IT HAS, indeed, taken "a very, very long time" to open the door
fully to women in the ordained ministry. The Archbishop of
Canterbury might have been referring to the synodical process,
which began in earnest in the 1970s, or to the centuries since the
establishment of the Church in Jerusalem in which, influenced by St
Paul, women were excluded from clerical posts - although not, of
course, from ministry and leadership, often in senior and
influential positions. It is dangerous to judge the past from the
present day, and, however much we might wish the Church to
challenge societal norms in the light of the gospel, it is the case
that pressure for women's ordination did not start to build until
after the suffragist movement had gained women the vote. This is
not proof that the C of E was right to hold back, however. It is
merely evidence that, as with other institutions, the Church was
conditioned to equate the ordained ministry with secular authority,
and authority with masculinity.
As for the immediate past, the C of E has furnished observers
with an example of how a Church changes its mind - if anyone can
bear to look. It has been a painful business. Disagreeing with
others generally is, and both sides have too often sought to lessen
that pain by behaving tribally, consorting with those who hold
similar views and traducing those with whom they ought to have been
in dialogue. Agreement came at last only when that dialogue was
re-established. All can remember the low points in the process: the
uncharitable July Synod in 2008, the misguided establishment of the
Ordinariate in 2011; the intransigence that led to the shock vote
in November 2012. But there have been high points, too: personal
epiphanies, unlikely friendships, and, in the past year, the
discovery of tolerance. The Measure promulged on Monday is a
testament to a wider variety of people. Yes, to the patient women
and the gracious traditionalists who kept returning to the table to
explain their points of view, thus forging a mutual respect upon
which the future agreement is founded. But also to the enthusiasts,
those who argued their case with, at times, more heat than light,
who held out against easy compromise, even when to do so led them
dangerously close to unpleasantness. Now is a time to look with
charity on all involved.
Could this result - approval for women bishops, accommodation
for those who remain opposed in principle - have been achieved
sooner? Undoubtedly. After all, other branches of the Anglican
Communion - but by no means all - reached agreement long ago,
though often at some cost. Governance in the Church of England
tends to default to its more conservative individuals, and the
process of confirming that a majority in the dioceses hold a
particular view is a laborious one. But opinions did have to
change, and this does not happen overnight. The C of E perhaps does
not deserve to feel proud of itself, but it can feel relieved, and
thankful.