This is an article from
Theology Wales: the Ordination of Women to the Episcopate
Full contents:
Guest Editor's Introduction
- Rev'd Canon Dr Raymond Bayley
The Admission of Women to the Episcopate
- A Statement by the Bench of Bishops
Women Bishops in the Church in Wales
- Canon Mary Stallard
Learn from the past and build for the future
- Rev'd Joanna Penberthy
Male Episcopacy
- Rev'd Canon Peter Russell Jones
A Noble Task
- Bishop David Thomas
Empirical Theology and Women Bishops
- Rev'd Professor Leslie J Francis
The Ordination of Women to the Episcopate
Introduction
In a statement dated 5 April 2006, which is reprinted in this publication, the Bishops of the Church in Wales acknowledge that several provinces of the Anglican Communion, as well as some of the Churches of the Porvoo Communion, have been considering the question of the possible ordination of women to the episcopate. They observe that nearly ten years have passed since the first women priests in the Church in Wales were ordained, and have come to the conclusion that it would now be appropriate to ask of the Church in Wales the question whether women might be ordained to the episcopate. It is expected that the period of discussion will continue through 2007 and proceed to a decision in 2008. The Bishops wish the discussion to take place at every level of the Church, and to be as reasoned and well informed as possible. The present publication is offered as a contribution in this spirit.
The debate in the Church in Wales will not take place in isolation. In particular, we are able to draw upon two reports which have been produced to guide the Church of England as it considers the same question. WOMEN BISHOPS IN THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND?, a report of the House of Bishops’ Working Party chaired by the Bishop of Rochester, was published in 2004. This report outlines the way in which both episcopacy and the ministry of women have developed in the Church of England, expounds the criteria on which a decision as to the ordination of women should be made and the types of argument which are likely to be employed for and against, and concludes with a consideration of theological and practical issues with particular reference to the question as to whether, if it were to be judged appropriate in principle to ordain women to the episcopate, this is the right time to begin doing so. A further issue, the need to preserve order and unity in the Church by making reasonable provision for the continuance within it of parishes and ministers who might be unable in conscience to accept the episcopal ministry of women, is considered in the report GS1605, by a working group chaired by the Bishop of Guildford and published in January 2006. This evaluates some options: a single clause measure, a third or ‘free’ province, and transferred episcopal authority.
It is not the intention of the Bishops of the Church in Wales to duplicate this good work by commissioning independent reports of a similar nature. It is recommended that members of the Church in Wales who wish to read a detailed and finely balanced account of the theological and pastoral issues underlying the debate should study the English reports, together with such material from other Anglican provinces as may be available to them. The character of this issue of THEOLOGY WALES is more impressionistic. We have invited a number of contributors who have practical and personal experience of ministry within the Church in Wales as it is, to reflect upon the desirability of the new church order which the ordination of women to the episcopate might create, its integrity and potential for mission.
Canon Mary Stallard believes that the admission of women to the episcopate in the Church in Wales is overdue. She finds such a development to be consonant with the best traditions of Christian leadership and urges the Church to get on with working together as men and women in full partnership in ministry. The Revd. Joanna Penberthy feels that since the ordination of women as priests, the Church in Wales has failed to listen to the gendered life experience of ordained women.
Attention needs to be given to the preparation of women who may in due course be ordained to the episcopate. Canon Peter Russell Jones surveys some of the biblical and historical data relating to the possible ordination of women as bishops. He demonstrates the close relationship of the offices of bishop and priest and draws attention to the negative ecumenical consequences of the ordination of women to the episcopate. Bishop David Thomas gives an account of his ministry as Provincial Assistant Bishop with a particular oversight of parishes and ministers who are unable in conscience to accept the ministry of women as priests. He goes on to indicate how he expects that church order in Wales would need to develop if a bill were passed in the Church in Wales to open the episcopate to women. Professor Leslie Francis discusses the issue of Reception, which for many on both sides of the debate is a key factor in deciding when will be the right time to proceed with the ordination of women to the episcopate. He emphasizes the need for careful collection and evaluation of up to date empirical evidence as a way of discerning the mind of the Church, which is a necessary element in the theological debate about the ordination of women to the episcopate.
In one respect this collection is deficient. We had commissioned an article from a female diocesan bishop in another province of the Anglican Communion, giving an account of her experience and that of her diocese as her ministry had progressed. Unfortunately the article was not made available in time to be included here. Even without it, however, we need to appreciate that the ordination of women to the episcopate is not an idea but a fact. In the Anglican churches of Aotearoa/New Zealand/Polynesia, Canada and the USA, as well as in other communions within the wider Church, women already exercise episcopal ministry. There is by now a considerable amount of lived experience, from the female bishops themselves and the dioceses in which they have served, which is part of the evidence to be listened to and reflected upon as the Church in Wales seeks to come to a common mind. The news, as we go to press, of the election of the Right Reverend Dr. Katharine Jefferts Schori, Bishop of Nevada, as Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church in the United States and consequently the first female Primate in the Anglican Communion, will add another dimension to this experience.
These articles are offered to the Church in Wales in the hope that they will complement the official reports and statements by recording a range of pastoral and spiritual experience to inform the disciplined thought and constant prayer which should precede the making of a decision so fundamental to the future life and mission of the church.