Vicki Wells, churchwarden at St Peter’s, Hale, where Lane has served for the past seven years, said: “Our congregation has increased threefold since she came here. It speaks for itself.”
Amid what is seen as a happy pre-Christmas tonic for the C of E, which took lots of public criticism as the bishop debate dragged on, Reform, the conservative evangelical network, was a lone contrarian voice. “Though it grieves us it comes as no surprise,” said Prebendary Rod Thomas, Reform’s chair.
Behind the scenes, Archbishop Welby has lobbied and worked with great energy to win the case for women as bishops. His right-hand agent was Canon David Porter, a seasoned negotiator whose work in Northern Ireland crafted a peace formula there. Porter needed to overcome misgivings of conservative evangelicals and Anglo-Catholics. He did so by gathering key players in one room to hammer out a compact their constituents could support, having blocked earlier legislation in the synod in November 2012. Welby has said that he hopes the House of Bishops will have a 50/50 male-female balance within 15 years.
[blockquote] “Reform, the conservative evangelical network, was a lone contrarian voice.” [/blockquote]
No it wasn’t – so much for an objective article. Firstly, Forward in Faith were gracious (as was Reform for that matter) but I cannot see how a rational person would view their press release as anything but “contrarian”, i.e. its members do not accept that Libby Lane is a bishop validly consecrated in God’s church.
Secondly, the society of Hilda and Wilfrid is making enquiries with a view to ascertaining those priests who do not trace any of their ordination or authority from women priests or bishops. The reasoning behind that should be obvious.
Finally, there are many congregations in CofE who do not permit women in positions of church leadership. They are not hard to spot – generally those churches which specifically state on their web-site that they believe in Canon A5 (i.e. scripture, creeds, prayer book and articles) will also have only males in leadership roles. At least some of these churches have no connection with Reform but do not intend to accept the ministry of a woman bishop.
[blockquote] “Porter needed to overcome misgivings of conservative evangelicals and Anglo-Catholics. He did so by gathering key players in one room to hammer out a compact their constituents could support, having blocked earlier legislation in the synod in November 2012.” [/blockquote]
My understanding is that Canon Porter did not need to “overcome misgivings of conservative evangelicals and Anglo-catholics”, nor did he attempt to do so. It was liberals who voted down the women bishops in November 2012, and it was those liberals that David Porter had to win over this time.
The CofE hierarchy think they can weather any fall-out from the real orthodox evangelicals and Anglo-catholics. Perhaps they are right. It is up to those evangelicals and Anglo-catholics who do believe what the scriptures teach about a male priesthood and episcopacy to demonstrate that they are prepared to take steps to secure the truth. In the end, that path leads to one conclusion – the conservatives have to be prepared to shoulder full responsibility for the re-evangelization of England, and they have to do that in such a way that their work cannot be hijacked by the CofE hierarchy. That will take dedication, courage and hard work – are they prepared to do that?