wfn.org | Conference grants freedom of conscience on women's ordination

["Lambeth98" <storm@indigo.ie>]

ACNS LC104 - 7 August 1998

Conference grants freedom of conscience on women's ordination

by E. T. Malone, Jr.
Lambeth Conference Communications

The Lambeth Conference approved an amended resolution Thursday
(August 6) stating that bishops should not be compelled to ordain
or license women. 

Bishop Penny Jamieson of Dunedin (Aotearoa, New Zealand and
Polynesia) moved the amendment, hammered out in a series of
meetings between female and traditionalist bishops, and supported
on the floor by a cross section of female, traditionalist and
liberal male bishops.

 "During our discussions there were deep and real disagreements,"
Bishop Jamieson said. "Our small group began by being suspicious
of each other, but as trust between us began to grow it became
our prayer that we could agree on an amendment that we could
offer to this Communion as a way of deepening our communion in
the heart of God while and because of our respect for our
differences." 

Approving 'flying bishops'

The third section of the resolution contained language calling
upon the provinces to make provision for "appropriate episcopal
ministry," an apparent reference to allowing bishops serve
congregations in addition to or as an alternative to that of the
diocesan bishop, often called the use of 'flying bishops.'

That section also said "that there is and should be no compulsion
on any bishop in matters concerning ordination or licensing," a
concession to traditionalist bishops who maintain that they are
conscientiously opposed to ordination or deployment of women in
their dioceses.

The resolution, titled "Unity of the Anglican Communion," was a
reflection of the work and conversations of the Conference's
Section Three (Called to be Faithful in a Plural World).

Canadian Bishop Victoria Matthews of Edmonton (Canada), a member
of the small group that drafted the amendment, said, "At this
Lambeth Conference I have been received with a gracious and
generous spirit . . . and as one of the first generation of women
bishops, I ask that we keep this same spirit of graciousness and
generosity as we continue the process of open reception [of
female clergy]." She said dissent can be creative for the mind of
the church.

At odds with local policy

At a morning press conference before the plenary, Bishop
Frederick Borsch of Los Angeles (USA) said he believed American
bishops would strongly oppose the aspects of the resolution
relative to women's ordination. But no male bishops from the
United States participated in the floor debate.

Regarding the language in the resolution appearing to permit
outside bishops to perform episcopal ministry in a diocese other
than their own, Bishop Borsch said, "We have long recognized the
fact of having only one bishop in a diocese. Anything different
would be alien to our tradition." 

He said he did not think continued North American ordination of
homosexuals would cause a de facto schism with more African
bishops flying in to minister to traditionalist groups.

Suffragan Bishop Barbara Harris of Massachusetts (USA), the first
woman consecrated bishop in the Anglican Communion, voiced
opposition to the third clause, saying, "While the language seems
gracious it contravenes the canons of the Episcopal Church USA,
and the discipline of the church in the Provinces of Canada and
New Zealand. 

Bishop Harris pointed out that the "canon concerning ordination
of women in my own province was made mandatory last year at our
General Convention. The bishop may indeed by conscientiously
opposed to the ordination of women but cannot impose his or her
conscience on a diocese. The phrase 'appropriate episcopal
ministry' also opens the door for interferences in the autonomy
of dioceses and provinces, which I believe is a very dangerous
enterprise." 

Prior to the plenary Bishop Matthews said, "I have no idea the
number of years the process of reception of women clergy will
take. The church grows into fullness of being by prayer and
waiting on the spirit. I would hope that it would be a matter of
time before all three orders of women clergy are accepted, but I
could be wrong. The possibility of a reversal is there."

Traditionalists support resolution

Supporting the resolution, Bishop Geoffrey Rowell of Basingstoke
(England), convenor of the small group that drafted the
amendment, noted, "It safeguards the position of bishops who find
themselves living under pressure and exercising leadership under
pressure. The resolution recognises the traditionalist position
as one that is expressive of Anglican loyalty as much as the
position that favors ordination of women."

By a show of hands the bishops, by about an 80 percent majority,
approved the amended resolution.

Reacting to the resolution's passage, Bishop Catherine S. Roskam
of New York (USA) said the resolution "doesn't mean anything in
terms of our own polity." The principle of  "subsidiarity"
applies, she said, in which local policies take precedence.

"The other difficulty," she said, "is that there's a kind of
arrogance among bishops here that forgets there's the rest of the
church. And I doubt the House of Deputies in the American church
is going to take that one sitting down."

Bishop Chilton Knudsen of Maine (USA) said she felt the amendment
was internally inconsistent, "because reception requires exposure
and this limits exposure of people to the ministry of women." The
resolution will be fodder for some traditionalists to dig in
their heels in opposition to 1997 canonical changes within the
American church, she observed. 

Katie Sherrod contributed to this article.

For further information, contact:

   Lambeth Conference Communications
   Canterbury Business School
   University of Kent at Canterbury
   Telephone: 01227 827348/9
   Fax: 01227 828085
   Mobile: 0374 800212

   http://www.lambethconference.org