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What we stand for

Women and the Church (WATCH) is a national organisation working actively to promote equality for women in the Church of England. 

Currently all women in the Church of England are subject to institutional discrimination, which is permitted through the Church’s exemptions under the Equality Act 2010 and allows churches to limit women’s roles. 

For example, churches can…

  • Still say no to female priests applying to be their vicars

  • Still say no to female priests blessing the bread and wine in services.

  • Still say no to female bishops (and bishops who have ordained women) and request a special male bishop.

Nonetheless, discrimination and sexism have the worst impact on women who are also people of colour or disabled or from working class backgrounds or who are lesbian, bisexual or trans.

At WATCH, we believe that God is calling the Church of England to be a church where all people are treated equally.  Women are half the population and two thirds of our congregations and yet we are still being discriminated against because of our sex.

There is no requirement for churches to be transparent about limits that they may put on women’s roles, so often people attend churches and may support them financially for many years without knowing they are churches that discriminate against women.

We are campaigning for the simple principle that women and men should be treated equally in the Church of England. Women and girls throughout our world suffer oppression and violence at horrific levels and at all stages of their lives - it is hard for the Church to be true to the Gospel and speak out about this, while still using exemptions from national legislation to discriminate on grounds of sex ourselves.

Help us to put an end to discrimination against women in the Church of England by joining WATCH here.