| Book Reviews Autumn
2008
Women As Bishops Editors:
James Rigney with Mark D Chapman
Review by Revd Vivien Gisby
The Anglican Communion and Homosexuality Editor:
Phillip Groves
Review by Christine McMullen
Helpmates, Harlots and Heroes Alice
Ogden Bellis
Review by Christine McMullen
Liberal Faith in a Divided
Church Jonathan Clatworthy
Review by Christine McMullen
Down
and Out in Providence Geralyn
Wolf
Review by Christine McMullen
Women As
Bishops
Eds James Rigney with Mark D Chapman
Mowbray London, 2008, (200pp), £12.99 pbk
ISBN 10:0-567-03224-8
IS THE ordination of women to the episcopate possible and desirable
and if it is, is now the right time to actually do it? Each of the
authors in this collection of essays (and it is a most impressive
line-up of authors) answers a definite yes to both questions! Most
of the essays were originally written for, or as a result of, a symposium
organised by Affirming Catholicism in 2006 which was held to put
forward a progressive Catholic position in favour of the ordination
of women to the episcopate. The book is in fact positively stuffed
from cover to cover with theological arguments setting out the desirability
of having women bishops, but don’t be dismayed at the thought
that the book might be dull and turgid.
Some of the material is quite technical and it might not exactly
be light holiday reading, unless you are some hard pressed theological
student. However, the arguments are, as the book itself says (and
quite rightly), ‘lively’ ones, and each chapter is well
and thoughtfully written. The occasional convoluted sentence such
as ‘the tendency to enhance sacramental character has produced
a sort of complex metaphysical superstructure due to a very jejune
theology of grace’ caused a certain wrinkling of brows in this
household at least, but such a lapse, and particularly as a quote
from elsewhere, can be forgiven when there is an overall clarity
to the writing which does make this book really quite a pleasure
to read.
Jane Shaw pulls no punches right from the start by her conviction
that the starting point for the issue of whether women should be
bishops or not is God’s call to them to exercise that ministry
of oversight within the Church. The issues of apostolic succession
and validity are examined by Barry Norris and the Church’s
competence to make decisions by Charlotte Methuen. All these issues
have been used to forestall progress towards admitting women into
the threefold ministry of the Church of England. Ecumenical issues
are raised by John Wijngaard in his chapter on the variety of views
on women bishops within the Roman Catholic Church something which
is perhaps not always realised.
Tom Wright and David Stancliffe take this further by examining Cardinal
Kasper’s address to the Church of England’s House of
Bishops and question why some developments in understanding within
the Roman Catholic Church are seen as legitimate (compulsory celibacy
for instance) whereas others, including the ordination of women,
are not. David Carter puts forward the Methodist view that women
should be ordained to the episcopate simply on the basis that all
offices should be open to both sexes. Angela Berlis looks at matters
from the Old Catholic perspective which understands overall ecclesiastical
authority to be vested, not in the Pope alone, but in the whole college
of Bishops.
A particularly interesting chapter (in this reviewer’s opinion
at least) is Charlotte Methuen’s chapter on evidence from the
early church that women had leadership roles. It isn’t conclusive
evidence perhaps, but still it’s a useful chapter to point
people to who continue to think that women should be excluded from
leadership on the basis of flat arguments derived from specific texts
about women being silent in church. Could it be that by having women
in leadership we are returning to something truly biblical and away
from roles derived from cultural expectations and misogyny?
And there is more (much more) to this fascinating and detailed book
which started life as a special edition of the Affirming Catholicism
journal in 2006. In this new book all the chapters have been brought
up to date and 2 new chapters, 3 relevant documents and an epilogue
have been added. Would I recommend it? Absolutely! You will get a
lot out of it. I can guarantee it.
The Revd Vivien Gisby, recently ordained and working as
an NS curate in Macclesfield.
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The
Anglican Communion and Homosexuality
Ed Phillip Groves, SPCK £14.99 (pbk).
ISBN 978-0-281-059638
OF THE last three Lambeth conferences two of them have made (
homo)sexuality an important issue. This book was commissioned by
The Anglican Consultative Council as a resource to enable dialogue
and listening within the Anglican Communion. Contributors to this
project are theologians and practitioners, lay and ordained, male
and female (and apparently) gay and straight from around the world.
Their aim in presenting this material is to provide ‘clear
and accurate resources to bishops and lay people across the Anglican
Communion to help them listen to each other & to God and finally
to reach their own informed conclusions on the subject’ (p1).
In many ways the process within the book is as interesting as the
content of it.. Care has been taken to get contributors from a
wide spectrum of understanding and interpretation of the topic
and to inform a conversation using the common ground of Mission.
Each contributor reflects part of the diversity of views and special
care has been taken to ensure that the writing is not just from
a Western or liberal or conservative viewpoint. The contributors
worked in pairs to allow a good breadth of interpretation. Some
chapters are written jointly, some are written as two differing
essays, sometimes with a correspondence between the authors added
at the end. The work is split into four sections and there are
eight chapters. This is already feeling quite complex, and the
reader is assured that the book should not be read ‘like
a novel’ (!), from beginning to end, but should be used as
a resource to be dipped in to. Certainly the chapter on Mission
gives a very helpful overview of the subject, the chapters on scripture,
on tradition and on reason gather very useful material together
and the chapters on how to listen and facilitate a listening group
is excellent.
