Rachel Treweek and Sarah Mullally consecrated bishops
Rachel Treweek and Dame Sarah Mullally were consecrated as bishops by the Archbishop of Canterbury in a service today at Canterbury Cathedral.
Rachel Treweek will be enthroned as Bishop of Gloucester in Gloucester Cathedral on 19 September, the first women to be a diocesan bishop in the Church of England. She will also receive a writ of summons to sit in the House of Lords.
Dame Sarah Mullally will serve as the suffragan Bishop of Crediton in the diocese of Exeter, and will be welcomed at a service in Exeter Cathedral on 12 September.
Premier has a report and selection of pictures (including the picture shown above).
Gloucester diocese has a live text stream of the day with some pictures including a video clip
Exeter diocese has a story “Devon’s first woman bishop consecrated in Canterbury Cathedral”.
I should be overjoyed at the end of institutional sexism in the mother church of Anglicanism, but when the women being consecrated refuse to speak out against the other great injustice in the church, institutional homophobia — worse, when they justify it — it leaves a sour taste. For them, it seems, this was never about justice, only self-interest. What should be a joyous occasion becomes, instead, hollow approval in principle, of a just change tainted by the hypocrisy of its beneficiaries. I feel much the same way as I’d feel defending the free speech rights of, well, of people… Read more »
Did the Bishop of London join in with the laying on of hands?
And the clapping went on and on and on. Until Justin stopped it by carrying on with the service. A joyous occasion with hardly a spare seat anywhere. A wonderful afternoon and a privilege to be there. Something to talk to our grandchildren about. It really felt as though we were making history.
Glad for you but we have just been celebrating 25 years since Penny Jamieson was consecrated bishop of Dunedin. While she has retired, Aotearoa/New Zealand currently has 2 women Diocesans out of 8 Pakeha Dioceses and even Australia has one, despite the malignant influence weighed by Sydney.
The children are well ahead of the parent.
Like James Byron, I find no joy in a church which has finally been dragged by the world to remove institutional sexism and even in my country still lags bhind in its institutional homophobia.
James, it is such a shame when posts on TA bring any topic back to sex/sexuality/homophobia. Please allow Rachel and Sarah and the church as a whole to celebrate the end of institutional gender injustice. Whatever you might say, this afternoon in Canterbury cathedral WAS a joyous occasion. And how dare you say it was about self interest. Your post is a classic example of self interest. Yes of course we in the church need to address institutional homophobia, but please don’t muddy the waters with sour comments. They do not serve you well. I and thousands of others are… Read more »
Please James, allow these women and those who rejoice in their new ministries just a few hours of unalloyed celebration.
No – ExRevd. James makes a good point. Celebration yes maybe for some – but unalloyed? I think not.
Wonderful to be there – quite wonderful.
Geoff: I do not believe that Bishop Richard laid on hands
Wonderful day for the Church of England and the Province of Canterbury. And wonderful to see full communion again on display with women from the USA and NZ taking part in the laying on of hands, especially Bishop Barbara Harris, now 26 years a bishop.
I thought hard about posting that, Anne, and would’ve gladly kept my own counsel, if I didn’t believe that a great justice is being misused by the church to mask a great injustice. As I made clear, I’d love nothing more than to celebrate. How dare I say that it’s about self-interest on their part? I dare say it because it’s hard to draw any other conclusion from female bishops justifying homophobia on the basis of scripture, while disregarding scripture when it stands in the way of their career. Since I have no desire or likelihood of donning the purple,… Read more »
Well ahead of the parent, Ralph?
No woman bishop in Aotearoa or Polynesia and as for the Pakeha, it took over 23 years to elect a second woman bishop after Dunedin…both ladies being British and not Kiwi. Incidently Australian anglicans have two women diocesans.
HAPPY FAMILIES Why is the ABC looking so quizzically at the Patriarch of Londinium? Is it because he is not wholeheartedly joining in with the Happy-Clappy applause as the new Head Girl is appointed? Geoff, as the Bishop of London is one of the very few (almost an extinct species within the C of E) bishops who refrains from the ordination of priests of either gender, then I very much doubt if + Richard participated in the laying on of hands at the consecration of two female bishops? I suspect that the best ABC that we never had (consider for… Read more »
“to celebrate the end of institutional gender injustice.” Anne
But it isn’t the end of institutional gender injustice. The right to discriminate against women bishops is enshrined in law and is to be allowed to “flourish” with the appointment of Bishops such as Rod Thomas.
