When the Rev. Bob Honeychurch learned that the Episcopal Church’s presiding bishop was calling for staff culture reform after firing two senior administrators for misconduct, he had a hunch what some of those cultural issues might be.
From 2008 to 2012, Honeychurch served on the national church staff, where he heard accounts of gender bias on multiple occasions. Women were excluded from important decision-making, Honeychurch said, even when they held high offices and had relevant skills and experience to offer. Respecting female colleagues as equals wasn’t the norm.
“They weren’t treated with the same level of respect as the men,” said Honeychurch, 59, who now teaches church leadership at Bloy House, The Episcopal Theological School at Claremont. “There are female members of the church center staff who expressed their concerns in my presence, and I have to take those concerns seriously.”
“Gender bias”? That sounds considerably more vague than the sort of thing which would cause suspensions and firing. And isn’t it ironic to hear this about a church which has been gung-ho on ordaining women to the extent that those who disagree with the concept have been driven out?
I am not in a position to say this was not what happened, but considering other events it seems an unusual cause for the firings. Were I to guess, I would say that this article may have been produced because someone wanted something on the subject at that moment in time and they found someone to interview who was willing to have their name in the news. Or, perhaps, it’s a poor attempt at spinning the story away from what really happened.
Those aren’t mutually exclusive reasons.