How and why attitudes towards women in leadership within the church have evolved or remained entrenched over the past 50 years. by Hazel Davis

Academic year 2013/2014

CYM Dissertation Showcase

www.cym.ac.uk

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Abstract

This research was carried out to analyse the attitudes and practices of the Baptist tradition

and Church of England since the 1960s. Through library based research I have explored

areas of sexism and discrimination against women in the Baptist tradition and the Church of

England to ascertain whether there has been any movement towards equality and how and

why this has come about, if at all.

The research identified that since the 1960s the ‘issue’ of women’s ordination has been

progressing slowly but the many theological and traditional barriers have led the Church of

England into a paradoxical situation. They are incrementally accepting women ordination,

however, at the same time they are accommodating and valuing those who oppose women

on traditional sexist grounds.

The Baptist tradition has its roots primarily in the ‘priesthood of all believers’ and this includes

gender equality. This research focused on the Baptists in England since 1960s and identified

the lack of structure and accountability of its many local churches to the Baptist Union of

Great Britain, fails to establish or maintain a common theological understanding of gender

equality. Many local Baptist churches are autonomous and therefore gender discrimination is

difficult to challenge.

As a result of uncovering these barriers the research turned to look at the scriptural

foundations of Genesis chapter 1-3, that underpins both the ‘complementarian’ and

‘egalitarian’ viewpoints, and formed the foundation for understanding the Church of England

and the Baptists cultures, where a variety of congregations broadly agree with either the

‘complementarian’ and ‘egalitarian’ view, based on their interpretations of the Genesis

chapters 1-3.

The research then looked at youthwork and the impact of gender discrimination has on

young people and the expectations of young people for equality and justice have a major part

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to play in why they are not entering the adult church. This highlighted the need of the Church

of England and Baptists to grow and evolve out of prevalent tradition and sexism in order to

survive in this post Christendom and postmodern era.

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CONTENTS

CHAPTERS Page No.

Chapter 1 Introduction 4

Chapter 2 Brief Denominational History 6

Chapter 3 How Attitudes and Practices Have Developed in Baptist and

Anglican Churches in England

10

Chapter 4 Scripture Based or Ecclesiastical Tyranny? 21

Chapter 5 A Call for New Leadership Models in the Church 32

Chapter 6 Conclusion 36

Bibliography 39

Ethical Clearance Form

APPENDICES

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Appendix 1 Historical Time Line of Baptist and Church of England: Women in

The Church

TABLES AND FIGURES

Table 1 Statistics of Clergy in Church of England in 2011 7

Table 2 The Complementarian and Egalitarian interpretation of Genesis 1-3 28

Figure 1 Genesis 1:26-28 24

Figure 2 Genesis 2:16-18 and Genesis 2:20-24 26

Figure 3 Genesis 3:1-16 28

Acknowledgements

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Chapter 1

Introduction

In February 1964, The late Right Honourable Anthony Wedgwood Benn wrote an article,

which was published in the Guardian newspaper, and later included in his book ‘The

Regeneration of Britain’, stating:

“If we are, as I think, on the eve of a period of revolutionary change in Britain, it must be a

revolution of a different kind. Traditional revolutions begin with the erection of barricades. Ours

must begin with the destruction of the barriers that now divide us one from another” (Benn A,

1965, pg.16).

To emphasise his point he explained a study that was carried out by the Rand Corporation in

America. A decision-making experiment was applied to two groups of Army soldiers

containing soldiers of all ranks from Private to General. One group were dressed in uniform,

which naturally identified the individual ranks within the group. The other group members

were dressed in civilian clothing and told not to make known their rank to the others, making

the individual ranks of command unidentifiable to those within the group. The task of both

groups of soldiers was to get to know the other members of their group by using a telephone

only. The switchboard was watched carefully for a pattern to develop. The uniformed group

showed a steady pattern of calls being made between ranks, the private called the sergeant,

the sergeant called the captain, and the general only spoke to the colonel below him.

However, in the non-uniformed group, the calls were random and chaotic at first, but after a

period settled down into a pattern of calls based on ability, character and temperament of the

individuals. A problem was then introduced to both groups to see how they would make

decisions to solve it. The non-uniformed group solved the problem very quickly, but the

uniformed group found themselves handicapped by their rank and struggled in chaos to

come to any decision at all (Benn A, 1965, pg.16).

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How do the beliefs and structures of both denominations relate to this experiment? Are we

still on the cusp of a different kind of revolution where the barriers are deconstructed as Benn

(1965) alluded to in 1964? Or, is it more like a repetitive circle of ‘….there is nothing new

under the sun’ of Ecclesiastes 1:9. The continually imposed subservient position of women,

who are denied the opportunity of equal roles and value to that of men in the church

suggests that this is a long standing discrimination problem that continues without coming to

a satisfactory conclusion. I believe it is important to recognise and understand the

contributing factors that restrict or stimulate change, lest we perpetuate the problem and not

the solution.

The research looks at the issue of women in leadership in the Baptist and the Anglican

Church, particularly in England, over a period of fifty years since 1960s. The research

method is library based in its approach because of the historical aspect of the research and

as Davies (2000) points out, what constitutes as evidence is the results of a systematic

investigation towards an increasing sum of knowledge (Davies H, Nutley S and Smith P,

2000, pg.2-3). In this case a library-based approach was considered the superior means to

gather a wide range of information from historical and current perspectives. This gives a

broader sense of what is being experienced and written about by a wide range of individuals

and institutions during the period since the 1960’s. It was considered that an empirical

research method would have consisted of approaching a local region or experience that

would provide evidence to back up a local assumption or problem. This would have kept the

evidence native, without taking into consideration the wider field of discourse incorporating

academic, religious and professional knowledge and debates that have already gone through

a process of opposing or defending the attitudes and practices of discrimination towards

women. However, Brown (1998) argues that taking this broad approach could be too

expansive and uncoordinated if the aim is not deliberately clarified at the outset of the

research (Brown A and Dowling P, 1998, pg.10-14). Therefore, the specific aim of the

following chapters is to examine the beliefs and structures in place since 1960 that either

endorse or prevent prejudice against women in the church by examining:

a. The core beliefs and cultural structures of the Baptist and Anglican Church traditions.

b. The development of the ‘Complementarianism’ and ‘Egalitarianism’ views and

practices that influence Bible interpretation of both church traditions.

c. The impact of church cultural traditions in thought and practice on young people

today.

The literature and practices that inform the perspectives of discrimination against women are

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examined in the following chapters and the research is concluded in the final chapter.

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Chapter 2

Brief Denominational History

It is important to study the background and belief structures of both the Church of England

and the Baptist Church traditions of England to gain understanding of the root beliefs and

structures in place. Many sources exist including their respective websites, reports, articles

and relevant history books.

The Church of England background

The Church of England is also known as the Anglican Church, which according to Avis

(2005) has its own tradition of ecclesiology that makes up the global Anglican Communion

that represents the aim of the one true expression of Christianity in its context. The Church of

England has in the region of 25 million members in England alone based on infant baptismal

membership (Avis P, 2002, pg.132-4). However, infant baptisms do not necessarily mean

they are church members. The Church Statistics for Mission report 2012, identifies all age

Sunday church attendance, on average is 859,200 people within England provinces

(Archbishops Council, 2014, [On Line] pdf pg.18, Table 2). The Church of England is the only

province of the Anglican faith that is established in its structure and is considered the ‘mother

church’ to the global Anglican Communion. However, it does not have a central governing

authority or cannon of law, but sees the Archbishop of Canterbury as the focus of unity (The

Archbishops Council, 2014, [On Line] page: CofE Detailed History).

The Church of England since the 18th century has had evangelical, catholic, and liberal

traditions, however, since 1960s, the charismatic movement has impacted and influenced the

identity of the church in its emphasis on the authority of scripture, preaching, justification of

faith and personal conversion. The importance of being a visible church through sacraments

and liturgy practiced by bishops, priests and deacons has strengthened the apostolic church

presence in England. In recent times the Church of England has stressed the importance of

theological exploration and the development of belief and creative practice that is relevant to

todays society (The Archbishops Council, 2014, [On Line] pg. CofE Detailed History).

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Her Majesty the Queen is the head of the Church of England and with the advice of the

Prime Minster appoints the Archbishops and bishops. There are two Archbishops and

twenty-four bishops who sit in the House of Lords and contribute to parliamentary activites.

There are 43 church dioceses in England overseen by bishops. These are each made up of

parishes run by priests or usually known as vicars. Candidates from these bishops and their

congregations that are elected to make up the General Synod, which meets twice a year to

consider legislation for the good of the church (The Archbishops Council, 2014, [On Line],

pg. CofE Structure).

The below table 1, shows a summary of information, which can be found in ‘Table 17’ of the

Church Statistics 2010/11 report (Archbishops Council, 2012, [On Line] PDF pg.42). These

statistics show that in 2011 there were a total of 7,841 full time stipendiary clergy in England,

out of which, were 1,720 female clergy. Part time stipendiary clergy is shown as a total of

373 of which 195 are female. Self-supporting clergy, not including ordained local ministers,

make a total of 2,535 out of which, 1,345 are female. These figures show that after nearly

two decades since the first ordination of 1994, women only make up a approximately a

quarter of the full time stipendiary clergy (Archbishops Council, 2012, [On Line] PDF pg.42).

Table 1: Statistics of Clergy in Church of England in 2011

2011 Male Female Church of England Totals

(Excluding Europe)

Full time

Stipendiary clergy

6,121 1,720 7,841

Part time

Stipendiary clergy

178 195 373

Self-supporting clergy, not including ordained local

ministers

1,190 1,345 2,535

The Baptists background

The Baptist churches in England are part of a worldwide network of Baptist church family,

which amount to around 40 million members making them the fifth largest Christian

denomination in the world. Baptists do not represent a single church or denominational

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structure; most adhere to a congregational form of church government by practicing the

‘priesthood of all believers’ rather than the hierarchal structure of the Anglican Church.

Baptists are the children of the Reformation of the 16th Century European protestant

movement of Anabaptists, where the belief of baptism by full immersion of believers was

favoured to that of the infant baptism practiced by the traditional church (Avis P, 2002,

pg.107-9).

The Baptists in England are a union of churches, colleges and associations, which are split

into thirteen geographical regions. These regional areas have a team of regional ministers

who are there to support and encourage the churches within that particular region (Baptist

Union of Great Britain, No Date, [On Line] page). The Baptist Union of Great Britain (BUGB)

is an organisation that is the central resource for assisting churches across the UK. Baptists

believe that churches should not live in isolation, but be interdependent. (BBC, 2009, [On

Line] pg. Baptist Churches: Structure).

The Baptists ecclesiology is based on the Bible as being the authoritative source of their

faith. They recognise the significance of its own historical church traditions of faith and

witness, but would argue that these are tested against scripture. Similarly, the early Church

creeds are honoured, but not put alongside or above the authority of Scripture. Confessions

of faith are open to further revelation and understanding of scripture, rather than seeking to

establish binding authoritative confession of faith on one another. Its relationship with the

state is considered very different to that of the Church of England, the Baptists consider

themselves the Church of Christ, which has the original purposes and intentions of God,

consequently it could not live under the authority of the state (Avis P, 2002, pg.111-12). The

Baptist Christological centre is that the church is called to be a Holy people who cannot be

defined by nationality, race, ethnicity, educational or in economic terms in response to

Galatians 3:28. It is important to add that the Baptists do not generally see themselves as

part of an overarching ‘church’, but that ‘church’ denotes the local Baptist congregation who

may or may not be connected to the Baptist Union of Great Britain (Avis P, 2002, pg.113-16).

A theological statement by the then called Baptist Union Council in 1966, clearly stated that:

In view of the Committee, consideration of the place of women in the service of the church

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should start from…the clear declaration of the Apostle Paul that in Christ there is neither male

nor female (Galatians 3:28). In the Kingdom of God there are no second-class citizens or

subordinate groups based on sex, race or social position (Woodman S, 2011, pg.30).

This statement shows the fundamental belief of equality for all includes women. Equality is

also seen as the ‘priesthood of all believers’, meaning that Baptists do not have a hierarchal

priest or bishops who exercise authority over the congregation. Preferring to have members

that enable the church to be self-governing and self-supporting through its baptised

members. It appoints Ministers or Elders and Deacons to lead the congregation. However,

the church members have the final say when making decisions by voting (Avis P, 2002,

pg.113-16).

Summary

There is a clear hierarchal structure within the Church of England and it has close

involvement with the English monarchy and government. The Anglican Church stays true to

its liturgical roots of practiced traditions and hierarchal ranks of Deacons, Parish Priests,

Diocesan Bishops and Archbishops who have influence in the House of Lords (The

Archbishops Council, 2014, [On Line] pg. CofE Detailed History). It is encouraging that the

Archbishops’ Council have stressed the importance of theological exploration and

development of belief and creative practice that is relevant to today’s society. However, how

serious is this exploration and development in regards to women in leadership?

