Monday, December 14, 2009

Woman nominee for bishop in Scotland

From Ruth Gledhill:
Oxford graduate Dr Alison Peden has been chosen as one of three candidates for the vacant episcopal see of Glasgow and Galloway in Scotland. If she is elected on 16 January, she will become the UK's first woman bishop. It would in many ways be fitting for Scotland to be the first UK province to have a woman bishop. The US had the first one in the world, Barbara Harris, who incidentally was nominated back in the 1970s by Mary Glasspool, now lesbian bishop-elect in Los Angeles. Scotland and the US church go back generations. After the American Revolution, the Bishop of London, who had previously ruled over the American church as if it was a far-away London parish of little importance, refused to give newly-independent US Episcopalians a bishop of their own. So they went to Scotland, which duly obliged. The surprising thing about Scotland is that it has taken this long to put a woman on a shortlist after their General Synod voted in favour back in 2003.


So, given that many provinces of the Anglican Communion do not support women as priests, let along bishops, why is it no one is schisming over them? Just wondering.....

UpdateHow prescient I am. The Wounded Bird is reporting that schismatic Bp Iker might be leaving the schismatic group ACNA over the woman issue:
Essentially the ordination of women as priests and bishops is schismatic. It continues to be the major cause of division among those who consider themselves to be orthodox Anglicans. As long as the ordination of women continues, we will be in a state of impaired or broken communion. It is a barrier to unity.

2 comments:

Erp said...

Gene Robinson is more fearsome than Barbara Harris.

Perhaps the TEC should hint about extending the gospel and the priesthood to the more intelligent other animals (dogs seem to be a great favorite already). Some already come with sufficient lace to make buying vestments unnecessary (though unfortunately brains may be lacking for this one).

Göran Koch-Swahne said...

On Time too.