Why the Church of England is Failing Women

The place and position of women within the Church of England, both within the clerical hierarchy and their accepted status within the wider congregation has been a controversial subject since the Reformation. Indeed, the Reformation in England was essentially institutional change to accommodate the needs of a man; women were incidental to its form and function, and it was never intended to accommodate women. The role of women in this patriarchal religious world has been to gauge orthodoxy, whilst defining their proper roles has been the focus of numerous church councils, theologians, and religious authorities. (Ruth Adam : "Reclaiming the power of women in the early church.") The early church focussed on the biological functions of women - capitalising on pre-existing pagan fertility worship which celebrated the fertility of the land and people, and the union of the divine masculine and feminine. Mary as the Mother of God was central to Catholic worship and women's subservient roles as procreators and carers were reinforced, a model acceptable to traditional pagan societies. Yet there is plenty of evidence women played a key evangelical role in the early church, albeit informally. (Smith : Women & their Roles in Early Christianity")

Small wonder that association of power and maleness led many women who aspired to play an unorthodox role to jettison their femininity, believing the patriarchally enforced myth that femaleness personified weakness. So powerful has this association been over the passage of time that this process is still played out in the West today with a powerful element of gender in eating disorders, and anorexia in particular. Certainly for female sufferers, arresting female development is exerting control over one's body and for many teenagers, whilst this might have little to do with their personal views on their femininity it feels the only part of their lives they have any control over. By losing weight, a girl loses her femininity. She androgenises herself. It is a deep and fundamental rejection of what is female and feminine, embracing the asexual and often masculine, whether intentional or not. Female hormones are no longer produced as body fat is depleted and curves vanish. Menstruation stops and the figure remains or returns to looking boyish. There is considerable evidence of women deliberating doing this in history. Female "anchorites" in the Middle Ages and Early Modern Period used self starvation as a means of gaining a foothold in a male-dominated world, their views and opinions were given a level of credence otherwise denied to women at the time. 

The fundamental difficulty with women in the C of E is that their role, position and function has always been a male problem. Right from the scribing of the Book of Genesis, women were considered secondary to men, Eve's sin a female problem for men to bear - and indeed for mankind. Femaleness does not sit well within a fundamentally male institution. But how does one solve a problem like Maria? 

As Rev'd. Martine Oborne wrote in 2022, sexism is alive and kicking in the CofE: -  

"In 2014, with great fanfare, women were finally allowed to be bishops as well as priests. But, in almost complete silence, provisions were then made so that parishes who didn’t accept female vicars and bishops could avoid their ministry. And this situation remains."  

Source : WATCH (Women and the Church)

Women now account for almost of third of all clergy, but research initiated by the College of Bishops identified more barriers to the ordination of younger women than their male counterparts. However as in wider society women are more acceptable when their role and purpose (fertility and reproduction) is obvious. Victoria Smith's book "Hags" eloquently expands on the challenges faced by women beyond their reproductive years, challenges mirrored within the church where ageism seems to only apply to women, their role in senior leadership is still woefully out of date. 

Women and their participation in the CofE is still viewed as a problem to be solved, something to be managed. But perhaps it's time to reverse-engineer from the obvious solution - women have so much to offer the church, how can we solve the issue of male domination? This may seem obtuse, precisely because the church is fundamentally patriarchal. But does it need to be? Jesus would arguably have had an even more challenging time on earth as a woman, it certainly served God's purpose to take a human male form since the church was founded at a time when women had no voice. 

Beyond the role of women in the clergy, the CofE also struggles with the role of women in the congregation. The church seems capable of all manner of mental olympics to accept the Trans agenda, the ultimate hypocrisy in which the body God gives us can somehow be unacceptable and would seem to challenge God's divinity. Or perhaps it is a modern expression of androgenisation, today's anchorites who acknowledge yet reject the anachronistic place for biological women? Many in the CofE miss women who knew their place - neatly behind men, in a supportive role. This is of course a problem for a generation of women; women who have had opportunities, a sniff of equality and a life beyond the mundane. Women who are having to sit back whilst men steal female spaces and rights, the “new women” who believe the female sex is merely a cloak of feelings & identity. 

Congregations today are largely composed of the older generation - post-retirement and beyond, and a new influx of millennials. In 2023, 36 percent of people that were regular attendees of Church of England services were aged 70 or over, with just under half being aged between 18 and 69, and 18 percent being 17 or younger. (source here) Much has been made of the growth in attendance of the younger age group, but the most important statistic for me is the failure to retain and involve middle aged women. Women like me. Women who have tried to participate at grass roots level beyond domestic assistance and failed or who have been side-lined. 

Because what the CofE really wants, is a battalion of silent, domesticated support. They miss the women of the 1970s, the WI contingent who unquestioningly signed up for the flower rota, the Sanctuary Guild and those who made coffee and cake. The unpaid "staff" who knew their place and left the thinking to the men. The problem is this anachronism doesn’t fit with parity in choirs, women priests, or celebrating difference. It's as if the Church of England is having many different conversations in separate rooms to keep as many people happy as possible. The noise is deafening, but few are listening.