The Baptists on the other hand have a patchwork of believers and that initially sought to

worship together rejecting the traditional Church of England parish structures, to function in

the model of the ‘priesthood of all believers’ in autonomous congregations. Historically they

recognised that women are called of God to ministry and consequently this would lead to

leadership roles (Avis P, 2002, pg.113-16). The Baptist Union of Great Britain seek to be

available for all the Baptist church congregations should they choose to join so that they can

access support and resources to encourage them in their self governance and not to become

isolated from the wider body of believers. However, many Baptist congregations do not opt in

to this support and one has to wonder how this affects the practical reality of women having

equal opportunity to serve in leadership roles without prejudice and restrictions. This requires

not just a change of policy from the top, but the agreement and acceptance of each individual

autonomous congregation (Woodman S, 2011, pg.6-7).

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Chapter 3

How Attitudes and Practices Have Developed in Baptist and Anglican Churches in England

This chapter looks at the trends in cultural attitudes and structures within the Baptist and

Anglican Church. The focus is on the traditions and practices since the 1960s. A detailed

time line of both church traditions is attached at the end of this document, as Appendix 1,

which lists the dates of relevant ordination events and formal statements.

Attitude and Practice Developments of the Church of England

The Archbishops of York and Canterbury commissioned the Women and Holy Orders report

of 1966, leading to a formal consultation with dioceses and According to Dawn (2013), this is

generally considered the beginning of bringing the ‘Ordination of Women’ question into

serious consideration for the Church of England. However, the debate had been going on for

centuries with the Deaconess Movement in 1862 when the Church of England formally

licensed the first deaconess, Elizabeth Ferard. Since then the idea of ordaining women has

slowly gained, momentum and support even whilst English pulpits remained firmly closed

(Dawn M, 2013, pg.13).

In 1970, The Anglican Consultative Council (ACC) concluded that the matter of women’s

ordination needed further discussion and consultation. As shown on page 4 of Appendix 1, in

1975, the General Synod concluded that they had ‘no fundamental objections’ to the

ordination of women into the priesthood, however, legislation was not changed accordingly,

thereby creating an air of uncertainty. In response, the Ordination of Women Movement was

formed to campaign and not to allow the Church of England to procrastinate (Dawn M, 2013,

pg. 14).

According to the Rochester Report of 2004 a change happened in 1984:

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4.2.38 From 1984 onwards, however, things began to change. In November of that year

General Synod debated the motion: That this Synod asks the Standing Committee of General

Synod to bring forward legislation to permit the ordination of women to the Priesthood in the

Provinces of Canterbury and York. (The Archbishops Council, 2004, [On Line] PDF pg.108)

It was a decade after the ‘no fundamental objection’ statement, before the Church of England

ordained the first permanent deaconesses in 1987. The celebrations were short lived when

the deaconesses were forced to play the ‘waiting game’ while their fellow men were received

into priesthood in 1988, these deaconesses were not received into priesthood until 1994

(The Archbishops Council, 2014, [On Line] pg.). According to Avis (2004), the underlying

problem was the lack of definitive judgment on the validity of the ordination of women since

the Lambeth Conference of 1978 as shown on page 5 of Appendix 1, encourages both views

to be practiced within dioceses and parishes (Avis P, 2004, pg.60).

The ordination of women into priesthood in 1994 did not alleviate the confusion, but the

situation became an official state of ‘open reception’ (Avis P, 2004, pg.62). There was

increasing pressure from the wider Anglican Communion in the USA and Australia, who were

already ordaining women as priests as shown on pages 5-7 in Appendix 1, and actively

moving towards ordaining women as bishops by 1985, as shown on page 6 in Appendix 1.

The global unity and communion was in jeopardy and this led to the Anglican Consultative

Council statements of 1971, 1978, and 1988 shown on pages 4-7 in Appendix 1, encouraged

all provinces to stay in Communion i.e. remain part of the worldwide Anglican Church

(Anglican Church of Australia, 2013, [On Line] Timeline document).

The Grindrod Report ‘Women and the Episcopate’ 1988, was the result of another working

party set up to look at the issue of the ordination of women and its effects on the

interdependence of the Anglican Communion province. The report highlighted two options of

dealing with the issue. One involved counselling restraint in the hope that the provinces

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would heed the authority of the unity of the collective Anglican Church. The second option

under the idea of ‘reception’ would allow any province that had compelling doctrinal reasons

and experience of women in ordained ministry, and had the overwhelming support of its

dioceses, could take the necessary steps to consecrate a woman for ordination without

loosing its place amongst the Anglican Communion (Avis P, 2004 pg. 61). The report in

essence, came to the same conclusion as the Lambeth Conference in 1978.

The McClean Report of 1986 outlined the safeguarding procedures and financial provisions

for bishops and parishes who would not accept women priests or the bishops who ordained

them. One of the key safeguards was the appointment of visiting male bishops that became

known as ‘flying bishops’ to cover any diocese where there was opposition to the ministry of

a woman. This caused confusion to those who believed the statement of the Synod

resolution of 1975: that ‘there were no fundamental objections’ to the ordination of women to

the priesthood’ (Avis P, 2004, pg.64).

A commission under the chairmanship of Bishop Eames of Armagh, produced five reports

between 1988-1993, containing information from the grassroots level of the Anglican

Communion, these reports contained theological reflection alongside pastoral guidelines

about how to live and work in unity during this time of ‘reception’. According to Avis (2004)

this kind of respect for each other’s convictions in an open process of discernment, even

when there were differences of opinion, is considered the highest form of communion. (Avis

P, 2004 pg. 63). However, the emphasis in the Eames Monitoring Group report of 1997, was

on the provision of pastoral care for those who disagree with the ordination of women, as

highlighted in point 41 of the Report

…"In the continuing and dynamic process of reception, freedom and space must be available

until consensus of opinion one way or the other has been achieved." "Bishops and dioceses

who accept and endorse the ordination of women to the priesthood and episcopate would

need to recognise, that within a genuinely open process of reception, there must be room for

those who disagree" (Lambeth Conference.Org, 2008 [On Line] PDF pg.18).

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According to Avis (2004), the Eames Commission had understanding of the Anglican

Communion with its connection to the Catholic Church and its understanding of the

‘reception’ process was that it was crucial that those who are for the ordination of women and

those against to co exist within the existing structure. There could never be an alternative

authorised structure or separated provinces for those of opposing views (Avis P, 2004 pg.

63).

Further reports were commissioned and publicised, while the ultimate effects of the provision

of ‘flying bishops’ to act for provinces that disagreed, suggested that the ministries of women

who were already ordained were invalid. Furthermore, the ‘reception’ idea and practice of the

Eames Commission undermined the ministry of women priests who were ordained from

1994, by stating that if the decision to ordain women as priests was found to be in the wrong

direction, it could be reversed. They would retain their orders, but no further women would be

ordained (Dawn M, 2013, pg.18). This put women priests in a very awkward position of

pressure to perform and their ministry was not taken seriously as their fellow men. However,

the positive effects of ‘reception’ did help some leading Anglicans to change their minds as

they were able to see and experience the priesthood of women who they conceded, made a

positive contribution to the ministry of the church. According to Dawn (2013), since 1992

there has been a dramatic move from general suspicion, to the majority being openly in

favour of women priests within the Church of England (Dawn M, 2013, pg.21).

The Eames Monitoring Group Report of 1997 also stated that they would not set formal time

constraints on the ‘open reception’ process. Hill (2004) explains that this is because

‘reception’ is an on-going process until there is moral certainty and a final consensus. In

other words, there must be room for dissent, doubt and leeway for pastoral provision (Avis P,

2004, chapter: Hill C, pg.115). The Church of England has concluded that it is right that ‘the

church’ ordain women into priesthood, but on the other hand, it contradicts itself by providing

for the protection of those who oppose the 1993 Episcopal Ministry Act of Synod. According

to Furlong (1998) this simultaneous yes and no, also known as the ‘two integrities’ is not

theologically or practically sustainable (Furlong M, 1998, pg.28-9).

The Rochester Report of 2004: ‘Women Bishops in the Church of England?’ a report on how

things were progressing, was discussed by the Synod in 2005 and a study guide was

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published, it noted that since the vote by the General Synod in November 1992 to ordain

women priests:

1.1.4 nevertheless, in spite of this development of the role of women within the Church there is

still a lack of consensus within the Church of England on the issue of women’s ministry. The

decision to ordain women as priests was taken in the face of strong opposition from many in

the Church and in the years since the decision was taken this opposition has not died away.

The division between those who believe that it is right for women to exercise the same forms

of public ministry as men and those who do not remains, and there is at present no sign of its

ceasing to exist …(The Archbishops Council, 2004, [On Line] PDF pg.6)

This report shows that nothing has changed in the years between 1992 and 2004. As with

the previous deaconate and priesthood debate, it is set to continue into the ‘women bishops’

debate. The Digest of the Rochester Report 2011, a briefing paper that summarises the

theological issues that the members of diocesan synods were required to know in order to

make an informed decision about the proposal to introduce female bishops into the Church

of England (The Diocese of Rochester, 2011, [On Line] pdf pg.3). This report explains the

following key issues as:

1. Firstly whether the ordination of women bishops would be simply a further adaption of

the episcopal office to reflect the circumstances of the times and changed theological

understanding of the relationship between men and women in the church?

Or whether it would represent a fundamental break with the historic continuity of

the episcopate, which the Church of England has previously sought to maintain?

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2. Secondly, whether a woman would be able to carry out the role of a bishop in

the Church of England. This issue boils down to a woman bishop exercising

episcopal authority over men, and the practical issue of clergy and

congregations who would feel unable to accept her ministry.

3. Thirdly, in the event of the Church of England deciding to ordain women

bishops, similar provision should also be made for those unable to accept this

decision. And, if so, what form this provision should take that would keep both

sides happy and be compatible with the accepted role of the bishop in the

ecclesiology of the Church of England (The Diocese of Rochester, 2011, [On

Line] pdf pg.7 & 8).

This report shows that the issues have not changed since the 1978 Lambeth Conference and

Episcopal Ministry Act of Synod 1993. In the words of Symcox (2013):

“its all a bit of a mess…the Church of England is trying to pass legislation to allow women to

be bishops, but is having trouble because no one agrees on how best to accommodate those

members of the church who do not accept women’s ministry” (Symcox C, 2013, pg.81).

Those who oppose women bishops want the provision of male bishops who will only ordain

male priests and not women, to be made legal and binding and to be protected from having

to accept oversight or leadership of a woman bishop. Those who are in favour of women

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bishops want to make sure that legislation does not create two tiers of bishops one for

women and one for men, which will ultimately female bishops (Symcox C, 2013, pg.81-2).

In 2012, the vote for legislation that would allow female clergy to become bishops on 20 th

November was rejected by just six votes as shown on page 13 in Appendix 1. The

Archbishops Council stated that there were various ways of interpreting loss, however, the

outcome of that day has left the Church of England in a profoundly unsatisfactory and

unsustainable position (The Archbishops Council, 2014, [On Line] pg.).

The Bishop of Rochester proposed to the House of Bishops on 20th February 2014 the

‘Women in the Episcopate’: Draft Declaration on the Ministry of Bishops and Priests and

Draft Resolution of Disputes Procedure Regulations (GS 1932) (The Archbishop Council,

2014, pg.78 [On Line] pdf pg.82). The House of Bishops have been in discussions and

consultations drawing up this draft since July 2013 and it seems that providing for both views

to carry on whilst finding a way forward is still the concern, as Mr. Gerald O’Brien from

Rochester pointed out during the debate:

We live in a Church where there are both integrities, and I believe that hitherto it has not been

a consideration to be taken into account when we judge if someone is being called by God to

the episcopate and if they should be appointed. Paragraph 12, if amplified as I have

suggested, would say that in every diocese provision must be made for the women clergy

there and for those who take a traditional line. In which case, if any Church of England bishop

has to make provision for both integrities, why should we, at the Crown Nominations

Commission point, be able to exclude someone from one or other integrity?

Let us be practical. What would actually happen? Members of Synod know perfectly well that,

in something like 40 out of 42 dioceses that will be continuing, there will be a majority in favour

of the ordination of women. This would effectively say that, while we open the door for a new

group of clergy, women clergy, to be considered to be bishops, we will close the door on

traditionalist clergy. That is not reciprocity at all. Paragraph 12 needs more thought if the

reciprocity we say we want in paragraph 9 is to be given substance (The Archbishop Council

2014, pg.82 [On Line] pdf pg.86).