I rejoice, it is a first, but it won’t make history, at least not the blindest bit of change. It has not in denominations that have already done it. Plus this ‘women’s particular gifts’ thing is but the liberal version of complementarianism.
Bath and Wells rejoices with you, lets pray for God’s blessing on +Rachel and +Sarah in their ministry. I’m glad the CofE is consecrating so many female bishops so quickly, it saves the first one or two being a ‘curiosity’ whilst they wait for the rest of the church to catch up.
The first rule of Thinking Anglicans is that any thread on any topic, ends up being about homosexuality if it passes 20 comments. But this is a record.
I agree with Anne that we should celebrate the consecration of women bishops.I also feel sad with James that we cannot ordain openly gay people.Some of the women made Bishop never supported our campaign for women bishops but many gay men did. When at meetings of General Synod in York I tried to organize people to hold the WATCH banners or distribute leaflets most of the WATCH members made excuses ( often valid) but I could always rely on Colin Coward and members of Changing Attitude. When the Northern Province WATCH had a pilgrimage to Whitby Abbey it was two… Read more »
Well as someone has disagreed with my comment perhaps I could elaborate. The joy in these consecrations should be unalloyed because depending on your taste, it is a calling to serve God’s people or a sacrament, or both, a wonderful invitation and gift. Something to be glad and excited about, because it expresses grace, generosity, hope and potential in ways that ALWAYS outstrip the human actors involved. Their worthiness in no way diminishes the invitation, the gift.
“James, it is such a shame when posts on TA bring any topic back to sex/sexuality/homophobia.” But for more than a decade, that has been the “presenting issue” as to whether Anglicanism is “Thinking” or not. I opposed the women bishops compromise because it formalises and institutionalises sexism within the Church of England. A single-clause measure would have been far better. As the new women bishops are unfortunately about to find out, misogyny now has an honoured place in the Church. Perhaps that will radicalise these new bishops a bit. So far they seem to be Welby’s safe votes in… Read more »
No +London didn’t, nor +Chichester… But both were robed acc to their office, the Bp of London acting with the Abp and Bp of Winchester throughout the service. .both on edge of the Episcopal scrum at the laying on of hands. Chichester certainly said amen to the Ordination prayer..both clapped…
I wonder what a RC or esp an Orthodox sacramental theologian would say about the mere keeping hands off in relation to the whole rite?
We must not bemoan this ‘becoming about sexuality’ — simply because that issue is inextricably linked to this. All inclusion is the same inclusion; there is no inclusion at all until all are included. This is what it is to build the commonwealth of G*d.
And indeed further to my comment that all inclusion is the same inclusion, I would like to add to James Byron’s first observation that these bishops (let alone the men) “refuse to speak out against the other great injustice in the church, institutional homophobia” — that they all refuse to do anything about racism or discrimination against persons who are disabled.
All injustice is the same injustice — all of these are insults to our common humanity and therefore to the One who created us all.
Is the sermon preached by +Stepney available?
And by the way David, we all know that isn’t the first rule of Thinking Anglicans; the first rule of Thinking Anglicans is don’t talk about Thinking Anglicans.
My name is Brian, Williams. And in your haste to correct you have ignored Bishop Victoria Matthews, yes a Canadian and already a bishop, who was elected to Christchurch in 2008. I am not concerned with where they were born but their gender. I tried to discover the number of women diocesans in Australia, having a feeling there might be another, but unlike England they no longer make much news and, having migrated to NZ, I prefer to forget I was once a member of the church in Sydney.
I’m not a fan of the bishop of London, but he was doing his job. There was no requirement on him to lay on hands. He was there. It’s fine.
No David Keen it is about equality.
Do you no know, how offensive many of us find the term ‘homosexuality’ with its history of oppression ?
