Not Equal Yet – and how we can tell

The discussion at General Synod in February 2025 was both fascinating and painful. Column inches were largely, and rightly, dedicated to safeguarding. But safeguarding issues do not arise from nowhere. I wrote in my first book[1] that I am not convinced we have a gospel to proclaim if it does not require gender equality. Small acts of sexism cultivate the fertile soil in which grosser acts can take place. When sexism goes unchallenged, the patriarchal system flourishes and those deemed not to be a part of it are marginalised. The conclusion of the debate on safeguarding, in my view, demonstrates a misplaced, very patriarchal, presumption that those in Church leadership, who have significantly contributed to existing problems, can now change and begin to solve them. Such a presumption relies on the conviction that it is possible to stand back, adopt a ‘view from nowhere’ and release ourselves from our locatedness. This was not the debate that most exercised me, however.

Later in the synod came a debate about the selection and nomination of bishops. It was proposed that each nomination committee should include at least one woman. In a Church that claims to accept women’s ministry as equal to that of men it remains possible for diocesan bishops to be chosen by committees consisting entirely of men. Surely, if women are to have an equal chance of nomination there should be at least one person of the same gender on the selection panel. Early in the debate Miranda Threlfall-Holmes very honestly raised the issue of whether abstentions in voting systems could be weaponised. Inner circles, she said, behave in this way. I’m sure she is right. One of the most powerful inner circles involved in the selection of bishops in the Church of England is that which denies the equality of women. I am sure many of us know from personal experience that this cabal does operate to block women’s routes to senior positions.

Let me share the story of a woman who took part in my research project. She told me of an occasion during her training when the college community was discussing the 5 Guiding Principles. She told the group how painful it felt when male colleagues rejected her call to ministry. “I was being vulnerable by trying to explain the hurt,” she said. “The tutor leapt in and said that he fully understood because he has a good friend who is Roman Catholic, and they can’t have communion together. He took pains to say that they were still good friends.” The woman felt not only unheard, but also judged, because her tutor had experienced the ‘same’ but had responded differently. First the tutor assumed that his experience was substitutable for his student’s. Then he implicitly judged her for telling the story – she was wrong to be hurt. The validity of the woman’s contribution was undermined and devalued.

Something similar played out at synod. Of course men don’t get together to block women’s progress, even if women might contemplate manipulating the system, we were told. As for suspecting that someone’s deeply held theological views might impact the way they behave, we were assured that did not happen. No need for awareness of unconscious bias here! If a woman felt she was being discriminated against, rest assured, she was simply wrong. There is, of course, a simple way for all to be sure that bias has not effected voting. The Church of England must accept transparency as an underlying principle. Transparency of selection processes at all levels, as well as transparency about what parishes believe is essential if trust is to be restored.

I suspect that if the CNC debate told us anything, it was that we are Not Equal Yet. The Church is not committed to mutual flourishing, other than as a way of silencing women by throwing us a few scraps and expecting us to be grateful. If women in places of governance dare to ask for actual equality, they are dismissed.

My research project reveals key ways in which women are silenced in the Church and its training institutions, and suggests some ways in which we might resist oppressions. I will be sharing more on this research at the Not Equal Yet conference 29th March 2025. Buy tix here

[1] Shercliff, E. (2019). Preaching Women: Gender, Power and the Pulpit. SCM Press.