Women bishops - apology

I give thanks to writer Michael Wenham for his blog, Diary of a Dancing Donkey, but more so for his insight into the Church, the women who serve in it and helping us see what Jesus saw in women. How those in the Church of England can go on about what Scripture "says" as opposed to what Our Lord "lived" and "taught" in word and example. I think in many ways we have been "reading" His "teachings" not quite the way He intended [indeed, a bold statement for a lay person to make but you'll get over it and simply know it's me being me]. It gives a whole new meaning to "come and be my disciple", and "go and DO likewise" [my emphasis]. Michael gives a sincere perspective on the recent vote not to allow women to become bishops in Church of England, UK>:


"Last night I thought it might have been a mistake to listen to the afternoon live stream of the Church of England General Synod's debate about the ordination of women bishops, since whenever I woke - which was quite often - my mind was mulling it all over. I found myself surprisingly upset. So I resolved to write a letter today to my women friends who are also priests and were most immediately injured by the marginal defeat, but it also extends to all who feel that they have been discriminated against by a church they love."

19 Churchward Close
Grove
Oxfordshire
21st November 2012

Dear Sisters

I am very sorry that you were so grievously hurt yesterday.

I have to confess that not so long ago I would have been among 45 clergy voting against the women bishops' measure yesterday and I might well have used sermons to say why. About twelve years ago, when the possibility was beginning to be mooted, I remember being asked over lunch at Lee Abbey what I thought about women being bishops and answering that I was against it and wouldn't serve under one. I have repented since.

Four things convinced me that I was wrong. The first was the succession of women in training for ordination at Wycliffe Hall who came on attachment or to preach in our parish. I'm not making comparisons! We had good male ordinands, of course, but it struck me that to be a female ordinand you had to be outstanding. I can remember them all and they were all inspiring. It's not that they set out to change my mind, but merely that they themselves set me thinking and reassessing my previous view of what the Bible said.

Secondly, I had had no time for those who explained away the "plain meaning of Scripture". For me the Bible was, and remains, true and the ultimate authority. So I didn't approve of attempts to wriggle out of its difficult teachings. However I have come to see that the original context is crucial both to our understanding and the application of the Bible. (I have a feeling this is known as hermeneutics.) I didn't find any idea of gender hierarchy at creation in Genesis; it seemed to be introduced as a consequence of the fall. I found that Jesus came to reverse the effects of the Fall and bring in the Kingdom of God

“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,
because he has anointed me
to proclaim good news to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives
and recovering of sight to the blind,
to set at liberty those who are oppressed,
to proclaim the year of the Lord's favour”.


This accorded with the radical way that Jesus interacted with women, overturning the oppression to which they had been subjected - so that the first response of faith to his incarnation was by a woman, the Virgin Mary, (a contrast to Zechariah the priest); the first Gentile apostle/evangelist was the Samaritan woman; he commended Mary of Bethany for sitting as a disciple at a rabbi's feet; he entrusted the good news of his resurrection to Mary Magdalene; and one could go on. He utterly reversed the accepted subordinate role of women.

The rest of this magnificent article can be read at Diary of a Dancing Donkey. It is well worth the read but mostly, and importantly, the revelation that we can be wrong about a thing, and have our hearts opened by Christ's blazing love and the comprehension revealed to us by the timelessness of an all-knowing God, who loves us and loves all, and always has, women and men.


Michael also recommends a book at the end of his article. A picture of it is up above though you will see it when you read his post. Catherine

++Rowan, a positive note on women bishops?

Rowan Williams, I believe, is hoping to go out of office on a positive note. To this I would not object. Please read the Church Times article below to hear his new view on women bishops in the C of E.

The Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams, has begun a campaign to persuade General Synod members to back the new women bishops legislation when it returns to debate it next month.

The following article by Williams was published in the Church Times on Friday, Oct. 19.

_____________________________________

No-one is likely to underrate the significance of November’s debate on women bishops in General Synod. It will shape the character of the Church of England for generations – and I’m not talking only about the decision we shall take, but about the way in which we discuss it and deal with the outcome of it.

Those who, like myself, long to see a positive vote will want this for a range of reasons which have to do with both the essential health of the Church and its credibility in our society. They are keenly aware of living with a degree of theological inconsistency.

As Anglicans we believe that there is one priesthood and one only in the Church, and that is the priesthood of Jesus Christ – his eternal offering of himself, crucified, risen and ascended, to the Father to secure everlasting ‘covenanted’ peace between heaven and earth. To live as ‘very members incorporate in his Body’ on earth is to be alive with his Spirit and so to be taken up in his action of praise and self-offering so that we may reflect something of it in our lives and relationships. To recall the Church to its true character in this connection, God calls individuals to gather the community, animate its worship and preside at its sacramental acts, where we learn afresh who we are. The priestly calling of all who are in Christ is thus focused in particular lives lived in service to the community and its well-being, integrity and holiness – lives that express in visible and symbolic terms the calling of a ‘priestly people’.

