Ordination of women in the Anglican communion
Encyclopedia
The ordination of women in the Anglican Communion has become increasingly accepted in recent years.
within the Anglican Communion
, such as the Episcopal Church in the United States of America (TEC), the Anglican Church of New Zealand
, the Anglican Church of Canada
and the Anglican Church of Australia
, ordain women as deacons, priests and bishop
s, while a number of other provinces, as noted in the table below, have removed canonical bars to women bishops but have not yet consecrated any. Other provinces ordain women as deacons and priests but not as bishops; others still as deacons only; and seven provinces have yet to approve the ordination of women to any order of ministry.
Within provinces which permit the ordination of women, approval of enabling legislation is largely a diocesan responsibility. There may, however, be individual dioceses which do not endorse the legislation, or do so only in a modified form, as in those dioceses which ordain women only to the diaconate (such as the Diocese of Sydney
in the Anglican Church of Australia
), regardless of the fact that the ordination of women to all three orders of ministry is canonically possible.
The ordination of women has been a controversial issue throughout the Anglican Communion. By 2010, however, 28 of the 38 provinces of the Anglican Communion ordain women as priests and 17 have removed all barriers to women serving as bishops.
Most Anglican provinces have taken formal or informal steps to provide pastoral care and support for those who cannot in conscience accept the ministry of women as priests. The Church of England, for example, has created the office of Provincial Episcopal Visitor
(colloquially known as "flying bishops") to minister to clergy, laity and parishes who do not in conscience accept the ministry of women priests. These are suffragan bishops, appointed by the metropolitans
, whose main purpose is to be available for this ministry.
There have been a number of breakaway groups established by conservative Anglicans who see the ordination of women as representative of a trend away from traditional or orthodox doctrine. The Continuing Anglican Movement
was started in 1977 after women began to be ordained in the United States. The larger groupings within the Continuing movement have been increasingly active following the publication by the Vatican of the apostolic constitution Anglicanorum Coetibus
in November 2009. Anglicanorum Coetibus provides a canonical structure for former Anglicans to enter into full communion with the Roman Catholic Church.
, who was ordained on 25 January 1944 by Ronald Hall, Bishop of Victoria, Hong Kong
in response to the crisis among Anglican Christians in China caused by the Japanese invasion. To avoid controversy, she resigned her licence (though not her priestly orders) after the end of the war.
In 1971, again in Hong Kong, Jane Hwang and Joyce Bennett were ordained as priests by Bishop Gilbert Baker
. At the same time, Li Tim-Oi was officially recognised again as a priest.
In 1974, in the United States, 11 women were controversially ordained to the priesthood in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
, by three retired Episcopal Church bishops. Four more women were ordained in 1975 in Washington D.C. All of these ordinations were ruled "irregular" because they had been done without the authorization of the Episcopal Church's General Convention
.
In 1975, the General Synod of the Anglican Church of Canada (ACC) passed enabling legislation for women priests; the first six women priests in the ACC were ordained in November 1976.
In 1976, the General Convention of the Episcopal Church authorized the ordination of women to the priesthood and the episcopate. At the same time, the previous ordinations were regularized. The first regular ordination occurred on 1 January 1977, when Jacqueline Means was ordained at the Episcopal Church of All Saints
, Indianapolis.
The Church of England
authorized the ordination of woman priests in 1992 and began ordaining them in 1994. The experience of the first women priests and their congregations was the premise of the television program
me The Vicar of Dibley
. The legality of the ordination of women in the Church of England was challenged in civil courts by Paul Williamson
and others.
in the United States in February 1989. By November 2009 the Episcopal Church had elected and consecrated 17 women as bishops within the continental United States, most recently the Rt. Rev. Diane Jardine Bruce and the Rt. Rev. Mary Douglas Glasspool, who were elected as suffragan bishops in the Diocese of Los Angeles in December 2009 and consecrated on 15 May 2010. The election of Bishop Glasspool, who is openly gay and lives with her partner of 20 years, has attracted world-wide attention owing to the continued controversy over gay bishops
in Anglicanism.
The Episcopal Church has also elected the first woman primate
(or senior bishop of a national church
), the Most Revd Katharine Jefferts Schori
, who was elected as Presiding Bishop and Primate of the Episcopal Church at the 2006 General Convention. She began her nine year term on 3 November 2006.
Only a few other provinces have consecrated women as bishops (although the number of provinces where women bishops are canonically possible is much greater). The situation regarding women's ordination in the Anglican Communion as of July 2010 can be seen in the following table:
first ordained women as priests in 1977, and was the first Anglican province to elect a woman as a diocesan bishop when in 1989 the Right Revd Penny Jamieson
was elected Bishop of Dunedin. She retired in 2004. Then in 2008 the Diocese of Christchurch elected the Right Revd Victoria Matthews
, former Bishop of Edmonton
in the Anglican Church of Canada
, as 8th Bishop of Christchurch.
