Episcopal Press and News
Bishop of London Unveils Plan that Will Allow Women Priests in His Diocese
Episcopal News Service. June 7, 1993 [93118]
Bishop David Hope of London has unveiled a proposal that will allow the ordination of women to the priesthood in his diocese. Hope's announcement buoyed some supporters of the ordination of women who feared that London might become a "no-go area" for women priests.
Hope, the third-ranking bishop in the Church of England, spoke and voted against the legislation allowing the ordination of women to the priesthood in the church's General Synod last November. He presides over the diocese with the most vocal opponents of women in the priesthood, but also the highest number of women deacons of any diocese.
In a May 28 statement released from his diocesan office in London, Hope said that "the sooner appropriate arrangements are in place which ensure the continuing integrity of both sides, the better...." Hope denounced the current legislation as "unworkable," and described his initiative, known as the "London Plan," as "a broad set of proposals of how we intend to move forward in this diocese."
In the Diocese of London, Hope is in charge of five suffragan bishops, known as "area bishops," who assist him in the episcopal leadership of the diocese. All but one of the area bishops, Bishop John Klyberg of Fulham, are located and operate within distinct geographical boundaries. Only one of the five, Bishop Graham Dow of Willesden, has indicated support for the ordination of women to the priesthood.
According to Hope's plan, any of the area bishops within his jurisdiction would be free to ordain women as priests. Traditionalist parishes in areas led by a bishop who supports women priests could request to be put under the jurisdiction of Bishop Klyberg, who would serve as a nongeographic suffragan to all of the areas of the diocese.
Similarly, women deacons who seek to be ordained as priests, or parishes that support them within the area of a bishop opposed to women priests, would request episcopal ministry from a bishop appointed as a commissary by the archbishop of Canterbury. Although Hope has said that he would not ordain or license women himself, the women ordained in the Diocese of London would swear allegiance to Hope as head of the diocese.
"In the very difficult circumstances in which we find ourselves at this particular time, these proposals provide a realistic way forward," Hope said of the plan. "We hope that under God we may provide a pattern which others in England and elsewhere may find helpful."
Archbishop of Canterbury George Carey commended Hope for the London Plan, describing it as "consistent" with the kind of pastoral approach called for by a meeting of the House of Bishops in Manchester earlier in the year.
"I am sure many will take heart at this further evidence of the determination of all bishops to ensure that people of differing views about women priests can remain together within the Church of England," Carey said in a statement on May 28. Sources say Carey is working very hard to keep any diocese in the church from becoming a "no-go area."
The Movement for the Ordination of Women (MOW) responded favorably to Hope's announcement that women could be ordained in London. However, MOW released a statement expressing "regret that the bishop finds it necessary to create extra-territorial jurisdiction under the bishop of Fulham."
Despite Hope's contention that the current legislation was unworkable, Bishop John Baker of Salisbury argued that the church should no longer consecrate bishops who oppose the ordination of women to the priesthood. "You can accommodate any amount of doubt, difficulty, dissension and anxiety, but once you get to the position of clergy who say that other clergy among their fellowship are not really priests at all, you have two separate churches, like Rome and Anglicans," Baker said.