Gender Inequality In The Ordained Ministry Of The Church Of England

This book offers a fresh social scientific analysis of how theologically conservative male clergy respond to the ordination of women to the priesthood and their consecration as bishops within the Church of England. The question of women’s place in the formal structures of England’s Established Church remains contested. For many, to prevent women from occupying such offices is often understood to be a matter of inequality, whereas those who oppose their ordination see it as a matter of obedience to God’s will. Tensions have become heightened in a culture that increasingly promotes the rights of individuals who have historically been marginalised and that challenges traditional social roles. This volume explores the gender attitudes held by clergy in the Anglo-Catholic and evangelical traditions of the Church and considers how these gender attitudes shape the way they think about women’s ordination and how they interact with female colleagues. It also considers the contribution of a range of social phenomena to the formation of these gender attitudes. The author draws on and develops a variety of sociological and psychological theories that help to explain the processes that lead to the formation of clergy attitudes towards gender more broadly.

The growth of women's ordained ministry is one of the most remarkable and significant developments in the recent history of Christianity. This collection of essays brings together leading contributors from both academic and church contexts to explore Christian experiences of ordaining women in theological, sociological, historical and anthropological perspective. Key questions include: How have national, denominational and ecclesial cultures shaped the different ways in which women's ordination is debated and/or enacted? What differences have women's ordained ministry, and debates on women's ordination, made in various church contexts? What 'unfinished business' remains (in both congregational and wider ministry)? How have Christians variously conceived ordained ministry which includes both women and men? How do ordained women and men work together in practice? What have been the particular implications for female clergy? And for male clergy? What distinctive issues are raised by women's entry into senior ordained/leadership positions? How do episcopal and non-episcopal traditions differ in this?

This work presents a consideration of the theological issues involved in the question of the ordination of women to the priesthood.

This book charts the aspirations of women towards priesthood and the resistance that they have encountered. It brings together a record of official documents and debates on the issue that takes place over the last two hundred years in the English Methodist Church, the Church of England, and the Roman Catholic Church. These debates are interpreted at a number of levels, and the author draws on sociology, history, biblical studies, theology, and psychoanalysis in the course of her presentation. In the author's view it is the patriarchalisation of ecclesiastical structures, and the subsequent theological and christological justification given over to this, which emerges as a recurring pattern in the debate. Dr Field-Bibb offers a feminist analysis of such resistance to the ordination of women, in an attempt to break down what she sees as the false consciousness engendered by the propagation of subversive symbols.

As the debate about women's ministry intensifies, so does the need for a calm and balanced assessment of all the arguments - both biblical and theological - the debate has so far produced. That need has now been fully met by Ruth Edwards in this clear, comprehensive, and highly readable study. Part one provides a fresh analysis of the New Testament data, viewed in the light of our latest knowledge of both Jewish and Graeco-Roman attitudes of the time. Having considered the biblical foundations, the book continues in Part Two with a perceptive appraisal of the way Christian attitudes to women have developed - from the early Fathers through to the key movements and insights of this century, all of which are now combining to question traditional ideas about priesthood and the crucial relationship between ministry and authority.

A unique collection of personal stories by women from many denominations about the struggle for equality by women in the ministry and those still excluded from it. They tell of stereotyping, assumptions, tokenism, discrimination, trivialisation; abuse, isolation and the 'stained glass celling' created by the church's obsession with power, rank and position. This book makes clear the kinds of obstacles in the way of women and gives a glimpse of the faulty theology that underlies opposition to them. It highlights the challenge that women bring to existing church structures and offers hope for a truly all-inclusive, all-affirming and empowering ministry.