. She was elected suffragan bishop
in the Diocese of Toronto
on 19 November 1993 and was ordained to the episcopate on 12 February 1994. She later was the first woman elected as a diocesan bishop in Canada when she was elected as Bishop of Edmonton
in 1997, an office she held until 2007 when she resigned. She was subsequently elected Bishop of Christchurch in the Anglican Church in Aotearoa, New Zealand and Polynesia in 2008.
Since Bishop Matthews’ election, as of March 2010, six more women have been elected to the episcopate in Canada. They are the Right Revd Ann Tottenham (suffragan, Toronto, 1997); the Right Revd Sue Moxley (suffragan, Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island, 2004; diocesan, 2007); the Right Revd Jane Alexander (diocesan, Edmonton, 2008); the Right Revd Linda Nicholls (suffragan, Toronto, 2008); the Right Revd Barbara Andrews (Bishop Suffragan to the Metropolitan with responsibilities for the Anglican Parishes of the Central Interior, 2009); and the Right Revd Lydia Mamakwa (Area Bishop for Northern Ontario within the Diocese of Keewatin, with special responsibility for the predominantly aboriginal parishes of the area, 2010).
began to ordain women as priests in 1992, and in the late 1990s embarked on a protracted debate over the ordination of women as bishops, a debate that was ultimately decided though the church's Appellate Tribunal, which ruled on 28 September 2007 that there is nothing in the church’s constitution that would prevent the consecration of a woman priest as a bishop in a diocese which by ordinance has adopted the law of the Church of England Clarification Canon 1992, which paved the way for the ordination of women as priests. Following the agreement at the April 2008 Bishops' Conference of the "Women in the Episcopate" protocol for the provision of pastoral care to those who cannot in conscience accept the ministry of a woman bishop, the first women ordained as bishops were the Right Revd Kay Goldsworthy
(Assistant Bishop, Diocese of Perth) on 22 May 2008, and the Right Revd Barbara Darling (Assistant Bishop, Anglican Diocese of Melbourne
) on 31 May 2008.
ordained its first women as priests in 1994, and in 2003 provided for the ordination of women as bishops. The nomination of the Revd Canon Dr Alison Peder as one of three nominees for election as Bishop of Glasgow and Galloway
in January 2010 attracted wide attention, and although Dr Peder was not elected, her nomination was regarded as highly significant for Anglicanism in the United Kingdom.
voted in favour of removing the legal obstacles preventing women from becoming bishops. The process is currently underway but is not progressing quickly due to problems in providing appropriate mechanisms for the protection of those who cannot accept this development. On 7 July 2008 the synod held a more than seven hour debate on the subject and narrowly voted in favour of a national statutory code of practice to make provision for opponents, though more radical provisions (such as separate structures or overseeing bishops) proposed by opponents of the measure failed to win the majority required across each of the three houses (bishops, clergy and laity).
The task of taking this proposal further fell largely to a revision committee established by the synod to consider the draft legislation on enabling women to become bishops in the Church of England. When, in October 2009, the revision committee released a statement indicating its proposals would include a plan to vest some functions by law in male bishops who would provide oversight for those unable to receive ministry of women as bishops or priests, there was widespread concern both within and outside the Church of England about the appropriateness of such legislation. In the light of the negative reaction to the proposal, the revision committee subsequently announced the abandonment of this recommendation.
The synod, meeting in York, from 9–12 July 2010, considered a measure that again endorsed the ordination of women as bishops. The measure included provisions for individual bishops to allow alternative oversight for traditionalists who object to serving under them, but opponents of the measure argued for stronger provisions. A compromise plan put forward by the Archbishops of Canterbury and York (involving the creation of a mechanism providing for "co-ordinate jurisdiction" in parishes unable to receive the ministry of a female bishop whereby a male bishop would fulfil episcopal function) was endorsed by the House of Bishops and the House of Laity but narrowly failed (90 votes against to 85 in favour) in the House of Clergy. The measure, with only minor amendments, passed in all three houses on 12 July 2010. The measure is now due to be considered by individual dioceses which are required to report back by 2012 ahead of a final vote.
considered, but did not pass, a bill to enable women to be ordained as bishops. Though the bill was passed by the House of Laity (52 to 19) and the House of Bishops (unanimously), it failed by three votes (27 to 18) to secure the required minimum two-thirds majority in the House of Clerics. The Archbishop of Wales, the Most Revd Barry Morgan, expects the issue to be debated again in 2011. However the Church in Wales decisively ended the role of provincial bishop whose responsibility was to minister to opponents.
approved the ordination of women as priests and bishops in 1990, and ordained its first women as priests in that year. No women have yet been ordained to the episcopate.
which function semi-autonomously under limited metropolitical oversight and are largely self-determining when it comes to the ordained ministry. Several have provided for the ordination of women as priests for some years.
The Episcopal Church of Cuba is the only extra-provincial church to ordain women as bishops, the first of whom was the Right Revd Nerva Cot Aguilera who was appointed as a bishop suffragan in 2007. Bishop Aguilera was appointed by the Metropolitan Council, the ecclesiastical authority for the Episcopal Church of Cuba which in January 2010 appointed the Right Revd Griselda Delgato Del Carpio (who, along with Bishop Aguilera, was one of the first two women priests ordained in Cuba in 1986) as bishop coadjutor (assistant bishop with the right of succession). She was ordained to the episcopate on 7 February 2010, and will be installed as diocesan following the retirement of the present incumbent, the Right Revd Miguel Tamayo-Zaldívar, later in 2010.