It is clear here that even though he states that 40 out of 42 dioceses would be in favour of

the ordination of women bishops, it is the minority want to retain their position within the

Church of England even if the majority vote in favour of women bishops. Dawn (2013) points

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out that even if the law changes it will not change the heart (Dawn 2013, pg.55). However,

there is hope as Mrs. Lois Haslam from Chester added to the debate:

Today I feel something of the excitement that Moses must have felt as he approached the

Promised Land. We have wandered around the women bishops’ legislation for many, many

years. We are now approaching the Promised Land and it is exciting. We have heard each

other; we have listened to each other; and we have acknowledged that the other side needs

consideration. We have our five principles. We now need to move forward into the Promised

Land, rather than going off on another route around the desert. Let us move forward in

confidence, knowing that God is in this with us. He is leading us to that Promised Land. There

were difficulties when the Israelites got to the Promised Land. We will approach differences. I

doubt if any of us has exactly what we wanted, but this is where our consideration for each

other must come to the fore. God is in this; he is leading us forward to the Promised Land. Let

us follow the star (The Archbishop Council 2014, pg.86 [On Line] pdf pg.90).

Attitude and Practice Developments of the Baptists in England

In 1965 the Baptist Union Council appointed a committee to look at the position of women in

the service of the denomination. A report was published in 1967, which stated that there was

no theological basis for a distinction between the sexes when it came to ministry as shown

on page 3 in Appendix 1. Therefore it affirmed women ministers within the denomination and

it appealed to the churches to make careful study of the report and ask themselves how far in

their practical attitude they are being true to the faith they profess and do they encourage the

service of women in their churches (Woodman S, 2011, pg.16). This report shows that the

Baptist Union Council did seek to check the attitudes of the congregations and officially

adopted the approval of the ministry of women.

Deaconesses have been functioning within the Baptist denomination since 1890 and by late

1940s they were often in charge of congregations doing the same work as their male

colleagues, but with little to no recognition and less financial wages (Baptist Union of Great

Britain, 2006, pg.11).

A theological statement by the then called Baptist Union Council in 1966, clearly stated that:

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In view of the Committee, consideration of the place of women in the service of the church

should start from…the clear declaration of the Apostle Paul that in Christ there is neither male

nor female (Galatians 3:28). In the Kingdom of God there are no second-class citizens or

subordinate groups based on sex, race or social position (Woodman S, 2011, pg.30).

This above statement shows the fundamental belief of equality for all includes women. It is

therefore surprising to see as shown on page 3 of Appendix 1 that in 1967, 38 out of 40

deaconesses who were doing the same job as their male counterparts, were receiving a

lower salary and were restricted from having the title of Baptist Minister (Briggs J, 1986, [On

Line] pg.11). The conclusion was summarised by Gwyneth Hubble, as the existence of the

deaconess order was an escape route where the denomination avoided facing the real issue

of women in pastoral ministry. It had been content to let women do the work of pastoral

ministry because of the shortage of men, but had given them another name (Woodman S,

2011, pg.19).

In 1975, the Order of Deaconesses was suspended and women were transferred to the

recognised Baptist Ministers List (Briggs J, 1986, [On Line] pg.10). However, women

ministers still encountered opposition when in leadership positions such as pastor. Jarman

(1987) puts this down to the influence of the charismatic renewal movement, which had

emphasis on ‘discipleship teaching’ that was strong on leaders having authority over people.

It was in these congregations that women were completely excluded from positions such as

pastor, deacon, elder or preacher (Jarman M, 1987, [On Line] PDF pg.4). Briggs (1986)

identifies this strand of charismatic renewal as being influenced by those who had come from

the Brethren tradition (Briggs J, 1986, [On Line] pg.11).

The ‘Free Indeed’ report of 1981 of the Mission Department stated:

“In theory, we believe in women ministers, women deacons, and women taking their part in

leadership according to their gifts. In practice, we deny that belief by widespread prejudice

against women ministers and leaders. There are churches who will commend young women

from their membership for ministerial training, but would not consider a women for their own

church’ (Briggs J, 1986, [On Line] pg.11).

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Briggs (1986) concluded that in the mid 1980s, the corporate concept of ministry leadership

involving male and female ministers is in the thinking of the churches, but the charismatic

influence had contradicted it by placing the emphasis on male headship, which automatically

excluded women (Briggs J, 1986, [On Line] pg.12). Jarman (1987) states that generally

speaking men in ministry are acceptable unless they prove themselves unworthy, however,

women in ministry are acceptable if they prove themselves worthy (Jarman M, 1987, [On

Line] PDF pg.3). This highlights the metaphoric glass ceiling, which is often used to depict

the invisible barrier which women face when aspiring to fulfill positions of responsibility or

leadership (Woodman S, 2011, pg.21).

Edward Lehman conducted an empirical survey in 1983-4: ‘Reactions to Women in Ministry’,

a survey of lay church members from four denominations: The Anglican Church, Baptist

Union, Methodist and United Reform Church. The focus of the survey was the range of

attitudes towards the entry of women into ordained ministry. Over 91% of church members

participated. The survey found that stereotypes of women being perceived as unreliable

workers, overly emotional and unable to handle interpersonal conflict tended to appear,

however, there was a large proportion that disagreed with the stereotype. The main issue

underlying the stereotype concerned a women’s ability to handle dual pressures of job and

home. The Baptist laypersons were shown to be the second highest percentage that were

resistant to women in ministry second only to that of the Church of England, who quoted the

stereotypical women the most, preferred men in ministerial roles, and were the least willing to

accept a woman as priest (Francis L and Jones S, 1996, pg.22-29). The survey concluded

that because of the autonomous congregational set up of Baptist churches, the local Baptist

church is often influenced greatly by the life experience of its members, with only limited

influence from the Baptist Union. Francis and Jones (1996) quotes Edward Lehman as

saying:

“Convincing these local churches to view female leadership as beneficial to the community is

probably one of the major keys to getting lay church members to accept women in pastoral

ministry” (Francis L and Jones S, 1996, pg.33).

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In 1997 Ruth Gouldbourne as quoted by Woodman (2011), referred to men’s and women’s

ministry as ‘different, but equal’, a description, which encourages women’s ministry as a

value of a different order, but prevents a women from preaching, as this is considered the

male appropriate expression of ministry. The importance of context and expectations of

gender-specific behaviour plays an important part in church structures. These structures are

male orientated and considered normative for ministry, i.e. the patriarchal way of doing things

is what is expected and women are pressured to either behave accordingly to fit in, or face

being outside of the norm (Woodman S, 2011, pg.22). Few (1999) states that we have grown

up expecting to hear and see a man behind the pulpit, presiding at communion, around

council tables making decisions and if we want to be a part of the structure then we have to

do it according to these terms and conditions. This maleness has been taught as the

leadership norm and anything that is feminine is different or other, i.e. ordained men are

‘Ministers’ ordained women are ‘Women Ministers” (Few J, 1999, pg.12).

According to Coleman (2010), research has shown that women do generally lead differently

to men, however, this is not a negative ‘other’. Women’s leadership style is proving to benefit

those organisations and nations who have both male and female leaders in full and equal

partnership; they tend to be the most humane, economically vibrant and environmentally

friendly organisations (Coleman K, 2010, pg.29). Coleman (2010) also quotes David Gergen

who identifies that:

Today, the command and control leadership has given way to a new approach, often called an

influence model of leadership; the new leader persuades, empowers, collaborates and

partners. It turns out that women leaders seem perfectly tailored for this style. (Coleman K,

2010, pg.23).

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In 2002, the then General Secretary of the Baptist Assembly, David Coffey, drew attention to

the unresolved issues of women in leadership in the Baptist denomination, by saying that

there is a contradiction between the ‘official position’ and the reality in many of the local

churches. The Woman’s Issues Working Group report identified key concerns that it hoped

would inform the issue further, notably:

• To resource the General Secretary and the Leadership Team in their task of helping diverse

congregations ‘to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace’;

• To counter the continuing idealisation of the ideal norm, which creates a pedestal for the

married male minister with a wife who will involve herself with children’s and women’s work

creating unwarranted pressures for those who apparently fit the ‘ideal’ and excluding those

who don’t (Woodman S, 2011, pg.43).

According to Woodman (2011), the sense of division within the denomination was highlighted

in 2004, by Nigel Wright’s unpublished paper, identifying that prejudice and conscience are

two different attitudes; acting with prejudice is a sin as opposed to those who act out of

conscience. The issue for discernment according to Wright as quoted by Woodman (2011),

is not ‘what’ a person believes, but ‘how’ what they believe is held. In other words Wright

wanted the Baptist Union to find a way to facilitate an on-going inclusion of those who out of

good conscience opposed the ministry of women (Woodman S, 2011, pg.45). In this

research, I found no confirmation of Wright’s view being held by others within the Baptist

journals, articles or other literature. But that it is argued strongly against as, Woodman (2011)

quotes Jo Harding as saying:

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I can be open to those who are theologically different from myself, but I don’t believe I should

be open to being abused by them where this inclusive attitude is not mutual. I feel very

vulnerable that my ‘denomination’ is not prepared to make a stand to minimise my experience

of this kind of abuse. ….it is not about freedom to merely ‘hold a view’ but freedom to affect

another’s freedom which is why it is so important that those in positions of power are not given

the impression that they are ‘entitled’ to exercise such a freedom with the Union’s blessing

(Woodman S, 2011, pg.45).

In 2007, the Mainstream North Leadership Team gave a declaration, as shown on page 11 of

Appendix 1. This declaration was in response to the growing concern that women were

under represented on the BUGB accredited list of Baptist Ministers, which they believed to

reveal that there is still an underlying cultural resistance to women in leadership roles. This

needs to be addressed by re-engaging with scriptures and with one another to be alert to the

sexism that exists among us. The challenge is to examine the culture and attitude that

regards this issue as unimportant in witnessing the gospel before a watching world

(Mainstream North Leadership Team, 2007, [On Line] page.).

Reverend Dr Marie Isaacs who has recently celebrated 50 years of ordination makes the

point in an interview with the Baptist Times that there are more female Anglican clergy than

Baptist ministers due to the system where the church has to call you into ministry. It means

prejudice is still at grassroots level. Things have improved, but not at the same pace as

society (Heath Street Baptist Church, 2013, [On Line] page). Woodman (2011) concludes

that the current debate on women issues within the Baptist denomination is in common with

other denominations and signifies a wider movement of God’s Spirit within the universal

church and society at large (Woodman S, 2011, pg.53).

Summary of the Pragmatic and Theological Objections

For the Church of England and for the Baptist denomination we note that there are both

obvious structural and not so obvious ‘glass ceiling’ barriers to women in leadership

positions. History and tradition function strongly in both denominations either for or against

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ordination of women. A clear hierarchal rank structure is prominent in the Church of England,

which clearly accommodates opposing views and practices in the attempt to resolve the

ordination of women situation in a way that it keeps the unity of the provinces within England

and unity with the wider Anglican Communion. Alternatively, the Baptists have autonomous

congregations and often the prejudice is identified at the grassroots level of the local

churches, and because of the limited accountability to the wider denomination through the

BUGB this is difficult to challenge. Indeed, Woodman (2011) states that this structure

facilitates those who would seek to restrict women from entering into leadership positions

(Woodman S, 2011, pg.15). This gives the impression that the BUGB is powerless to

challenge the status quo of the local churches. However, the Church of England with its

power and control over its dioceses and provinces undermines its own power by providing

space for those who are against its own legislation laws (Dawn M, 2013, pg.21).

Both denominations have a long way to go to change the oppressive, unjust attitudes and

practice within their walls. Both denominations have stated that ‘there are no theological

objections’ and unfortunately, both contradict themselves by endorsing traditional

discriminative practices against women.

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Chapter 4

Scripture Based or Ecclesiastical Tyranny?

Is it scripture or church traditions that gives a gender distinction to what men and women can

and cannot do within church ministry? Pierce (2005) records that in 1984, twenty-six leaders

held an evangelical conference on ‘Women and the Bible’ in Illinois USA. It was from this

conference that the emphasis changed from ‘the burden of proof regarding the exclusion of

women from leadership and preaching roles within ‘the church’ now laying on those who

maintain the exclusion rather than on those who challenge it’. However, both sides became

firmly entrenched in their own views with a flow of supporting literature with expanded biblical

exegesis and interpretation that fuel the debate (Pierce R, Groothuis R and Fee G, 2005, pg.

61-6).

