Entrenched opposition to women’s ordination is still blocking the Church of England’s attempts to improve diversity among its senior leadership, its ruling general synod was told today.
The Archbishop of York said the CofE was beset with a ‘spiritual problem’ in its failure to appoint more women and black, asian and ethnic minority clergy to high profile roles and insisted the Church must do more.
It came after Caroline Spelman MP, who as second church estates commissioners acts as a liaison between the government and the Church, said she came under regular pressure from the House of Commons, including the speaker John Bercow, to ‘get on with it’ in improving diversity.