Introduction
Some provincesEcclesiastical Province
An ecclesiastical province is a large jurisdiction of religious government, so named by analogy with a secular province, existing in certain hierarchical Christian churches, especially in the Catholic Church and Orthodox Churches and in the Anglican Communion...
within the Anglican Communion
Anglican Communion
The Anglican Communion is an international association of national and regional Anglican churches in full communion with the Church of England and specifically with its principal primate, the Archbishop of Canterbury...
, such as the Episcopal Church in the United States of America (TEC), the Anglican Church of New Zealand
Anglican Church in Aotearoa, New Zealand and Polynesia
The Anglican Church in Aotearoa, New Zealand and Polynesia is a church of the Anglican Communion serving New Zealand, Fiji, Tonga, Samoa, and the Cook Islands...
, the Anglican Church of Canada
Anglican Church of Canada
The Anglican Church of Canada is the Province of the Anglican Communion in Canada. The official French name is l'Église Anglicane du Canada. The ACC is the third largest church in Canada after the Roman Catholic Church and the United Church of Canada, consisting of 800,000 registered members...
and the Anglican Church of Australia
Anglican Church of Australia
The Anglican Church of Australia is a member church of the Anglican Communion. It was previously officially known as the Church of England in Australia and Tasmania...
, ordain women as deacons, priests and bishop
Bishop
A bishop is an ordained or consecrated member of the Christian clergy who is generally entrusted with a position of authority and oversight. Within the Catholic Church, Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox Churches, in the Assyrian Church of the East, in the Independent Catholic Churches, and in the...
s, while a number of other provinces, as noted in the table below, have removed canonical bars to women bishops but have not yet consecrated any. Other provinces ordain women as deacons and priests but not as bishops; others still as deacons only; and seven provinces have yet to approve the ordination of women to any order of ministry.
Within provinces which permit the ordination of women, approval of enabling legislation is largely a diocesan responsibility. There may, however, be individual dioceses which do not endorse the legislation, or do so only in a modified form, as in those dioceses which ordain women only to the diaconate (such as the Diocese of Sydney
Anglican Diocese of Sydney
The Diocese of Sydney is a diocese within the Anglican Church of Australia. The majority of the diocese is Evangelical and low church in tradition and committed to Reformed and Calvinist theology....
in the Anglican Church of Australia
Anglican Church of Australia
The Anglican Church of Australia is a member church of the Anglican Communion. It was previously officially known as the Church of England in Australia and Tasmania...
), regardless of the fact that the ordination of women to all three orders of ministry is canonically possible.
The ordination of women has been a controversial issue throughout the Anglican Communion. By 2010, however, 28 of the 38 provinces of the Anglican Communion ordain women as priests and 17 have removed all barriers to women serving as bishops.
Most Anglican provinces have taken formal or informal steps to provide pastoral care and support for those who cannot in conscience accept the ministry of women as priests. The Church of England, for example, has created the office of Provincial Episcopal Visitor
Provincial episcopal visitor
A provincial episcopal visitor is a Church of England bishop assigned to minister to many of the clergy, laity and parishes who do not in conscience accept the ministry of women priests....
(colloquially known as "flying bishops") to minister to clergy, laity and parishes who do not in conscience accept the ministry of women priests. These are suffragan bishops, appointed by the metropolitans
Metropolitan bishop
In Christian churches with episcopal polity, the rank of metropolitan bishop, or simply metropolitan, pertains to the diocesan bishop or archbishop of a metropolis; that is, the chief city of a historical Roman province, ecclesiastical province, or regional capital.Before the establishment of...
, whose main purpose is to be available for this ministry.
There have been a number of breakaway groups established by conservative Anglicans who see the ordination of women as representative of a trend away from traditional or orthodox doctrine. The Continuing Anglican Movement
Continuing Anglican Movement
The term Continuing Anglican movement refers to a number of churches in various countries that have been formed outside of the Anglican Communion. These churches generally believe that "traditional" forms of Anglican faith and worship have been unacceptably revised or abandoned within some...
was started in 1977 after women began to be ordained in the United States. The larger groupings within the Continuing movement have been increasingly active following the publication by the Vatican of the apostolic constitution Anglicanorum Coetibus
Personal Ordinariate
A personal ordinariate is a canonical structure within the Catholic Church enabling former Anglicans to maintain some degree of corporate identity and autonomy with regard to the bishops of the geographical dioceses of the Catholic Church and to preserve elements of their distinctive Anglican...
in November 2009. Anglicanorum Coetibus provides a canonical structure for former Anglicans to enter into full communion with the Roman Catholic Church.
