Spring is in the air. It’s a time of change and rebirth. A time of awakening from hibernation and dormancy. A time of new beginnings.
So, it’s the ideal time for the Church of England to launch a new commission! Yes, you read that right. It’s exciting. It’s radical. It’s pioneering. There’s a new five-year project in the offing and this one will blow your socks off.
The Church of England’s Liturgical and Faith and Order Commissions will work together over the next five years to explore the idea of using gender-neutral language to describe God. So, God the Father might become God the Parent. Ooof I can hear the cries of “wokery!” from here. The Right Reverend Dr Michael Ipgrave, Bishop of Lichfield and vice-chair of the liturgical commission explains that the church has been “exploring the use of gendered language in relation to God for several years” but they’ve finally created a project… so they can explore gendered language for several more years.
Okay. So far, so Anglican.
Of course, any recommendations would need to be approved by the General Synod… Good grief, it’s looking more exhausting by the minute.
But let’s not be negative. The Church of England’s profile has become tarnished, what with the abuse scandals and the institutionalised homophobia and misogyny, and it could do with a good polish. Maybe this project will make the Church look “with it” rather than “past it”. Maybe it will boost the Church’s reputation with the younger generations – the replenishers who’ll keep the Church going?
But I’ll be honest with you, I’m not feeling too confident.
For a start, Ariana Grande nailed the divine gender debate in 2018 when she released “God Is A Woman” – then again, I’m not sure she had it synodically approved. And I’m sure Generation Z might well prefer to take its theological steer from Ariana rather than the state religion, which has rather let them down.
Given the lack of movement on same sex marriage and the squeamishness that remains about women’s ordination, are any of us, Generation Z or otherwise, really supposed to have any confidence in another drawn out Church “journey”? I’m calling it now: God will remain a “he” – the CofE’s construction of the divine will continue to reflect the people for whom the church best serves: straight blokes.
After all, we’re still dealing with the fall-out from the last project, “Living in Love and Faith”, which focused on same sex marriage in the Church. Summary findings: there is no same sex marriage in the church. This week, General Synod, the Church’s national assembly, voted on whether clergy will be allowed in future to adopt blessing prayers for same-sex civil marriages. Talk about throwing crumbs. Even if the recommendation is passed it’ll prove cold comfort for anyone who hoped for a significant shift in the Church’s inequalities.
Let’s be honest, this CofE’s “Living in Love and Faith” journey seems to have been an exercise in how long it takes to travel a bafflingly short distance. The Church’s rhetoric makes it sound as if they’ve been on a collective odyssey – but they haven’t even turned the corner. But, hey, I don’t think anyone’s surprised. Bored? Maybe. Depressed? For sure. But surprised? Not so much. I mean, this is the institution that continues to promote clergy who oppose women’s ordination.
Last month, the Right Reverend Philip North was named as the next Bishop of Blackburn. This wouldn’t be remarkable except that this is the man who had to withdraw from previous roles because he objects to the ordination of women as priests.
If there’s no equality in the Church, and, at this point, we can’t even begin to pretend there’s even a genuine appetite for it, then that becomes of broader reflection of what it stands for. State sanctioned homophobia and misogyny is not a good look.
I’m sure these projects, consultations and commissions are supposed to be reassuring. I’m sure they’re supposed to reflect the thoughtful theological nature of the Church, an institution that takes seriously the perspectives of all its members. But it doesn’t. Not really. These “journeys” tend to look more like the Church is stuck in the mud and is wheel-spinning for its life.
And so here we are: Stale mate in a stale church.
Katie Edwards was an academic at the University of Sheffield, specialising in the effect and influence of the Bible in contemporary culture
