The CofE is making itself look stupid...

This excellent post comes from the "Employment Rights" blog which you can read here. The topic he writes about will cause some people pain, but I believe the time has come for the church to grasp the nettle and get consecrating...

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Women bishops must be on a par with male bishops.

The draft legislation in the Church of England General Synod which is going to dioceses will allow women to be consecrated as bishops, if passed by diocesan synods, then agreed by general synod.

It is an issue which has been on the cards for 50 years, but seriously anticipated since 1992 when the first women in the Church of England were ordained priest, some 40 years after other provinces of the Anglican Communion, and many years after the Methodist Church.

Ordaining women as priests or presbyters – elders – presupposes that as priests they can undertake any role in the church even overseer or bishop – episcopos.

Our society is increasingly frustrated by attempts to relegate women to a second class citizenship, to pay them less than men, to give them part time temporary jobs and to give men full-time permanent jobs.

The credit crunch is likely to hit women harder than men…

Yet I can envisage women caring for their families with what little they have while their male partners go down the pub and spend their money on beer and themselves.

But that’s by the by, stereotypes don’t help much do they?

This week I want to talk about the Church of England and women bishops.

You may have heard of the Ordinariate, a Roman Catholic welcome pack for Anglo-Catholics, as long as the bishops aren’t married, and the priests promise celibacy, married or not. Let me quote one of my mentors, a certain Church Mouse: (Reproduced with thanks, though not permission)

‘First up we have the Anglo-Catholics. They seem to be splitting down the middle, with Chairman of Forward in Faith, Bishop John Broadhurst, stating that he is off to join the Ordinariate. However, he has utterly confused everyone by stating that he intends to remain Chairman of FiF and that FiF is not a Church of England grouping. This will be a surprise to the members of FiF, who are exclusively from the CofE. It was also a surprise to the Catholic Group in General Synod who have “distanced themselves” from his position and are encouraging people to stay in the CofE and fight on against women bishops.’

Then there is the Society of St Wilfred and St Hilda.’

These bishops and clergy plan on sticking around for the time being, as Bishop Tony put it to me when I asked him.

‘To what end we do not know. In fact the only thing we do know about this society is that this group is exclusively for Anglo-Catholics. I am nt welcome to join. Perhaps FiF wasn’t doing it for them any more, so they wanted to re-brand.

Next up we have the Conservative Evangelicals. Not happy with existing groups such as Anglican Mainstream, Reform and the Fellowship of Confessing Anglicans UK, they have voted to set up a society themselves. Actually, it was just a majority of the 170 members who turned up to their annual conference who voted for this move. Again, I am not welcome to join. There seems to be a view emerging that societies can be a model under which bishops can be appointed for factions so that the faction can segregate itself from other factions within the church which it doesn’t like.’

I considered founding the Society of Willibrord for Anglicans who plan on staying put, and being involved in mission and evangelism, but it already exists. Willibrord was noted most for going to Germany, hence the humour about staying put, maybe sending others to mission fields! I would be welcome in my own religious society, but I think I would have been short of bishops, except that there are plenty of Old Catholic Bishops whose orders are recognized.

So The Church Mouse on his blog announced today that he is establishing the Society of St. Magnus for Orthordox Church Mice. Again I am not welcome to join: as he wrote: ‘If you’re not a Mouse, please don’t talk to me any more.’ The equality of women is an issue which even the most theologically illiterate can grasp, that’s why women bishops will come, and however much the church embarasses itself parliament won’t allow anything less than full parity for women bishops…but how soon? And how silly will we look with our theological posturing in the mean time?

When Christians Disagree pt1

I was at a meeting recently when there was a small but significant disagreement amongst the gathered group of Christians.

That in itself is not worth blogging about. That said, the meeting in question was, in some senses a microcosm of the Church of England, the Anglican Communion, & The Church Universal.

I found this letter on a couple of blogs I read...

July 2010

Dear Brothers and Sisters,
‘God forbid that I should sin against the Lord in ceasing to pray for you, but I will tell you the good and proper way.’ (1 Samuel 12:23)

These are grave times in the Church of England especially for those of us unable in good conscience to accept that any particular church has the authority to admit women to the episcopate. While we certainly accept the good faith of those who wish to make this change believing it to be God’s will, we cannot rejoice with them, not least because of the disastrous cost to Catholic unity.

Our concerns are not only about sacramental assurance though that is of profound importance. If the legislation now proposed passes, it will not provide room for our tradition to grow and flourish. We will be dependent on a Code of Practice yet to be written, and sadly our experience of the last almost twenty years must make us wonder whether even such an inadequate provision will be honoured in the long term.