First ordinations
The first woman ordained to the priesthood in the Anglican Communion was Florence Li Tim-OiLi Tim-Oi
Florence Li Tim-Oi was the first woman to be ordained to the priesthood in the Anglican Communion. Already appointed as a deacon to serve in the colony of Macau at the Macau Protestant Chapel, she was ordained priest on 25 January 1944, by Ronald Hall, Bishop of Victoria, in response to the crisis...
, who was ordained on 25 January 1944 by Ronald Hall, Bishop of Victoria, Hong Kong
Bishop of Victoria, Hong Kong
The Bishop of Victoria, Hong Kong was the Ordinary of a corporation sole including Hong Kong and South China that ministered to 20,000 Anglicans....
in response to the crisis among Anglican Christians in China caused by the Japanese invasion. To avoid controversy, she resigned her licence (though not her priestly orders) after the end of the war.
In 1971, again in Hong Kong, Jane Hwang and Joyce Bennett were ordained as priests by Bishop Gilbert Baker
Gilbert Baker (bishop)
John Hyndley Gilbert Baker was bishop of the Anglican Diocese of Hong Kong and Macau from 1966 to 1980.Baker was a British Church Missionary Society missionary in China from the 1920s until after the second world war...
. At the same time, Li Tim-Oi was officially recognised again as a priest.
In 1974, in the United States, 11 women were controversially ordained to the priesthood in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Philadelphia is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the county seat of Philadelphia County, with which it is coterminous. The city is located in the Northeastern United States along the Delaware and Schuylkill rivers. It is the fifth-most-populous city in the United States,...
, by three retired Episcopal Church bishops. Four more women were ordained in 1975 in Washington D.C. All of these ordinations were ruled "irregular" because they had been done without the authorization of the Episcopal Church's General Convention
General Convention of the Episcopal Church in the United States of America
The General Convention is the primary governing and legislative body of the Episcopal Church in the United States of America. With the exception of the Bible, the Book of Common Prayer, and the Constitution and Canons, it is the ultimate authority in the Episcopal Church. General Convention...
.
In 1975, the General Synod of the Anglican Church of Canada (ACC) passed enabling legislation for women priests; the first six women priests in the ACC were ordained in November 1976.
In 1976, the General Convention of the Episcopal Church authorized the ordination of women to the priesthood and the episcopate. At the same time, the previous ordinations were regularized. The first regular ordination occurred on 1 January 1977, when Jacqueline Means was ordained at the Episcopal Church of All Saints
Episcopal Church of All Saints (Indianapolis)
The Episcopal Church of All Saints serves the Old Northside Historic District near downtown Indianapolis. It is distinctive within the diocese for its Anglo-Catholic style of worship, and is historically significant as the first Episcopal Church in the United States to regularly ordain a woman as...
, Indianapolis.
The Church of England
Church of England
The Church of England is the officially established Christian church in England and the Mother Church of the worldwide Anglican Communion. The church considers itself within the tradition of Western Christianity and dates its formal establishment principally to the mission to England by St...
authorized the ordination of woman priests in 1992 and began ordaining them in 1994. The experience of the first women priests and their congregations was the premise of the television program
Television program
A television program , also called television show, is a segment of content which is intended to be broadcast on television. It may be a one-time production or part of a periodically recurring series...
me The Vicar of Dibley
The Vicar of Dibley
The Vicar of Dibley is a British sitcom created by Richard Curtis and written for its lead actress, Dawn French, by Curtis and Paul Mayhew-Archer, with contributions from Kit Hesketh-Harvey. It aired from 1994 to 2007...
. The legality of the ordination of women in the Church of England was challenged in civil courts by Paul Williamson
Paul Williamson (priest)
Paul S. Williamson is a notable Anglo-Catholic priest in the Church of England. He has brought high-profile civil suits in English courts over matters of Anglican faith and practice, including the ordination of women to the priesthood and the legality of the marriage of Charles, Prince of Wales to...
and others.
First woman bishop and primate
The first woman bishop in the Anglican Communion was Barbara Harris, who was ordained suffragan bishop of MassachusettsEpiscopal Diocese of Massachusetts
Episcopal Diocese of MassachusettsThe Episcopal Diocese of Massachusetts is one of the nine original dioceses of the Episcopal Church in the United States of America....
in the United States in February 1989. By November 2009 the Episcopal Church had elected and consecrated 17 women as bishops within the continental United States, most recently the Rt. Rev. Diane Jardine Bruce and the Rt. Rev. Mary Douglas Glasspool, who were elected as suffragan bishops in the Diocese of Los Angeles in December 2009 and consecrated on 15 May 2010. The election of Bishop Glasspool, who is openly gay and lives with her partner of 20 years, has attracted world-wide attention owing to the continued controversy over gay bishops
Gay bishops
The existence of homosexual bishops in the Roman Catholic, Anglican, and other traditions is a matter of historical record, though never, until recently, considered licit by any of the main Christian denominations. Homosexual activity was engaged in secretly. When it was made public, official...
in Anglicanism.
The Episcopal Church has also elected the first woman primate
Primate (religion)
Primate is a title or rank bestowed on some bishops in certain Christian churches. Depending on the particular tradition, it can denote either jurisdictional authority or ceremonial precedence ....
