Conservative Anglo-Catholics who, to varying degrees, dissociate themselves from the bulk of the CofE which is content with the ordination of women. A Society parish would be one whose priest is a member, and usually whose PCC had passed the various official resolutions against accepting the ministry of women and those who ordain women.
Yes. Society parishes are looked after by the *flying bishops*, or Provincial Episcopal Visitors, who are known to have never ordained a woman.
Some of them, especially in Central London, are also 'society' parishes in that they attract a crowd of socially-well-connected gin drinkers. But of course many 'society' churches in that sense are in no way 'Society' parishes! And some of the most flourishing capital-S places are in beer-drinking former mining areas.
...against accepting the ministry of women and those who ordain women.
I wasn't aware of that second part in the minds of (some of? all?) those Anglicans rejecting women's ordination; thank you for the information.
Some IME, rather than all, and usually more important to the Priests than all but the more ‘groupie’ of the laity of that persuasion.
Sort of along the lines of ‘how can you, if you ordain women, take our beliefs seriously and minister to us with sincerity rather than patronising us as an annoyance or a point of view in palliative care?’
Which absolutely points to a complete lack of trust but there we are.
Given this is under epiphanies rules, I’ll reassert that I worship in a parish with a (great) vicar who is a woman, but I come from the Society world and haven’t completely left it behind so I know whereof I speak.
Basically when it comes down to it the Five Guiding Principles and the Flying Bishops are intended to provide reassurance that the Anglo Catholic traditionalist stance is valid, and more to the point has a future. There is a process for parishes to continue to opt into it if they discern that desire, and the traditionalist structure continues to bring forward ordinands to replenish its stocks of traditionalist priests (and bishops). It’s basically everything but the famous Third Province in reality, if not in law.
All that above may be messy, uncatholically innovative, regrettable, terrible, wonderful -take your pick.
But the point is that’s why part of the constituency held out for non-women ordaining bishops and a parallel structure. It was to give some level of certainty that they weren’t being fobbed off to quietly die out.
Anyway, that’s the 101 on why there is an importance attached to non-women ordaining bishops IME.
Thank you. It is very interesting, though I hate to use that word as it may come across condescending or as if I'm viewing some unknown group from afar...like anthropologists encountering different peoples. I do not mean it that way. I genuinely thank you all for the explanations.
Well for my part, don't apologise for treating the Church of England like an anthropological study. It's the only way I can make sense of it from the inside. Otherwise it just feels like I'm stuck in a batshit crazy deathloop.
May I introduce you to Orthodoxy? The church may be Christ's Body but some of its human nature (me included) can leave something to be desired.
(I'm not dismissing your feelings...just stating my belief the Anglican church, or The Church of (in?) England here specifically, is not alone in its craziness...to use the term you used, I'm not judging... My own house needs some order.)
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Conservative Anglo-Catholics who, to varying degrees, dissociate themselves from the bulk of the CofE which is content with the ordination of women. A Society parish would be one whose priest is a member, and usually whose PCC had passed the various official resolutions against accepting the ministry of women and those who ordain women.
I wasn't aware of that second part in the minds of (some of? all?) those Anglicans rejecting women's ordination; thank you for the information.
I read that, John Lewis style, as "have never knowingly ordained a woman".
Some of them, especially in Central London, are also 'society' parishes in that they attract a crowd of socially-well-connected gin drinkers. But of course many 'society' churches in that sense are in no way 'Society' parishes! And some of the most flourishing capital-S places are in beer-drinking former mining areas.
Some IME, rather than all, and usually more important to the Priests than all but the more ‘groupie’ of the laity of that persuasion.
Sort of along the lines of ‘how can you, if you ordain women, take our beliefs seriously and minister to us with sincerity rather than patronising us as an annoyance or a point of view in palliative care?’
Which absolutely points to a complete lack of trust but there we are.
Given this is under epiphanies rules, I’ll reassert that I worship in a parish with a (great) vicar who is a woman, but I come from the Society world and haven’t completely left it behind so I know whereof I speak.
All that above may be messy, uncatholically innovative, regrettable, terrible, wonderful -take your pick.
But the point is that’s why part of the constituency held out for non-women ordaining bishops and a parallel structure. It was to give some level of certainty that they weren’t being fobbed off to quietly die out.
Anyway, that’s the 101 on why there is an importance attached to non-women ordaining bishops IME.
Yep, for the "headship" ones, and they're still demanding more, because apparently homophobia demands they be super-duper separate.
Yes sorry - forgot him, Bishop of Maidstone.
Not at the moment - the con-evos are looked after by +Ebbsfleet:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bishop_of_Maidstone
I genuinely can’t keep up.
(I'm not dismissing your feelings...just stating my belief the Anglican church, or The Church of (in?) England here specifically, is not alone in its craziness...to use the term you used, I'm not judging... My own house needs some order.)