Libby Lane will go down in history as the first female Bishop in the Church of England having taken up her mitre following consecration as Bishop of Stockport by the Archbishop of York last Sunday. Cue much rejoicing from the liberals and much hand wringing from the conservatives. However, does it really matter all that much?
The Bible is very clear that women have an important role to play in the Church – female believers are as much the body of Christ as men are – however, the Bible also makes clear that the role of women in church is not that of leadership, whether leading a congregation as a vicar or leading a diocese as a Bishop.
For the C of E though this was an inevitable step and in reality nothing has really changed. They took the key erroneous theological decision that ‘there are no fundamental objections to the ordination of women to the priesthood’ back in 1975, ordaining female deacons in 1981 and female priests in 1992, therefore for women become bishops is only logical and consistent. This battle has been lost and once a battle is lost, there is little point carrying on the fight.
As a conservative, non-conformist, evangelical, I am of course sad to see our national church further declining, but rather than railing against Libby Lane and the other senior clergy, I feel that surely it is better to pray for them. To pray that they will return to that fundamental pillar of the reformation sola scriptura, that their eyes will be opened to the simple teachings of the Bible, unclouded by cultural norms & political correctness, that the gospel witness would prevail and above all that they will not bring any more reproach on the name of their professed saviour the Lord Jesus Christ.
Turn us, O God of our salvation, and cause thine anger toward us to cease. Wilt thou be angry with us for ever? wilt thou draw out thine anger to all generations? Wilt thou not revive us again: that thy people may rejoice in thee? (Psalm 85:4-6)
CHRISTIAN WORLDVIEW 