Neither the Report of the Revision Committee nor the legislation itself shows a proper understanding of our reservations, however carefully these have been presented through the consultation process and in the College and House of bishops. It remains a deep disappointment to us that the Church at large did not engage with the excellent Rochester Report and paid scant attention to the Consecrated Women report sponsored by Forward in Faith.

We must now accept that a majority of members of the Church of England believe it right to proceed with the ordination of women as bishops, and that a significant percentage of those in authority will not encourage or embrace with enthusiasm the traditional integrity or vocations within it. Nor is it their intention or desire to create a structure which genuinely allows the possibility of a flourishing mission beyond this generation.

However, the closeness of the vote on the Archbishops’ amendment for co ordinate jurisdiction, concerns though there are about its adequacy, suggest at least a measure of disquiet in the majority about proceeding without a provision acceptable to traditionalists. The Catholic group fought valiantly on the floor of synod and we are grateful for that, and while many in the Church and press are speaking as if the legislation is now passed, final Synodical approval is still some way off.

Whatever happens in the Synod, there are some Anglo Catholics, including in our own number, who are already looking at, indeed are resolved to join the Ordinariate as the place where they can find a home in which to live and proclaim their Christian faith, in communion with the Holy Father, yet retaining something of the blessings they have known and experienced in the Anglican tradition. Of course the Ordinariate is a new thing, and not all of us are trailblazers or can imagine what it might be like. Some will undoubtedly want to wait and see how that initiative develops before making a decision.

Yet others will make their individual submission and find their future as Roman Catholics.

Were the present proposals not to be substantially amended or defeated, many more of us will need to consider seriously these options.

A number will remain, perhaps even reluctantly because of personal circumstances, family loyalties, even financial necessity, but with a deep sense of unease about the long term future, an unease that is surely well founded. There are faithful Catholic clergy and lay people, though deeply opposed to the likely Synodical decision who cannot currently imagine themselves being anywhere else but within the Church of England. They wonder how they can stay, yet cannot imagine leaving their much loved church and parish. They do not want to be forced out of the Church they love and will persevere where they are, whatever the theological or ecclesiological ambiguities, and seek God’s blessing on all they do.

Those who are not actively seeking a home elsewhere must work to defeat the currently proposed legislation. It is essential that traditionalists engage in the debate and discussion in their diocese and are active in the election process for the next quinquennium of the General Synod when the two thirds majority in each House will be required if the legislation is to pass. Whatever our individual futures, and however disheartened we might feel, the Church of England needs strong catholic hearts and voices.

The text quoted at the beginning of this letter was the one used by John Keble in his famous Assize sermon, often regarded as the starting point of the Oxford Movement. It seems remarkably apposite, and gives a clue to an appropriate attitude of heart for this process: prayerful and gracious, but clear.

We are all bishops united in our belief that the Church of England is mistaken in its actions. However, we must be honest and say we are not united as to how we should respond to these developments.

Nevertheless we are clear that each of the possibilities we have outlined has its own integrity and is to be honoured. We are resolved to respect the decisions made by laity, bishops, priests and deacons of our integrity, and call on you to do the same. It would be a sad and destructive thing indeed if we allowed our unhappiness and wondering to drift into unguarded or uncharitable criticism of those who in good conscience take a different path from our own. We must assume the best motives in one another, and where there are partings let them be with tears and the best wishes of Godspeed.

You will we hope know of the clergy meetings in both provinces to take place in late September when there will be opportunities for discussion and an exchange of views about the future. Be assured of our prayers as you reflect about how best to respond to the challenges which face us, and we ask your prayers for us too as we seek to be faithful to the Lord, and to the Faith once delivered.

Please share the contents of this letter with your people, and indeed with any who might be interested to know of it.

The Rt Revd John Hind, Bishop of Chichester
The Rt Revd Geoffrey Rowell, Bishop of Europe
The Rt Revd Nicholas Reade, Bishop of Blackburn
The Rt Revd Keith Newton, Bishop of Richborough
The Rt Revd Martyn Jarrett, Bishop of Beverley
The Rt Revd John Broadhurst, Bishop of Fulham
The Rt Revd Peter Wheatley, Bishop of Edmonton
The Rt Revd John Goddard, Bishop of Burnley
The Rt Revd Andrew Burnham, Bishop of Ebbsfleet
The Rt Revd Tony Robinson , Bishop of Pontefract
The Rt Revd John Ford, Bishop of Plymouth
The Rt Revd Mark Sowerby, Bishop of Horsham
The Rt Revd Martin Warner, Bishop of Whitby
The Rt Revd Robert Ladds
The Rt Revd Lindsay Urwin OGS

I am sorry chaps in purple...

I disagree. I quote '...We must now accept that a majority of members of the Church of England believe it right to proceed with the ordination of women as bishops...'

Yes you must