English Bishops Offer Plan to Assuage Opponents of Women Priests
Episcopal News Service. February 7, 1992 [92032]
James Rosenthal
Four bishops in the Church of England have devised a plan that they think will prevent a schism if the November 1992 General Synod votes to ordain women to the priesthood: whenever a diocese is divided on the issue, it should have two bishops -- one on each side of the argument.
The "Ripon Plan," named after one of the supporters of the idea, the Rt. Rev. David Young of Ripon, calls on dioceses to select a suffragan bishop to protect the feelings of persons who disagree with the position of the diocesan bishop.
According to the plan, a suffragan bishop could ordain women to the priesthood if the diocesan bishop is opposed. And the suffragan would minister to opponents of women priests if the diocesan bishop is in favor of women priests.
The authors of the plan, including Bishops David Hope of London, Roy Williamson of Southwark, and Andrew Graham of Newcastle, assert that it would allow both supporters and opponents of women's ordination to "live and minister together within the provinces and dioceses of the Church of England." They charge that it would not delay the General Synod vote in November, but merely enact guidelines that recognize differing views.
Bishop Stanley Booth-Clibborn of Manchester, who supports the ordination of women, rejected the plan because, if adopted, it would take precedence over the legislation to ordain women. "Nothing must alter the present legislation, which should go before the synod in its present form."
Other opponents of the Ripon Plan charge that it diverts attention from real issue -- whether women should be ordained or not. A spokesperson for the Movement for the Ordination of Women (MOW) criticized the Ripon Plan. "It's a good try, but it won't work," she said. The Church of England must unequivocally recognize the validity of the ordinations of women to the priesthood, she added.
The Rev. Geoffrey Kirk, leader of the Cost of Conscience Movement, a group that opposes the ordination of women, said that the Ripon Plan failed to "address the fundamental theological problem" because it concedes that some bishops would have the right to ordain women.
In a significant shift, the Ripon Plan urges the church to look to the House of Bishops -- rather than to individual bishops -- as a focus of unity. "The focus of unity... embodied in the bishop would instead be embodied in the House of Bishops... reflecting the diversity of the church."
Although Archbishop of Canterbury George Carey has met with the authors of the Ripon Plan, he has not made any public comment on the proposal. Carey has declared his strong support for the ordination of women, and some observers believe that a strong statement from him could influence the vote in the General Synod.