February 26th, 2019
In 2019 it will be:
- 50 years since women were first licensed as Lay Readers
- 25 years since women in the Church of England were first ordained priests
- 5 years since legislation was passed to enable women to be appointed bishops
In 2018
- The Rt Rev Sarah Mullaly was translated from the See of Crediton to become Bishop of London (May 12) and the Very Rev Viv Faull was consecrated on July 3rd, and installed as Bishop of Bristol on Oct 20th. Now 4 diocesan bishops (out of a total of 44) are women. In December 2018 it was announced that Rt Rev Libby Lane has been appointed the (diocesan) Bishop of Derby.
- Women were appointed to four more suffragan sees during 2018, so at the end of 2018 12 suffragan sees were filled by women (from a total of 69 sees).
- The appointment of two more women to suffragan sees in 2019 has been announced.
Ordained ministry is not the only way that anyone, male or female, serves the church. Most of those who offer ministries of many kinds are not counted in any way. However, WATCH considers that it is valuable to get an overview of those who have particular responsibilities in diocese and the national church, and this year we would like to draw attention to The Church Commissioners.
This group is rarely noticed publicly, but the skills and decisions of its members are vital to the funding of nearly all that the Church of England is able to do. Some are elected by General Synod, some are appointed by the Archbishop or the Crown.
Currently, the three most senior Church Commissioners are women:
- Ms Loretta Minghella is the First Estates Commissioner since the end of 2017
- The Rt Hon Caroline Spelman is the Second Estates Commissioner (from the end of 2017),
being a link between the C of E and the House of Commons - Dr Eve Poole is the Third Estates Commissioner.
Ordinands
Statistics provided by the Church of England show an increase in the number of ordinands this year, including an increase in female ordinands. However, the significant imbalance between young male and female ordinands continues. In 2017, of those under 40 who began training, 160 were male and 90 were female.
| Proportion of incumbents/incumbent status who are women | 2013 | 2015 | 2017 | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 40% and over | Ely | 41 | Ely | 43 | Ely | 41 |
| 35%-39% | Hereford Ripon and Leeds | 38 38 | Liverpool Truro | 35 37 |
||
| 30%-34% | St Edmundsbury and Ipswich Manchester Peterborough Southwell | 31 30 30 30 | Hereford Truro Manchester Salisbury Southwell St Edmundsbury and Ipswich Peterborough Portsmouth Gloucester | 34 33 32 32 32 32 31 31 30 | Hereford Portsmouth St Eds and Ipswich Durham Gloucester Peterborough Lincoln Manchester Salisbury Southwell St Albans Worcester | 33 32 32 31 31 31 30 30 32 30 30 30 |
| 25%-29% | Bath and Wells Sheffield Leicester St Albans Leeds Salisbury Chester Derby Gloucester Liverpool Portsmouth | 29 29 28 28 26 26 25 25 28 25 25 | Bath and Wells Liverpool Sheffield St Albans Durham Leeds Leicester Lincoln Worcester Derby Chester Chelmsford Norwich Oxford | 29 29 29 29 27 28 28 28 27 27 26 25 25 25 | Bristol Derby Leeds Leicester Guildford Sheffield Bath and Wells Norwich Chelmsford Chester Coventry Newcastle Oxford Southwark Birmingham | 28 28 28 28 26 28 27 27 26 26 26 26 26 26 25 |
| 20%-24% | Newcastle Oxford Birmingham Chelmsford Durham Lincoln Worcester Guildford Southwark Truro Exeter Norwich | 24 24 23 23 23 23 23 21 21 21 20 20 | Guildford Southwark Newcastle York Birmingham Canterbury Coventry Rochester | 24 24 23 23 22 21 20 20 | York Sodor and Man Canterbury Lichfield Winchester | 24 24 22 22 20 |
| 15%-20% | Carlisle Coventry Lichfield Rochester York Sodor and Man* Bristol Canterbury | 19 19 19 19 19 18 17 17 | Bristol Carlisle Exeter Lichfield Sodor and Man* Europe Blackburn Winchester | 19 19 19 19 18 16 15 15 | Exeter Rochester Carlisle | 19 19 18 |
| 14% and under | Blackburn London Bradford Chichester Wakefield Winchester Europe* | 13 11 6 6 | Chichester London | 10 12 | Blackburn London Chichester Channel islands Europe | 14 14 12 12 9 |
Table 2
In this table we try to give an overview of the extent to which women are visible and involved in a diocese.
