Church divided over promotion of bishop who opposes ordination of women as priests

Jan 12, 2023 by Jill

by Rosie Dawson, Religion Media Centre:

Philip North, 56, the Bishop of Burnley, is to be “translated” (churchspeak for “promoted”) to become the next Bishop of Blackburn.

For the Church of England there is an unusual amount of agreement on one issue: Philip North is a very nice man.

There is rather less agreement within the Church of England about whether this is a good idea.

The Church of England has been ordaining women as priests since 1994 and as bishops since 2015. Bishop North is one of a small number of bishops who refuse to ordain women. This had proved a stumbling block in his career. In 2012 he was appointed Bishop of Whitby but withdrew after protests. He became Bishop of Burnley in 2015, but when it was announced two years later that he was to move to Sheffield, there was an outcry, and he again withdrew. Friends say the experience shattered him.

The legislation passed by General Synod to approve women’s ordination in 1993 introduced so-called “flying bishops”. Their job is to minister to clergy and congregations across the country who are unable to accept women’s priestly ministry. But most priests are cared for and overseen by their diocesan bishop and his or her suffragans.

Martin Warner of Chichester is now the only diocesan bishop who will not ordain women. While Blackburn diocese has historically been conservative on this issue, Julian Henderson — who retired as bishop there last summer — did ordain them. Bishop North’s appointment is therefore seen by some as a backwards step.

Those who object to the ordination of women as priests tend to fall into two categories. On the one hand there are those, often of an evangelical persuasion, whose reading of Scripture leads them to argue that women should not be placed in positions of authority over men.

On the other, there are those on the more Catholic wing of the church, who argue that the Church of England cannot unilaterally take decisions which they believe should be made by the whole church (meaning the Roman Catholic, Orthodox and wider Anglican churches).

Bishop North falls into the second camp. Even so, there are those who say they cannot quite grasp the nuance of his position. While he says he cannot in conscience ordain women to the priesthood, he does “not doubt the validity of those orders that the Church of England bestows on female candidates and I hold their ministry to be transformative and grace-filled”.

Three clergy and three laypeople from the diocese served on the Crown Nominations Commission, the body responsible for making this appointment. They will have taken soundings from parishes about their experiences of working with Bishop North. It is unlikely that he could have taken on a more senior role in a diocese where he was not already well known and respected.

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