Read the rest of his statement here.

Abuse in the Church: it does happen

http://www.episcopalchurch.org/81803_123419_ENG_HTM.htm

SCOTLAND: Election to decide if Britain will have first female Anglican bishop

By Trevor Grundy, January 14, 2010

[Episcopal News Service] Britain might soon have its first female Anglican bishop, serving the 38,000-memberScottish Episcopal Church.

The Rev. Alison Peden, aged 57, is one of three candidates for the post of bishop of Glasgow and Galloway. The election is scheduled for Jan. 16.

Observers say that if Peden is elected it is likely to increase pressure on the neighboring Church of England to allow the appointment of women bishops.

"This news is a real boost as it comes at a time when the Church of England is in the process of preparing its own legislation for women bishops," Christina Rees, chairperson of WATCH (Women and the Church) and a campaigner for female bishops, was quoted as saying by The Times newspaper.

Peden, the rector of Holy Trinity Church in Stirling and canon of St. Ninian's Cathedral in Perth, is facing two male rivals for the post of bishop in the Scottish diocese.

They are the Rev. John Applegate, an academic at Manchester University, and the Rev. Gregor Duncan, rector of St. Ninian's Church, Pollokshields, and dean of the Diocese of Glasgow and Galloway.

The candidates were chosen by clergy and lay church members. Under church rules they are not allowed to give media interviews before the election.

Peden is the first woman to be shortlisted in Britain as an Anglican bishop. The General Synod of the Scottish Episcopal Church voted in 2003 to allow women bishops.

The Scottish election comes a year after the small Lutheran Church in Great Britain consecrated its first woman bishop, the Rev. Jana Jeruma-Grinberga.

WATCH's Rees said she believed that legislation allowing women bishops in the Church of England would probably be presented to its General Synod in July 2010, and that final approval would be given in 2012.

"My great hope in 2010 is that we will finally see good, robust and fair legislation for women bishops coming forward," she told Ecumenical News International.

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

This is the best news I have heard in a while on the Anglican front. The election is two days away, and whilst this may seem trivial in comparison to the disaster in Haiti, it is also important to this devastated country in that more change for the better for all women and men may come about with more women bishops doing the will and work of God in ways no one could ever have imagined. Long or short term, this is a very important event in the Church. Pray with all your being for the people of Haiti and those trying to help, and pray that God's will shall be seen in this election.

Catherine

Katie Sherrod: The Undermining of the Episcopal Church continues...

Katie Sherrod is an independent writer and journalist in Fort Worth, Texas. Her blog "Desert's Child" chronicles in part if not whole, the developments in the Episcopal Church USA, its ups and downs and the controversies that assail it. Here is the latest development that many of us are completely unaware of and if you read this and think your friends, or priest, or fellow parishioners need to know how the undermining of our Church continues, then guide them here or to Katie's blog. The truth will on one level, set you free, and on another, turn your stomach.

Here is part of Katie's article revealing the latest conspiracy to weaken and break The Episcopal Church USA:


There is news busting out all over cyberspace about a group of Episcopal Church bishops and rectors calling themselves Communion Partners and a group grandly named the Anglican Communion Institute Inc. who are working to establish as fact their "belief that Episcopal Church polity legitimately arises out of the autonomy of dioceses who gather in voluntary association at The Episcopal Church in General Convention. In this view it is the diocese and not The Episcopal Church that is the "basic unit" of The Episcopal Church. In this argument TEC is not a metropolitical entity, but rather a free association of dioceses."

In this world view, a diocese would have full right to sign on to an Anglican Covenant, thus maintaining its purity without having to leave the Episcopal Church for an entity such as ACNA -- the Anglican Communion in North America, the "province' Duncan and Iker et. al. are trying to set up to replace The Episcopal Church and the Anglican Church of Canada in North America.

But while these Communion Partner bishops and rectors say that this is a way to keep dioceses and parishes from leaving the Episcopal Church, they also have to know that this argument will be used against the Episcopal Church in the litigation now going on in the dioceses of San Joaquin, Fort Worth and Pittsburgh.

Read the rest of her informative and revealing article at Desert's Child.

See the newest entry for more information and explication from the Episcopal News Service .

Britain's first woman bishop takes office this weekend

Now that is news but of the Lutheran variety, and yet I say "Rejoice!"

