wfn.org | Episcopalians: Task force on implementation of canon on women's ministry submits final repor

[dmack@episcopalchurch.org]

October 24, 2002

2002-249

Episcopalians: Task force on implementation of canon on 
women's ministry submits final report

by Jan Nunley

(ENS) In the end, the A045 Task Force--charged by the 2000 
General Convention to "visit, interview, assess and assist" the 
bishops, leaders and people of the Dioceses of Fort Worth, 
Quincy and San Joaquin to comply fully with canons regarding the 
ordination of women--could do everything that was asked of them 
except assist. That was the essence of the final report of the 
three teams that visited the dioceses to the Executive Council 
at its fall meeting in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, October 11-14. 

"We found that the intrusion of an unwelcome and uninvited 
group made it impossible 'to assist'; we are a diverse church, 
committed to inclusivity, but some of our behavior sends to 
self-described traditionalists a message of unwelcome," the 
report said.

The first of the three-member teams to make a visit was the 
one assigned to the Diocese of San Joaquin. Pauline Getz of San 
Diego, the Rev. Scott Kirby of Eau Claire, and Bishop Catherine 
Roskam of New York spent July 12 of last year at the diocesan 
camp and conference center and described their reception as one 
of "gracious hostility." The report said, "It was very clear 
that the bishop and most of the clergy present were convinced 
that we had come to dig up information to be used to bring 
charges against the bishop." 

They found that Bishop John-David Schofield has been 
"supportive" of women currently in the diocese's ordination 
process, though he will not ordain them himself. Schofield told 
them that "he is not convinced that women who go through 
ordination are truly ordained" and described them as "'make 
believe' priests" whose administration of the sacraments would 
lead recipients to be "barred from grace." The San Joaquin team, 
rather than make a second visit, opted to offer Schofield the 
opportunity to visit the Diocese of New York with other diocesan 
leadership to "experience the ordained ministry of women."

A team whose members included the Rev. Ann Coburn of Rhode 
Island, Bishop John Lipscomb of Southwest Florida and Diane 
Pollard of New York visited the Diocese of Quincy on October 1, 
2001 and again on August 29, 2002. The team reported "an 
expressed willingness" on the part of diocesan leadership to 
"observe the canons of this church and provide equal access to 
the ordination process for both women and men." The diocese has 
several women postulants preparing for the vocational diaconate, 
but to date reported that no woman has presented herself for 
discernment in seeking ordination to the priesthood. 

Unwelcome intrusion

The third team, composed of the Rev. David Chee of 
California, Sarah Harte of Los Angeles, and Bishop Peter James 
Lee of Virginia, visited the Diocese of Fort Worth on October 9, 
2001 and March 6, 2002. Fort Worth bishop Jack Iker made it 
plain that they were "an unwelcome intrusion into the life of 
the Dioceseinterfering with the internal affairs of the 
Diocese" in opening remarks, and declared to them that "we don't 
have any trust in the Executive Council, the General Convention, 
and the Presiding Bishop."

The team was impressed by the "vitality in mission" in Fort 
Worth, and reported that women are included at all levels of 
leadership except ordained ministry. Any woman seeking 
ordination is directed to the "Dallas/Fort Worth plan," an 
arrangement whereby she is put under the episcopal oversight of 
the Diocese of Dallas. So far, three women have been ordained 
through that process.

The second meeting, planned with lay and clergy leaders who 
differed from the majority in Fort Worth, caused friction with 
Iker and diocesan leaders, who insisted that members of the 
diocesan standing committee be allowed to attend. The team 
reported that they "sympathized" with feelings of 
marginalization on the part of both groups.

"We did the work we needed to do, as much as we could," 
remarked task force co-chair Sarah Harte.

One woman out of every four clergy

Drawing somewhat less attention than the team visits were the 
task force's efforts to address the first mandate of resolution 
A045, which was "to monitor progress in all dioceses toward the 
full implementation" of the women's ordination canons. That was 
done through a questionnaire sent last summer to all dioceses of 
the Episcopal Church.

The monitoring group warned council members that its results 
were "preliminary" and needed improvement in accuracy and 
consistency. They indicated that, on average, roughly one out of 
every four Episcopal clergy now serving are women. But some 
dioceses clearly take up the slack for others, the group 
reported. "One diocese reports as high a percentage of female 
parochial clergy as 62.5 percent," the report said. "Three 
others report percentages of 50 or more." In 27 of the 100 
domestic dioceses, one of every three parish clergy is a woman. 
But in 34 dioceses, fewer than one in five are female. 

The group found no correlation between geography or other 
factors and the incorporation of women into ordained ministry.

The council voted to present a resolution to General 
Convention asking for a "national conversation" to assist the 
whole church to "promote, explore, and develop ways to 
facilitate the ordination of women in every diocese and their 
full and equal deployment throughout the church," with a eye 
towards a "day of dialogue and reflection" at the 2006 General 
Convention.

------

--The Rev. Jan Nunley is deputy director of Episcopal News 
Service.