Two Sides

Two opposing viewpoints have emerged since mid 1980s’ known as ‘Complementarians’ and

‘Egalitarians’ initially and primarily amongst the American evangelicals. Notably the opposing

viewpoints have evolved into national organisations support churches and organisations that

hold similar beliefs regarding women. These organisations; The Council for Biblical Manhood

and Womanhood (CBMW), and Christians for Biblical Equality (CBE), facilitate the

discussion on a larger more globalised scale changing the nature of the argument from an

internal issue within a denomination or localised church to a transdenominational and global

cooperation. According to Slee (2013) the British Christians from different denominations

have most likely been influenced by the CBMW and CBE through a wide range of church

conferences, and para-church groups (Slee N, Porter F and Philips A, 2013, pg.112). It is

important to note that there are extremist views on both sides of the fence; this research

focused on the mainstream views of the debate (Grenz S, 1995, pg19-20).

The CBMW facilitate the viewpoint of the ‘Complementarians’. This is the term given to those

who assert that God created man and women equal in personhood and value, but distinct for

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different roles (Grenz S, 1995, pg.21). They do not see the issue based on gender equality

as the problem, but as men and women submitting to the mandate of scripture. In general

they understand scripture as a whole to say that God’s will is for men, not women to serve as

spiritual leaders in the family and church setting (Sumner S, 2003, pg.279-85). CBMW seeks

to respond to secular feminist culture and the increasing evangelical feminist perspectives,

which they understand to be eroding the commitment of the church to its classical

understanding of scriptural mandates for male and female relationships and roles. Their

thinking is that the erosion of roles within marriage, family and church is because the gender

distinctions are not being taught as important and thus churches are seen as following

culture rather than the Bible (Piper J and Grudem W, 2012, [preface 2006] pg.9). The

complementarians dislike traditionalists or hierarchicalist labels as these imply that they are

unwilling to let scripture challenge traditional patterns of behaviour. They feel that the

structure of authority is over emphasised in these titles and they prefer ‘complementary’

(Piper J and Grudem W, 2012, pg.15).

The parallel transdenominational organisation, The Christians for Biblical Equality (CBE),

facilitate the ‘Egalitarians’ viewpoint of gender equality in family, church and society.

Egalitarians believe that the essential biblical message is that gender does not affect one’s

ability to be used to advance the Kingdom or to glorify God in any aspect of ministry, mission,

society or family. The biblical gender distinction between men and women does not justify

perpetuating prerogatives of male leadership and authority over women. God’s gifts of

gender complement each other when in the context of mutually shared partnerships, without

male hierarchy (Pierce R, Groothuis R and Fee G, 2005, pg. 15-17).

The fundamental divide between the egalitarians and complementarians is the question of

gender being the sole reason that women are restricted and men are empowered in

leadership aspects of ministry. Terms such as patriarchy, hierarchy, headship, authority and

tradition are viewed as negatively opposing equality in the partnership of men and women in

shared leadership and responsibilities by the egalitarians. They argue that the

‘complementarian’ term to promote the ‘equal but distinct’ nature of gender equality that the

CBMW use, is misleading, as the term seeks to cover up the traditional views of the

inferiority of women to men. By using the ‘complementary’ concept interpreted as equality

through complementary role functions (Pierce R, Groothuis R and Fee G, 2005, pg. 15-17).

CBE argue that CBMW’s core assumption denotes that the female gender has an inherent

subordinate position to that of the male, which supposedly complements both genders

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(Pierce R, Groothuis R and Fee G, 2005, pg. 13-16). Grenz (1995) states that this is not

equality or complementary as it immediately places the genders in a hierarchal elitist order of

male headship that diminishes the status of the women as unequal to the man. The term

‘complementarian’ seeks to hide that it is based in tradition rather than biblical. Egalitarians

seek to replace the hierarchal ordering of male over female with a focus on reciprocal

relations and mutuality in relationships (Grenz S, 1995, pg.18).

Key Scriptural Arguments

Numerous scriptures have been examined and held up as beacons of proof to back up

particular viewpoints, none more so than the two sides of the complementarians and

egalitarians arguments. The complementarian argument resonates with the reasoning’s for

the Church of England opening up to women priests and yet providing the contradictory

‘Flying Bishops’, this points to a deeper issue underlying the statement ‘we have no

theological objections’ and the internal contradiction of the Baptist overarching belief of

equality in the ‘priesthood for all believers’ to include women, not being practiced in the local

Baptist church setting.

Table 2 below depicts a section of the statement of CBMW core values, which can be seen

in its entirety on their website (The Council of Biblical Manhood and Womanhood, 2013, [On

Line] page). And a section from the CBE statement of beliefs, which also can be seen in its

entirety on their website (Christians for Biblical Equality, 1989, [On Line] pdf pg.1).

Table 2: The Complementarian and Egalitarian interpretation of Genesis 1-3

Creation Story of Genesis 1-3

The Council of Biblical Manhood and

Womanhood:

Christians for Biblical Equality:

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Representing The Complementarian Interpretation

Representing The Egalitarian Interpretation

1. Both Adam and Eve were created in God’s image, equal before God as persons and distinct in their manhood and womanhood (Gen 1:26-27, 2:18).

1.The Bible teaches that both man and woman were created in God’s image, had a direct relationship with God, and shared jointly the responsibilities of bearing and rearing children and having dominion over the created order (Gen 1:26-28).

2. Distinctions in masculine and feminine roles are ordained by God as part of the created order, and should find an echo in every human heart (Gen 2:18, 21-24; 1 Cor 11:7-9; 1 Tim 2:12-14).

2. The Bible teaches that woman and man were created for full and equal partnership. The word “helper” (ezer) used to designate woman in Genesis 2:18 refers to God in most instances of Old Testament usage (e.g. I Sam 7:12; Ps 121:1-2). Consequently the word conveys no implication whatsoever of female subordination or inferiority.

3. Adam’s headship in marriage was established by God before the Fall, and was not a result of sin (Gen 2:16-18, 21-24, 3:1-13; 1 Cor 11:7-9).

3. The Bible teaches that the forming of woman from man demonstrates the fundamental unity and equality of human beings (Gen 2:21-23). In Genesis 2:18, 20 the word “suitable” (kenegdo) denotes equality and adequacy.

4. The Fall introduced distortions into the relationships between men and women (Gen 3:1-7, 12, 16): In the home, the husband’s loving,

humble headship tends to be replaced by domination or passivity; the wife’s intelligent, willing submission tends to be replaced by usurpation or servility.

In the church, sin inclines men toward a worldly love of power or an abdication of spiritual responsibility, and inclines women to resist limitations on their roles or to neglect the use of their gifts in appropriate ministries.

4. The Bible teaches that man and woman were co-participants in the Fall: Adam was no less culpable than Eve (Gen 3:6; Rom 5:12-21;

I Cor 15:21-22)

5. The Old Testament, as well as the New Testament, manifests the equally high value and dignity, which God attached to the roles of both men and women (Gen 1:26-27, 2:18; Gal 3:28). Both Old and New Testaments also affirm the principle of male headship in the family and in the covenant community (Gen 2:18; Eph 5:21-33; Col 3:18-19; 1 Tim 2:11-15).

5. The Bible teaches that the rulership of Adam over Eve resulted from the Fall and was therefore not a part of the original created order. Genesis 3:16 is a prediction of the effects of the Fall rather than a prescription of God’s ideal order.

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This research focused on Genesis 1-3, the story of Adam and Eve because the creation

story as we have discovered through Deconick (2013), is where it all begins, or to quote

Ortlund (1991), ‘because as Genesis 1-3 goes, so goes the whole Biblical debate’ (Ortlund

1991, in Piper J, and Grudem W, 2012, pg.95). They are used as determining proof of the

argument, it is therefore futile to address the argument without first identifying the root belief

and interpretation of these verses for either side of the debate.

Significant Genesis Verses for Point 1 in Table 1

Fig 1: Genesis 1:26-28:

The above verses in fig 1 are used by CBMW to denote that equality is the same as

distinctiveness of male and female as seen in Table 2 point 1. Ortlund (1991) explains that

men and women are equal only in bearing God’s image. This equal bearing to image God is

to mirror His holiness. God shared His image with man alone. Man is unique having his

identity upward in God and not downward in the animals. Ortlund (1991) understands verse

26 and 27 as an indication of man’s greatness as the crown of God’s creation (Ortlund R,

1991, in Piper J, and Grudem W, 2012, pg.96-7). It is immediately apparent that Ortlund

implies that ‘man’ is in the singular or male dominant rather than the non gender specific

understanding of the translation of ‘mankind’ or ‘humanity’ of ‘man’ as ādām that comes from

the translation in Hebrew meaning: ‘Reddish brown earth or soil’ (Beck J 2005, pg.29).

Alternatively, ground and dust that is the ingredients of the ‘dust creature/s’ (Borg M, 2001,

pg.75). Verse 27 in the NIV is translated as ‘mankind’. According to Beck (2005), It should be

read as ‘God created male and female and called them mankind’ denoting the inclusiveness

of ‘man’ as ādām. The term anthrōpos, which translates as ‘person’ or ‘human’ is consistently

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26 Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; and let them rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over the cattle and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” 27 God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. 28 God blessed them; and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it; and rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and

used in the Septuagint version that confirms non-gender specific, inclusiveness of ādām

because it is understood as ‘mankind’ or ‘humanity’ (Beck J, 2005, pg.29).

However, Ortlund (1991) argues that there is no logic in God describing the human race as

‘man’ unless we understand that God by naming the human race as ‘man’ is whispering

male-headship. Ortlund (1991) defines ‘headship’ as the male having the primary

responsibility to lead the male female partnership in a God glorifying direction. He adds that

‘headship’ is not domination. God did not name the human race as ‘woman’ or ‘persons’ but

purposefully ‘man’ and that anticipates headship, which is further revealed in Genesis

chapter 2 (Ortlund 1991, in Piper J, and Grudem W, 2012, pg.95-8). Pierce (2005) argues

that ādām as ‘humanity’ in Genesis chapter 1, evolved from the common noun to a title, ‘the

man’ in Genesis chapters 2-3, and again to being used as a personal name in Genesis 4:25,

showing a linguistic development of the term, which is a common occurrence in all

languages. This shows the presumption of the argument that God named the human race

‘man’ as a whisper of headship privileges for males (Pierce R, Groothuis R and Fee G, 2005,

pg. 80). Furthermore, Genesis 1:27 affirms that both male and female were created in God’s

image and nowhere in the Bible does it state or whisper that woman acquires her status or

image of God through the transference from man to woman by headship in any form,

including marriage (Sumner S, 2003, pg.64).

CBE include verse 28 to their statement of point 1 in Table 2, stating that responsibilities of

bearing and raising children, along with having dominion over creation was shared jointly

between Adam and Eve. This rulership is understood as stewardship of creation. God

created ‘them’ male and female to rule over creation (Pierce R, Groothuis R and Fee G,

2005, pg. 80). CBMW argue that sharing dominion jointly does not mean the same as having

identical roles, male and female can share the same mandate, but have different roles to fulfil

their part in it (Ortlund 1991, in Piper J, and Grudem W, 2012, pg.408). Again, Ortlund points

to a difference between male and female roles that is clearly not there in verse 28. Bilezikian

(2006), sums it up as, there is a close connection between bearing the image of God and the

divine mandate to have dominion over the earth, in other words they are both equally

authorised to have authority over creation. There is no reference to differentiation on the

basis of gender, a division of responsibilities or a ranking structure put in place to carry out

the mandate. The lack of restrictions or qualifications clearly shows there were none for

either Adam or Eve (Bilezikian G, 2006, pg.19).

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Significant Genesis Verses for Point 2 and 3 of Table 1

Fig 2: Genesis 2:16-18: and Genesis 2:20-24:

The verses in Fig 2 and the CBMW and CBE points 2 and 3 in the Table 1, shifts the

argument to masculinity and femininity being the reason for the distinction of roles and again

the headship theme is confirmed in the complementarian view held by CBMW. Alternatively

the egalitarian view upheld by CBE concentrates on the ‘helper’ conveying no implication at

all, of female subordination or inferiority. Ortlund (1991), states that these verses Genesis 2:

18-25, show a paradox in the creation story, where Genesis 1 teaches equality of male and

female as image bearers and rulers of the earth, Genesis 2 adds another dimension to

manhood and womanhood. God made them equal in His image, but He also made them in a

hierarchal order of male as the head and the woman as the helper (Ortlund 1991, in Piper J,

and Grudem W, 2012, pg.99). We can see that Ortlund assumes that being ‘alone is not

good’ as a way of saying that man must have a subordinate under him in order for it to be

‘good’ for him. This takes away the fact that being ‘alone’ is a limitation that is not good for

man and he requires help from another. Pierce (2005) identifies this as loneliness that

became apparent in the task of naming the animals that God created, thus God fulfilled

man’s need by creating woman. By creating woman sequentially to man does not imply or

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16 The Lord God commanded the man, saying, “From any tree of the garden you may eat freely; 17 but from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat from it you will surely die.” 18 Then the Lord God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone; I will make him a helper suitable for him.” (NASB)

20 The man gave names to all the cattle, and to the birds of the sky, and to every beast of the field, but for Adam there was not found a helper suitable for him. 21 So the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man, and he

justify an implicit hierarchy, but a demonstration that man in his loneliness needed woman for

it to be good (Pierce R, Groothuis R and Fee G, 2005, pg. 83-4). Ortlund (1991) admits this

loneliness as a problem that God saw, but man did not until the animals were paraded in

front of him, through serving God, the man encountered his own need (Ortlund 1991, in Piper

J, and Grudem W, 2012, pg.100).

