From the Revd Paul S. Nicholson
Sir, — I welcomed the issue raised by the Revd Dr Hugh Rayment-Pickard in his article “How will feminisation change the Church?” (Comment, 15 August). Before I was ordained, I worked in the field of early-music performance, and earlier still — to a lesser extent — in primary education. In each of those fields, a certain predominance of females can be said to go with the territory, and I found the environment most congenial. But an imbalance of gender in the Church has serious implications for our effectiveness in communicating the inclusive gospel, and must be addressed.
Although Dr Rayment-Pickard left me in no doubt of his support of the ministry of women, I failed, however, to see the connection he was nevertheless implying between this development and gender imbalance in the Church generally. The trend of “feminisation” in church congregations was well under way throughout my youth, and long before women were admitted to the priesthood.
It should not need saying that the task of a priest is not to gather a crowd of admirers or like-minded hangers-on (though we have all seen this happen), but to nurture an ever-deepening Christian discipleship. So I connect this trend less with the gender of those leading worship, and more with what we actually do in church.
More than 100 years ago, the editors of the first English Hymnal, reacting to a surfeit of certain sugary Victorian hymns, asserted — albeit in an unsurprisingly patriarchal and moralistic way — the possible effect of such a diet (today it might be a preponderance of the more “droopy” worship songs) on the community. Selectiveness over text, music, and tempo is therefore one vital consideration in monitoring this issue.
But, beyond this, there is a need for church leaders, in their preaching and general engagement with people, to challenge the popular assumption that “spirituality” is a female thing, or even that religion impacts solely upon our “feminine side”. To this end, awareness of the popular media gender stereotypes can help towards a realistic (and possibly humorous) engagement, without our actually subscribing to them.
It’s only natural that every church will have its own culture, deriving from its tradition and the particular mix of its membership. But if we aspire to an equal number of male and female worshippers (and candidates for ordination), it seems to me that these are just some of the areas to which we need to attend.
PAUL S. NICHOLSON
St Saviour’s Vicarage
30 Eton Villas
London NW3 4SQ
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