Women, Media and the Church of England: A Reaction to Last Week's Ruling

by Tracey Bianchi

Last Tuesday, after years of debate, the Church of England’s General Synod narrowly rejected a proposal that would have allowed women to serve as bishops. As predicted, this launched a media frenzy revealing the despondent voices of those who were for the measure, from Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams to British Prime Minister David Cameron.

And now, the Anglican Church finds itself stumbling along a spectrum of cultural pressures, biblical mandate and all the tension in between. NT Wright (former Bishop of Durham) wisely warns against a church that makes decisions based upon cultural relevancy and yet, the pressure remains. Culture secretary Maria Miller said, “This ruling would suggest the church is at the very least behind the times." (The Guardian). Cameron insisted it was time for the church to “get with the programme.” The Week (UK) ran a header that read, “Church of England 'commits suicide' over women bishops.” The tension mounts.

As often happens when issues of women in church leadership crop up, a myriad of other opportunists begin to bang their pulpits with opinions on what is biblical for women. This is the hornet’s nest many denominations have kicked for decades. What to do with women? What is a woman’s role in church? Shall they teach and preach? Notable scholars and clergy alongside armchair theologians have waxed eloquent on this debate for centuries with little movement on either side. This is one of the most entrenched conversations in contemporary Christendom. Meanwhile, women work the system to keep on working toward God’s purposes in this world.

Most women I know inside churches—and certainly those outside—carry on the business of life and faith utterly unfazed by these conversations. The women I’ve chatted with about the ruling simply shrug their shoulders in mild irritation and lament that really, none of this surprises them and they avoid spending much energy on it. Women have important work to do, we always have, and despite these cultural moments we will labor to get that work done.

This is not in any way to diminish the struggle of women awaiting the episcopate but it is to suggest that pundits who shout loudly in moments like this do so at the expense of some real work. For women, there are babies to birth, classes to teach, passages to exegete. There are causes to champion in a world that permits men to rape, beat and sell women. These stories need to be told and heard; the wisdom and experiences of women are waiting to be shared. Women bring a perspective to faith that is often overlooked and underrated. As arguments about their role in God’s Kingdom continue on, women carry on with their work. Every day from dark brothels to bright stained glass sanctuaries, women move swiftly and deftly through the very male landscape of faith.

We don’t need more sermonizing or hand-wringing.

Jesus loved women fiercely. He invited them into the fullest depths of God’s story. His list of countercultural moves includes that he held women in high regard and believed them just as intelligent and equipped as men to change the world. His famous actions toward a Samaritan woman reveal Jesus’ belief that women should be challenged to find their way to faith and can be turned loose to lead an entire community to him.

While understandably, there is a desire for acknowledgement and title, women have gone about the business of God outside the ranks of men for millennia. And we will continue to do so, no matter what a governing board will allow—much as the six women in the Exodus narrative, from midwives to Pharaoh’s daughter herself, whose unnoticed strength mothered Moses in the shadow of a violent empire. Until either side lets go of a little rope, women will carry on for Jesus as creatively and passionately as they always have, with strength, determination and an invitation from God to fully participate in his kingdom purposes.

I’ve been blessed to bring all of my gifts and experiences as a person to my role in pastoral leadership and I pray the same for all women, that they would lead as they are called and gifted. But until then, we will continue to change the church, to serve the poor, to offer our wisdom and passion for Jesus to those who so desperately need to know his love. We will continue to change the world.

Editor's Note: Image by Kathleen Franklin.

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