Women's Ordination Mandatory, but Opponents' Rights Respected
Episcopal News Service. August 6, 1997 [97-1904]
Jan Nunley, Communications Officer for the Diocese of Rhode Island
(ENS) For nearly a generation, the Episcopal Church has lived with a paradox: A woman may find herself regarded as a priest in some, but not all, of the dioceses of the church -- or as a bishop in most, but not all, of the parishes in her own diocese.
Two resolutions passed by the 72nd General Convention in Philadelphia -- the same city where the first 11 women were ordained to the priesthood -- are designed to resolve that paradox once and for all.
The first resolution declares that "no one shall be denied access" to diocesan ordination or deployment processes on the basis of gender.
The second rules that, while the canons on women's ordination and licensing are "mandatory" throughout the church, no one may be barred from participating in the life and governance of the church either because of sex or their theological views on the ordination of women.
It also calls on dioceses that don't recognize female priests to develop processes for ensuring women full access to ordination and service as priests.
Those dioceses -- which currently include Eau Claire (Wisconsin), Fort Worth (Texas), Quincy (Illinois), and San Joaquin (California) -- are instructed to report on their progress to the House of Bishops and Executive Council in 1999 and to the General Convention in 2000.
"Our desire is to be inclusive of belief, but we really have to understand that the canons are mandatory," Bishop Suffragan Catherine Roskam of the Diocese of New York said. "That is really at the heart of it."
But not all ordained women were willing to push for full recognition. Even before the convention got underway, a petition signed by 90 women clergy called for "patience" towards those who do not accept them in holy orders.
"We believe the process of reception of such a sweeping change as the admission of women into the presbyterate and episcopate will take at least two generations," the letter said. "To adopt the proposed canon... would be to indulge in the sin of impatience towards those who clearly differ from us."
Since the first 11 women were ordained priests at Philadelphia's Church of the Advocate in 1974 -- before church laws were approved -- opposition to women's ordination has dwindled in numbers but not in intensity.
The four dioceses continue to resist making the ordination process "equally applicable" to women and men.
Bishop Jack Iker of the Diocese of Fort Worth, perhaps the epicenter of opposition to women's ordination, declared in a news conference that he "will not comply with that which calls on me to violate my conscience" and vowed to engage in "active resistance" to the implementation of the canons in his diocese.
Bishop William Wantland of the Diocese of Eau Claire said he plans to resign when his diocese holds its convention this October.
The dissenting bishops will be among the majority at next year's Lambeth Conference, a meeting held every 10 years in Canterbury for the bishops of the worldwide Anglican Communion. Half of the communion's 36 autonomous provinces ordain women to the priesthood. Only four ordain women as bishops.
The ordination of women wasn't the only concern about ministry raised at the triennial meeting.
During the next three years, bishops will prepare a pastoral study on the relationships between priests and bishops, priests and deacons, and priests and the baptized. A full review of Title III canons on ministry is also on the docket for the newly created Standing Commission on Ministry.
Concerns about the financial health of the church's 11 seminaries prompted two separate resolutions affirming the 1-percent-for-seminaries parish giving program and requesting the presiding bishop to designate one Sunday a year as Theological Education Sunday. Another resolution asked seminaries to prepare their graduates on interfaith issues.
Training for specialized ministries, particularly racial and ethnic ministry development, received some needed attention. One resolution recommitted the Episcopal Church to the Indigenous Native Ministry, while another called for "new directions in American Indian leadership training" through the Indigenous Theological Training Institute of North America.
The convention also passed resolutions:
- setting a minimum continuing education standard for clergy of 36 hours annually and directing dioceses to establish minimum standards for continuing education for clergy and lay professionals;
- encouraging Episcopal Church education throughout the life span;
- mandating a survey of preparation and training of the laity for ministry in all dioceses; and
- encouraging congregations to support the ministry of and by older adults.