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?
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.
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 ?
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!
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.
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.
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!
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.
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.