The Hebrew word ‘ēzer’ means ‘help’, however it is traditionally translated as ‘helper’ in most

English language Bibles. Complementarians argue that ‘helper’ has an implicit notion of

subordination. To be a helper is to offer ‘submissive assistance’ to the one who by receiving

the ‘help’ is made superior. However, all other occurrences of ‘ēzer’ in the Old Testament,

with no exception, denote the one who has strength gives help to the one in need. The

helper is often an ally king, or kings, armies and even God. This explanation of ‘help’ being

strength to the one in need would fit with the weakness or limitation of man in the form of

loneliness as requiring the strength that the help could offer, which would alleviate the

problem. In this interpretation woman would be an equal and strong companion in the task of

ruling the earth and serving God (Beck J, 2005, pg.27).

According to Ortlund (1991), Eve was Adam’s spiritual equal and unlike the animals, she was

suitable for him, however, she was not his equal in that she was his ‘helper’. Furthermore, A

man just by virtue of his manhood is called to lead for God and woman just by her virtue of

womanhood is called to ‘help’ for God (Ortlund 1991, in Piper J, and Grudem W, 2012,

pg.100). It is clear in this statement and the CBMW point 2 in Table 2, that the suitability of

helper is assumed as lesser to that of the one in need. However, a careful reading of the

actual text can reach no other conclusion than that there is clearly no trace in Genesis 2:18

of distinctions in masculine and feminine roles being in any hierarchal order. I would

conclude that this suitability reveals God’s wisdom and solution to a problem that man had,

the woman is the answer, which is stronger than the problem that man could not overcome

on his own.

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Significant Genesis Verses for Point 4 and 5 in Table 1

Fig 3: Genesis 3:1-16:

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3 Now the serpent was more crafty than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said to the woman, “Indeed, has God said, ‘You shall not eat from any tree of the garden’?” 2 The woman said to the serpent, “From the fruit of the trees of the garden we may eat; 3 but from the fruit of the tree which is in the middle of the garden, God has said, ‘You shall not eat from it or touch it, or you will die.’” 4 The serpent said to the woman, “You surely will not die! 5 For God knows that in the day you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” 6 When the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was desirable to make one wise, she took from its fruit and ate; and she gave also to her husband with her, and he ate. 7 Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves loin coverings. 8 They heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden. 9 Then the Lord God called to the man, and said to him, “Where are you?” 10 He said, “I heard the sound of You in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid myself.” 11 And He said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree of which I commanded you not to eat?” 12 The man said, “The woman whom You gave to be with me, she gave me from the tree, and I

In Fig 3, the CBMW and CBE points 4 and 5 in Table 2, the argument evolves around the

‘Fall’ of mankind. Ortlund (1991) describes the sin of eating the forbidden fruit as the mark of

Eve usurping Adam’s headship and leading the way to sin. Adam for his part abandoned his

post as head of the partnership and accepted the forbidden fruit, which led both of them

representing mankind into sin and death. This is the fruit of role reversal of headship, proving

that God condemned this in the beginning (Ortlund 1991, in Piper J, and Grudem W, 2012,

pg.107). Here we have the root of the ‘devil’s gateway’ notion and the argument that Eve is

solely at fault for this tragedy (DeConick, 2013, pg.149). At first glance this could be the case

especially if you are inclined to believe that ‘headship’ has already been established before

this incident. And as Ortlund (1991) goes on to explain that the reason the serpent

approached Eve was a direct attack on God’s ordained order of hierarchy. This is highlighted

when God came looking for them He called to Adam and not Eve conveying that Adam had

primary responsibility for them both to lead them in a God glorifying direction (Ortlund 1991,

in Piper J, and Grudem W, 2012, pg.107-8).

However, Pierce (2005) argues that this subversion of the headship does not exist. Both

Adam and Eve lived equally shared harmonious lives, naked and not ashamed, as one flesh.

The serpent’s action is against God’s authority not Adam’s authority (Pierce R, Groothuis R

and Fee G, 2005, pg. 89). The implication that Eve’s motivation was to usurp Adam’s

authority is also unfounded as it is clear that her desire was to be like God and know good

and evil. Adam followed suit because he had the same desire (Beck J, 2005, pg.33). Both

Adam and Eve were together in the participation of eating the fruit and of disobeying God’s

command. Both suffered the consequences of this sin. The idea that God called to Adam

because of his hierarchal importance does not exist in the text and shows how the ‘headship’

perception is overlaid onto the text to justify the concept’s existence (Pierce R, Groothuis R

and Fee G, 2005, pg.90).

‘Male rule’ is a prominent idea in evangelical thinking where verse 3:16b as shown in Fig 3, is

treated as a factual statement of how God wanted women to be treated. But the fact is that

man ruling over woman is not cited in the Old Testament and in the New Testament the sin

of Adam and Eve’s deception are noted, but not the command that man should rule over the

woman even in the marriage. Therefore the ‘male rule’ that is implied in 3:16b forewarns the

natural decline of relationship between man and woman rather than commanding it to be so

(Beck J, 2005, pg.31). Ortlund, (1991) argues that God is saying in this verse ‘you will have a

desire to control your husband, but he will not allow you to have your way with him. He will

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rule over you’ thus confirming that God is penalising her with domination of her husband to

put her in her place. This understanding means that the original ‘headship’ has been

perverted to domination meaning that redemption comes in the form of wives learning Godly

submission and husbands learning Godly headship as restoration of the original creation

(Ortlund 1991, in Piper J, and Grudem W, 2012, pg.109).

This complementarian belief of ‘headship’ promotes God as a tyrant having the last laugh at

Eve’s expense. It completely contradicts the image of God we have through Jesus who by

his actions and in his cultural context was a feminist. Bessey (2013) quotes Scholar David

Hamilton as stating that Jesus words and actions towards women were controversial,

provocative and revolutionary. Women were a part of Jesus life, He lifted them up and

honoured them, as a God who lifts up the humble and fills the hungry with good things

(Bessey S, 2013, pg.17). Therefore it is more fitting that the consequences of sin for Eve is

her desire for her husband as a longing or yearning for intimacy lost, this shows the regret of

separation between them rather than a curse or punishment from God. Complementarians

understand this desire as Eve wanting to dominate her husband. But this goes against the

meaning of intimacy being lost and yearned for in reference to God intending them to be as

one flesh (Beck J, 2005, pg.33).

Genesis 3:12-13 shows the beginning of the blame game that has gone on for centuries,

today almost every egalitarian, especially women who are in leadership roles have been

attacked, often repeatedly by complementarians and apparently vice versa (Beck J, 2005,

pg.125). The crux of the argument is that both complementarians and egalitarians agree on

equality of the sexes, however, how that equality is understood is the divide.

Complementarians see both male and female as equal in bearing the image of God before

God, however, this equality of the woman is lost when she is before man in the whisper of

headship because he was created first and she was created to help him. Egalitarians argue

that the equality of both man and woman stays integral before God and before each other

through bearing His image whilst carrying out the task of dominion together with equal

responsibility without hierarchy or need for one to be subordinate to the other. For the

complementarians the ‘Fall’ diminishes woman further, she is now to blame and is

deservedly punished, therefore the aim for the egalitarians, is to raise her back to her original

created state of equality before God and man.

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How this argument relates to foundational thinking of the Church of England and Baptist Denomination

Sumner (2003) identifies that both sides of the debate are aiming to reform and revise

current church practices; both are claiming to be strictly biblical in their foundation of beliefs

and aims (Sumner S, 2003, pg.33). Sumner (2003) goes on to state that in general ‘Church’

tradition has its roots in fathers of the faith teaching that, by nature, women are lower than

men. The teachings of Tertullian in the 3rd century about women have a strong misogynist

message that denote them as the ‘devil’s gateway’, in essence the Fall is Eve’s fault, thus

women are consigned to be bearers of guilt for the original sin. Other thinkers and

theologians such as Ambrose Bishop of Milan from 374 to 397AD thought that men are

superior to women as a fact of nature. Augustine of Hippo from 354 to 430AD believed that

women had no other purpose, but to procreate, which is his explanation of ‘helper’, for

without her man could not multiply. Thomas Aquinas 1225-1274 has also influenced church

traditions and belief that women are intellectually and physically inferior to men (Sumner S,

2003, pg.42-47).

‘Church’ traditions based on such sexist prejudice teachings have dictated ministry practice

and influenced how we interpret scripture and practice ministry both in the past and the

present, whether it is recognised or not. Church history is not taught to the general

congregation and so it is left to the scholars and ministers to translate and enlighten the

church as a whole. The problem lies when scripture is interpreted and are understood quite

differently (Sumner S, 2003, pg.48). Few (1999) points out that both sides of the debate exist

within the Baptist denomination as with the Anglican Church (Few J, 1999, pg.39).

In the words of Hodgson in the Holy Orders of 1967:

‘To say that woman is incapable of receiving the priestly or episcopal character, is saying that

her sexual differentiation carries with it a deficiency in spiritual receptivity and power. If we no

longer believe that women only exist to provide carnal material for procreation, we cannot

sustain an objection to their capacity for ordination on the ground of inborn deficiency in

spiritual potentiality (Hodgson L, 1967, pg.8).

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Misogynist thinking is, as DeConick (2013) describes, the real serpent of the garden and the

sooner the church realises that it is deceived by this serpent the sooner we can look forward

with a mind and heart of reconciliation between the sexes (DeConick, 2013, pg.149).

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Chapter 5

A Call for New Leadership Models in the Church

This chapter looks at the impact on young people who according to Slee (2013) are the

audience who consider the ‘church’ in general to be archaic in light of societal advances

towards equality for women (Slee N, Porter F and Philips A, 2013, pg.48-9).

Equality for women in society has a long way to go, but increasingly more feminists and

egalitarians are speaking out and making a stand as each generation identifies and

recognises structural injustices that previous generations considered compulsory norms.

According to Slee (2013), women, in general, are the ones raising children and are seen as

the primary source of socialisation of their family. Each generation of women who abandon

the previous generation’s norms of motherhood roles, are blamed for the breakdown of the

family unit and the perceived increase of immoral behaviour of young people (Slee N, Porter

F and Philips A, 2013, pg.48-9). This is indicated by Piper’s (2006) preface pointing to the

reason for the book: ‘Biblical Manhood and Womanhood’ as a written response to the

evangelical feminists and egalitarians who in Piper’s understanding, are causing a

tremendous toll on generations of men and women who do not understand their God given

roles (Piper J and Grudem W, 2012, [2006 preface pg.13]).

Historically, for many active women in church, faith has been hard emotional work, spent in

service to church and society through a gendered allocation of responsibility and roles. It is

not surprising that today’s young women no longer want to perform this invisible, devalued

and unpaid faith work that previous generations have undertaken for the benefit of church

because it does not recognise women as equals. This resistance is the first step away from

the status quo of patriarchal structures (Slee N, Porter F and Philips A, 2013, pg.48-9).

Pierce (2005) states that Christian doctrine that falls short of the truth, not only obstructs

believers from walking in the fullness of the gospel of grace and truth, but also hinders

unbelievers from coming into salvation through the work of Jesus Christ (Pierce R, Groothuis

R and Fee G, 2005, pg.13). Beach (2008) agrees that the church is increasingly damaging

the credibility of the gospel for as long as it is the one place in society where men and

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women cannot serve together as equal co-bears of the image of God (Beach N, 2008,

pg.137).

Youthwork in both Baptists and the Church of England is an important mission field and

carries the key to the future of the church as a whole. Since the 1960s, there have been

diminishing numbers of young people in church. Between 1979 and 1998, statistics show

that the decline of children and young people aged 19yrs and below was up to 50% in

England and Wales when compared with the high numbers in the 1930s (Savage S [et al],

2006, pg.13-14). Ward (1995), quotes Peter Drucker as saying in a conference in 1991, that

the decline in social conformity and the increase of freedom of choice were the two major

contributing factors that enabled young people to resist the previous generation’s dominant

cultural norms and seek new values and lifestyles (Ward P, 1995, pg.23). Young people

were perceived, as a problem in the eyes of the ‘church’, the assumption was that they

needed educating in the scriptures and through better education they would, in time, become

good Christians and come back to the church. Youth ministry holds on to young people

through fun, games, activities and group membership in the hope that stay and grow up to

join the mainstream church. However, the church has had to admit that most young people

do not stay once they have reached adulthood. Ward (1995) quotes William Easum as

stating:

“if churches only improve what they have already been doing they will die...the best way to

fail today is to improve on yesterdays successes” (Ward P, 1995, pg.26-8).

