The Women Who Oppose Female Bishops

The Women Who Oppose Female Bishops

We're used to the Glass Ceiling, and it's relatively rare for women who acknowledge its presence to express opposition to its removal. But the Stained Glass Ceiling is somewhat different. Women from within the Church of England who may be somewhat diffident about women priests are not hesitant about voicing their absolute opposition to female bishops. The Guardian elicits the views of the perhaps ironically named Emma Forward, a member of the Anglican Church's Synod (General Assembly) and Christina Rees, a campaigner for equality in the Church. An interesting video talk by feminist theologist Maureen Fiedler discussing her book Breaking the Stained Glass Ceiling: women Reliigous Leaders in their Own Words which contains interviews with female faith leaders can be found here.  Note that around 27 minutes in she notes that women hosted and performed the eucharist in the early church, which is counter-evidence against one of the main points offered by the women who oppose what they see as change in tradition, which now appears as a long-overdue return to the basic principles of the fledgling evangelical church. Nevertheless, it would probably take the discovery of an unknown female disciple (perhaps working in the kitchen at the Last Supper?) to shake the views of some of the more hardline fundamentalists.