General Synod – questions and answers
on Wednesday, 24 March 2010 at 10.04 am by Peter Owen
categorised as Church of England, General Synod
The answers to the questions asked at last month’s meeting of the Church of England General Synod are now available.
Questions with Answers February 2010
The Archbishop of York’s reply to question 53 is wildly inappropriate & I’m surprised that there hasn’t been any comments about this. Suggesting that since some bishops have female employees then female concerns can thus be brought to the attention of the boys power club is a claim that the Archbishop needs to be called to account for. At the least he should apologize.
Dennis, Thank you for your comment. I am hoping that the Archbishop of York was being thoughtless in his response rather than deliberately offensive, though I have to admit that I found his comments offensive.
Having recently experienced the deep spirituality of the Archbishop of York during his visit to New Zealand, I do believe his heart is right. However, at this point in time – like the ABC – he is set in the mould of traditional English Church politics, which requires that the two English Primates try to engage with all sides of every argument in the Church world-wide. I believe that both John and Rowan – together with the Primates in the US and Canada – have the most difficult task within the Anglican Communion, in terms of ‘loyalty’ to the established… Read more »
I’m not sure whether to regard it as ironic or tragic that the archbishop did/does not understand that his inability to differentiate between an advisor bringing an issue to the House of Bishops, or indeed a woman acting as secretary to the House, is not the same as hearing the views of senior women clergy in their own right. I seem to remember the bishops all getting very excited about the Indaba groups at Lambeth, but the lesson does not seem to have been applied once away from Canterbury. And that this might open the door to the need to… Read more »
Dennis, I’m surprised that there are so few comments here. I posted Question No. 53 along with Abp. Sentamu’s response on my blog and received quite a few comments.