Women will be preaching in some Sydney Anglican churches this Sunday, October 23, to mark the day 100 years ago when an ordinance (church rule) was passed to allow women to preach in the Anglican Diocese of Sydney. Sunday will see women preach in churches as varied as St James King Street, St Mark’s Darling Point and St Phillips Eastwood.
An invitation to have women preaching to mark the anniversary was issued by Christians for Biblical Equality (CBE) a group that campaigns for women to be able to fill every position in the church.
An informal survey by CBE found women preach on Sundays in about 15 per cent of churches. Looking at the list of churches provided by CBE, I suspect it might be more than that. But not by much, I find by looking at websites.
“There has never been a survey of how many churches have women preaching so it’s really impossible to know if the number of women preaching in Sydney is declining compared to 1, 5 or 10 years ago,” Kara Hartley the Archdeacon for Women’s Ministry in the Diocese of Sydney tells The Other Cheek
“Also, when people talk about women preaching there’s a spectrum of how often churches have women preaching. It can range from quite occasional to more regular – weekly or fortnightly. While it might be true that women have been occasional preachers, I’m not sure how many churches have women preaching on that more regular basis.”
The number of women licensed to preach in the diocese has increased Hartley points out because all ministers lay or ordained are now required to be ordained. But some team ministry staff roles, in the “Five M”’” model common in Sydney, mean some staffers in specialist roles such as “magnification” (worship) or “membership” do not preach .
Nicky Lock from CBE also points to the number of theologically trained women staffing Sydney Anglican churches, “Only about 15% of Sydney Anglican churches permit women to preach. This is despite many women being theologically trained and some holding a ‘licence’ from the Sydney Archbishop expressly permitting them to preach.”
“CBE recognises that Godly Christians do come to different conclusions as to the application of God’s word on this issue, however, we pray that many more churches will encourage women to use the gifts that God has given them to preach in Sunday services.”
CBE has compiled a list of women preachers this Sunday:
Glebe: Alexandra Prentice
Bondi: Alison Moffitt
Belrose: Cecily Paterson
Eastwood: Christine Yang
Darling Point: Fiona Isaacs; Rachel Wilson
Seaforth: Fiona Simkin
Concord/Burwood: Glenda Bolitho
Avalon: Helen Hoskins
Balmain: Jan Syme
Beecroft: Jo Kadlecek
St James King St: Jorie Ryan
Denham Court: Marge Mills
Cobbity: Shirley Andrews
Hunters Hill: Kara Martin
Christ Church, Lavender Bay: Jenni Stoddart
Castle Hill: Emma Sibley
Balgowlah: Emma Economou
Mona Vale: Helen Hoskins
As it happens, the church I normally attend, St James Croydon, will hear the senior minister Alan Lukabyo preach on Sunday, but half of the four staff who preach regularly are women. One of the two churches that merged to form today’s St James, the old St Peters Burwood East was founded by a woman Amy Oxley Wilkinson who began it as a Sunday School to brick pit worker’s children and quickly gathered a congregation of adults. Her later career as a missionary to China was written up in Robert and Linda Banks’ book They Shall See His Face: The Story of Amy Oxley Wilkinson and her Visionary Blind School in China.
CBE is hosting a preaching marathon at St Luke’s Concord, 1 pm-5 pm (Eastern Daylight Saving Time) tomorrow, Saturday, October 22, with 12 five-minute sermons. It will be live on YouTube at this link: https://youtu.be/N3Dot4Kyi5A.
At the recent Sydney synod, Hartley moved this motion recognising this centenary, which was widely supported by ‘complementarians’ and ‘egalitarians’ alike.
“Synod
a) notes that this year marks 100 years since it passed the Church Ordinance 1922,
b) gives thanks for the hundreds of women, both ordained and lay, who have served and do serve in gospel ministry across the Diocese,
c) rejoices in the variety of ministries in which women participate, including parish ministries, chaplaincy in schools and with Anglicare in hospitals, prisons and aged care, and
d) encourages the parishes and organisations of the Diocese to continue to promote the ministry of women, and to foster collaborative ministry relationships between women and men, for the glory of Christ.”
Photo by Joel Muniz on Unsplash