Bishop of Ft. Worth Objects to Report of Task Force Visit
Episcopal News Service. March 6, 2002 [2002-059]
James Solheim
(ENS)Bishop Jack Iker of Ft. Worth has written to Sarah Harte of New York, co-chair of an Executive Council task force that has been asked by General Convention resolution to monitor progress in three dioceses that still do not ordain women to the priesthood, expressing his "dismay" with her report to the recent council meeting in San Antonio.
In her report, Harte said the role of women in the diocese "was described to us as analogous to the role of women in the family--supporting and nurturing." Iker said in his February 27 letter that, after reviewing the tape and transcript of the meeting, this characterization was "untrue." He pointed out that the diocese had presented to the three task force members--Harte, Bishop Peter James Lee of Virginia, and the Rev. David Chee of Los Angeles--a report on "Women in ministry and leadership positions in the Diocese of Fort Worth--a look at the facts."
In presenting the report, Jo Ann Patton of the diocesan Standing Committee said, "Women have a very active role in the diocese. We are energized and respected and productive. We are involved. We are recruited and elected to lots of positions all around the diocese, and we fill many responsible positions and exercise leadership... The facts speak for themselves. We are full partners in the ministry of this diocese."
Iker charged that the task force report to council "attempts to portray Fort Worth in an unfavorable light," adding that Harte's comments imply that the diocese wants to "restrict women to the family roles of support and nurture." Iker said that Harte's comments led him to "the conclusion that you have a personal axe to grind and that you did not come here to listen and learn at all, but with preconceptions which you sought to have reinforced."
In response, Harte said that members of the task force have not received copies of the transcript of the conversation so she was not in a position to verify the accuracy of her analogy from the meeting. Yet she said that her recollection and memory were quite clear that such an analogy was a part of the conversation. "We certainly left with the strong impression, however, that women are playing an important role in the diocese," she said.