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Subject: Ordination Is Voted For Women;Church of England Narrowly Approves Historic
Date: Thu, 12 Nov 92 04:42:06 EST
Message-ID: <6.1992Nov12.044207@AmeriCast.com>

Ordination Is Voted For Women;Church of England Narrowly Approves
Historic Change<By Gustav Niebuhr<Washington Post Staff Writer<

The Church of England voted by a narrow margin yesterday to or-
dain women as priests in one of its most historic decisions since
it broke away from Rome five centuries ago.  The decision ends a
long disparity in practice between the church and its American
counterpart, the Episcopal Church, which is a member of the 70-
million-strong worldwide Anglican communion and which began or-
daining women in 1977.

The vote by the church's General Synod, its governing body, fol-
lowed five hours of often emotional debate by bishops, clergy and
laypersons gathered in Church House, next to London's famed West-
minster Abbey.  Some clergy voiced concern that the move could
hurtle the 450-year-old institution toward schism by prompting an
exodus from the church of angry traditionalists who contend the
decision violates Biblical injunctions, according to wire reports
from London.

In the end, the ordination decision, under discussion for two de-
cades, passed with only two votes to spare in the synod's House
of Laity, which had been the most resistant to women's ordination
of the three-tiered synod. The vote was 169 to 82, with a two-
thirds majority required for approval, church spokesman Eric She-
gog said in a telephone interview. The measure passed by greater
margins in the synod's House of Bishops and House of Clergy.

The measure now moves to Parliament and to Queen Elizabeth II,
the church's temporal head, for their approval.  Shegog said ap-
proval is expected but that the process could take a year.  She-
gog said both clerics and laity heard the final tally in silence,
bowing to a request by Archbishop of Canterbury George Carey,
spiritual leader of the Anglican communion, about 12 of whose 28
self-governing national church bodies already ordain women as
priests. "It was received in an almost reverential atmosphere,"
Shegog said of the voting result.

But outside Church House, a gathering of more than 200 supporters
of women's ordination took the news in a considerably more fes-
tive spirit, singing hymns, lighting candles and cheering those
who had voted for the measure when they emerged from the build-
ing, according to persons who were present.

The historic decision will almost certainly complicate the Church
of England's relations with the Roman Catholic Church, from which
it split in 1534, after King Henry VIII was unable to persuade
Pope Clement VII to allow him to divorce his first wife, Cather-
ine of Aragon.

The two churches have been negotiating since 1966 for closer re-
lations, but the Vatican adamantly opposes ordination of women to
the priesthood, arguing that Jesus chose only men as his apos-
tles. Rome made it clear in recent years that it would look on
any move in that direction by the English church with great dis-
favor.

A Vatican statement issued after yesterday's vote said the Church
of England's decision "constitutes a new and grave obstacle to
the entire process of reconciliation."

The vote brought jubilation from many on this side of the Atlan-
tic. The Most Rev. Edmond L.  Browning, presiding bishop of the
2.4-million-member Episcopal Church, said in a statement he was
"thrilled almost beyond words." The Rev. Carol Crumley, canon
pastor at Washington's National Cathedral, said in an interview
that she was "stunned and speechless - this was something we had
hoped for and prayed for for years."

The denomination will consecrate its second female bishop, the
Rev. Jane Holmes Dixon, as suffragan bishop of Washington at the
cathedral on Nov. 19.

Immediately affected by the Church of England's vote are the more
than 1,300 women who serve as deacons, a rank that entitles them
to carry out many religious tasks but bars them from the key pri-
estly Traditionalist bishops and parishes have been provided es-
cape clauses.<



duties of presiding at the Eucharist, or Lord's Supper; from
offering churchgoers absolution for their sins; and from saying a
general blessing at church services. These women will be eligible
for ordination as priests if the church's decision is approved by
Parliament and the queen.

One of the women affected is the Rev. June Osborne, a deacon who
serves two East London parishes and who voted for the ordination
measure as one of 25 female members of the synod's House of Cler-
gy. "I feel it's a moment of historic change for the Church of
England," Osborne, 39, said in a telephone interview. "It has
felt a very long road to this day."

She said supporters of women's ordination were deeply concerned
that the measure might be killed by the House of Laity, which had
held a separate vote on the issue last July. At that time, 61
percent of the house's members voted in favor - short of the
necessary two-thirds majority. "People have very clearly changed
their minds in just the last four months," she said.

But Osborne said her own feelings of joy were tempered by an
awareness that many church traditionalists who opposed women's
ordination were in anguish over the vote. "There's not one of us
in the synod who doesn't have friends who are deeply pained by
the decision," she said, adding that one bishop had threatened
during the debate to resign if women's ordination was approved.

In an attempt to help these men adjust to the change, the authors
of the ordination measure wrote in a significant clause that al-
lows traditionalist bishops to abstain from ordaining women as
priests in their jurisdictions, or dioceses, if they object to
the measure, said Shegog. In addition, traditionalist parishes
are provided their own escape clause, being allowed to accept
only men as rectors. Severance provisions have also been made for
those priests who wish to resign in the aftermath of yesterday's
decision.

"The hope is the church will change over time," as resistance by
traditionalists dies away, and "as it experiences the ministry of
women in the priesthood, (the church) will less and less need
those safeguards," Osborne said.<02:07 11-12C9999-----

Copyright 1992, The Washington Post.  This story is from the
Washington Post's Capitol Edition On-Line and is not to be ar-
chived or redistributed.

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