Savage (2006) states that young people’s attitudes, expectations and experiences of church

have exposed a conflict in its moral teachings that is at odds with their beliefs and sense of

what is right and wrong. They feel disconnected from members of the established

congregation and hate the hypocrisy they see in Christians who do not practice the love they

teach. However, great efforts have been made to combat this gap through church authorised

youth work, which seek to give space for fresh expressions through faith based youth

ministry concentrating on the children of the congregation as the underpinning strategy of

church growth. Other forms of youth work aim to develop the link between church and young

people who are socially distant from the church through incarnational, missional theology that

accompanies the young people through their faith journey outside the church setting (Savage

S [et al], 2006, pg.14-18).

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The professional youth workers today in both settings are trained to be competent in key

youth work principles promoting ‘equal opportunities’, ‘empowerment’, ‘participation’ and

‘informal education’. These key principles underpin and encourage positive genuine diversity

amongst young people no matter their age, gender, race, sexual orientation or disability

(Savage S [et al], 2006, pg.14-18). The conflict of church established congregations and

young people is to do with the key principles of youth work not being the key principles of

church life and ministry, in other words the shop window of youth work does not reflect

accurately what is on sale within. This is clearly evident in the area of sexism in the Church

of England and in the Baptist tradition. Church cultural and structural sexism is in direct

contrast to youth work values and practice, the professional youth worker aims to include

girls in all activites and encourage them to access the same opportunities as their male

peers. Savage (2006) points out that the church’s hierarchal and regulated behaviour ethos

is in contrast to young people’s quest for meaningful relationships, which is the basis of their

cultural experience and belief. Young people believe they should be treated as persons in

their own right in the context of healthy relationships. They expect a degree of reciprocity in

relationships; therefore, the concept of passive existence in a hierarchal male dominated

church is repulsive to today’s young people (Savage S [et al], 2006, pg.130-1).

Slee (2013) states that young people today regard gender-equality as common sense.

However, the widespread gender inequality underpinning women’s lives in traditional

Anglican and Baptist churches are in contrast to the secular norms that young people are

growing up with. Especially for girls who quickly find out that gender roles are entrenched in

church structures, which gives them an immediate disadvantage when it comes to

contributing to church life in any role, which is not deemed gender appropriate (Slee N,

Porter F and Philips A, 2013, pg.62). According to Slee (2013) the majority of young women

who are ordained today face the contradictions of inclusion and exclusion first hand

regardless of which church tradition. Their inclusion is often displayed as an indication of

progressive church; however, they continually face the structural barriers of gender injustice

(Slee N, Porter F and Philips A, 2013, pg.63). However, Symcox (2013) states that Anglican

parishes that oppose women vicars has declined markedly since the first women priests

were ordained in 1994 (Symcox C, 2013, pg.80). This is backed up by the Transformations -

Theology and Experience of Women’s Ministry report 2011, which states:

Many contributors agreed that there has been much progress, particularly reflecting on the

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very warm welcome that they have received at parish level. A couple commented that

discrimination had not been a problem for them, that their own diocese appointed as many

women as men and another that she felt insulated from the problems experienced by others.

Several commented that opposition to women’s ordained ministry now comes from a tiny

minority in ‘pockets of resistance’ often led by a single powerful individual and one wrote that

we could now simply not manage without women in ministry. However:

Many respondents commented that the prevailing model of priesthood is based on a male

norm and that this does not fit the pattern of life for most women. There is a culture of

overworking and neglect of work/life balance in the Church. These expectations make full time

priestly ministry unrealistic for many, given family caring commitments. However, the options

for part-time working are very limited. Many women have no option but to serve without

stipend. Several contributors called for new models of leadership in the Church (Cantuar R,

2011, [On Line] Pdf pg.3).

This report shows positive progress in the Church of England according to its contributors,

however, the report also highlights the ‘male priest’ structural model is still in place, which

highlights the need for new models of leadership that will encourage women in leadership

roles. This is confirmed by Woodman (2011) who quotes Revd. Dr. Pat Took addressing the

Baptist Assembly in 2008, highlighting that ordained ministry has been defined in male terms,

she suggested that:

Any gospel of redemption that holds out hope for a new humanity must be seen to overcome

the loss and alienation that is experienced in misogyny and domination. …there must exist

within humanity interrelationships in God that promote and celebrate ‘equality of dignity’,

‘equality of divine origin’ and ‘equality of human giftedness’, but also richness of diversity

(Woodman S, 2011, pg.41).

According to Frost and Hirsch (2013), the post Christendom world we live in is yearning for

an egalitarian, gracious community of faith that functions with an egalitarian and cooperative

leadership model very different to the current church traditions of selective teaching and

hierarchal leadership that do not equip Christians for service (Frost M and Hirsch A, 2013,

pg.91-2). It is important for everyone to be all that God has created them to be. A part of

being authentically yourself is having the freedom to see, feel, think and relate in a way that

expresses personal faith. Where there is pressure to conform or be subordinate to

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authoritarian control, faith development will be hindered and therefore true Christian

community will be difficult to maintain (Astley J, 1991, pg.63). Today’s generation of young

people are passionate proponents of equality for all and are in pursuit of participation in

genuine church, we must therefore create space and opportunities for them to come in and

bring change with them so that the church stays alive and relevant for generations to come

(Beach N, 2008, pg.144). However, change is slow coming in the church regardless of the

initial statement of ‘no theological objections’. The patriarchal practices are still entrenched

and ultimately prove that there is a prevailing reluctance to progressive attitudes. While our

young people avoid church all together we are in danger of loosing generations of gifted and

talented women and men who could bring transformation to the church to enable it could

navigate this post-Christendom age.

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Chapter 6

Conclusion

This research set out to explore how and why the attitudes and practices with regards to

women in leadership have evolved or remained entrenched. Research of the Anglican

Church and The Baptists in England since the 1960s gave the back drop for a detailed

exploration of the core beliefs and cultural structures of both denominations.

The late Right Honourable Anthony Wedgwood Benn (1965) wrote:

“If we are, as I think, on the eve of a period of revolutionary change in Britain, it must be a

revolution of a different kind. Traditional revolutions begin with the erection of barricades. Ours

must begin with the destruction of the barriers that now divide us one from another” (Benn A,

1965, pg.16).

This statement focused the research on exploring the barriers that still need to be removed

and what kind of revolution is needed so that these barriers no longer restrict women in any

sphere of ministry. Discriminatory barriers permeate through both denominations. The

research identified in Chapter 3 page 20 showed that the Church of England and the Baptist

denomination have obvious structural and not so obvious ‘glass ceiling’ barriers to women in

leadership positions.

As identified by Mainstream North Leadership team in Chapter 3 page 19:

“This needs to be addressed by re-engaging with scriptures and with one another to be alert to

the sexism that exists among us. The challenge is to examine the culture and attitude that

regards this issue as unimportant in witnessing the gospel before a watching world

(Mainstream North Leadership Team, 2007, [On Line] page.).

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Using the decision–making experiment highlighted in the introduction, this research has

discovered that the Church of England with its clear hierarchal rank structure, which clearly

defines the discrimination against women, has struggled to solve the ‘problem’ because the

church is not willing to confront those who oppose the solution. The solution being, to

implement change that will accommodate women without prejudice in all spheres of ministry.

What has evolved is a parallel theology and practice, where two opposing views are

encouraged to live and work together in an attempt to maintain unity. Much like oil and water

the two do not mix and there will inevitably be constant separation.

The Baptists on the other hand do not have a clear structure as a whole body of believers,

but preferring a patchwork of churches and associations under the umbrella of BUGB.

However, the local churches can choose to join the BUGB or opt out. This creates

autonomous local churches that are not accountable to anyone and are free to perpetuate

prejudice without challenge, alternatively where an autonomous church promotes equality; it

has limited influence to encourage the wider denomination to do the same.

This research also explored the root of prejudice thinking linked to the scriptures and early

church traditions and teachings; this research focused on the key texts in Genesis 1-3, in

Chapter 4 because these are the fundamental texts that have been interpreted as we

discovered, into two main streams of thought that has influenced both denominational

traditions and practice. These streams are of opposing views, namely the ‘complementarian’

and ‘egalitarian’ understanding of equality, which has gained momentum through the creation

of particular organisations in the 1980s to promote their interpretation of scripture. It was

found that the problem is when scripture is interpreted and are understood quite differently

(Sumner S, 2003, pg.48). Both sides of the debate exist within the Baptist and the Anglican

Church (Few J, 1999, pg.39).

The decision-making study in the introduction, was useful as it revealed the difficulty that the

uniformed soldiers had in problem solving because of their easily identifiable rank structure

exposes a culture where certain ranks can not communicate to other ranks, thus

communication was stunted and they failed to solve the problem. This research looked at

whether this was the case in the Church of England with its clear hierarchal rank structure.

Was it proving to be the barrier of communication? Is this why it has taken such a drawn out

process to bring equality for women in ministry? By which, I refer to the gap between 1966

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‘serious consideration’ and the first permanent women deacons were ordained in 1987, who

then had to wait until 1994 to be ordained as priests. The same waiting game is being

repeated today as they wait for the go ahead to become bishops in the name of ‘reception’,

which has given the authority to procrastinate. This research has revealed that for the

Church of England the two clear viewpoints are held in tension as every effort is made to

accommodate the complimentarianists and yet there is a clear majority who lean towards an

egalitarian viewpoint and therefore in favour of equality for women.

The other group in the decision-making experiment had no clear rank structure but had to

rely on each person’s gift and knowledge to solve the problem. This group succeeded in

solving the problem as it relied on the character and temperament of its members to get the

problem solved. This research initially assumed that this would be the case for the Baptists;

however, it found that the prejudice against women is ingrained in the denomination

preventing women from contributing their characteristics or talents in leadership, because the

structure is male dominated. The patriarchal, hierarchal structure is clearly the norm, and

contradicts the core belief of ‘the priesthood of all believers’, which includes equality of the

sexes in ministry roles. The autonomous status of individual churches restricts and limits any

change that could be led by the BUGB, however, the research did reveal that BUGB has

recognise that they are not entirely free of sexism as an organisation and are making efforts

to eradicate discrimination.

Further research is required in the area of ministerial training for both the Church of England

and Baptist traditions. It is felt that the teaching and training of ministers and laity is the root

of the problem and that all training should be in line with equality principles, this would then

eventually permeate into all the churches. This was self-evident when the research turned its

attention to youthwork in Chapter 5 page 33, and how the key principles of ‘equal

opportunities, empowerment, participation, and informal education’ in youthwork are not the

commonly encountered principles of church life in either denomination. This led to the

conclusion that young people are not joining the main church congregation once they had

grown out of youth ministry because what they see in the shop window of professional,

contemporary, progressive youthwork is not their experience when entering the adult church

congregation.

The revolution of a different kind is captured in the words of Bessey (2013):

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God’s revolution does not happen with swords, manipulations, broken relationships or ‘I am

right, you are wrong rhetoric’, but with transformed hearts that change behaviour and

practices. This reflects God’s heart for equality and wholeness in the Body of Christ (Bessey

2013, pg. 182).

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Accessed 6th April 2014

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Accessed 20 th January 2014

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Ethical Clearance Form

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Appendices

Appendix 1

Historical Time Line of Baptist and Church of England: Women in the Church

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Historical Time Line Key:

Grey Text: Events that took place outside of England and/or earlier than 1960s

Italic Text: Relevant statements or decisions

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2 of 14

Historical Time Line

Church of England English Baptists UK Law

1943: In the Anglican Communion Florence Tim Oi Li was ordained priest by the Bishop of Hong Kong to serve Christians cut off by war in China. The Lambeth Conference of 1948 condemned his action. Li ceased to function as a priest until her orders were recognised by the diocese of Hong Kong in 1970 (Beeson T, 1999, pg. 89).

1962: The Church Assembly debated the document ‘Gender and Ministry’ a report prepared to examine the recruitment of women for fulltime service to the church. The report records an opinion: ‘We think that the various reasons for withholding of the ordained and representative priesthood from women, reasons theological, traditional, instinctive, anthropological, social, emotional, should be more thoroughly examined’ (Central Board of Finance, 1966, pg.7).

1966: Serious consideration of the possibility of women being admitted to the orders of deacon, priest and bishop when the Women and Holy Orders was produced for the Church Assembly Consultation (Dawn M, 2013, pg.13).

