Anglican Church leaders fear summer of strife over women and gay clergy
Pastor Dale Morgan
Anglican Church leaders fear summer of strife over women and gay clergy*
Conservatives threaten to split from communion as decisive conference looms
* Riazat Butt, religious affairs correspondent
* The Guardian,
* Tuesday June 17 2008
The Church of England faces a tense summer as it wrestles with the
divisive issues of women bishops and gay clergy, a senior official said
yesterday.
William Fittall, the secretary general of the general synod, the
church's legislative body and national assembly, said a combination of
public debates, a breakaway Anglican conference and the clash between
conservatives and liberals was giving Christians cause for concern.
"There is no doubt that we are at an unsettled moment in the Church of
England," said Fittall. "This was always going to be a big summer. [The]
Lambeth [conference of bishops] is a big event in the wider communion
and the fact that it is considering women bishops goes to the heart of
what kind of church we want to be. The weekend's story has caused
further anxiety on the part of many."
He was responding to the Bishop of London's decision to order an
investigation into the "marriage" last month between two gay priests,
the Rev Peter Cowell and the Rev David Lord, who exchanged rings and
vows at St Bartholomew the Great church in the City of London.
A statement issued by the bishop of London, the Right Rev Richard
Chartres, said services of public blessings for civil partnerships were
not authorised.
Rows about gay clergy and women bishops have long threatened the unity
of the Anglican communion and the fellowship of the Church of England
will be put under pressure next month, when the ordination of women
bishops will dominate the agenda of the synod meeting in York. Its 476
members will spend seven and a half hours debating the issue over four days.
Fittall said: "This is going to overshadow the whole of synod. This is
going to be the issue that is there throughout and the whole of synod is
a bit anxious because nobody is confident about what the outcome will
be. It is genuinely hard to call."
A motion from the house of bishops suggests a code of practice, which
would mean rescinding the Episcopal Ministry Act of Synod 1993.
Annulling this act, which promised provision for those opposed to women
priests, is seen by some as a move that could split the church. There
will be special arrangements for those unable, as a matter of
conviction, to receive the ministry of women as bishops or priests, but
opponents fear they will not be enough.
The first female clergy were ordained in 1994 and the historic event led
to £27.4m in compensation being paid out to clergy who left as a result.
Out of 512 who left, 72 returned. There are no proposals for similar
financial arrangements in the future.
Church figures show there are more than 18,000 clergy in the Church of
England, and 1,500 people are currently in training for ordained
ministry. Although the first woman bishop will not be ordained before
2014, conservative groups are talking about an exodus. Stephen
Parkinson, director of Forward in Faith, said "if push came to shove"
half of the group's 1,000 members, all clergy, would leave.
"We do not want to leave but the church is not doing enough to
accommodate people like us. The 500 clergy work in the roughest,
toughest parishes of inner cities, so there would be an exodus from the
places that need the most help."
He described the house of bishops motion as "brinkmanship", saying: "I
believe they will change their minds and they will be more generous.
They're just seeing what they can get away with."
The Church of England has yet to follow the example of the 15 Anglican
and Episcopalian provinces around the world that have voted for, and in
some cases ordained, women bishops.
Scotland and Ireland have approved women bishops but have yet to appoint
one. Earlier this year Wales voted against legislation proposed by the
Archbishop of Wales, Dr Barry Morgan, that made provision for
traditionalists, with senior figures preferring to wait and pass
legislation that made no special arrangements.
Morgan said he was "deeply disappointed" with the result. "It is an
issue that is not going to go away or be ignored," he said. "The Church
in Wales will have to grapple with it. I am sad that we have to go
through the whole process again."
The Archbishops of Canterbury and York, Dr Rowan Williams and Dr John
Sentamu, support the consecration of women, yet both favour a compromise
that satisfies both camps. In a carefully worded presidential note
following the house of bishops meeting, they said: "Diverse views are
held with deep and passionate conviction and there is a general
acknowledgement of the cost involved in every option. Communications
have spelled out the different sorts of cost - to our sense of
continuity, our mission to the nation, our confidence that we can find
coherent and just patterns for our life as a church."
The two men described next month's debates as "something of a watershed"
for allowing synod members to discuss, for the first time, the approach
it wished to take regarding legislation.
If the synod votes in favour at its meeting in York next month, the
legislation would have to be approved by parishes, deaneries and
dioceses before going to the parliamentary ecclesiastical committee,
then the Commons and Lords.