mono to stereo point again! And bishops have, or shouldhave, a vital role in being preachers and teachers and, in particular, a prophetic role in bringing God's Word directly to those issues that the church and society generally are currently facing. And at the moment we're not getting the full potential of this prophetic ministry, to be honest for many reasons, but notleast because it is currently so one sided and in need of female Christian perspectives which will so strengthen the perception as well as the reality of how engaging and relevant to real life, Christianity is. Female preaching, in my experience, is hardly ever guilty of being too abstract and unrelated to real life and having witnessed women at this church bringing biblical truth right to the heart of real life in a relevant and engaging way, what I'm excited about it seeing this happen on a more national level through the ministry of women bishops. What this country needs is to see and hear about is relevant, life changing Christianity and I believe in women bishops because I believe they will further that cause.

Thirdly… Bishops as Pastors of the Clergy. Bishops are meant,apparently, to be pastors of the clergy. It's a crucial role and a demanding one and based, once again, on my experience in this parish of seeing pastoral care transformed through the role of ordained women, the pastoral care of clergy is something that I believe will be dramatically transformed as well through the establishment of women bishops. Women, I believe, see plenty of things that men quite often miss as I'm sure is true in reverse but together the bases get covered and, to get back to Genesis and that full image of God, it becomes more fully human. Pastoral care fairly obviously needs to be human, doesn't it, and pastoral care of our clergy needs that as much as anywhere. And so the gifts and insights and wisdom of women working through Episcopal ministry alongside those of men will, I believe, have a quite dramatic affect upon the morale and well being of our clergy. Clergy need to be encouraged, listened to and loved by their bishops and if this is being done by both men and women it will, in my opinion, be being done much more effectively.

There are other areas I could cover but I'm nearly out of time. Bishops as leaders of mission is another area where, based upon my experience of women's ministry here, I believe women bishops will make a decisive difference through the imaginative and exciting possibilities that they will be able to envision. I'm also excited about their impact upon the role of Bishops as Collegiate Leaders of the Church. The atmosphere of the House of Bishops needs to change and I would suggest that one of the major problems that has made it rather dysfunctional is its imbalance, to put it mildly, in terms of gender. When subcultures are dominated by a single gender they tend to become rather dysfunctional. It's usually brought about by male domination of those subcultures but not always. The Staff Room of Primary Schools is one area that can often become rather dysfunctional through being dominated by an overly female subculture. Now this has already been recognised by the decision to have a number of senior women clergy join the meetings of the House of Bishops which should produce significant change. But women need to be there as equals for that change to fully happen and for the House of Bishops to be able to offer that fully rounded collegiate leadership that the church so desperately needs.

I wish that vote had passed on 20th November 2012 and that women bishops were well on their way. But perhaps, and I suggest this only tentatively, the positive vision not being enunciated as clearly as it should have been, meant that we wouldn't have got women bishops as fully as we need them. That may be wrong – I'm looking for God having a reason why it didn't happen! But as we continue to work towards that outcome, let's make sure we do enunciate that positive vision. The male and female acting together in harmony displays the full image of God and has a unique power to bring God's life transforming New Creation to a world that so badly needs it.
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