History will be made tomorrow when the lady Reverend Bishop Libby Lane is installed as the first woman Bishop. This follows years of campaigning for women to have a stronger foothold in The Church of England. However a few days later, what is described by respected journalist Janet Street-Porter as a “hideous charade” , an event will take place when the new Bishop of Burnley will be consecrated. At the request of this Bishop – Reverend Philip North, two churchmen who administered the consecration of the female bishop will not touch him in the “laying on of hands” – as they generally would as it is part of the official ceremony. So all is not well in the great institution of The Church of England.
That leaves the Archbishop of York looking in some way lacking as he is one of the people involved in this charade – he has consecrated a woman after a democratically agreed process passed last November after so many years of not finding a firm footing on the issue.
Does this make The Church of England look like it is dragging its feet on 50% of the population but at the same time trying to take the upper ground on poverty, social inequality and class?
A survey has shown that women, more than men are believers especially in the after-life. This survey showed that after interviewing 9,000 people, two thirds women, against one third men believed not only in God but in life after death. Hopefully these statistics don’t confuse or affect our longstanding male serving members of the Church in any way.
Women are generally more in touch with their sensitive side, more likely to see the good in people and enhance inter-social activity with positive vibes and more able to rely on hidden forces of religion to placate and pacify them in times of trial and tribulation. So some ask why, in 2015, with gay marriage and equal rights, do we discover that men of the highest order of the Anglican Church is involved in a controversy caused by some who still find the idea of a female Bishops unacceptable?