Church of England Votes to Ordain Women to the Priesthood
Episcopal News Service. November 18, 1992 [92226]
After two decades of intense debate, the General Synod of the Church of England voted by a razor-thin margin on November 11 to approve legislation allowing the ordination of women to the priesthood.
The historic vote -- described as the most important event in the English Church since the Reformation -- was approved by the required two-thirds majority of the synod's House of Bishops, House of Clergy and House of Laity.
Following an impassioned but civilized debate that lasted nearly five hours, synod members observed a period of silence prior to the vote and received the results in an almost stunned silence as Archbishop of Canterbury George Carey declared, "Having received the required majorities in each of the three houses, the Measure on the Ordination of women has carried."
The final vote by the General Synod was:
| IN FAVOR | OPPOSED | |
| Bishops | 39(75%) | 13 (25%) |
| Clergy | 176(70.4%) | 74 (29.6%) |
| Laity | 169 (67.3%) | 82 (32.7%) |
The vote ended a period of intense speculation and anxiety for Anglicans in England and around the world. For nearly a week prior to the vote, observers described the Church of England as "on the knife's edge," and a flurry of strong rhetoric splashed across the pages of British newspapers as opponents of the measure -- including nearly 1,000 priests and a dozen bishops -- told reporters that they might leave the church in protest.
Throughout England, Anglicans participated in a novena of prayer leading up to the vote. Supporters of the measure conducted a five-day, 24hour prayer vigil at Lambeth Palace, official residence of the archbishop of Canterbury. Security was tight outside Synod Hall in London as people braved the cold temperatures and drizzle to wait for the results of the vote.
In a speech prior to the vote, Carey described the deliberations as "caught between faith and fear." He told members of the synod, "God calls us to take the risk of faith."
Referring to the early church's decision to include gentiles in the Christian community, Carey insisted that the ordination of women was a proper "development in the church's tradition. The ordination of women to the priesthood alters not a word in the creeds, the Scriptures or the faith of our church," he said.
"I am well aware," Carey added, "that whatever decision we make will bring pain.... The question of truth matters so much to us that as a church we do not hide our disagreements." The debate was held in front of a packed visitors gallery and in the full glare of television lights. It was carried live across the United Kingdom on BBC television and radio.
Opponents of the measure insisted that a vote for ordination of women to the priesthood represented a serious break with Christian tradition and the Scriptures. "Has the church been totally mistaken for 2,000 years, hoodwinked and infected by social and cultural conditioning?" asked the Ven. David Silk, archdeacon of Leicester. "The plain truth is that the ordination of women is not prescribed by Holy Scripture, nor may it be proved thereby. It is a new orthodoxy."
"What concerns me is the credibility of the church," said Dorothy Chatterly, a lay member of the synod from the Diocese of Carlisle. She suggested that if the legislation were adopted, "mistrust, marginalization and mayhem" would overwhelm the Church of England. Chatterly's sentiment was echoed by Bishop of London David Hope, who said that, although the church might eventually decide to ordain women, he opposed the measure because he feared it "will inevitably and increasingly" lead to the marginalization of those who could not support it.
Although Hope and other critics of the measure asserted that it did not adequately protect persons who oppose the ordination of women as priests, others contended that the measure went too far in protecting dissenters. One provision will allow opponents to receive financial compensation if they resign the ministry as a matter of conscience. Some observers have estimated that the provision could cost the Church of England as much as $150 million.
In a press conference following the vote, Carey called for "a period of quiet reflection and deep prayer in which emotions are calmed, not further inflamed." He urged all members of the church "to abide by the decisions of General Synod. We would be saying exactly the same had the vote gone the other way."
Carey insisted that "the role and ministry of those opposed to the legislation is no less greatly valued and secure in the church today and for the future as it has been hitherto.... There is plenty of time for detailed discussion with those still deeply opposed to the legislation about how their consciences can be safeguarded, and their rightful place within the mainstream life of the Church of England maintained."
A joint statement released by Women Against the Ordination of Women (WAOW) and the Cost of Conscience (COC) -- two groups that opposed the measure -- declared that their members "will be unable to accept the orders of women who might be ordained.... We nevertheless call upon all those who continue opposed to such ordinations to remain faithful members of the Church of England."
"Once a Church of England bishop lays his hands on a woman in the act of ordination it will be a step toward Protestantism and an action they will forever regret," said the Rev. Peter Geldard, a member of COC from the Diocese of Canterbury. He told reporters that such ordinations would "not be of Christ and not authentic."
In an obvious admission that the decision would have long-range implications for the ecumenical movement, Carey said that he would be in contact with Pope John Paul II and the ecumenical patriarch to "express to them that our commitment to ecumenical dialogue is not lessened."
As soon as the vote was announced, several synod members rushed out of their seats and into the streets of London, where they greeted supporters of the measure with tears and hugs. More than 500 men and women gathered in the shadow of Westminster Abbey, held candles and banners and saw the results on closed-circuit television. As soon as the vote was announced, cheers, singing and the explosion of fireworks became an antiphon to the vote.
"Everyone exploded with joy -- we were dumbfounded," said the Rev. Anne Jenkins of Leeds, one of nearly 1,400 women deacons who will seek ordination to the priesthood. "I am ecstatic -- it knocked the breath out of me at first," added the Rev. Marianne Goddard of Lewisham, another deacon. "When Archbishop Carey announced the vote, I felt a movement deep within me of new life and hope."
Both women expressed the hope that their joy would not bring anguish to anyone who might have opposed the measure. "I feel for them. I beg them to stay. We can live and grow together," Goddard said. "Let's go forward together and be reconciled," Jenkins added.
"Thank God we've joined the Episcopal Church and others in the Anglican Communion," said Caroline Davis, executive secretary of the Movement for the Ordination of Women (MOW).
"I am thrilled almost beyond words," said Episcopal Church Presiding Bishop Edmond Browning in response to the vote. "It is my sense that the vote affirms the positive experience of our church over the last years as we have gratefully received the gifts of women in all orders of ordained ministry. Our women priests and bishop have brought a wholeness and enrichment to our common life that I hope and pray has been a model for others in our communion."
"We are eager to watch the Church of England as they embrace the gifts of women...," said Pamela Chinnis, president of the Episcopal Church's House of Deputies. "The rest of us in the Anglican Communion -- who look to the Church of England as the mother church -- see enormous symbolism in this action. And we applaud the patience of our sisters, who as deacons, have been waiting a long time for the fulfillment of their hopes and dreams."
However, traditionalists in the Episcopal Church were critical of the vote. Bishop Clarence Pope of Ft. Worth, president of the Episcopal Synod of America, charged that the Church of England had "abandoned" the historic Anglican understanding of the priesthood. "Without a doubt this will signal a coalescing of traditionalists worldwide, and we may well see another kind of Anglican Communion emerge," Pope said. He called the two positions on ordination "quite incompatible" and said that the situation would lead to "considerable confusion."
The legislation adopted by the Church of England will be debated by both Houses of Parliament in June 1993. If approved by Parliament, it will be sent forward for royal assent. A petition to "promulgate," or put the canons into effect, will be submitted in July or August.
Observers estimate that it could be July 1994 before the first women are ordained as priests in the Church of England. The measure will not allow women to be elected bishops, a step that would require separate legislation.
The Church of England joins an increasing number of provinces in the Anglican Communion that have approved legislation allowing women to be ordained as priests. Of the 30 autonomous provinces in the Anglican Communion, 14 have approved legislation allowing women to serve as priests, and another two have ordained women at the diocesan level without provincial authorization.
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