1967: A Working Party was set up on Women's Ministry. In its report to the Lambeth conference, the working party pointed out that they found "no conclusive theological reasons for withholding ordination to the priesthood from women as such." However, the Lambeth Conference was not ready for a commitment as yet, but declared theological

1948 and 1957 by-laws: introduced same working conditions and pay for Baptist deaconesses as their fellow ministers.

(Briggs J, 1986, [On Line] pg.10)

1966: Baptist Directory listed 3 women ministers: Violet Hedger, Gwenyth Hubble and Marie Isaacs. There were also 3 probationers: C Allegro, Elizabeth Payne and Ruth Vinson (O’Brien V, in Woodman S, 2011, pg.60).

1967: Baptist Union Council endorsed the recommendation that ‘In the judgment of the committee appointed by the Council, the theological basis of our faith does not warrant distinction between the sexes in the ministry of the church. The committee therefore recommends that the Council re-affirms the denomination’s acceptance of women ministers and that it appeal to the churches to ask themselves how far in their practical attitude they are being true to the faith they

1948 and 1957: Minimum Wage Orders (The British Library Board, no date, [On Line], pg.5)

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arguments both for and against the ordination inconclusive, it requested" every national and regional church or province to give careful study to the question of the ordination of women to the priesthood" and report back to the Anglican Consultative Council (ACC). The matter was regarded as urgent (The Archbishops Council, 2004, [On Line] PDF pg. 20).

1969: First woman ordained in the church of Scotland (Robbins K, 2008, pg.388).

1971: Anglican Communion, Hong Kong: Joyce Bennett and Jane Hwang were the first regularly ordained women priests (Robinson B, 2011, [On Line] page)

1971: the Anglican Consultative Council (ACC) declared that if a bishop acting on approval of his synod/province decided to ordain women to the priesthood, his action would be accepted by the ACC (Jones I, Wooton J & Thorpe K, 2008, pg.4).

The Anglican Consultative Council (ACC):

1. “Advises Bishop Hall of Hong Kong and other bishops of the Anglican Communion acting with the approval of their diocese that this is acceptable to the ACC.

2. Resolves that all churches of the Anglican Communion consider the ordination of women by 1973.

3. Encourages all provinces to stay in Communion (i.e. remain part of the worldwide Anglican Church, the Anglican Communion”.

(Anglican Church of Australia, 2013, [On Line] page)

profess’ (Woodman S, 2011, pg.60).

1967: 38 out of 40 deaconesses who were doing the same job as their male counterpart Ministers were receiving a lower salary and restricted from having the title of Baptist Minister (Briggs J, 1986, [On Line] pg.10).

1967: Deaconesses were no longer required to resign from ministry if they got married (Briggs J, 1986, [On Line] pg.10).

1968: There were 46 active deaconesses, 4 probationers and 3 honorary deaconesses listed in the Baptist Directory. The Baptist Council had approximately 100 men and 9 women (O’Brien V, in Woodman S 2011, pg.60).

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1973: The Australian General Synod Doctrine Commission unanimously report that there are “no theological objections to the ordination of women as deacons”; and the majority report that they see “no theological objection to the ordination of women to the priesthood or consecration to the episcopate”.

1974: 11 women are ordained as priests in Philadelphia

1975: 4 women are ordained as priests in Washington USA (Anglican Church of Australia, 2013, [On Line] page).

1975: General Synod passed the motion: “That this Synod considers that there are no fundamental objections to the ordination of women to the priesthood”. However, it did not pass a second motion asking for the legal barriers to women's ordination to be removed or for legislation to permit their ordination to be brought forward. (The Archbishops Council, 2014, [On Line] pg. CofE: views/women-priests debate).

1975: The Movement for the Ordination of Women (MOW) was formed in response to the legislation not being changed in accordance with the (above) statement of the General Synod (Dawn M, 2013, pg.14)

1976: The Vatican justified the denial of the ordination of women with the ‘Maleness of Jesus’ (Bollam M, 2007, [On Line] page)

1976: Anglican Church in Canada ordained six female priests

1975: World Council Churches, session at Nairobi came up with the recommendations that, all the member Churches should encourage fuller participation of the women and recommend to the Churches that do not ordain the women to continue to dialogue on the issue (Bollam M, 2007, [On Line] page)

1970: Equal Pay Act

Required that women and men should be given equal pay for equal work (Crown, no date, [On Line] Legislation pg.)

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1977: Anglican Church of New Zealand ordained five female priests.

(Anglican Church of Australia, 2013, [On Line] page).

1978: Lambeth Conference stated that it:

(a) Encourages all member Churches of the Anglican Communion to continue in communion with one another, notwithstanding the admission of women (whether at present or in the future) to the ordained ministry of some member Churches;

(b) In circumstances in which the issue of the ordination of women has caused, or may cause, problems of conscience, urges that every action possible be taken to ensure that all baptised members of the Church continue to be in communion with their bishop and that every opportunity be given for all members to work together in the mission of the Church irrespective of their convictions regarding this issue (Lambeth Conference.Org, 2008, [On Line] page)

1978: The General Synod asks the Standing Committee to prepare and bring forward legislation to remove the barriers to the ordination of women to the priesthood and their consecration to the episcopate, was passed by the House of Bishops and the House of Laity, but was lost in the House of Clergy by 94 votes to 149 (The Archbishops Council, 2014, [On Line] pg. CofE: views/women-priests debate).

1980: The Appellate Tribunal (like the church’s court of law), affirms that

1975: The Order of Deaconesses was suspended and the women were transferred to the recognised Baptist Ministers List (Briggs J, 1986, [On Line] pg.10).

1977: Baptist Union Council Annual report confessed that the denomination claims to give women equal place, but it did not reflect this through the lack of women represented within its structure (Briggs J, 1986, [On Line] pg.13)

1978: Mrs. Nell Alexander elected first president of

1975:The Sex Discrimination Act (Crown, no date, [On Line] Legislation pg.)

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the ordination of women is consistent with the constitution of the Anglican Church of Australia. (Anglican Church of Australia, 2013, [On Line] page).

1981: the General Synod resolved that the order of deacon should be open to women and passed the requisite legislation in 1985 (The Archbishops Council, 2014, [On Line] pg. CofE: views/women-priests debate).

1983: An Anglican woman was ordained as priest in Kenya

(Anglican Church of Australia, 2013, [On Line] page)

1983: Three Anglican women were ordained as priests in Uganda

(Anglican Church of Australia, 2013, [On Line] page)

Baptist Union of Great Britain (BUGB) (Jarman M, 1987, [On Line] PDF pg.1).

1978: The first Baptist women ordained in Australia: Marita Munro followed by Marian Welford in 1979 (Brackney W, 2013, pg.618).

1980: Mrs. Nell Alexander was the first female appointed to chair the strategic General Purposes and Finance Committee (O’Brien V, in Woodman S 2011, pg.61).

1981: The ‘Role of Women in the Denomination’ report

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1984: the General Synod voted for legislation 'to permit the ordination of women to the priesthood' to be prepared. The motion made no reference to the episcopate (The Archbishops Council, 2014, [On Line] pg. CofE: views/women-priests debate).

1985: Episcopal Church of USA (ECUSA) Expressed intention to not withhold consent to the election of a bishop on the grounds of gender (Avis P, 2004, pg.60).

Feb 1987: Women were ordained as deacons in the Church of England for the first time. This was seen as a shift in attitude, however the long wait for priesthood as apposed to their fellow male colleagues who were received in to priesthood in 1988, proved to be a ‘priests in waiting’ game, these women were not received into priesthood until 1994 (The Archbishops Council, 2014, [On Line] pg. CofE: views/women-priests debate).

stated that the national Baptist Women’s League (BWL) was no longer appropriate to stimulate women’s participation in the denomination. It was disbanded to incorporate women in to equal partnership in the mainstream ministry (Briggs J, 1986, [On Line] pg.13).

1982: Margret Jarman was the first female appointed to chair the Ministerial Recognition Committee (O’Brien V, in Woodman S 2011, pg.61).

1983: the Baptist Union Council considered a recommendation proposing the acceptance of women as candidates for the Scottish Baptist Ministry, but it did not achieve the required majority (Jarman M, 1987, [On Line] PDF pg.3).

1983: The ‘Women in Ministry’ formed in USA, to provide support for Baptist women who sensed a call to serve the church.  A year later, in 1984 the Southern Baptist Convention sought to turn back the tide of women in ministry by passing a resolution that restricted women from church work involving “pastoral functions and leadership entailing ordination.” (Huffman Hoyle L, no date, [On Line] page)

1984: Birgit Carlson: the first women president of the Swedish Baptist Union (Brackney W, 2013, pg.618).

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Jul 1988: General Synod gave general approval to the draft legislation to permit the ordination of women to the priesthood (The Archbishops Council, 2014, [On Line] pg. CofE: views/women-priests debate).

1988: Lambeth Conference Resolution 1.1, 4 & 5: That each province respect the decision and attitudes of other provinces in the ordination or consecration of women to the episcopate, without such respect necessarily indicating acceptance of the principles involved, maintaining the highest possible degree of communion with the provinces which differ.. 4. That in any province where reconciliation on these issues is necessary, any diocesan bishop facing this problem be encouraged to seek continuing dialogue with, and make pastoral provision for, those clergy and congregations whose opinions differ from those of the bishop, in order to maintain the unity of the diocese. 5. Recognises the serious hurt which would result from the questioning by some of the validity of the episcopal acts of a woman bishop, and likewise the hurt experienced by those whose conscience would be offended by the ordination of a woman to the episcopate. The Church needs to exercise sensitivity, patience and pastoral care towards all concerned. (

1988: Melbourne Synod passes a canon providing for the ordination of women to the priesthood (Anglican Church of Australia, 2013, [On Line] page).

1989: Barbara Harris was consecrated as the first Suffragan Bishop of Massachusetts USA (Anglican Church of Australia, 2013, [On Line] page).

1985: The Assembly of the Baptist Union of Scotland considered a second proposition for women ordination, and that also failed to get the necessary majority Jarman M, 1987, [On Line] PDF pg.3).

1986: The Baptist Mission Society elected its forth woman chairperson: Maureen Sleeman (Jarman M, 1987, [On Line] PDF pg.1).

1987: Revd. Margret Jarman was first women minister to be elected president of Baptist Union of Great Britain (BUGB) (Briggs J, 1986, [On Line] pg.13).

1988: 70 women ministers were listed in the Baptist Directory, including 16 former deaconesses who were added to the ministerial role in 1975 (O’Brien V, in Woodman S 2011, pg.60).

1988: Baptist colleges had 273 ministerial students out of which, 22 were female (O’Brien V, in Woodman S 2011, pg.60).

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1990: Anglican women are ordained in Ireland (Anglican Church of Australia, 2013, [On Line] page).

Nov 1992: After further discussion in the dioceses, where 38 out of 44 Diocesan Synods voted in favor of women priests, resulting in the necessary two-thirds majority in all three Houses. The General Synod also approved a measure providing for financial provision for clergy who resigned their offices over the theological issue of women's ordination (The Archbishops Council, 2014, [On Line] pg. CofE: views/women-priests debate).

1992: Ninety women were ordained in the Anglican Church of Australia and two others who had been ordained overseas were recognised (Anglican Church of Australia, 2013, [On Line] page).

1992: June Dixon elected Suffragan Bishop of Washington USA

(Anglican Church of Australia, 2013, [On Line] page)

1993: Additional pastoral arrangements for those opposed on theological grounds known as the ‘Flying Bishops’, proposed by the House of Bishops and subsequently approved by the Synod in the Episcopal Ministry Act of Synod 1993, the Ecclesiastical Committee of the Houses of Parliament found the measure expedient and it subsequently received Parliamentary approval in both Houses of Parliament. The measure received Royal Assent on 5th November 1993 (The Archbishops Council, 2014, [On Line] pg. CofE: views/women-

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priests debate).

Mar 1994: The first women priests in the Church of England were ordained at Bristol Cathedral on 12th March 1994 (The Archbishops Council, 2014, [On Line] pg. CofE: views/women-priests debate). These women had been Deacons since 1987, where their fellow men went on into the priesthood in 1988 (Dawn M, 2013, pg.14)

1998: The first Lambeth Conference held that included women bishops (Anglican Church of Australia, 2013, [On Line] page).

1998: The Lambeth Conference: Resolution III.2: The unity of the Anglican Communion: This Conference, committed to maintaining the overall unity of the Anglican Communion, including the unity of each diocese under the jurisdiction of the diocesan bishop,

6. believes such unity is essential to the overall effectiveness of the Church's mission to bring the Gospel of Christ to all people;

7. for the purpose of maintaining this unity, calls upon the provinces of the Communion to uphold the principle of 'Open Reception' as it relates to the ordination of women to the priesthood as indicated by the Eames Commission; noting that "reception is a long and spiritual process." (Grindrod Report);

1991: Ruth Mathews was the first female appointed to chair the Ministry Main Committee, which became the Ministry Executive in 1994 (O’Brien V, in Woodman S 2011, pg.61).