- Column 1 Gives the proportion of stipendiary incumbents/incumbent status clergy who are women.
- Column 2 Proportion for SSM clergy. It does not distinguish between those SSM clergy who are running parishes (as House for Duty, covering vacancies etc, and those who are SSM but have a paid secular, or church, job).
- Column 3 Gives the proportion of area deans in the diocese who are women – it is worth looking at your diocese to see if this number reflects the number of women clergy.
- The data for columns 1 and 2 is taken from Church House statistics based on 2017 data. Area Deans data has been updated and based on publicly available data in Dec 2018.
NB Proportions of clergy is not the same as actual numbers of clergy.
Diocese in rank order for proportion of women stipendiary incumbents| Diocese | % Age Stipendairy incombent status who are women | % SSM Clergy who are women | % Area Deans who are women |
|
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Diocese of Bath and Wells | 27 | 57 | 26 |
| 2 | Diocese of Birmingham | 25 | 52 | 21 |
| 3 | Diocese of Blackburn | 14 | 49 | 23 |
| 5 | Diocese of Bristol | 28 | 56 | 14 |
| 6 | Diocese of Canterbury | 22 | 52 | 10 |
| 7 | Diocese of Carlisle | 18 | 57 | 18 |
| 8 | Diocese of Chelmsford | 26 | 53 | 19 |
| 9 | Diocese of Chester | 26 | 57 | 39 |
| 10 | Diocese of Chichester | 12 | 42 | 29 |
| 11 | Diocese of Coventry | 26 | 57 | 50 |
| 12 | Diocese of Derby | 28 | 47 | 56 |
| 13 | Diocese of Durham | 31 | 59 | 36 |
| 14 | Diocese of Ely | 41 | 47 | 36 |
| 15 | Diocese of Exeter | 19 | 48 | 40 |
| 16 | Diocese of Gloucester | 31 | 49 | 44 |
| 17 | Diocese of Guildford | 26 | 54 | 25 |
| 18 | Diocese of Hereford | 33 | 64 | 7 |
| 19 | Diocese of Leicester | 28 | 42 | 60 |
| 20 | Diocese of Lichfield | 22 | 56 | 23 |
| 21 | Diocese of Lincoln | 30 | 53 | 16 |
| 22 | Diocese of Liverpool | 35 | 53 | 25 |
| 23 | Diocese of London | 14 | 32 | 16 |
| 24 | Diocese of Manchester | 30 | 56 | 25 |
| 25 | Diocese of Newcastle | 27 | 63 | 42 |
| 26 | Diocese of Norwich | 28 | 56 | 4 |
| 27 | Diocese of Oxford | 26 | 46 | 20 |
| 28 | Diocese of Peterborough | 31 | 50 | 25 |
| 29 | Diocese of Portsmouth | 30 | 62 | 57 |
| 30 | Diocese of Rochester | 19 | 69 | 31 |
| 31 | Diocese of St Albans | 30 | 49 | 31 |
| 32 | Diocese of St Edmundsbury and Ipswich | 32 | 51 | 50 |
| 33 | Diocese of Salisbury | 33 | 57 | 17 |
| 34 | Diocese of Sheffield | 28 | 47 | 17 |
| 35 | Diocese of Sodor and Man | 14 | 33 | n/a |
| 36 | Diocese of Southwark | 26 | 46 | 33 |
| 37 | Diocese of Southwell | 30 | 50 | 14 |
| 38 | Diocese of Truro | 37 | 63 | 33 |
| 39 | Diocese of Winchester | 20 | 60 | 42 |
| 40 | Diocese of Worcester | 30 | 58 | 23 |
| 41 | Diocese of York | 24 | 54 | 26 |
| 42 | Diocese of Leeds | 28 | 47 | 48 |
| 43 | Diocese in Europe | 9 | 22 | |
| 44 | Channel Islands | 12 | 62 | |
| Total | 51 | 29 |
Table 3
This table compares numbers of senior women clergy in diocese. It splits the data into those who normally relate to parishes and the whole diocese (archdeacons and bishops) and those whose ministry is cathedral based (Deans and residential canons). These senior clergy will be involved in strategic planning and decisions in a diocese, and it is known that the more varied a group is, the more likely it is to make better decisions. Visibility and role models are also significant issues. For example, do visitors see a ministry that includes men and women if they visit a cathedral?
