Reform Media Statement June 25th 2013: Reform appoints Susie Leafe as its first Director
The chairman of the Anglican evangelical campaigning network Reform today announced the appointment of Reform’s first full-time director, Mrs Susie Leafe.
Speaking at its annual prayer meeting at St Botolph’s Church, London, today (25th June) Prebendary Rod Thomas made the announcement and led the expected 150-strong gathering in prayer as he commissioned Susie Leafe for the work.
Susie Leafe is a member of the General Synod and played a prominent role in the debate on women bishops. Organising a campaign under the banner ‘Proper Provision’, Mrs Leafe gave voice to over 2000 female lay members of the Church of England who believed that the now failed legislative proposals on women bishops did not make adequate provision for those who had theological objections to this development. Prebendary Rod Thomas said ‘This appointment marks a new step forward for Reform. There has never been a greater need for the Church of England to proclaim and explain the gospel, yet in many respects it is ill-equipped to do so. Reform needs to engage many more people in its work to change that situation and I am delighted that Susie is going to be directing our effort to make that possible. She has very considerable theological, organizational and communication gifts from which our network, and the wider church, will benefit hugely…’
…Note. Reform has about 1700 members drawn from several hundred churches. The Reform Covenant explains the purpose of Reform being ‘to uphold, defend and spread the gospel of Jesus Christ according to the doctrine of the Church of England’.
With regard to women’s ministry the Covenant states: Our understanding of God’s way of life for his people includes: .. The unique value of women’s ministry in the local congregation but also the divine order of male headship, which makes the headship of women as priests in charge, incumbents, dignitaries and bishops inappropriate.
The new Director of Reform will seek to promote the unique value of women’s ministry in keeping with the Reform Covenant. Reform is committed to promoting and valuing women’s ministry, and also to communicating the biblical idea of complementarity in ministry.
er a woman leading an organisation that believes in male headship. Can anyone explain this?
One of these mysteries that pass all understanding!
“Can anyone explain this?”
Stockholm Syndrome.
During the height of the Women’s Lib movement in the US, a woman from Florida campaigned vigorously AGAINST the Equal Rights Amendment. (And to this day, women do not have equal rights in the US). She flew all over the country arguing that women should stay at home with the children. Who was this woman? A phenomenally wealthy one. It is highly unlikely that you would find such activists amongst single moms, or working class families who require both incomes to put food on the table. Because of the different cultures, I can’t tell where Reform gets their women. It… Read more »
“Mrs Leafe gave voice to over 2000 female lay members of the Church of England who believed…”
Inasmuch as every member of—well, anything—is a beloved Child of God, this is still not a particularly impressive number. Certainly, not representative of “female lay members of the Church of England” as a whole.
It’s a clever appointment. After all, they only believe in male headship where “teaching” in a church context is concerned and just possibly in marriage.
And appointing a woman means it makes it much harder for people to charge them with sexism.
She does, if I am not mistaken, represent the only Reform parish in the diocese of Truro. This is a tiny separatist organisation.
My question to any bishop appointed from this constituency would be: where do I find some proper provision of alternative episcopal oversight? Because I could not, in conscience, swear any kind of allegiance to a bishop who treated scripture and tradition and reason in such an un-Christian manner.
“It is highly unlikely that you would find such activists amongst single moms, or working class families who require both incomes to put food on the table.”
Cynthia, isn’t this a truth about GS? By and large middle class who have got the time to spend worrying about how many angels can balance on the pin head.
I don’t agree about not challenging them about sexism. There have always been women who have internalised paternalistic views regarding women that have been damaging to the gifts and vocations of women.Its challenging them about their contradictions relating to Headship I find interesting. How are they going to account for that I wonder.
