transformations theology and experience of women’s ministry
TRANSCRIPT
TransformationsTheology and Experience
of Women’s Ministry
Introduction
Key Messages from the Transformations Conference
1. Celebrate the presence of women as ordained ministers of the Church.2. Engage institutional levers in Ministry Division & Synod to change the dominant
male pattern and culture of ordained ministry.3. Monitor and Encourage Research.4. Pay attention to ways of increasing flexibility in patterns of stipendiary ministry
and the needs of clergy couples.5. Acknowledge & address theological incoherence that feeds discriminatory
culture & practices.6. Invite the Faith & Order Commission to work on a prophetic theology of gender.7. Encourage the Liturgical Commission in the use of a broader & more inclusive
range of metaphors for God in worship.8. Prepare to welcome women to the House of Bishops & invite women bishops
from other provinces to facilitate the House of Bishops meetings before the first consecrations here.
Research and Statistics
What is encouraging
WOMEN AS A PERCENTAGE OF THOSE IN ORDAINED MINISTRY
2000
16%
84%
Clergy numbers
Women Men
2011
31%
69%
Clergy numbers
Women Men
WOMEN IN ORDAINED MINISTRY 2000 to 2010
SSM ordinations
Stipendiary ordinations
Ordinations
Self-supporting Ministers (SSMs)
Diocesan PT clergy
Diocesan FT clergy
Deans, Archdeacons, Cathedrals
Incumbents / Incumbent status
64
39
52
53
50
21
15
18
59
29
42
36
0
12
4
9
Women as a percentage of each category
2000 2010
WOMEN BEING ORDAINED TO STIPENDIARY MINISTRY
2000
29%
71%
Stipendiary ordinations
Women Men
2011
39%
61%
Stipendiary ordinations
Women Men
WOMEN ARCHDEACONS AND DEANS 2011
15%
85%
Archdeacons
Women Men
11%
89%
Cathedral Deans
Women Men
Areas for concern
PERCENTAGE OF FEMALE INCUMBENTS
18%
82%
2010
Women Men
PERCENTAGE OF FEMALE STIPENDIARY ORDINATIONS
39%
61%
2010
Women Men
CANDIDATES RECOMMENDED FOR ORDINATION BY AGE AND GENDER
20102009200820072006200520042003200220012000
0 2 4 6 8 101214161816
1314
1211
1210
111111
14
52
33
433
444
6
Candidates aged 20-29
WomenMen
% of total candidates
20102009200820072006200520042003200220012000
0 4 8 12 16 201515
1718
1615
1315
1216
19
38
78
977
89
108
Candidates aged 30-39
WomenMen
% of total candidates
STIPENDIARY AND SELF SUPPORTING CLERGY BY GENDER
53%47%
Women
Stipendiary SSM
82%
18%
Men
Stipendiary SSM
DEPLOYMENT OF SSMs
53% of Self Supporting Ministers are women(2010 figure)
• A quarter put in more than 30 hours a week• A further fifth contribute between 20-30 hours a week• Only 15% spend less than 10 hours a week on their ministry
But:• 46% have only held one post since ordination• 41% report no change in their ministry during that time• Only 13% have lead responsibility for their ministry in their parish or
chaplaincy• Almost a quarter have received no ministerial review.