| Senior roles in diocese 2018 | Bishops (D) | Bishops (S) | Archdeacons | Cathedrals Deans and Residential Canons | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Diocese | female | male | female | male | female | male | female | male |
| Diocese of Bath and Wells | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 3 |
| Diocese of Birmingham | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 3 |
| Diocese of Blackburn | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| Diocese of Bristol | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 2 |
| Diocese of Canterbury | 0 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 |
| Diocese of Carlisle | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 2 |
| Diocese of Chelmsford | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 3 |
| Diocese of Chester | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0.9 | 2 |
| Diocese of Chichester | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 3 |
| Diocese of Coventry | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| Diocese of Derby | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| Diocese of Durham | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 2 |
| Diocese of Ely | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 2 |
| Diocese of Exeter | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 1 |
| Diocese of Gloucester | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| Diocese of Guildford | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 2 |
| Diocese of Hereford | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 3 |
| Diocese of Leicester | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 2 |
| Diocese of Lichfield | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 2 |
| Diocese of Lincoln | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 2 |
| Diocese of Liverpool | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 3 |
| Diocese of London | 1 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 2 | 4 | 3 | 5 |
| Diocese of Manchester | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| Diocese of Newcastle | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 3 |
| Diocese of Norwich | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 4 |
| Diocese of Oxford | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 1 |
| Diocese of Peterborough | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| Diocese of Portsmouth | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 2 |
| Diocese of Rochester | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 2 |
| Diocese of St Albans | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 3 |
| Diocese of St Edmundsbury and Ipswich | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 2 |
| Diocese of Salisbury | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 3.6 |
| Diocese of Sheffield | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 3 |
| Diocese of Sodor and Man | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 5 |
| Diocese of Southwark | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 4 | 3.5 | 2 |
| Diocese of Southwell | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 |
| Diocese of Truro | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 3 |
| Diocese of Winchester | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 2 |
| Diocese of Worcester | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0.5 | 3 |
| Diocese of York | 0 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 3 |
| Diocese of Leeds | 0 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 5.5 |
| Diocese of Europe | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 0 |
| Total | 4 | 34 | 12 | 57 | 35 | 87 |
Laywomen and others
This annual report tries to give an overview of the ministry of women in the church. This year we also recognise that WATCH is Women in the church not “ordained women in the church” and try to include a few of the ways lay women also are playing a significant role in the C of E .
Authorised Readers (LLMs)
The age and gender pattern among licensed Readers is very similar to the pattern seen among clergy, particularly SSM clergy. In the youngest age group (under 40), which is also the group with the smallest numbers, men outnumber women. In all other age groups, women outnumber men. The pattern of local parish ministry is that of volunteers maintaining local ministry, and a majority being women over 40.
| Age 40 yrs old | Age 40-59 | Age 60- 69 | Age 70 and over | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Readers | male | 70 | 830 | 1280 | 20 |
| female | 50 | 1150 | 1660 | 20 | |
| Readers in training | male | 20 | 120 | 90 | 10 |
| female | 30 | 210 | 150 | 20 | |
| Permission to officiate | male | 1790 | |||
| female | 1530 |
Diocesan Secretaries
They are a key role in any diocese. At the end of 2018, 13 Diocesan Secretaries were women and 24 were men (some dioceses have vacancies).
Chairs of Diocesan Synods
The gender balance of Chairs of the Houses of Clergy is evenly split: 21 are men and 21 are women. The Houses of Laity have elected 13 women and 28 men to this role.
Acknowledgements and sources of data
We would like to acknowledge the work done by the research and statistics department of Church House.
Figures of ordained clergy and LLMs, and information on ages and gender of ordinands, are taken from data published by the Church of England in August 2018 (referring to data from 2017).
Church of England Research and Statistics, Great Smith Street, London SW1P 3AZ.
Information on senior clergy taken from Ministry Statistics for 2017 but updated where possible from diocesan websites Dec 2018.
Area Deans taken from Crockfords online and Diocesan websites.