How shocking that there are still people who don’t understand the difference between ministry and priesthood. If you read the rest of the Press Statement, David, you will see that ‘With regard to women’s ministry the Covenant states: Our understanding of God’s way of life for his people includes: .. The unique value of women’s ministry in the local congregation but also the divine order of male headship, which makes the headship of women as priests in charge, incumbents, dignitaries and bishops inappropriate. The new Director of Reform will seek to promote the unique value of women’s ministry in keeping… Read more »
The petition, Proper Provision, went viral in the United States, and many clergy there encouraged lay women to sign it. There was no way of knowing if the apparent 2,000 signatories came from England. I believe they were only asked to declare they were Anglican. As JCF has pointed out, even if all signatories were members of the CofE and regular worshippers, 2K is not impressive.
I have tried to engage with Susie Leafe about the petition, but she refused to speak to me.
The point about the early church bar on women speaking and leading in church is that THIS IS HOW WOMEN WERE EXPECTED TO BEHAVE OUTSIDE OF CHURCH TOO. Early church leaders were nervous that the new ‘freedom in Christ’ would result in women, and men, wanting to overturn the social order and behave differently – hence the clamp down. By contrast today’s conservative evangelicals have moved away from the idea that this is about women’s role in society generally (or maybe they have just given it up as a lost cause) but they still want to apply it to church… Read more »
Andrew Godsall refers to the unChristian manner in which those of the Reform ilk treat scripture and tradition. And what of the lack of charity of proponents of women bishops who published scurrilous articles about catholic clergy in parish magazines and elsewhere? It works both ways, such an argument.
Jill To anyone looking on that quote (and the appointment) is contradictory. How can a woman be a ‘Director’ in an organisation that believes Christian leadership is male? It would be interesting to know where she sits in the present structure of Reform and what authority she actually has. The logic is that she will work ‘under’ male headship? What does all this really mean in an organisation where all its trustees are men and where 23 out of 25 council members are men (one of the women is not, yet, ordained. The other is, correct me if I am… Read more »
Gosh, Benedict, I had no idea parish magazines were so interesting. Do give details.
Helen, your comment is clearly designed to be sarcastic and thus deserves a limited response, except to say that there are examples of articles cited in back copies of New Directions, so if you are as interested as you claim, take a look there.
“the divine order of male headship” Gag. Is this 2013? Jesus did not establish such an order. He broke taboos to heal, teach, and include women. Women were the first witnesses to the Resurrection. Some say that Mary Magdalene was an apostle to the apostles. Jill and Susan would have us emulate primitive cultures, ones that Jesus rebelled against, to achieve what? The theology for that is so lame. Bizarre. Very unhealthy. Actually stunning that these people think that the women called by God and every one of their supporters are delusional, apparently. The discernment committees, the lay people who… Read more »
Andrew, then why do you expect them to be able to submit to liberal “don’t take anything literally”,CWOB ,and “tradition is only to be followed if convenient” bishops? If you won’t submit to Christians you disagree with, why should they?
“How shocking that there are still people who don’t understand the difference between ministry and priesthood.” I think everyone here gets it, Jill. I am a lay minister. The rector of my church is called to ministry as a PRIEST, and in TEC, a number of women have been elected to serve their ministry in the episcopate. There’s lay ministry and ordained ministry. Desmond Tutu’s daughter is called to ministry to serve as a priest and does so in Washington DC (or used to). Women are called to ministry as priests and bishops, and I find it odd that in… Read more »
Benedict I am afraid you rather miss the point of my comment. It’s not at all about parish magazine articles but oversight. Reform want ‘proper (by which they mean legal) provision’ for those who can not accept a woman bishop. My question is: where would I get ‘proper provision’ of alternative oversight if a Reform candidate happened to be appointed as a bishop?
I don’t find any reference to “complementarity” in the Bible , Jill. Where is it?
How shocking that some people would ascribe only ‘unique value’ to ‘local ministry’ by women but ‘divine order’ to ‘male headship’ in this day and age. Beats imagination.
I am shocked that REFORM believe in ‘priesthood’ at all in any shape or form.
Not so protestant after all !
