The Holy Spirit will overcome the Church of England's Failure to Approve Female Bishops

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"God created humankind in his image, both male and female he created them."  - Genesis 1.27

I am extremely disappointed that the Church of England rejected the consecration of female bishops today (Nov. 20, 2012).

Passage of legislation to allow women to serve as bishops must be approved by two-thirds majorities in the synod’s three houses: bishops, priests and laity. The vote was 132 in favor and 74 against. In separate votes, Church of England bishops voted 44-3 in favor with 2 abstentions, and Church of England clergy voted 148-45 in favor. Forty-two out of 44 dioceses approved the legislation and more than three-quarters of members of diocesan synods voted in favor of it. Both the outgoing Bishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams, and his soon-to-be successor Justin Welby, were in favor of the legislation.

I am not  going to get into all of the arguments in favor of female bishops now in detail. I will simply list my thoughts about the issue:

For me, having female bishops is a basic issue of human justice, women are 51% of the human race. The Church cannot inveigh against injustice in the world and keep entrenched an unjust system in its own structure.

The Biblical witness says both men and women are made in the image of God; both female and male can image Christ at the altar (see Proverbs 9.1-5). The Bible witnesses to women in ministries of preaching, bible teaching, and prophecy. The are female apostles in the Bible (Romans 16.7), Bishops are suppose to be their successors, aren't they? Why not female Bishops?

Today, female bishops, priests, prophets, and ministers engage in vital ministries across a variety of churches and denominations. The vocation of ministry is a liberating and empowering one for women and for all the people of God. Female Pentecostal preachers, for example, provide a model for women's empowerment in the developing world.

The Church of England already has female priests. The Episcopal Church in the USA already has female bishops, as do the Anglican Churches in New Zealand, Australia, and South Africa. A woman, Queen Elizabeth II, is the Church of England's supreme governor.

Some will argue that the Church tradition does not allow for it for nearly 2000 years, that the fathers do not allow female bishops, to which I say, the church fathers are wrong about some things. Some thing the fathers say about women can only be described as misogynist, just like some things they say about Jews can only be described as antisemitic. The witness of ancestors should be honored but received critically. The lack of female bishops in most of the last 2000 years is not a compelling argument for me.

Still others will argue that the other Catholic Churches, the Roman Catholic Churches and Eastern Orthodox Churches, do not have female priests or bishops. With no disrespect intended, those Churches too, need to listen to the Spirit. The Mother of God brought the Christ into the world, but a female Bishop can't defend or preach the Christian faith? The Mother of God can bear God in her body, but a woman cannot bear him in her hands at the Altar?

We trust women to have positions of power and authority as presidents, generals, ambassadors, doctors, lawyers, members of parliament, members of congress, judges, magistrates, but not to be a bishop? Makes absolutely no sense, and makes the Church look embarrassingly backward.

There comes a time when all Christians and Churches need to grow up. The Church's rejection of female Bishops will be seen in the future as the last gasp of male-domination in the Church. Those who will block female bishops won a narrow victory, which will surely be reversed in the years ahead.

The momentum for female bishops is unstoppable. The naysayers have only postponed the final victory for equality in the Church. They won a battle, but have already lost the war. The vote against female bishops is a failure on the part of the Church. The inevitable force of history and the movement of the Holy Spirit will give the Church of England female bishops. And the Spirit is speaking now to all the Churches. Those with ears will hear.


- Lance