THE new campaign by Women and the Church (WATCH) to abolish the provisions agreed in 2014 for clergy opposed to the ordination of women does “not bode well for any settlement emerging for evangelicals” opposed to blessings for same-sex couples, the Director of Forward in Faith has said.
At its annual conference last week WATCH announced plans to see a motion brought to the General Synod asking members to consider “whether it is right for the 2014 House of Bishops’ Declaration on the Ministry of Bishops and Priests to continue in perpetuity and, if not, to set a date for it to come to an end”.
Forward in Faith is a traditionalist membership organisation which advises and supports parishes that have passed a resolution under this House of Bishops’ Declaration.
In a statement published on Friday, its Director, Tom Middleton, suggested that the provision “explicitly references the roles of the wider Anglican Communion and indeed of the church universal. This is demonstrably, therefore, a matter of ecclesiology rather than of gender per se.
“While such opposition represents a minority viewpoint in the Church of England, it reflects the practice of by far the greater part of the church universal. As a result, we should in fact be defined by being in favour of something . . . rather than being opposed to something.”
During the WATCH conference, the Area Bishop of Croydon, Dr Rosemarie Mallett, a member of the steering committee that drafted the 2014 legislation (News, 26 July 2013), said: “I think in honesty we also thought that as society changed and as views became more open-minded among growing numbers of younger men and women, the culture of the Church would change like the culture of the wider society.”
Responding to this point, Mr Middleton suggested that, “Given that we are only just over a decade on from the settlement being put in place, and mutual flourishing is in its infancy, such attitudes do not bode well for any settlement emerging for evangelicals from their opposition to the Prayers of Love and Faith (PLF).
“What are they, and others, to make of the promises made to Anglo-Catholics, which some appear so keen to renege on so soon after those commitments were made?”
He also asked about the “well-being” of young clergy in the Society (which is supported and financed by Forward in Faith) who put themselves forward for ordination under the settlement, should this be revoked “after such a short elapse of time”.
The chair of WATCH, the Vicar of St Michael’s, Chiswick, the Revd Martine Oborne, had spoken at the conference of the potential to bring a legal challenge under the Equality Act (2010). While this meant that people within the Church “can discriminate on grounds of sex”, she said, it contained protections against victimisation and harassment.
“Most of us will have experienced harassment, and it is illegal,” she said.
Mr Middleton’s statement asks for “evidence” of this harassment. “Without evidence being provided and without formal reporting of allegations, there is a danger that highly generalised comments become a means of undermining those of a different theological position.”
He continued: “I simply cannot view a set of principles advocating tolerance of different, well-grounded, theological perspectives as being in any way ‘violent’ — quite the opposite.”
On this, he suggested that safeguarding was being “weaponised”. “Firstly, there is an elision being made between traditionalist witness, whether evangelical or catholic, and safeguarding risk. Secondly, the assertion is being made that men in general are a safeguarding problem. That used to be known as sexism.”
Concluding, Mr Middleton suggested that the Society was being presented with a choice. “One option is a monochrome state run church, claiming to become more “open-minded” as it closes down other theological perspectives . . . The other is a vibrant national church.”
In a detailed response sent to the Church Times on Monday, Ms Oborne said that the Declaration permitted churches to “say no” to women applying to be their vicar, presiding, preaching, and to having a woman bishop.
“Forward in Faith says that these arrangements are not discriminatory, but they are. In fact, in order to be legal, they rely on the exceptions that the Church of England enjoys under the Equality Act 2010.”
There was “plenty of evidence” that women experienced harassment, she said, and pointed to research conducted by academic researchers and theologians including Dr Gabriella Thomas, Dr Sarah Schofield, and Dr Sharon Jagger, as well as public testimonies.
Though she agreed that there was no time-limit to the Declaration, it was “appropriate to have a review — especially as many women have found it hard to flourish within the arrangements”.
She concluded: “The arrangements are not only unjust but . . . have also brought more fracture to the Church than unity,” she said. “Although in the Church we talk quite rightly about our desire for diversity and inclusion, that desire is conditional when it comes to women.”