ChrisH: I think the point was that was/is/always has been that some members of the C of E won’t submit to other Christians they disagree with isn’t it? Do you now see how unsustainable that position is?
Benedict, I did not read Helen’s comment as sarcastic, but merely a request for you to cite the sources for the allegations you have made. It is helpful to know that reference can be found in New Directions, but not all of us have access to ND. Please will you let us have the references of the articles you mention. thank you.
without wishing to get drawn into the debate Anne, actually everybody does have access to New Directions if they’ve got access to the internet – issues can be downloaded free of charge. Obviously without page references supplied by Benedict it will be a bit of a needle in a haystack job, but I do recognise what he’s talking about and essentially you’d be looking for the “30 Days” column, which has bits and pieces from parish magazines which fit the bill to a greater or lesser extent almost every month. Please see this as public information spreading, rather than side… Read more »
I am shocked that REFORM believe in ‘priesthood’ at all in any shape or form.
Not so protestant after all !
Sorry but even the Mormons use the term priesthood. REFORM Do NOT BELIEVE THAT PRIESTHOOD IS SACERDOTAL , BUT A PASTORAL AND TEACHING ROLE.
> Reform want ‘proper (by which they mean legal) provision’ for those who can not accept a woman bishop. My question is: where would I get ‘proper provision’ of alternative oversight if a Reform candidate happened to be appointed as a bishop? Andrew, there is a difference (I would assume, anyway) between the position of at least some members of Reform and your own position. You would feel uncomfortable (I imagine) with a Reform bishop because you would disagree with his views and probably even find them offensive. You would not, however (again I imagine), believe that he wasn’t a… Read more »
Thought is free, Veuster, and the Anglican church has rarely wanted to make windows into men’s (or women’s) souls. Reform members will therefore be welcome to believe what they will about women bishops. They can hardly, however, expect the structures of the Church of England to reflect those beliefs. I am unhappy about the assumption that priests etc are authority figures. What happened to the idea of service (there’s a bit about that in the gospels)? I wonder whether all this stuff about women’s ministry emanating from Reform is designed to allow some women to have “authority” over other women?… Read more »
Veuster, REFORM is an evangelical organisation. Unlike Anglo-Catholics who are concerned about sacramental assurance and believe that women cannot be priests, evangelicals know that women can be priests and bishops, but they believe in male headship and therefore consider ordained women to be a direct rejection of God’s will. To that extent, you could well argue that they just feel uncomfortable about a woman bishop. I have to say – I am astonished that people who are so passionately against women’s ordination have still not understood the breadth of the anti women spectrum and the two completely different and contradicting… Read more »
Helen,weren’t priests as authority figures the big reason women wanted to be priests? It wasn’t fair that men got all the power and women had to remain below. That’s why white men are the root of all evil now, right? They had the power for so long. Being a nun or layperson wasn’t good enough. Lip service to the idea that Christians are to serve and lay ministry is important is all well and good, but lay ministry is often second or third class. And the idea is spreading. Nobody wants to be a nun at the local convent anymore… Read more »
Chris H
so are you saying that there is a direct link between a vocation to the priesthood substituting a vocation to monastic life or to lay ministry?
Did that happen with male priests, male Lay Readers, youth group leaders and monks too, or is it only something that affects women?
I can only speak for myself, Chris H, but I sought ordination because I believed,and others affirmed, that I was called to that role. My experience of ministry over the last 20 years has not caused me to doubt the rightness of that, and other people don’t seem to have doubted it either. Yes, priests – male or female -need to be able to have the authority to do the job, but that is about knowing that the validity of what you are doing is recognised by the Church which has ordained you, not about having power to lord it… Read more »
Erika,
I can’t speak for Chris, but yes in the wider CofE I would agree with that – doesn’t matter if you’re male or female, the relentless march is to make (unintentionally or not) priesthood the be all and end all. I think vocations to be a religious, or lay ministry are being directly rechannelled into the priesthood on a substitutionary basis.
