wfn.org | Episcopal women's roles in church still unsettled

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2000-105

Women's roles in church still unsettled

by Susan Erdey

     As it has for the last several decades, this summer's 
General Convention will deal with the role and status of 
women in the Episcopal Church--especially women's access to 
ordained ministry throughout the church will continue to 
receive attention. 

     The 1997 convention affirmed that "the provisions of 
the canons of the General Convention, insofar as they may 
relate to the ordination of women and the licensing and 
deploying of women clergy, are mandatory." The resolution 
(A053a) required that in 1997-2000 "each diocese where 
women do not have full access to ordination and where 
ordained women are not permitted to carry out their full 
ministries shall develop and implement a process to 
implement fully" the pertinent canons.

     All diocesan bishops were surveyed in January 1999 and 
were asked to report on their compliance with the canons. 
Most responded, including the three dioceses where 
implementation had been delayed --San Joaquin, Quincy, and 
Fort Worth.

     Bishop John-David Schofield of San Joaquin wrote that 
a parish in Fresno had requested that "a woman priest who 
had been resident for a few years be allowed to function as 
an assistant in that parish." Schofield granted permission 
and also offered the assistance of Bishop Jerry Lamb of the 
Diocese of Northern California should the woman priest 
"want pastoral care from a bishop."

     Bishop Jack Iker described the Diocese of Fort Worth 
as having "chosen to deal with the continuing theological 
differences over the ordination of women to the priesthood 
by entering into an arrangement with the Diocese of Dallas, 
which has come to be known as 'the Dallas Plan.'" Women 
seeking ordination to the priesthood in Fort Worth enter 
the discernment process in the Diocese of Dallas, "where 
they may eventually be ordained and placed by Bishop 
[James] Stanton."

     Iker reported that, as of February 1999, "three women 
had successfully completed this process." Iker affirmed 
that the diocese is "committed to the principle of 'open 
reception' as affirmed by the Lambeth Conference, and to 
providing pastoral ministry to those on both sides of this 
issue."

     Bishop Keith Ackerman of the Diocese of Quincy simply 
reported that "since General Convention our standing 
committee and commission on ministry have taken seriously 
the recommendation of the Eames Commission and we are 
actively involved in serious prayer, discernment and 
conversation." The Eames Commission recommended ways for 
provinces to stay in communion despite disagreement over 
women clergy.

     The congregations in ministry committee of Executive 
Council will present a resolution calling for continued 
monitoring of "progress in all dioceses toward the full 
implementation" of the canons on ordination of women, "in 
particular in the Dioceses of Fort Worth and Quincy," and 
that these dioceses "be encouraged to honor the ... canons 
of the church by bringing women into the full life and 
ministry of the church."

     The committee on the status of women, whose mission is 
to "investigate and advocate for the full participation of 
women in the life of the Episcopal Church," has submitted 
several resolutions for consideration, including:

     *A proposed revision to Canon 1.19.1 (the "marriage 
canon") that would emphasize concern for physical and 
emotional safety of persons involved in divorce.

          *Recognition and prevention of the worldwide 
problem of "trafficking in women, girls, and boys" for 
"slavery-like work, including forced prostitution, 
sweatshop labor and domestic servitude."

          *A "Pledge of Non-Violence" that encourages each 
congregation to become a "Circle of Peace."

--Susan Erdey is a writer and editor at Brown University in 
Providence, Rhode Island. She will serve on the Convention 
Daily news team in Denver.