ORDINANDS TRAINING AT COLLEGES FOR STIPENDIARY MINISTRY
LlandaffWycliffe Hall
Westcott HouseTrinity College
St.John's NottinghamSt. Stephen's Oxford
Ripon College, CuddesdonRidley Hall
Queen's Foundation (College)Oak HillMirfield
Cranmer Hall
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70
WomenMen
Sponsored Church of England ordinands 2011/12
ORDINANDS TRAINING IN COLLEGES AND ON COURSES
Sponsored Church of England ordinands 2011/2012
College - Stipendiary
28%
College - SSM
2%Course
- Stipendiary21%
Course - SSM49%
Women College 30%; Course 70%
College - Stipen-diary57%
College - SSM2%
Course - Stipen-diary14%
Course - SSM27%
Men College 59%;Course 41%
WOMEN IN SENIOR OFFICE
15%
85%
2010
Women Men
WOMEN IN SENIOR OFFICE BY PROVINCE 2011
Canterbury
Cathedral Deans
Archdeacons
20
68
4
14
Men WomenYork
Cathedral Deans
Archdeacons
12
26
0
3
Men Women
SENIOR OFFICE APPLICATION PROCESS 2010 – Present
13 Decanal vacancies• 10 % of 268 people considered at the
“application” stage were women• No women applied for 5 of the vacancies• 25% of 43 people shortlisted were women,
for posts where women applied• 23% of the 13 people appointed were women
GAPS IN CURRENT RESEARCH
• What happens to women when they are ordained?
• Numbers leaving and the reasons for this?• What happens to SSMs and NSMs?• Numbers of male and female Area and Rural
Deans• Statistics on ordained clergy couples• Analysis of impact of training mode on women’s
consequent careers in the Church
The factors that shape statistics
WHAT IS ENCOURAGING
‘There has been much progress … where people have seen competent women in ministry, observed women being appointed to some positions senior or taking on higher profile roles, and, to some extent, have simply got used to an unfamiliar idea.’
WHAT IS ENCOURAGING
• Number of women as a percentage of those being ordained.
• Percentage of woman now being ordained to stipendiary ministry.
• Increasing numbers of women Archdeacons (and Deans).
AREAS FOR CONCERN
‘We are still in the habit of speaking of women’s ministry as a problem rather than a blessing. We need to find ways of appreciating the gifts that women bring. Alongside this we need a theology of diversity and theology of leadership which celebrates gender differences rather than always problematising them.’
Women are still in a minority in stipendiary ministry
‘I decided to become NSM but I feel like I was pushed into this because the long hours mean that I just won’t see my boys grow up otherwise. I still want to be a full time priest but with a husband who works full time I can’t see how we can do that. I feel disillusioned and fairly stuck … I want to go back into full time ministry; I want to be challenged and intellectually stimulated. I want responsibility and to go as far as God wants me to go, but I also want a family life.’
Very few young women are offering themselves for ordination
‘There is still a lack of women clergy in incumbencies and other senior posts which means a lack of role models for envisioning young women for ministry.’
Low numbers of women in Evangelical and Anglo Catholic Colleges
‘Churches with a strong evangelical tradition in particular are calling out young men while not giving the same encouragement to young women’
Bias towards Course rather than College training for women
‘Those part-timers who are self-supporting (more of these are women) suffer from low expectations of them (no-one is expecting future leaders to emerge from such a situation)…’
Low percentage of women in senior office
‘I think we need a profound rethink about our models of leadership. Whilst most appointments intend to be open to women, the qualities they are looking for, are still Alpha Male.’
Women experience appointments processes as problematic
‘There is a workaholic streak in ministry which is difficult to counter without it being attributed to gender and being perceived as a weakness and an inability to cope.’
A word on context:
Living with Theological Incoherence – an ambivalent culture for ordained women
‘One of the reasons that I work in sector ministry is that they have to abide by anti-discrimination laws. During my time through selection, through training and as a curate, I was made to feel like a second-class citizen. I couldn’t even imagine going back to parish life and having to deal with all the hassle’
‘At the Oils Mass in Holy Week, women priests are asked to wear choir robes so that no-one will be able to tell which women are priests and which are not. They were also directed to do so for the ordinations...’
A word on context:
Living with Theological Incoherence – an ambivalent culture for ordained women
What we are asking of the bishops
What we are asking of the bishops
1. Create a culture of drawing out people’s gifts
2. Address the issue of flexibility in patterns of ministry
3. As the College of Bishops re-visits clause 5(1)c...
4. Commission Research
5. Set up an implementation group