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8. in particular calls upon the provinces of the Communion to affirm that those who dissent from, as well as those who assent to, the ordination of women to the priesthood and episcopate are both loyal Anglicans;

9. therefore calls upon the Provinces of the Communion to make such provision, including appropriate episcopal ministry, as will enable them to live in the highest degree of Communion possible, recognising that there is and should be no compulsion on any bishop in matters concerning ordination or licensing;

Also affirms that "although some of the means by which communion is expressed may be strained or broken, there is a need for courtesy, tolerance, mutual respect, and prayer for one another, and we confirm that our desire to know or be with one another, remains binding on us as Christians" (Eames, p.119). (Anglican Consultative Council, (2004, [On Line] web page).

Jul 2000: the General Synod requested a thorough theological study on the question of women in the episcopate after debating a motion put by Archdeacon Judith Rose as follows: "That this Synod ask the House of Bishops to initiate further theological study on the episcopate, focusing on the issues that need to be addressed in preparation for the debate on women in the episcopate in the Church of England, and to make a progress report on this study to Synod within the next two years." The Archbishops Council, 2014, [On Line] pg. CofE: views/women-bishops debate).

Nov 2004: the Rochester Report of the House of Bishops' Working Party on Women in the Episcopate, chaired by the Rt Revd. Dr Michael Nazir-Ali, the Bishop of Rochester, was published: Women

1996: The Women’s Justice Committee, formally known as the Women’s Issues Working Group, was established and charged to promote the gifts and ministries of Baptist women (Woodman S, 2011, pg.48).

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Bishops in the Church of England? (The Archbishops Council, 2014, [On Line] pg. CofE: views/women-bishops debate).

Feb 2005: The General Synod discussed the Rochester Report. A study guide was then published in March 2005 to help parishes; deaneries and dioceses engage with the Rochester report, Women Bishops in the Church of England? (The Archbishops Council, 2014, [On Line] pg. CofE: views/women-bishops debate).

Jan 2006: the Bishop of Guildford presented a further report on Women in the Episcopate known as the Guildford Report. The General Synod passed the motion as follows in the light of the Guildford Report: 'That this Synod welcome and affirm the view of the majority of the House of Bishops, that admitting women to the episcopate in the Church of England is consonant with the faith of the Church… That this Synod, endorsing Resolution 111.2 of the Lambeth Conference 1998, "that those who dissent from, as well as those who assent to the ordination of women to the priesthood and episcopate are both loyal Anglicans" and believing that the implications of admitting women to the episcopate will best be discerned by continuing to explore in detail the practical and legislative arrangements...

(b)   invite the Archbishops' Council, in consultation with the Standing Committee of the House of Bishops and the Appointments Committee, to secure the early appointment of a legislative drafting group, which will aim to include a significant representation of women in the spirit of Resolution 13/31 of the Anglican Consultative

1998: A Denominational Consultation led to the Baptist Union of Great Britain adopting ‘Five Core Values’ two that are particularly relevant:

A Prophetic Community: Following Jesus in confronting evil, Injustice and hypocrisy…

An Inclusive Community: Following Jesus in transcending barriers of gender, language, race, class, age and culture…

(Baptist Union of Great Britain, no date [On Line] page).

1998: Pat Took was the first female Superintendent (O’Brien V, in Woodman S 2011, pg.60).

1999: Myra Blyth was the first female Deputy General Secretary (O’Brien V, in Woodman S 2011, pg.60).

2000: The Baptist Union of Scotland voted to allow their churches to either allow or prohibit the ordination of women (Robinson B, 2011, [On Line] page)

2000: USA: The Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) had

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Council passed in July 2005, charged with:

(i)  preparing the draft measure and amending canon necessary to remove the legal obstacles to the consecration of women to the office of bishop;

(ii)  preparing a draft of possible additional legal provision consistent with Canon A4 to establish arrangements that would seek to maintain the highest possible degree of communion with those conscientiously unable to receive the ministry of women bishops…

(The Archbishops Council, 2014, [On Line] pg. CofE: views/women-bishops debate).

Sept 2006: The Bishop of Manchester, was appointed by the Archbishops' Council to chair the legislative drafting group to consider proposals for allowing women to be consecrated as bishops as called for in those motions (The Archbishops Council, 2014, [On Line] pg. CofE: views/women-bishops debate).

Jul 2008: General Synod called for legislation to be drafted in line with the motion: 'That this Synod:

(a)  affirm that the wish of its majority is for women to be admitted to the episcopate;

(b)  affirm its view that special arrangements be available, within the

undergone a struggle between fundamentalists and moderates, which ended in the late 1990's with a fundamentalist victory. However, the Baptist Faith and Message Study Committee of the SBC, issued a statement on 18th May 2000 recommending that "While both men and women are gifted for service in the church, the office of pastor is limited to men as qualified by Scripture." Their existing female pastors are allowed to remain, but no new female pastors will be ordained. The SBC currently has about 1,600 ordained women among their 41,099 churches. About 30 of their senior pastors are female. The SBC is the largest Protestant denomination in USA; they have about 16 million members. (Robinson B, 2011, [On Line] page)

2001: New regional association structure for Baptist Union of Great Britain inaugurated (Baptist Union of Great Britain, no date [On Line] page).

2003: Ruth Bottoms was the first female moderator of Council (O’Brien V, in Woodman S 2011, pg.60).

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existing structures of the Church of England, for those who as a matter of theological conviction will not be able to receive the ministry of women as bishops or priests;

(c)  affirm that these should be contained in a statutory national code of practice to which all concerned would be required to have regard; and

(d)  instruct the legislative drafting group, in consultation with the House  of Bishops, to complete its work accordingly…'(The Archbishops Council, 2014, [On Line] pg. views/women-bishops debate).

Dec 2008: A further report from the Manchester Group (GS 1707) and the draft legislation, were published together with an illustrative code of practice (The Archbishops Council, 2014, [On Line] pg. CofE: views/women-bishops debate).

Feb 2009: General Synod debated the draft legislation, sending it to a Revision Committee that was set up in March of that year (The Archbishops Council, 2014, [On Line] pg. CofE: views/women-bishops debate).

May 2010: The legislation, in the form of a draft Measure, was published (The Archbishops Council, 2014, [On Line] pg. CofE: views/women-bishops debate).

2006: The Revd Kate Coleman became the first black woman President of BUGB (Dixon M, 2006, [On Line] page)

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Sept 2010: the draft legislation was referred to the dioceses for debate and vote (The Archbishops Council, 2014, [On Line] pg. CofE: views/women-bishops debate).

Feb 2012: Of the 44 dioceses, 42 had approved the legislation by a simple majority. The General Synod then debated diocesan synod motions on making provision for those who, for theological reasons, would not be able to receive the ministry of women bishops. Synod voted in favour of an amended motion that asked that the House of Bishops should not amend the draft Bishops and Priests (Consecration and Ordination of Women) Measure "substantially" (The Archbishops Council, 2014, [On Line] pg. CofE: views/women-bishops debate).

May 2012: The House of Bishops approve of Women Bishops Legislation (The Archbishops Council, 2014, [On Line] pg. CofE: views/women-bishops debate).

Jul 2012: The Final Approval stage, at which two-thirds majorities are required in each House, was reached, however, an adjournment motion was moved and carried, asking the House of Bishops to reconsider the amendment to Clause 5(1)(c) that they had made to the legislation. Debate on the legislation was

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consequently adjourned. After further consideration and amendment to Clause 5(1)(c) by the House of Bishops, the legislation returned to the General Synod for Final Approval (The Archbishops Council, 2014, [On Line] pg. CofE: views/women-bishops debate).

Nov 2012: After a day of debate, the Synod voted by Houses as follows: Bishops: 44 ayes, 3 noes, 2 abstentions

Clergy:   8 ayes, 45 noes, 0 abstentions

Laity: 132 ayes, 74 noes,  0 abstentions

The legislation having failed to reach the required two-thirds majority in one House (Laity) by 6 votes, the legislation was rejected and cannot be brought back to the Synod in that form before 2015 (The Archbishops Council, 2014, [On Line] pg. CofE: views/women-bishops debate).

Nov 2012: the Archbishops' Council issued the following statement on the future process:

"The Archbishops' Council of the Church of England met on November 27-28… As part of their reflections, many council members commented on the deep degree of sadness and shock that they had felt as a result of the vote and also of the need to affirm all women serving the church - both lay and ordained - in their ministries. "In its discussions the Council decided that a process to admit women to the episcopate needed to be restarted

2007: The Mainstream North Leadership Team gave a statement known as the Blackley Declaration in response to the lack of women represented in BUGB:

…Whilst there is no formal bar on women's calling as Baptist ministers being recognised within our churches, we believe that the slow rate of change in our actual practice shows that there is cuIturaI resistance… We must further examine the cultures of which we are a part to be more alert to the sexism we believe exists amongst us… Therefore we call for the churches of our denomination to give sustained attention to how we understand and live out the Scriptures and the gospel, watching over one another until we see significant movement that indicates a change in the way we live before a watching world. (Fresh Streams, 2011, [On Line] Pdf page.).

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at the next meeting of the General Synod in July 2013. There was agreement that the Church of England had to resolve this matter through its own processes as a matter of urgency (The Archbishops Council, 2014, [On Line] pg. CofE: views/women-bishops debate).

May 2013: the House of Bishops released the following statement on Women in the Episcopate: "At its meeting in York the House of Bishops of the Church of England has committed itself to publishing new ways forward to enable women to become bishops…The Working Group proposed a timetable, which would involve the legislation starting its formal stages in the Synod in November and receiving Final Approval in 2015 (The Archbishops Council, 2014, [On Line] pg. CofE: views/women-bishops debate).

May 2013: The House of Bishops approved the necessary changes in its standing orders to ensure the attendance of senior women clergy at its meetings. These changes were proposed following the House's decision at its meeting in December 2012 to ensure the participation of senior female clergy in its meetings until such time as there are six female members of the house, following the admission of women to the episcopate." (The Archbishops Council, 2014, [On Line] pg. CofE: views/women-bishops debate).

Feb 2014: The Bishop of Rochester proposed to the House of Bishops the ‘Women in the Episcopate’: Draft Declaration on the

2009: Anne Philips was the first female College Principal (O’Brien V, in Woodman S 2011, pg.61).

2010: The Accredited List of BUGB Ministers lists12.5% as being female ministers (O’Brien V, in Woodman S 2011, pg.60).

2011: Revd. Dr. Pat Took was the third female President of BUGB (O’Brien V, in Woodman S 2011, pg.61).

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Ministry of Bishops and Priests and Draft Resolution of Disputes Procedure Regulations (GS 1932). The House of Bishops have been in discussions and consultations drawing up this draft since July 2013 and it seems that providing for both views to carry on whilst finding a way forward is still the issue (The Archbishop Council, 2014, pg.78 [On Line] pdf pg.82).

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2007, The Gender

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Equality Duty (Crown, no date, [On Line] Legislation pg.)

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2013: Central Baptist Church, Denver USA, ordained the first three women Rev. Cheryl Williamson, Dr. Earline Hardy and Rev. Dr. Karen Lewis (Draper E, 2013, [On Line] News Article)

2013:The Revd Lynn Green was voted in as the first woman General Secretary (Baptist Union of Great Britain, no date [On Line] page).

2010, Equality Act (Crown, no date, [On Line] Legislation pg.)

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Mar 2014: The lunch of a significant new report and recommendations for churches and ecumenical bodies on International Women's Day: ‘Leading Question’, which addresses issues faced by women in leadership and aspiring to leadership, in churches and ecumenical

structures… suggest ways in which the leadership styles of women can be more fully understood and affirmed within the life and structures of church denominations and ecumenical institutions. … “The hope is for a wider awareness of key concerns and issues identified and experienced by women, and a deeper understanding of actions that need to be taken by churches in order to become truly gender inclusive”…

The work was supported through the Jacqueline Stuyt Legacy, and the Baptist Union of Great Britain (BUGB) Women’s Justice Committee (Baptist Union of Great

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Britain, 2013, [On Line] page).

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Acknowledgments

Thanks and appreciation goes to my husband Laurence Davis who has throughout this research,

painstakingly encouraged and supported me even in the twilight hours! Enabling me to come out

the other side affirmed and with hope of a better future.

Thanks also go to my children Faye, Jacob and Lorena who have sacrificially given me the time

and space to study.

Thanks also go to my ‘CYM buddy’ Tracey Hallett who has been my biggest cheerleader

throughout!

And Thanks also goes to Sian Williams for her wise and helpful advice and her patience and

understanding of my ‘raw’ experience of discrimination.

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