According to Christian Today, we now
know that the Church of England is set to further deepen its division over
Women Bishops.
In yesterday’s article by Ruth Gledhill, she has revealed that
when the new ‘Traditionalist’ Bishop - Philip North - is consecrated, the
Archbishop of York and his new Diocesan Bishop will not participate in the consecration of the new Bishop at the crucial moment – at the laying on of
hands.
Why is this?
At first sight this may sound like a snub to the new
Traditionalist Bishop. Not participating in his consecration sounds like a snub
– but nothing could be further from the truth.
The reason why they will not lay hands on him, is because a
week earlier they will both fully participate in the consecration of the first
woman Bishop, Libby Lane.
And because they will participate in the laying on of hands
of a woman Bishop, traditionalists appear to consider them ‘tainted’. Or in plain English, because they have consecrated a woman, they no longer qualify to take part in the
consecration of a man - well, not a real man anyway! They have become ‘tainted’
by consecrating a woman.
At the heart of this issue is the Anglo-Catholic belief in Apostolic
Succession – an unbroken line of consecrations and ordinations properly
conducted by the hands of men to the heads of men – which they believe can be traced right back to
the Apostles, who were in turn ordained by Christ.
In the minds of traditionalists, this unbroken line is
everything. It’s like an unbroken
electric current connecting today's priests and bishops to the Apostles and
Christ. If you break the circuit, it
ceases to connect you to the heavenly light bulb – the whole thing breaks down.
Not only is such a connection Biblically spurious, but it
also assumes that God’s hands are bound such an arbitrary set of rules. It is a theology which negates the ministry
of all Christians who have not been ‘properly’ ordained in the line of Apostolic
Succession. It couldn't be further
removed from the wind of the Spirit which Jesus talked about in John 3 - the
wind which blows where it wills. It
couldn't be further removed from Jesus’ conversation with the woman at the
well in John 4 – where Spirit and Truth replaces slavery to places, regulations
and restrictions.
This kind of belief in Apostolic Succession is designed to
exclude those who do not fit the ‘right’ ecclesiastical mould – to restrict and
constrain rather than release and set free.
This is not the truth which Christ talked about - the Truth which sets us free. Rather it harks back to an Old Testament legalism – the very same legalism
which got Christ crucified in the first place.
It is more like Apostolic Regression than Succession –
regressing to a pre-Christian understanding of God and priesthood, and ministry.
So what should the Archbishop of York and Bishop of Blackburn
do?
They certainly should not give in to this superstitious legalism. If a new traditionalist Bishop is to be
consecrated, it should be a consecration by the whole church – not just by
those who are ‘untainted’ in his eyes.
When Paul talked to Timothy (in 2 Timothy 1) about “the gift of God, which is in you
through the laying on of my hands”, he first reminds him of a different
succession involving two women in his life – the succession of faith passed
down from his grandmother to his mother, and then to him. It is the succession of faith which counts in
God’s eyes – from believer to believer – men and women - of faith in the Good News
of Christ.
When the Church of England finally authorised the consecration
of women, it was a wonderful (if overdue) sign of Apostolic Progression. As a sign of respect and care for those who
could not agree with it, it was deemed necessary to provide Bishops to look
after their needs. But allowing this theology
of taint to flourish will be both divisive and regressive. It allows the creation of a ‘pure sect’ within
the church which defines its own rules and its own boundaries of who is in and
who is out.
I pray that those in authority will think again, and when the
Bishop of Burnley is consecrated, that he will be consecrated by all Bishops
present – not just a few.