What do Others Think of Us?

Rosalind Rutherford reflects on the slow progress of gender equality within the Church of England, despite the 2014 decision allowing women to become bishops. While Parliament pressured the Church to ensure women bishops were represented in the House of Lords, legislation passed in 2015 has not yielded sufficient change. Currently, only seven diocesan bishops are women, prompting another legislative extension. Rutherford critiques the Church’s internal barriers, including the role of the Crown Nominations Commission and the continued influence of those opposing women’s leadership, leading to ongoing discrimination cloaked under the term "mutual flourishing."