'I never thought it would take more than fifteen years to have women bishops'
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Version 0 of 1. After years of struggle the Church of England consecrated its first female bishop, Revd Libby Lane, on Monday in York Minster. A momentous occasion for many who have waited for this day Revd Anna Macham, priest-in-charge at St Philip & St Mark’s in Camberwell, shares her view on the ‘new chapter’. “Yesterday’s consecration meant more to me than I can say. In many ways it was a normal day - but while I was leading school assembly and greeting the mums doing baby Zumba in our church hall, I had half an eye on the photos and excited comments friends and fellow clergy were posting on Twitter. A normal day was rapidly transforming into the best day ever: after so many years of endless arguing, debating, preparing and praying, watching the moment when the bishops laid hands on Libby’s head felt almost life changing in its significance. It was like breathing new air.” Anna has been working in the Church of England for ten years but never foresaw the church taking so long to consecrate female bishops. “I love my job. But when I was exploring my vocation to the priesthood in the late nineties, I never thought it would take another fifteen years or more to have women bishops. At that time, female role models in the priesthood, especially in the media, were few and far between. Because women could not be bishops, most of the public pronouncements made about the church’s views and opinions were made by men. But yesterday’s consecration of Libby Lane changes all that. Affirming senior churchwomen’s talents and skills and allowing their voices to be heard creates a priesthood that is more equal, one which better reflects the views of the whole church. “When the final approval vote for women bishops was lost in Synod in November 2012, it was a real low point for me. Everyone was so depressed: at the time I was working at Southwark Cathedral and on the evening when we heard the news, the poet laureate Carol Ann Duffy read some of her most feminist poems in protest. But the legislation that was voted for in July last year was much better and more workable for everyone. It will be interesting to see how it works out for those who oppose it, but as women, our ministry will be taken more seriously. The damage that had been done to the church’s mission felt irreparable, but today feels like a new chapter. The ministry of women and men together at every level makes the priesthood more whole.” The thing that Anna is most looking-forward to though is the effect it will have on young girls. “Working in the inner city, it’s easy to think that leadership is not the most important issue facing women - the things that loom large in my female parishioners lives are more likely to be domestic violence, immigration, overcrowding and a lack of employment opportunities. But I love the fact that the happy, crazy group of eight and nine-year-old girls in my church will not remember a time when there weren’t women in the highest levels of leadership. “Many of the smaller Black Pentecostal churches in my area of south-east London have strong women pastors. It makes me happy that now in the Church of England young girls will see themselves reflected in the public image of the priesthood and in the processions of our cathedrals. Our girls won’t grow up thinking that they have to fit into a certain way of doing things or that the Anglican priesthood isn’t for them. Hopefully Monday’s consecration will also have a good knock-on effect on LGBT and black and minority ethnic inclusion in the church. Yesterday marked a new beginning - a resounding yes to all of us.” Revd Anna Macham shared her story via GuardianWitness |