History will be made this weekend as the first female bishop to serve in a British church takes office.

However the Church of England continues to argue about how and when women should be introduced to the episcopate, while the Roman Catholic Church maintains that only men can serve as priests.

So it has been left to the Lutheran Church in Great Britain, which has just a few thousand worshippers, to become the first to take the radical step.

The Rev Jana Jeruma-Grinberga, whose parents were Latvian refugees but who was born in England, will be consecrated as the church's first female bishop on Saturday at a ceremony in the City of London.

She will take over from the Rt Rev Walter Jagucki as the head of the Lutheran Church in Great Britain, one of 10 Lutheran groups based in the country, and the service will be witnessed by fellow worshippers from around the world.

Do read the rest of Martin Beckford's article in the Telegraph.

Someone had to get the ball rolling and thanks be to God the Lutherans are not shy about getting down to business and dealing with equality in the Church. What part of "co-heirs in Christ" doesn't the Church of England understand. The Queen can be the official Head of the Church but women can't be bishops? Reality check required.

Links to Lambeth : Better Late Than Never...

Though I am adverse to my own possible commentary on the doings and goings-on at the Lambeth Conference, I am not adverse to helping the readership find information on the conference itself. There are many American priests, as well as the contingent of bishops, attending the event, and many of them are blogging about their experiences and days across The Pond.

Below are links to the most informative and well-written blogs. I have also included some written by those outside of our country. You will find some serious and analytic, others you will find humorous and irreverent, and yet they all have something to contribute to the understanding of what exactly is taking place. It's always good, I think, to have a variety of perspectives on the same event so one may have a good overview of what is precisely--or imprecisely--influencing and shaping the Communion.

One general source of information is Episcopal Life Online. Here you can find specific info on the participation of the Presiding Bishop, the uninvited yet present +Gene Robinson, as well as video and pictures of various events and venues.

Another American source is the Episcopal Café, offering a wide variety of topics, experiences, observations and commentary from various reporters, writers and clergy. You can also go to the Episcopal Church USA and find a wealth of Lambeth information, especially at Newsline.

American bloggers who are priests are also covering events and making observations from afar. Telling Secrets by Elizabeth Kaeton is one of the most revealing and intimate views of the real people who's lives will be effected by decisions there. Follow her Lambeth experiences each day.

Mark Harris, another American priest, gives us an analytic view of what lies beneath the surface of all the chit-chat among the committees and the food lines as bishops wait to be fed…what an image. You can visit him at Preludium for his erudite commentary.

Integrity's own Susan Russell blogs from London on the day to day gamut of meetings and interviews, especially in regard to the Windsor Continuation Group and its nonsense [oh dear! Did I just comment on something!]. You can read all the dirt here at An Inch At A Time. Oh, and if you would, pray for Susan+ as she just lost her mother.

With all this serious business, one must have respite. For that I strongly urge you to visit Of Course I Could Be Wrong, a blog by Jonathan Hagar, priest of Newcastle-upon-Tyne. This is the light and sarcastic side of Lambeth, the side where the Communion can laugh at itself and look at itself in the mirror and guffaw with the absurdity of all the mountains that some bishops and dioceses make out of mole hills. I insist that you visit Jonathan+ as doing so will put things into perspective as well as lighten the Anglican burden.

Lisa Fox's blog, My Manner of Life, is also a window upon Lambeth though she is writing from Missouri. She has her connections and her reflections are a bit from Lambeth, a bit from home, and a bit from others. Still she writes well her thoughts and views in a clear and concise way that touches deeply our Episcopal identity.

If you prefer to keep track of our Presiding Bishop ++Katherine, as well as view the general goings-on at Lambeth,you can do so at Episcopal Life Online's Multimedia page. You can also find picture galleries as well.

And to read and consider what the Blogging Bishops have to say about their days at the Conference, you can read all about that in The Lambeth Journal where different bishops comment and reflect on issues and events each day, and each day, a different duo of bishops does the commentary.

I hope that by giving you some place to start, you can journey to Lambeth yourself--virtually and in your prayers as this major conference takes place. Even if Lambeth does not directly or intensely influence what happens in the Episcopal Church USA, it does have the potential to influence--for better or for ill--the lives of Anglicans in the far-flung reaches of the Communion, where tribalism and ignorance are the fodder for the day. Where torture continues as the norm by "Christians" against the Gospel-believing Christians who are persecuted all the day long for who they are in Christ. I urge you to hold them in prayer especially and speak out against the wrongful use of our Lord's name to perpetrate evil and wrongdoing against those who truly love God. Take a moment now to pray for the victims of these modern day "crusades".

In Christ who made us and loves us,

Catherine