# Church of England paves way for female bishops **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [November 20, 2013, 11:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/church-of-england-paves-way-for-female-bishops/674384 "2013-11-20T23:09:15Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2014, 3:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/church-of-england-paves-way-for-female-bishops/674384/21 "2014-07-15T15:44:12Z")
If the Queen is the head of the church, couldn’t she make it so years ago? Or does she merely give her assent to what the church does similar to the process of giving royal assent to acts of Parliament? ---
**Author:** ![Lord\_Feldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lord_feldon/32/341_2.png) [@Lord\_Feldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lord_Feldon)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2014, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/church-of-england-paves-way-for-female-bishops/674384/22 "2014-07-15T17:39:52Z")
> [@BobLibDem](#): > > If the Queen is the head of the church, couldn’t she make it so years ago? No, this is a change in the law, so she can’t do it unilaterally. This will actually have to go through Parliament at some point too, although I think church measures are usually sped through with no comment. ---
**Author:** ![common\_good](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f475e1/32.png) [@common\_good](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/common_good)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2014, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/church-of-england-paves-way-for-female-bishops/674384/23 "2014-07-15T20:37:22Z")
Can’t decide if this is advancing or regressing. Can’t she just tred the path used by the men ? I mean, how much does it matter ? I’m still trying to get used to women police. Doubt I ever will. Female priests ? Why not ? ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2014, 9:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/church-of-england-paves-way-for-female-bishops/674384/24 "2014-07-15T21:54:38Z")
> [@alphaboi867](#): > > Women have been presiding over those services for 20 yrs . Yes, I know- and the result has been PACKED churches, right? Uh… It’s interesting that the most enthusiastic supporters of female bishops are people who’d never be caught dead in any church to begin with., ---
**Author:** ![Baker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bb73d2/32.png) [@Baker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baker)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2014, 10:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/church-of-england-paves-way-for-female-bishops/674384/25 "2014-07-15T22:00:32Z")
> [@astorian](#): > > Yes, I know- and the result has been PACKED churches, right? > > Uh… > > It’s interesting that the most enthusiastic supporters of female bishops are people who’d never be caught dead in any church to begin with., Well, I don’t know about Church of England attendance, being in the US, and Episcopalian myself. But our Presiding Bishop is a woman, and we are doing okay! ---
**Author:** ![Skammer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skammer/32/143_2.png) [@Skammer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skammer)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2014, 10:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/church-of-england-paves-way-for-female-bishops/674384/26 "2014-07-15T22:08:16Z")
I don’t know if this will bring any more people into the pews, but I doubt it will hurt. It may just bring a few people in out of idle curiosity. My priest is a woman and she’s great, although when I first became Episcopalian it took a little while to get used to. I’ve met a few women bishops and they’re no different then the men, for better or worse. Some are great and some are not so good, but it’s not dependent on what’s under their cassocks. ---
**Author:** ![clairobscur](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/839c29/32.png) [@clairobscur](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/clairobscur)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2014, 1:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/church-of-england-paves-way-for-female-bishops/674384/27 "2014-07-16T01:00:01Z")
> [@Baker](#): > > What I can’t understand is why would a denomination allow women to be ordained as priests, but not the next step, bishop? For a denomination like the Church of England, bishops are the successors of the apostoles. They aren’t just high ranked priests, they form a completely different category within the church. So, it’s not surprising that rules that apply to priests wouldn’t necessarily apply to bishops. ---
**Author:** ![Wallaby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/dc4da7/32.png) [@Wallaby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wallaby)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2014, 10:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/church-of-england-paves-way-for-female-bishops/674384/28 "2014-07-16T10:39:57Z")
Presumably, women weren’t previously allowed to be bishops because God said so. Has God changed His (or Her) mind? well, I guess that’s big news - I must have missed his news conference, and the press release (was it one of those big stone thingys)? It’s rather like homosexuals who want to belong to a religious group that doesn’t want them to join. Why do you want to join a group that doesn’t want you? Just make your own group! ---
**Author:** ![jabiru](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/bbce88/32.png) [@jabiru](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jabiru)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2014, 10:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/church-of-england-paves-way-for-female-bishops/674384/29 "2014-07-16T10:54:20Z")
> [@Baker](#): > > Of course the Episcopal church here in the USA has has female bishops for some time, heck, our Presiding Bishop is a woman. > > What I can’t understand is why would a denomination allow women to be ordained as priests, but not the next step, bishop? Are they afraid of the possibility of a female Archbishop of Canterbury? Heck, as things go, the head of the Church of England is a woman already, QEII. > > Whatever, this female American approves of the General Synod’s vote, although I’m not a member of that church. Go for it, I say! No matter what Canterbury says, the Archdiocese of Sydney doesn’t even allow women to be ordained. They’re “complementarians” apparently. Sydney is becoming more and more evangelical with every passing year. It’s always been very Low Church. Nowadays, they’re positively fundamentalist. ---
**Author:** ![Baker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bb73d2/32.png) [@Baker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baker)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2014, 10:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/church-of-england-paves-way-for-female-bishops/674384/30 "2014-07-16T22:11:20Z")
> [@jabiru](#): > > No matter what Canterbury says, the Archdiocese of Sydney doesn’t even allow women to be ordained. They’re “complementarians” apparently. Sydney is becoming more and more evangelical with every passing year. It’s always been very Low Church. Nowadays, they’re positively fundamentalist. I think also some of the African churches, members of the Anglican Communion, don’t ordain women, but I couldn’t produce a list. ---
**Author:** ![jabiru](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/bbce88/32.png) [@jabiru](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jabiru)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2014, 8:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/church-of-england-paves-way-for-female-bishops/674384/31 "2014-07-17T08:39:26Z")
> [@Baker](#): > > I think also some of the African churches, members of the Anglican Communion, don’t ordain women, but I couldn’t produce a list. I think you’re right. Also the Sydney Archdiocese has begun to ‘seed’ churches which adhere to their very evangelical views in other, more liberal or High Church dioceses, including overseas ones. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/church-of-england-paves-way-for-female-bishops/674384.md?page=1)