Could Rose be the first female Bishop in the Church of England
Rose Hudson-Wilkin is an articulate, charismatic woman. It’s easy to see why she’s probably the leading contender to become the Church of England’s first woman bishop, but she would like to make something clear. It will have to be on equal terms. “No woman in her right mind will accept becoming a bishop unless she is able to do so on the same basis as a man,” she insists, calmly and clearly, but in words that will sound like a battle cry to traditionalists.
The long and emotive fight over this issue is about to reach a key moment, as the Church’s governing body meets in London this week. The General Synod is likely to approve legislation that will see women promoted within two years – but opponents are attempting to change the way the new church law will work.
They are seeking an amendment that will give them the legal right to ignore the authority of any female bishop, bypass her completely and elect to be led by a male one instead. “It is like apartheid,” says Hudson-Wilkin, who was born in Jamaica. “A lot of these guys are saying, 'Oh, we accept that women have got to be made bishops, it’s just that we don’t really want them to minister to us.’ It’s not that dissimilar from those who said, 'OK, we accept that apartheid needs to be abolished but can we just have one bus which is white only, so we can ride in it?’ ”
So would she be prepared to serve as a bishop on those terms? “No,” she says flatly. She would turn the job down? “Absolutely.”
Other leading candidates such as Lucy Winkett, Rector of St James’s, Piccadilly, are thought to agree, but would some women be willing to accept the conditions? “I hope there won’t be. It will be very sad if there are.”
This is fighting talk from a woman who admits she used to keep a cricket bat by the front door of her vicarage in east London in wait for aggressive midnight callers. But the 51-year-old from Montego Bay is no bruiser. She’s a sophisticated operator who is able to move between worlds, beginning each day in a parish where gang members roam and social deprivation is high, then travelling by bus to the Palace of Westminster to act as chaplain to the Speaker of the House of Commons.
Posted by Amanda Hopkins
Extract from http://www.telegraph.co.uk
Your Comments
posted by pauline on 05-02-2012
the anglican church becomes more like a farce everyday.They oviously dont believe the Bible is the inspired Word of God
posted by steven windsor on 07-02-2012
i agree with the comment above, the anglian church is becoming a farce, and its happening on Rowan Williams watch, he needs to go.
posted by roberto on 10-02-2012
It says in the holy book god called matthew,mark, luke, and john, all of the 12 apostles were all men called from different back grounds.{is this women can do what men can do}this happens to be the way most people are thinking these days. The problem with the church of england they make rules up as they go along to fit with how they want it to be run. I have experienced problems with the church of england were i have atteneded selection to entre the lay ministery, and there have been people of of more proffestional jobs than myself. when the introdution was given off all the candiats and it came to myself and I stated what I did you could have cut the air with a knife. this showed that the church was not intrested in common people like myself,that is why a lot of people have gone over the the catholic church because they do except you no matter what back ground you come from and what level of knowledge you understand everyone is equal. Rules do still apply based from the vatican and saint peter one of christ aposles. It just shows that people need to look into the history of the church of england and why that chain was broken from the holy seat.
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