There are also chapters on homosexualities and culture; sexuality
and identity, Christian spirituality and sexuality and a final
chapter on what science and psychiatry have to offer to the issue
of homosexuality. Clearly Canon Groves is offering most of the
material needed to get a high level listening group together which
involves all shades of understanding of the subject. Indeed there
are examples of how such groups worked in Nova Scotia and Australia
and suggestions of cultural norms which facilitators should be
aware of. (How does one disagree with a bishop or a church Elder?)
as well as how to deal with people who could wreck a listening
circle (in the north American indigenous pattern) by anger of talking
too much.
The quality of each of thinking and expertise in the contributions
in each of these chapters is very high and each chapter can be
a valuable resource in this own right. I have seen the listening
process working in confidential groups at General Synod and the
impact has been high on everyone who attended. As far as parish
Readers are concerned, they will probably have a smaller group
of people to ask to participate than diocesan groups in the Communion
or even the General Synod, so enabling the listening process locally
might be more difficult. On the other hand this would be a valuable
book to have to dip into when arranging a study series in a parish
or deanery. It is well referenced and has sets of questions to
ask as well as guide lines about how to make the process work.
There is a web site available to back up the book until summer
2009.
Christine McMullen is Vice Principal of The Northern Ordination
Course, a member of General Synod and lives in Buxton.
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Helpmates,
Harlots and Heroes
Alice Ogden Bellis
WJK £13.99 pbk
978-0-664-2302-9
THIS IS a second and seriously updated edition of Professor Bellis’ book
about women characters in the Hebrew Scriptures. She wrote it so
that people in her parish could share some of her own excitement
at the new research into the stories about the OT women whose lives
often seemed very shadowy and subservient. She writes as a feminist
but her aim is to make accessible research which she and many other
American theologians have been doing over several decades.
An expanded introduction gives clear definitions of words like ‘feminist’ and ‘womanist’ and ‘patriarchy’ and
also explains concepts such as feminist approaches to the authority
of Scripture and feminist interpretations of biblical passages.
It includes helpful background notes on the context of the women
mentioned.Each chapter ends with interesting questions for groups,
based on the passages. There are scholarly notes and well researched
references for each chapter plus 57 pages of bibliography followed
by a short section explaining how the material could be divided
up into weekly sessions for a church or synagogue. Excellent and
accessible material for parishes who want to know!
Christine McMullen
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Liberal
Faith in a Divided Church
Jonathan Clatworthy
O Books, £14.99 (pbk)
978 1 84694 116 0
JONATHAN CLATWORTHY, Chair of MCU, has produced a well grounded
and carefully researched book which sets out critically the historical
roots of Christianity from Biblical times to post Modern times.
In the introduction he looks at definitions of ‘conservative’ and ‘liberal’ approaches
to the faith and in the following chapters he gives a well referenced
over view of how the philosophy of the Christian church developed
through the ages. He goes on to show how liberal views, in embracing
change, hold to an acceptance of diversity rather than the conservative
hard-line acceptance of what the bible says He favours a classical
Anglican theology ‘...characterized by resisting the temptations
of certainty and dogmatism.’ (p16), and producing a faith
that is tolerant and open to change and justifiable.
For people feeling unconfident to express their liberal leanings
in public this book would affirm them in the liberal way with its
careful and well written ways of thinking which they could call
on in discussion.
Christine McMullen
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Down
and Out in Providence
Geralyn Wolf
Crossroad Publishing Company, New York. 2005 , $16.95, 159 pp
Pbk
FOR A month in the winter of 2002 one of the Bishops in the Anglican
Communion, Geralyn Wolf, wrote this diary account of a sabbatical
she spent as a down and out in the city of Providence in her own
diocese of Rhode Island. To maintain anonymity – which she
did almost completely – she changed her hairstyle, and her
make up style and obviously her clothing.
She subtitles the book ‘A memoir of a homeless bishop’.
Part of the interest for the reader is in the contrast of a senior
well-heeled member of the church used to rich robes and seats of
authority and power, as well as a decent salary, having none of
those things and living among the discarded dregs of the city’s
society. The plan was carefully conceived and lived out in authentic
detail. The diary reflects partly what actually happened and partly
Geralyn’s thoughts, hopes, feelings and prayers as she lived
through it all. It was a profound experience for her and it is
quite moving to read.
The local authority benefits for homeless people in Rhode Island
are different in several ways from those we are used to in UK.
In Rhode Island there are night hostels and feeding centres at
different points in the city and homeless people are bussed between
them when they sign up as homeless. The local churches supplement
this provision with day centres and extra meals – this different
system was fascinating to hear about at first hand and +Geralyn’s
comments were incisive as she saw ways of improving the local churches
responses to the needs of homeless people.
The greatest impact of course is made by her own self searching
as she lived among and observed the lives and feelings of the street
people and the people employed to run the hostels and day centres
for them. There are some fairly sharp comments on some of the congregations
she met as she crept into the back of churches for food or warmth
or a quiet moment with God...and during one sojourn at the back
of a church she almost reverted to Bishop mode in her assessment
of a sermon the local Minister was preaching.
This book is worth reading both to share in Geralyn’s spiritual
insights and also to aid our own reflection on the plight of the
homeless and the issues it raises for us.
Christine McMullen
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