(or senior bishop of a national church
National church
National church is a concept of a Christian church associated with a specific ethnic group or nation state. The idea was notably discussed during the 19th century, during the emergence of modern nationalism....
), the Most Revd Katharine Jefferts Schori
Katharine Jefferts Schori
Katharine Jefferts Schori is the 26th Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church of the United States. Previously elected as the 9th Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Nevada, she is the first woman elected as a primate of the Anglican Communion...
, who was elected as Presiding Bishop and Primate of the Episcopal Church at the 2006 General Convention. She began her nine year term on 3 November 2006.
Only a few other provinces have consecrated women as bishops (although the number of provinces where women bishops are canonically possible is much greater). The situation regarding women's ordination in the Anglican Communion as of July 2010 can be seen in the following table:
| Bishops (consecrated) | Aotearoa, New Zealand and Polynesia Anglican Church in Aotearoa, New Zealand and Polynesia The Anglican Church in Aotearoa, New Zealand and Polynesia is a church of the Anglican Communion serving New Zealand, Fiji, Tonga, Samoa, and the Cook Islands... ; Australia Anglican Church of Australia The Anglican Church of Australia is a member church of the Anglican Communion. It was previously officially known as the Church of England in Australia and Tasmania... ; Canada Anglican Church of Canada The Anglican Church of Canada is the Province of the Anglican Communion in Canada. The official French name is l'Église Anglicane du Canada. The ACC is the third largest church in Canada after the Roman Catholic Church and the United Church of Canada, consisting of 800,000 registered members... ; United States (including Cuba Iglesia Episcopal de Cuba The Episcopal Church of Cuba traces its origins to the foundation of an Anglican presence on the island of Cuba in 1901. It consists of forty-six parishes, and about 10,000 members. It is a part of the Anglican Communion though part of no ecclesiastical province, having the status of an... ) |
|---|---|
| Bishops (none yet consecrated) | Bangladesh Church of Bangladesh The Church of Bangladesh is a church of the Anglican Communion in Bangladesh. It is a united church formed by the union of various Christian churches in the region.The Church of Bangladesh came into being as the outcome of the separation from Pakistan... , Brazil Igreja Episcopal Anglicana do Brasil The Anglican Episcopal Church of Brazil is an ecclesiastical province of the Anglican Communion that covers Brazil.-Dioceses:The province consists of nine dioceses, each headed by a bishop, one of whom is elected as Bispo Primaz , currently Revmº... , Central America Central America Central America is the central geographic region of the Americas. It is the southernmost, isthmian portion of the North American continent, which connects with South America on the southeast. When considered part of the unified continental model, it is considered a subcontinent... , Hong Kong, Ireland Church of Ireland The Church of Ireland is an autonomous province of the Anglican Communion. The church operates in all parts of Ireland and is the second largest religious body on the island after the Roman Catholic Church... , Japan Nippon Sei Ko Kai The Nippon Sei Ko Kai , abbreviated as NSKK, or the Anglican Church in Japan, is the religious body in the Province of Japan of the Anglican Communion.... , Mexico Anglican Church of Mexico The Anglican Church of Mexico is the Anglican province in Mexico, and includes 5 dioceses. The primate is the Presiding Bishop and Bishop of Mexico, The Most Revd... , North India Church of North India The Church of North India , the dominant Protestant denomination in northern India, is a united church established on 29 November 1970 by bringing together the main Protestant churches working in northern India... , Philippines, Scotland Scottish Episcopal Church The Scottish Episcopal Church is a Christian church in Scotland, consisting of seven dioceses. Since the 17th century, it has had an identity distinct from the presbyterian Church of Scotland.... , Southern Africa, Sudan Episcopal Church of the Sudan The Episcopal Church of the Sudan is an autonomous province of the Anglican Communion in Sudan and South Sudan. The province consists of twenty-four dioceses, each headed by a bishop. One of the diocesan bishops is elected to serve as Archbishop of the Sudan, and represent the province to the rest... , Uganda Church of Uganda The Church of the Province of Uganda is a member church of the Anglican Communion. Currently there are 34 dioceses which make up the Church of Uganda, each headed by a bishop.... |
| Priests | Burundi Anglican Church of Burundi The Anglican Church of Burundi is a member Church in the Anglican Communion, located in East Africa between Tanzania, Rwanda, Kenya, and the Congo... , England Church of England The Church of England is the officially established Christian church in England and the Mother Church of the worldwide Anglican Communion. The church considers itself within the tradition of Western Christianity and dates its formal establishment principally to the mission to England by St... , Indian Ocean Church of the Province of the Indian Ocean The Church of the Province of the Indian Ocean is a province of the Anglican Communion. It covers the islands of Madagascar, Mauritius and the Seychelles... , Jerusalem and the Middle East Episcopal Church in Jerusalem and the Middle East The Episcopal Church in Jerusalem and the Middle East is a province of the Anglican Communion stretching from Iran in the east to Algeria in the west, and Cyprus in the north to Somalia in the south. It is the largest and the most diverse Anglican province. The church is headed by a President... , Kenya Anglican Church of Kenya The Anglican Church of Kenya is part of the Anglican Communion, and includes 30 dioceses. The Primate of the Church is the Archbishop of Kenya.