Role of Women in Church is Changing
Diocesan Press Service. April 2, 1969 [76-4]
NEW YORK, N.Y. -- The role of women in the Episcopal Church is changing. What the future will bring is unclear and only the fact that it will differ from the past is certain.
This is a time of experimentation for Episcopal Church Women. Many Diocesan ECW Boards have suspended, temporarily, their by-laws to allow for the necessary freedom to experiment. Seven Dioceses have dissolved, or suspended, Diocesan ECW boards.
"No one pattern for change is evident in all that is happening," said Miss Frances M. Young, Executive Officer, Committee for Women, in a recent interview.
Yet it is apparent that these changes are leading to a closer relationship between the ECW and the Diocesan structure, whether through increased cooperation or a complete meshing.
This direction is most obvious, of course, in the case of those Dioceses which have disbanded or suspended Diocesan boards -- West Texas, Idaho, Central New York, Maryland, Iowa, Indianapolis, Quincy. In all of these places the needs of parish women's groups, which generally are continuing, have to be met, and a variety of programs need to be continued.
In West Texas the Board was disbanded in late 1965, and the Diocesan structure assumed its responsibilities. Women are on the Diocesan executive board.
In Idaho, where the women disbanded their Diocesan structure during a total Diocesan reorganization, the position of "coordinator" was created to act as a liaison between the Diocese and provincial and national organizations and to assist local groups in obtaining the resources they needed.
In Maryland a Women's Committee was formed to perform essentially the same functions as Idaho's coordinator. Members of the Committee are also members of various Diocesan committees.
Why has all this ferment occurred? Miss Young said there have been two major reasons. First, the place of women in society and in the Church has changed. Women are serving on vestries, as delegates to Diocesan Conventions, and on Diocesan planning and decision-making groups; and, it is expected they will soon serve as deputies to General Convention. Traditional women's organizations do not satisfy their needs. This is particularly true for younger women.
Second, Diocesan women's groups, as a result of action taken by the Triennial Meeting of the Women of the Church in 1964, have been engaged in a deliberate study and evaluation of their work. This evaluation has led many to see and to question the duplication of time, energy and money which can result from a separate women's organization performing many of the same functions performed by the Diocesan staff and executive committee.
A committee formed in West Texas to study the structure of the Church women recommended elimination of the Diocesan ECW structure and reported: "To preserve our present organization would be to deny (our) unity and continue the hindrances to mission and service which we believe are perpetrated by our divisions."
Where all this change is leading the women of the Episcopal Church no one knows. Miss Young, herself, is the first person to admit this fact. Each Diocese is going in a different direction. Too little time has passed to allow for an evaluation of experiments.
It is obvious, however, that certain basic problems will have to be overcome for any change to be truly successful, according to Miss Young.
"There are many unique and positive contributions which the Episcopal Church Women have made," she declared. "These must not be lost. New ways will be found to continue the work of the ECW. Leaders must be found among women and trained for future roles. The United Thank Offering, too, needs to continue. But a separate organization for women is no longer the most effective way of working."
The role of the laity is a major issue confronting all Christian bodies. As Miss Young stated:
"The question of the role of women necessarily raises the question of the role of the laity. You cannot answer one without answering the other."
The Presiding Bishop has appointed an ad hoc Committee on the Laity to study these interrelated questions and to report their findings to the Executive Council in May.