WATCH conference and the conscience provisions
Letters to the Editor, Church Times:
From the Bishops of Blackburn, Chichester, and Fulham
Sir, — The implications of the recent WATCH conference, Not Equal Yet (News, 26 April), are profoundly troubling.
Is WATCH now committed to the view that the 2014 settlement on women bishops was “an error of judgement” and calling for the withdrawal of any structural provision for those who rightfully have extended episcopal oversight through legitimate theological conviction?
That settlement drew from years of reflection and subsequent intense mediation after the failed General Synod vote in November 2012. Those who agreed the settlement did so knowingly, and with a clear understanding that there would be an impairment in our communion. but not complete schism. It was the compromise that we all had to make in the Church of England and believed to be justified.
That settlement built on the earlier provision that accompanied the ordination of women as priests, and in both cases gives an assurance that until the theological differences are reconciled, the provision for those who seek such sacramental assurance is secure. We believe that this has enabled the Church to witness to a way of living with difference in a divided world — at a time when so much public life is in turmoil — and how honest inquiry with our doctrine can enrich us and our collective mission.
The suggestion that this is to be withdrawn from a significant body of laity and clergy who serve the tradition that they inhabit is a matter of grave concern, and particularly the idea that it could simply be discarded overnight. There are legislative, along with ecumenical, dimensions to consider here (clearly outlined in Chapter 2 of the Rochester report, 2005). The commitment of the Church of England to the full visible unity of the one Church of Jesus Christ is not an insincere excuse for our theological convictions about the ordination of women.
We have always hoped for a far more constructive narrative, and one that might respect the necessary space in the Church of England for all people to live with difference and mutual recognition of God’s grace at work in us. The process might not yet have reached perfection, but it cannot be shown to have failed completely.
All three of us gladly minister alongside female bishops, and we dare to believe that our ministry together offers some sign that the commitment, costly all round, to persevering in seeking the greatest level of communion possible has neither been mistaken nor an “error of judgement”.
PHILIP BLACKBURN, MARTIN CICESTR:, JONATHAN FULHAM
c/o Bishop’s House
Ribchester Road
Blackburn BB1 9EF
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