-Official name:... , Korea Anglican Church of Korea The Anglican Church of Korea is the province of the Anglican Communion in North and South Korea. Founded in 1889, it has over 120 parish and mission churches with a total membership of roughly 65,000 people.-Birth of the Anglican Church of Korea:... , Rwanda Church of the Province of Rwanda The Church of the Province of Rwanda is a province of the Anglican Communion, covering 9 sees in East Africa. The current primate of the province is Archbishop Onesphore Rwaje, consecrated Dec. 12, 2010.-Official names:... , South India Church of South India The Church of South India is the successor of the Church of England in India. It came into being in 1947 as a union of Anglican and Protestant churches in South India. With a membership of over 3.8 million, it is India's second largest Christian church after the Roman Catholic Church in India... , Wales Church in Wales The Church in Wales is the Anglican church in Wales, composed of six dioceses.As with the primus of the Scottish Episcopal Church, the Archbishop of Wales serves concurrently as one of the six diocesan bishops. The current archbishop is Barry Morgan, the Bishop of Llandaff.In contrast to the... , West Indies Church in the Province of the West Indies The Church in the Province of the West Indies is a member province in the worldwide Anglican Communion. The church comprises eight dioceses spread out over much of the West Indies area. The present position of archbishop and primate of the West Indies is held by The Most Rev. John Holder. The Most... , West Africa Church of the Province of West Africa The Church of the Province of West Africa is a province of the Anglican Communion, covering 15 sees in West Africa, specifically in Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Liberia, Sierra Leone. The current primate of the province is Archbishop Justice Akrofi.-History:... |
| Deacons | Southern Cone Iglesia Anglicana del Cono Sur de las Americas The Anglican Church of the Southern Cone of America is the ecclesiastical province of the Anglican Communion that covers the countries of Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Paraguay, Peru and Uruguay.... , Congo Province de L'Eglise Anglicane Du Congo The Province de L'Eglise Anglicane Du Congo is a province of the Anglican Communion, stretching over the Republic of Congo and the Democratic Republic of Congo. It includes eight dioceses . The Most Revd Dr Dirokpa Balufuga Fidele is the current primate and archbishop of the Anglican Province of... , Pakistan Church of Pakistan The Church of Pakistan is a united church in Pakistan, which is part of the Anglican Communion and a member church of the World Methodist Council. It was established in 1970 with a union of Anglicans, Scottish Presbyterians , Methodists, and Lutherans. It is the only United Church in the South... |
| No ordination of women | Central Africa Church of the Province of Central Africa The Church of the Province of Central Africa is part of the Anglican Communion, and includes 15 dioceses in Botswana, Malawi, Zambia and Zimbabwe. The Primate of the Church is the Archbishop of Central Africa; Albert Chama is the current Archbishop, being installed on 20 March 2011, succeeding... , Melanesia Church of the Province of Melanesia The Church of the Province of Melanesia is part of the Anglican Communion, and includes 8 dioceses. The Primate of the Church is the Archbishop of Melanesia The Most Rev'd David Vunagi.- Official name :... , Nigeria Church of Nigeria The Church of Nigeria is the Anglican church in Nigeria. It is the second-largest province in the Anglican Communion, as measured by baptized membership, after the Church of England. It gives its current membership as "over 18 million", out of a total Nigerian population of 140 million.Since 2002... , Papua New Guinea Anglican Church of Papua New Guinea The Anglican Church of Papua New Guinea became a discrete province of the Anglican Communion when the Anglican Province of Papua New Guinea was separated from the Anglican ecclesiastical Province of Queensland, Australia, in 1976 following Papua New Guinea's independence from Australia in 1975. Its... , South East Asia Church of the Province of South East Asia The Church of the Province of South East Asia, a member church of the Anglican Communion, was created in 1996, comprising the four dioceses of Kuching, Sabah, Singapore and West Malaysia... , Tanzania Anglican Church of Tanzania The Anglican Church of Tanzania is a member of the Anglican Communion based in Dodoma. It consists of 26 dioceses headed by their respective bishops. It seceded from the Province of East Africa in 1970, which it shared with Kenya... |
Anglican Church in Aotearoa, New Zealand and Polynesia
The Anglican Church in Aotearoa, New Zealand and PolynesiaAnglican Church in Aotearoa, New Zealand and Polynesia
The Anglican Church in Aotearoa, New Zealand and Polynesia is a church of the Anglican Communion serving New Zealand, Fiji, Tonga, Samoa, and the Cook Islands...
first ordained women as priests in 1977, and was the first Anglican province to elect a woman as a diocesan bishop when in 1989 the Right Revd Penny Jamieson
Penny Jamieson
Penelope Ann Bansall "Penny" Jamieson DCNZM was the seventh Bishop of Dunedin in the Anglican Church of New Zealand from 1989 until her retirement in 2004...
was elected Bishop of Dunedin. She retired in 2004. Then in 2008 the Diocese of Christchurch elected the Right Revd Victoria Matthews
Victoria Matthews
Victoria Matthews is Bishop of Christchurch in the Anglican Church in Aotearoa, New Zealand, and Polynesia. At her ordination to the episcopate in 1994, she became the first ever female bishop in the Anglican Church of Canada.- Life :...