Ignoring the TA diversion, the answer to the questions is that the Bishop of London did not join in the laying-on of hands, which is his consistent position. However, since he was majorly responsible for Rachel’s calling to be an Archdeacon, which led her to work with me as Archdeacon of Northolt and then with Adrian as Archdeacon of Hackney, he has been a crucial guiding force in her journey. More than that, he put her name forward for the episcopate. And liturgically he presented her to the congregation and led the applause with Justin. The picture was taken at… Read more »
Wonder no longer Perry ..an orthodox Roman catholic theologian would dismiss the service as heretical and the rite incapable of transmitting Holy orders to either sex within the context of an Anglican rite. No doubt there was a Roman Catholic bishop present in the Cathedral, under the sad pretext of pretending to promote Christian unity. Remember the idle threats before the vote on women bishops..
By the way as an addendum to my New Zealand response..no native New Zealand woman has been made a bishop..only two Brits and a Canadian.
Malcolm – the sermon is on the WATCH Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/WomenAndTheChurch – this is the penultimate paragraph: “I’ve always loved the notion of the court jester – the outsider who is nonetheless welcomed in to the court of power because they are the only one who can speak truth to the King. Every society, secular or religious, needs a way of allowing non-conformity. I hope that women in the college of bishops will raise non-conformity to new heights in the way they exercise leadership among us. I hope they will disturb our conventions, and unmask the unconscious bias which constrains… Read more »
I don’t see how this can be seen as acting out of self-interest any more than their male counterparts, none of whom (with one honourable exception) have done anything much to advance the cause of gay people. That’s not to say there aren’t self-interested groups at work in these appointments, male or female. They would have been carefully vetted to ensure compliance with Pilling and the Valentine Day statement. Will the official line be maintained, though, now that the newly consecrated women have triumphed over the sexist doctrine of subordination in both their ministries and their marriages, and replaced it… Read more »
In the photo of the laying on of hands, the Bishop of London seems to be standing rather far back.
‘No woman bishop in Aotearoa or Polynesia and as for the Pakeha, it took over 23 years to elect a second woman bishop after Dunedin.’ You rarely seem to miss an opportunity to take a pop at ACANZP, robert ian williams. Our first women priests were ordained in 1977, 17 years before the C of E got round to agreeing it. If you would like to launch an affirmative action campaign for the episcopacy for Tikanga Maori or Pasifika, I’m sure they’d be pleased to receive your input. As for Tikanga Pakeha, a quarter of our serving bishops are female… Read more »
If TA is indeed a single issue web site, may I enquire when the “Facilitated Conversations” come to an end and when the talks are concluded what will be the next step thereafter? At a staggering cost of a third of a million pounds to host the same, we should know that we are getting value for our money. So many commissioned Church Reports in recent years following their launch are just left to gather dust on the bookshelf and nothing really seems to happen thereafter.
“I’d lay odds on the next Area Bishop appointment being a woman (when one comes up)”. Seems to me that the current long standing Bishop of Willesden is making a prediction about his own successor. I wonder what his predecessor – Bishop Graham Leonard would make of that?
Father David, the time table for the Shared Conversations is on the CoE website, a link to it can be found in the TA archives. Is £360,000 a staggering amount of money? That depends on whether you believe the conversations are worth having. They’re not actually that expensive if you take into account that each has to be held in a hotel large enough to accommodate 50+ people with breakout rooms for small discussion groups, with restaurant facilities that enable the groups to be fed at set times away from normal restaurant traffic to ensure that conversations can continue uninhibited.… Read more »
While I agree with James’s sadness I also agree wholeheartedly with Anne to let us fully rejoice and also, for heavens sake, give them a chance to do what none of the male bishops have had the guts to do (bar one perhaps and my goodness he is paying the price!). The Bishop of Stepney’s sermon was quite outstanding (I have downloaded it on the WATCH facebook page and will also be on the WATCH website:www.womenandthechurch.org). He was saying out loud and publicly what so many of us have been saying for a very long time and we thank him… Read more »
I loved this part of Adrian’s sermon, as he homed in on the theme of subversion: encouraging the bishops “to strip away the stifling effects of the dominant culture and liberate an altogether more vibrant expression of life… to “subvert the patterns of an ordered, controlled society where a powerful elite constrains and limits the cultural norms of belief and behaviour… challenging convention and unmasking the unconscious bias of an unexamined orthodoxy… “It’s hard to escape the fact that Jesus chose the outsiders of his world to share his life with, those whose very existence was disturbing and disruptive to… Read more »
I do apologise to Brian…I genuinely thought Ralph was your Christian name. I am not attacking the Anglican church in Aotearoa, New Zealand and Polynesia. I make a valid observation that there is no New Zealand born woman bishop, and your electoral system ( as in TEC) is more biased against women than the crown appointment system in the Church of England. From my New Zealand days I caould name quite a few talented Anglican women who have lost out. May I suggest all women short lists. Williams
Pete: “I’d lay odds on the next Area Bishop appointment being a woman (when one comes up)”
Or perhaps even the diocesan See! Think how overjoyed the acting bishop would be to hand over to the first female successor to Mellitus 😉
Is robert ian williams a real person? The person posting here under that name would seem to be from my Church their comments sadly seem rather bitter and somewhat trollish. I have noticed an increase in embittered people in our flock over recent years most would once been Anglicans.
