The Attitudes of Asian Anglicans towards Women Bishops and the Gender Beliefs that Influence Them

Abstract

Abstract Regarding the ordination of women to higher spiritual leadership positions in the Anglican Church, existing studies have tended to focus on attitudes and perceptions in non-Asian countries and regions, thereby affecting the generalisability of their results to Asian countries such as Singapore. Working to close this gap, a small exploratory study using semi-structured interviews was conducted in Singapore. Eight Anglican parishioners were interviewed, and the transcripts were treated with thematic analysis. Overall, the findings suggest a seeming disconnect between attitudes towards gender equality in secular and faith-based workplaces, implying a social contextual influence on the transferability of an individual’s gender-equal attitudes across secular and religious spheres. Some participants sought to manage this disconnect through the conditional support of female bishops, hinged upon them remaining subject to higher male leadership.