, former Bishop of Edmonton
Anglican Diocese of Edmonton
The Diocese of Edmonton is a diocese of the Ecclesiastical Province of Rupert's Land of the Anglican Church of Canada. The diocese comprises almost 78,000 square kilometres of the civil Province of Alberta, consisting of a band across the central part of the province, extending to the borders of...
in the Anglican Church of Canada
Anglican Church of Canada
The Anglican Church of Canada is the Province of the Anglican Communion in Canada. The official French name is l'Église Anglicane du Canada. The ACC is the third largest church in Canada after the Roman Catholic Church and the United Church of Canada, consisting of 800,000 registered members...
, as 8th Bishop of Christchurch.
Anglican Church of Canada
Following the first ordinations of women as priests in 1976, the first woman bishop in the Anglican Church of Canada was the Right Revd Victoria MatthewsVictoria Matthews
Victoria Matthews is Bishop of Christchurch in the Anglican Church in Aotearoa, New Zealand, and Polynesia. At her ordination to the episcopate in 1994, she became the first ever female bishop in the Anglican Church of Canada.- Life :...
. She was elected suffragan bishop
Suffragan bishop
A suffragan bishop is a bishop subordinate to a metropolitan bishop or diocesan bishop. He or she may be assigned to an area which does not have a cathedral of its own.-Anglican Communion:...
in the Diocese of Toronto
Diocese of Toronto
Diocese of Toronto may refer to:*Anglican Diocese of Toronto*Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Toronto...
on 19 November 1993 and was ordained to the episcopate on 12 February 1994. She later was the first woman elected as a diocesan bishop in Canada when she was elected as Bishop of Edmonton
Anglican Diocese of Edmonton
The Diocese of Edmonton is a diocese of the Ecclesiastical Province of Rupert's Land of the Anglican Church of Canada. The diocese comprises almost 78,000 square kilometres of the civil Province of Alberta, consisting of a band across the central part of the province, extending to the borders of...
in 1997, an office she held until 2007 when she resigned. She was subsequently elected Bishop of Christchurch in the Anglican Church in Aotearoa, New Zealand and Polynesia in 2008.
Since Bishop Matthews’ election, as of March 2010, six more women have been elected to the episcopate in Canada. They are the Right Revd Ann Tottenham (suffragan, Toronto, 1997); the Right Revd Sue Moxley (suffragan, Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island, 2004; diocesan, 2007); the Right Revd Jane Alexander (diocesan, Edmonton, 2008); the Right Revd Linda Nicholls (suffragan, Toronto, 2008); the Right Revd Barbara Andrews (Bishop Suffragan to the Metropolitan with responsibilities for the Anglican Parishes of the Central Interior, 2009); and the Right Revd Lydia Mamakwa (Area Bishop for Northern Ontario within the Diocese of Keewatin, with special responsibility for the predominantly aboriginal parishes of the area, 2010).
Anglican Church of Australia
The Anglican Church of AustraliaAnglican Church of Australia
The Anglican Church of Australia is a member church of the Anglican Communion. It was previously officially known as the Church of England in Australia and Tasmania...
began to ordain women as priests in 1992, and in the late 1990s embarked on a protracted debate over the ordination of women as bishops, a debate that was ultimately decided though the church's Appellate Tribunal, which ruled on 28 September 2007 that there is nothing in the church’s constitution that would prevent the consecration of a woman priest as a bishop in a diocese which by ordinance has adopted the law of the Church of England Clarification Canon 1992, which paved the way for the ordination of women as priests. Following the agreement at the April 2008 Bishops' Conference of the "Women in the Episcopate" protocol for the provision of pastoral care to those who cannot in conscience accept the ministry of a woman bishop, the first women ordained as bishops were the Right Revd Kay Goldsworthy
Kay Goldsworthy
Kay Goldsworthy is a bishop of the Anglican Diocese of Perth, Western Australia. In April 2008 she was chosen to become an assistant bishop in the diocese by the Archbishop of Perth, Roger Herft...
(Assistant Bishop, Diocese of Perth) on 22 May 2008, and the Right Revd Barbara Darling (Assistant Bishop, Anglican Diocese of Melbourne
Anglican Diocese of Melbourne
The Anglican Diocese of Melbourne is the metropolitan diocese of the Province of Victoria in the Anglican Church of Australia. The diocese includes the urban cities of Melbourne and Geelong and also some more rural areas. The cathedral church is St Paul's Cathedral, Melbourne...
) on 31 May 2008.