When I was a young priest in Liverpool we would keep count of the villages in Ireland whence came the bishops for England and Wales, we made something of a game of it! Hardly a one was native born.
May I add my congratulations with regard to the beautifully crafted sermon delivered in Canterbury cathedral by the Bishop of Stepney – give that man a diocese.
Thank you Erika for supplying information to my questions, most grateful.
Continuing another thread – when a male bishop is consecrated does + Richard participate in the Rugger Scrum and the laying on of Hands or does he exercise “gracious restraint”?
Can we stop having these silly little outbursts about money? The fact is the CofE is fortunate in having the financial resources to invest in projects. £360,000 seems to be equate to approximately £30,000 per regional conversation, and probably not much more than £500 per participant, so not exactly Chewton Glen and arriving by helicopter. This sum is little more than 0.05% of the Church Commissioners current funds. The Shared Conversations deserve to be taken seriously, not ridiculed on the grounds of their cost.
What is the Bishop of London’s position, exactly?
He will attend the ordination of women bishops, but won’t lay on hands himself?
And this is supposed to keep him free him of taint?
Do I have this right?
Glad to hear the C of E is awash with cash. Don’t remotely believe Father David is ‘homophobic’. Pity C of E ‘wealth’ doesn’t remotely equate to ‘people wealth’. Nor indeed the ‘wealth’ of individual parishes, many of which will disappear shorthly because they’re not financially viable.
Honestly Jeremy, I think everyone’s been asking that same question for a number of years… +Richard has the habit of sitting on the fence with a number of things.
+Richard has stated as part of the London Plan that he will not ordain any woman or man to the Priesthood as a means to preserving the Unity of the Diocese. In regards to his personal integrity, I am aware that he is a non-ordainer and has stated in a interview (if I remember rightly) that he doesn’t believe in the ordination of women – This may have changed.
That was the point I was trying to make Jeremy. A certain sort of Anglo catholic would focus entirely on an actual laying on of hands ..I suspect Roman Catholic and certainly Orthodox sacramental theology would focus less on a hand on a head but participating as part of the Episcopal college vested according to your order.Just as at an Orthodox liturgy the priests” concelebrate” but don’t say the words of institution or the epiclesis How far is this emphasis on actually touching Catholic?
+Londin has been consistent on his position throughout and held that with integrity. He does not ordain men or women as priests but tends always to ordain them as deacons. His record in supporting the ministry of women (through appointments etc.) is excellent, +Gloucester included. His focus is the need of the diocese of London and maintaining unity. Hypothetically, might he have been willing for the unity of the Church of England to change his position? Had he been so willing, he might have been a candidate for ++Cantuar at the point ++Rowan was appointed. What will the historians make… Read more »
One wonders, reflecting on the tenor of the conversation here about the Bishop of London’s unwillingness to ordain any to the priesthood – rather than ordain only the men he believes are exclusively called to that order. This inaction seems hardly to conform to the positive ‘action’ that surely is required to maintain the unity of the Church. If ecclesial unity is only obtained through our inaction; then what positive action could be done that might better facilitate the Coming of The Kingdom of God? Herein, I guess lies the basic problem of the relative value of the exercise of… Read more »