THE House of Bishops has responded to last yr’s review of the method by which the Bishop of Blackburn, the Rt Revd Philip North, was appointed.
The process had been challenged by the campaign group Women and the Church (WATCH). Bishop North has previously said that he believes the ordination of ladies to be an area on which the Church of England mustn’t be at variance with the broader Church, wherein the ordination of ladies will not be universally agreed.
The review, published in April last yr, concluded that Bishop North was properly appointed, but made recommendations for improving processes (News, 12 April 2024). An announcement from the House of Bishops, released on Thursday, says that “more work is required” on reviewing issues which can be “impacting the ministry of ladies as priests and bishops”, and reaffirms the Bishops’ commitment to “ensuring that each one traditions throughout the Church can proceed to flourish together”.
Among the changes suggested by the reviewer, Maggie Swinson, is a bar on suffragan bishops’ chairing the vacancy-in-see committee of their diocese. A proposed change to this effect was rejected by the General Synod in February (Synod, 28 February).
The Suffragan Bishop of Lancaster within the diocese of Blackburn, Dr Jill Duff, had chaired the vacancy-in-see committee that contributed to the appointment of Bishop North. Shortly after his announcement as the subsequent Bishop, she said that she understood the pain of those that criticised the appointment, but that Bishop North had “not caused that pain”.
Dr Duff also paid tribute to Bishop North’s support for ladies within the diocese, which included sponsoring them for ordination.
Bishop North has previously said that his objection to the ordination of ladies “doesn’t cause me to doubt the validity of those orders that the Church of England bestows on female candidates and I hold their ministry to be transformative and grace-filled” (News, 15 September 2017).
Thursday’s statement from the House of Bishops says that “care have to be taken to be sure that any further provisions for reviewing situations regarding the Declaration and supporting mutual flourishing don’t unintentionally undermine the 2014 Declaration”.
Any changes to the part played by the independent reviewer would require two-thirds majorities in all three Houses of the Synod, the statement says.
The statement ends by saying that the Bishops are “committed to making sure that each one traditions throughout the Church can proceed to flourish together”.
Last month, WATCH launched a campaign to finish the provisions set out within the agreement reached in 2014 (News, 4 April).
