First Woman Diocesan Bishop Returns to England for Visit
Episcopal News Service. May 24, 1990 [90142Q]
The Rev. Penelope Jamieson of New Zealand, who will be consecrated June 29 as the first woman to head a diocese in the Anglican Communion, returned home to England "to tap the episcopal wisdom of the Church of England." She also visited the Diocese of Edinburgh, linked in partnership to Jamieson's Diocese of Dunedin. She stayed with Bishop Richard Holloway, a family friend, but declined his invitation to celebrate the Eucharist. She expressed sympathy with women in England who are seeking ordination but did not want to enter the controversy and debate. "In New Zealand it has not been the custom to ask people outright if they approve of the ministry of women, and our experience is that over the years minds have gently changed as they became aware that God's church was not going to collapse." She said at a London news conference that she sees her ministry as one of "reassurance," that women priests have been "quietly, consistently reassuring people," and that this is now taking on international dimensions as the Anglican Church tries to overcome differences on the issue of women in the priesthood.