Of course, it’s just an opinion and difficult to put hard numbers against, but I do believe it’s the case personally yes….
Frankly, Chris, your opening comment is offensive (incidentally I have never sought ordination nor am likely to do so, so I don’t take it personally). How on earth can you make this sort of assertion about thousands of women you’ve never met and know nothing of? Arguing on those lines shows how little you understand of a)women’s ordination and b) priesthood.
Primrose League, Are you saying that there is a relentless march towards making the priesthood seem to be the most important ministry? Because there certainly does not appear to be a link in terms of the number of ordinations. The statistics I have been able to find in a quick search on the CoE websites are: The Church recommended 491 future clergy for ordination training in 2009, maintaining the level at the turn of the millennium. Another 491 candidates were accepted to train as future clergy in 2009, making a total of 1338 in training. In total, 564 new clergy… Read more »
Erika, thanks for the figures – I suspect we’d also need figures for the other vocations as well though (I realise we’re getting wildly off topic). My contention would be that I suspect they are going down (male and female) yet the priesthood figures as you show are holding up. so the question is to what extent that’s because people are being channelled down that route to *ensure* those numbers hold up, however implicitly. I’m not saying DDOs are saying to would-be monks “thou shalt be a priest,” but I do see anecdotally multiple people who think about lay readership,… Read more »
Primroseleague, I haven’t time to google for these now but I don’t think we have to “suspect” what happens to lay ministry, there should be published figures for licensed lay ministry. Maybe someone here has got them? Purely from personal experience and general reading I would “suspect” that the reality is quite the opposite. With more parishes merging and more priests, especially in rural areas, being responsible for several churches and whole benefices lay ministry is expanding to keep the show on the road. Certainly, my own church could not function without our team of Lay Readers, parish visitors, children’s… Read more »
I can give you some related stats to ponder. If you add together the numbers of ordained ministers, lay ministers and retired ministers in the C of E the number is about 30,000 which is higher than many people think. Assuming a C of E worshipping membership of 1.3 million that’s one ‘minister’ for roughly every 40 people. This does represent a very considerable ‘drift to the sanctuary’ but suggests that it is discipleship (rather than lay ministry) that is undervalued since we seem to want to ‘authorise’ anyone who shows signs of taking discipleship seriously. It isn’t a gender… Read more »
“Why be a nun if you can be a priest?” [Chris H.]
Some are both! I know a few women among the regular or religious clergy.
Putting offense aside, Chris H., the crux of the matter is that God did not put women in the oppressive box you seem to think we “belong” in. The nature of oppression is when one group forces another to live up to the expectations of the dominant group, against the will of members of the oppressed group. So your box is quite oppressive. God has called women to ordained ministry, including the episcopate. Many people have benefited greatly from women’s ordained ministry. I am certainly grateful to the wonderful female clergy I’ve met in both of our countries. But your… Read more »
Jane,
thank you for those figures.
When I googled those statistics on the CoE website yesterday I also came across the figure that there is one ordained priest per 2,500 people in the parishes.
If that is true, and if your comment that there is one minister per 40 people is true, it would suggest a very healthy level of lay ministry and no particularly elevated role for priests.
Primroseleague: Thank you very much for telling us that New Directions is freely available online. I did not know this, so that was really helpful information. But despite spending a little time looking at the 30 days column, I’m not quite sure what it is I am looking for. it would be helpful if Benedict would give us his sources. I think it is always essential to cite one’s sources accurately so that others can check them out, so please Benedict will you do that for us? Thank you.
Just checking back to see if Benedict has found his references. I have to say, Benedict, I am really disappointed. This is about the fourth time that you have had conversations here criticising everyone and everything and then quietly disappeared from the thread when you were asked to provide evidence for your assertions. You can’t be ill or on holiday every single time this happens. It does not strengthen your case. And I so wish it wasn’t like that because if you are right, then your challenges have to be taken very seriously by everyone who cares about church regardless… Read more »