Women's Roles in Church Still Unsettled
Episcopal News Service. May 25, 2000 [2000-105]
Susan Erdey
As it has for the last several decades, this summer's General Convention will deal with the role and status of women in the Episcopal Church -- especially women's access to ordained ministry throughout the church will continue to receive attention.
The 1997 convention affirmed that "the provisions of the canons of the General Convention, insofar as they may relate to the ordination of women and the licensing and deploying of women clergy, are mandatory." The resolution (A053a) required that in 1997-2000 "each diocese where women do not have full access to ordination and where ordained women are not permitted to carry out their full ministries shall develop and implement a process to implement fully" the pertinent canons.
All diocesan bishops were surveyed in January 1999 and were asked to report on their compliance with the canons. Most responded, including the three dioceses where implementation had been delayed -- San Joaquin, Quincy, and Fort Worth.
Bishop John-David Schofield of San Joaquin wrote that a parish in Fresno had requested that "a woman priest who had been resident for a few years be allowed to function as an assistant in that parish." Schofield granted permission and also offered the assistance of Bishop Jerry Lamb of the Diocese of Northern California should the woman priest "want pastoral care from a bishop."
Bishop Jack Iker described the Diocese of Fort Worth as having "chosen to deal with the continuing theological differences over the ordination of women to the priesthood by entering into an arrangement with the Diocese of Dallas, which has come to be known as 'the Dallas Plan.'" Women seeking ordination to the priesthood in Fort Worth enter the discernment process in the Diocese of Dallas, "where they may eventually be ordained and placed by Bishop [James] Stanton."
Iker reported that, as of February 1999, "three women had successfully completed this process." Iker affirmed that the diocese is "committed to the principle of 'open reception' as affirmed by the Lambeth Conference, and to providing pastoral ministry to those on both sides of this issue."
Bishop Keith Ackerman of the Diocese of Quincy simply reported that "since General Convention our standing committee and commission on ministry have taken seriously the recommendation of the Eames Commission and we are actively involved in serious prayer, discernment and conversation." The Eames Commission recommended ways for provinces to stay in communion despite disagreement over women clergy.
The congregations in ministry committee of Executive Council will present a resolution calling for continued monitoring of "progress in all dioceses toward the full implementation" of the canons on ordination of women, "in particular in the Dioceses of Fort Worth and Quincy," and that these dioceses "be encouraged to honor the...canons of the church by bringing women into the full life and ministry of the church."
The committee on the status of women, whose mission is to "investigate and advocate for the full participation of women in the life of the Episcopal Church," has submitted several resolutions for consideration, including:
- A proposed revision to Canon 1.19.1 (the "marriage canon") that would emphasize concern for physical and emotional safety of persons involved in divorce.
- Recognition and prevention of the worldwide problem of "trafficking in women, girls, and boys" for "slavery-like work, including forced prostitution, sweatshop labor and domestic servitude."
- A "Pledge of Non-Violence" that encourages each congregation to become a "Circle of Peace."