The Ordination of Women and the Unity of the Church

Abstract

The recent votes in the General Synod of the Church of England on the election, ordination and consecration of women as bishops has brought to the forefront of popular discourse the question of the place of women, not just in the episcopate but also in ordained ministry of the church. However, aside from the commonly misinformed comments of the mass media, there was little popular reflection on this question, or indeed of the related question of how the church makes decisions. This is both unsurprising and unfortunate. This article will consider the question of the ordination of women, both as priests and as bishops, from the perspective of the broader issue of the unity of the church. In particular this will address the vexed issue of the nature of Holy Orders, and through this, the nature of the universal church.