Move to Ordain Women Hits Snags in Australia and England
Episcopal News Service. July 30, 1992 [92159]
General Synods in both the Church of England and the Anglican Church of Australia fell short of the required majorities to move ahead with the ordination of women.
About 70 percent of the members of the houses of bishops, clergy, and laity in Australia voted in favor of legislation that would permit immediate ordination, just short of the 75 percent needed. The bill, which would allow each diocese to make up its own mind on ordination by repealing ancient English church law, must now be circulated among diocesan synods for debate and amendment before returning to a vote at a General Synod meeting in November or December.
The synod did pass a provisional canon that would come into force only if each of the 24 dioceses of the church agreed, which is highly unlikely under current circumstances.
Brisbane's Archbishop Peter Hollingworth made an impassioned call for the church to take decisive action. "We have come to the crossroads and we must now decide," he said during his introduction of the bill. "We have failed to exercise authority in this matter in the past three synods and this time we can't afford to miss the mark," he asserted.
In seconding the bill, Bishop Peter Chiswell of Armidale said that he was still opposed to the ordination of women but added that it was no longer possible for the church to put its head in the sand, especially since 10 women priests were recently ordained in Perth. "The law is catching up with the change."
In opposing the bill, Archbishop Donald Robinson of Sydney reminded the synod that past attempts to approve the ordination of women had failed and "this canon is no more acceptable than the others to those who believe the ordination of women is opposed to apostolic faith and order."
Robinson challenged the view that the church could maintain its unity in diversity and said that the legislation would produce the opposite -- a breach in communion. "It is not possible to have unity in this type of diversity," he asserted, suggesting that it might even be better to dissolve the church's constitution and let dioceses go their own way.
Meanwhile, the controversy over the ordination of women continues in the Church of England as it moves toward a crucial vote on legislation at its November meeting of the General Synod.
A vote in the House of Laity at the recent synod meeting in York was short of the two-thirds majority that will be required to open ordination to women. Opponents hailed the vote as a sign that opinion was moving against the ordination of women. The Movement for the Ordination of Women vowed to intensify with its efforts to educate members of the synod.