Scottish Episcopal Church
The Scottish Episcopal ChurchScottish Episcopal Church
The Scottish Episcopal Church is a Christian church in Scotland, consisting of seven dioceses. Since the 17th century, it has had an identity distinct from the presbyterian Church of Scotland....
ordained its first women as priests in 1994, and in 2003 provided for the ordination of women as bishops. The nomination of the Revd Canon Dr Alison Peder as one of three nominees for election as Bishop of Glasgow and Galloway
Bishop of Glasgow and Galloway
The Bishop of Glasgow and Galloway is the ordinary of the Scottish Episcopal Diocese of Glasgow and Galloway.__FORCETOC__- Brief history :...
in January 2010 attracted wide attention, and although Dr Peder was not elected, her nomination was regarded as highly significant for Anglicanism in the United Kingdom.
Church of England
In 2005, 2006 and 2008 the General Synod of the Church of EnglandGeneral Synod of the Church of England
The General Synod is the deliberative and legislative body of the Church of England. The synod was instituted in 1970, replacing the Church Assembly, and is the culmination of a process of rediscovering self-government for the Church of England that had started in the 1850s.- Church Assembly: 1919...
voted in favour of removing the legal obstacles preventing women from becoming bishops. The process is currently underway but is not progressing quickly due to problems in providing appropriate mechanisms for the protection of those who cannot accept this development. On 7 July 2008 the synod held a more than seven hour debate on the subject and narrowly voted in favour of a national statutory code of practice to make provision for opponents, though more radical provisions (such as separate structures or overseeing bishops) proposed by opponents of the measure failed to win the majority required across each of the three houses (bishops, clergy and laity).
The task of taking this proposal further fell largely to a revision committee established by the synod to consider the draft legislation on enabling women to become bishops in the Church of England. When, in October 2009, the revision committee released a statement indicating its proposals would include a plan to vest some functions by law in male bishops who would provide oversight for those unable to receive ministry of women as bishops or priests, there was widespread concern both within and outside the Church of England about the appropriateness of such legislation. In the light of the negative reaction to the proposal, the revision committee subsequently announced the abandonment of this recommendation.
The synod, meeting in York, from 9–12 July 2010, considered a measure that again endorsed the ordination of women as bishops. The measure included provisions for individual bishops to allow alternative oversight for traditionalists who object to serving under them, but opponents of the measure argued for stronger provisions. A compromise plan put forward by the Archbishops of Canterbury and York (involving the creation of a mechanism providing for "co-ordinate jurisdiction" in parishes unable to receive the ministry of a female bishop whereby a male bishop would fulfil episcopal function) was endorsed by the House of Bishops and the House of Laity but narrowly failed (90 votes against to 85 in favour) in the House of Clergy. The measure, with only minor amendments, passed in all three houses on 12 July 2010. The measure is now due to be considered by individual dioceses which are required to report back by 2012 ahead of a final vote.
Church in Wales
On 2 April 2008, the Governing Body of the Church in WalesChurch in Wales
The Church in Wales is the Anglican church in Wales, composed of six dioceses.As with the primus of the Scottish Episcopal Church, the Archbishop of Wales serves concurrently as one of the six diocesan bishops. The current archbishop is Barry Morgan, the Bishop of Llandaff.In contrast to the...
considered, but did not pass, a bill to enable women to be ordained as bishops. Though the bill was passed by the House of Laity (52 to 19) and the House of Bishops (unanimously), it failed by three votes (27 to 18) to secure the required minimum two-thirds majority in the House of Clerics. The Archbishop of Wales, the Most Revd Barry Morgan, expects the issue to be debated again in 2011. However the Church in Wales decisively ended the role of provincial bishop whose responsibility was to minister to opponents.
Church of Ireland
The Church of IrelandChurch of Ireland
The Church of Ireland is an autonomous province of the Anglican Communion. The church operates in all parts of Ireland and is the second largest religious body on the island after the Roman Catholic Church...
approved the ordination of women as priests and bishops in 1990, and ordained its first women as priests in that year. No women have yet been ordained to the episcopate.
Extraprovincial churches
In addition to the 38 provinces of the Anglican Communion, there are six Extra-provincial Anglican churchesExtra-provincial Anglican churches
The extra-provincial Anglican churches are a group of small, semi-independent church entities within the Anglican Communion. Unlike the larger member churches of the Communion, extra-provincial churches are not part of an ecclesiastical province and are, in most cases, subject to the metropolitical...
which function semi-autonomously under limited metropolitical oversight and are largely self-determining when it comes to the ordained ministry. Several have provided for the ordination of women as priests for some years.
The Episcopal Church of Cuba is the only extra-provincial church to ordain women as bishops, the first of whom was the Right Revd Nerva Cot Aguilera who was appointed as a bishop suffragan in 2007. Bishop Aguilera was appointed by the Metropolitan Council, the ecclesiastical authority for the Episcopal Church of Cuba which in January 2010 appointed the Right Revd Griselda Delgato Del Carpio (who, along with Bishop Aguilera, was one of the first two women priests ordained in Cuba in 1986) as bishop coadjutor (assistant bishop with the right of succession). She was ordained to the episcopate on 7 February 2010, and will be installed as diocesan following the retirement of the present incumbent, the Right Revd Miguel Tamayo-Zaldívar, later in 2010.