At the end of this month, two events will occur in the Anglican Church of Australia by which it will begin to catch up with The Episcopal Church and will forge 'ahead' of the Church of England. The two events will be two purported consecrations of women to the episcopate.
The announcements were made last month, when first the Archbishop of Perth announced the appointment of the Melbourne-trained Kay Goldsworthy, currently serving in Perth as Archdeacon, and then the Archbishop of Melbourne announced the appointment of Barbara Darling, originally from Sydney, both of them from the original vintage of priestesses of 1992.
The announcements were snapped up by the mainstream media, with the shattering of the stained-glass ceiling as a recurring theme. Now, it just happens that the strangely named National Gallery of Victoria has a Great Hall, built some time at the end of the 60s or beginning of the 70s (I don't remember exactly when, but I know I was still at school at the time), which has a stained-glass roof. It's actually rather a marvellous thing, and it became very fashionable to lie on the floor in order to admire it. But the Great Hall is not a place of worship, and places of worship don't have stained glass roofs or ceilings. Australian church buildings have ceilings of stone, timber, plaster - the same materials as are used the world over. Indeed, I have yet to see in one of them so much as a stained-glass skylight.
In an article in The Age, entitled "The stained-glass ceiling has been shattered", Muriel Porter, who has been in the vanguard of the campaign for the ordination of women for at least 25 years, celebrated the Melbourne announcement and compared it with another recent announcement, that of the appointment of a woman as the next Governor-General. Why a woman becoming Governor-General should be so remarkable is a bit of a mystery, since women have been State Governors already, and, after all, the job of the Governor-General is to represent the Queen. (A bishop, on the other hand, represents... oh, never mind, I give up.)
As might have been appropriate for an article in a secular newspaper, Dr Porter's article was cast entirely in the language and images of the secular equal rights struggle. This was indeed largely how the battle had been fought. Perhaps knowing that most ordinary sheep in the pews wouldn't easily buy into God the Mother, the innovators fed them a pur'eed and spiced version of that doctrine, so-called "inclusive" language, and concentrated on the skills needed to do what was perceived to be a priest's, or a bishop's, job.
The use of the secular women's rights argument had been highlighted by Bishop Harry Entwistle of the Australian branch of the TAC, who wrote on The Messenger Journal website that:
the proponents of women's ordination did not argue their case on theological grounds, many of which are difficult for Anglican laity and some clergy to untangle. They argued from the perspective of justice, equality and women's rights and status, which laity understands only too readily. They managed to turn it from a religious argument concerning creation, incarnation, salvation and the nature of the Church to one of human rights.
They gambled on the general ignorance of the Anglican laity in matters of scriptural knowledge, Church order and tradition and found they were on a winning streak, aided and abetted by the secular Western culture. This is not to say that Dr Porter did not use scriptural language or images. She referred to the Diocese of Sydney, which had 'hardened its heart' against women's ordination. Now, I'm no fan of the Diocese of Sydney, with its Cathedral Holy Table with wheels (what would Ezekiel say about that?), its lay-presidency movement and its view of ordained ministry which is all about preaching, teaching and headship and doesn't appear to have any sacramental sense at all. But the image of hardening of heart does not do justice to bishops and their people who have sought to maintain a principled stand against theological novelty.
The Constitution of the Anglican Church of Australia ("ACA"-just to be confusing) begins thus, with three Fundamental Declarations:
1. The Anglican Church of Australia, being a part of the One Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church of Christ, holds the Christian Faith as professed by the Church of Christ from primitive times and in particular as set forth in the creeds known as the Nicene Creed and the Apostles' Creed.
2. This Church receives all the canonical scriptures of the Old and New Testaments as being the ultimate rule and standard of faith given by inspiration of God and containing all things necessary for salvation.
3. This Church will ever obey the commands of Christ, teach His doctrine, administer His sacraments of Holy Baptism and Holy Communion, follow and uphold His discipline and preserve the three orders of bishops, priests and deacons in the sacred ministry.
Over the years, better legal and theological minds than mine have determined that the ordination of women is not consistent with any of the above. I prefer not to trouble myself with the details of the deliberations of the Appellate Tribunal over the years, but it would appear that the ACA's peak legal body has merely reflected an increasingly administrative view of holy orders, and the episcopate in particular, that has developed in the ACA generally.
The bishops of the ACA have met and worked out a protocol for dealing with women in the episcopate. It contains some statements about making appropriate episcopal ministry available to those who can't accept the innovation. There are also recommendations that at every consecration, at least three of the consecrating bishops should be male. They just don't get it. How can they provide alternative pastoral provisions for people whose misgivings they simply do not comprehend?
I do not know where Ms Goldsworthy is going to be working after her "consecration". Miss Darling, however, will be given the position of Director of Diocesan Ministries. Do you really need to be a bishop to do that job? Perhaps it shows just how far the sacramental literacy of the Diocese of Melbourne has fallen in the past 20 or so years. Another sign of this is found in a recent Ad Clerum from the Archbishop of Melbourne, who gave directions to his clergy as to the proper way of using unfermented grape juice in separate glasses for Holy Communion. Gluten-free wafers are also requested to be provided for those who require them.
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