Between Two Worlds

Organizational Challenges for Ordained Women in the Anglican Church of Canada

The priest walks up the Nave; guards on either side (Sison, 2014). At the Altar, she turns

and faces her congregation. For members of the Anglican Church of Canada (ACC) this was a

time not so long ago. Women have been ordained ministers since November 1976 and bishops

since February 1994 (General Synod, 2013, Appendix T para. 28). These consecrated women

have much in common with their professional, secular sisters when facing organizational

barriers, perspectives and challenges in the workplace. The purpose of this paper is to look at

organizational challenges facing ordained women in the ACC and illustrate parallels between the

secular and sacred worlds.

The ACC is an institution-based religious denomination and thus has a clear defined

organizational hierarchy. The General Synod is like a corporate Board of Directors, though their

powers are different. The General Synod is comprised of three parts or “Orders”: Order of

Bishops, Order of Clergy and Order of Laity (General Synod, 2013, p. 5). The ordained ministry

is comprised of three levels: Deacon/ess, Priest and Bishop (General Synod, 2013). Bishops can

only be members of the Order of Bishops; Priests and Deacons/Deaconesses can only be in the

Order of Clergy, if elected to it; Order of Laity are members of good standing within their parish

and diocese, and are elected to it.

It is interesting to note that in the Handbook of the General Synod of The Anglican

Church of Canada (Handbook) (General Synod, 2013) that Canon XIII deals with the gender

specific office of “Deaconess” (p. 69-70). The Canon details: Recognition; Qualifications;

Duties; Episcopal Oversight and Authority, and; Transfer and Resignation. Yet nowhere in the

Handbook is there discussion of Deacon (gender specific male), Priest or Bishop. Canon III deals

with “The Primate” (most senior Bishop who represents the ACC nationally and internationally)

(p. 39-45). Canon VIII and IX deal with the “General Synod Pension and Benefit Plans” and

“Lay Retirement Plan” from page 53 to 62 of the Handbook. One is left to wonder why the

lowest order of female ministry alone is detailed.

All organizations, secular or religious, are created by the conscious and unconscious

processes of human beings (Morgan, 1997). Many authors now agree that organizations “are not

gender neutral but profoundly gendered” (Kelan, 2008, p. 429). As well, it is noted that

“gendered cultures, which are embedded in individual organizational cultures, thus appear a key

obstacle to women’s career progress with organizations” (E. M. Wilson, 1998, p. 406). There are

more women in congregations than men and do most of the lay works (committees, women

auxiliary, setting the altar, etc.) but are vastly underrepresented among the leaders of Christian

organizations (Adams, 2007). At Seminary/theological college there is equal representation of

fe/males (Blue, 2008). Yet at the most senior level of the ACC there is nowhere near parity.

Notwithstanding this, we must remember that ordained women are “the challenge to the male

‘death grip’ on the ministry” (Bagilhole, 2003, p. 365; see also Ward, 2008). With the increased

research and study the ACC and Canadians are coming to understand that women’s

ordination/ministry is “more of a restoration of what was lost than an innovation. (Ward, 2008, p.

77)”

The “Order of Bishops” is made up of forty-one bishops, including the Primate. As of 01

April 2014, there were five female ordained bishops, with a female minster appointed as

Diocesan Administrator, which equals 14.6% representation of a female voice within the Order

of Bishops (General Synod, 2014). Many find the ACC to be frustratingly slow in changing

church policies and procedures, when compared to the corporate world, but “because institution-

centred denominations are interconnected and more centralized, they can often implement new

policies faster, further and more firmly than [other denominations]” (Lummis, 2008, p. 161). It

must also be remembered that the “[s]tructure, rules, behaviors, beliefs, and the patterns of

culture that define an organization are not just corporate phenomena. They are personal in the

most profound sense. (Morgan, 1997, p. 245)” Hence, it may take another twenty years for

women bishops to reach parity with men, as most bishops are elected in their forties (Sison,

2014) and can serve until they are seventy (General Synod, 2013).

The classical career path for a minster would be parish priest (moving to successively

larger parishes) to diocesan bishop and then, if so elected, to Primate. However, the classic,

secular, corporate ladder “is replaced by portfolio careers [in] which workers undertake a

succession of projects rather than following a linear progression. (Kelan, 2008, p. 431)” It is

known that women’s careers have been characterized by limited opportunity, low pay, part time

work, family breaks and assumptions about commitment and capability (E. M. Wilson, 1998).

Thus, women work in ‘poorer’ conditions because male executives believe the easier ‘right to

exit,’ for home and family commitments, compensates for the low pay (F. Wilson, 1996). As

well, women’s jobs are deemed “lesser” than men’s (Benschop, Halsema, & Schreurs, 2001) but

are expected to do emotional labour in their jobs in order to keep ‘peace and stability’ within the

work unit (Hochschild, 1983; Kanter, 1977).

Women priests are now following their secular sisters into “portfolio” work; whereby

they quietly take on some of the toughest spiritual jobs such as dealing with Residential School

survivors, abused children and women, hospital and hospice work (Bagilhole, 2003). Added to

that, many women are leaving the pastorate (parish) and moving into chaplaincy (military,

school, hospital) or teaching, as they find parish work to be less professionally and spiritually

rewarding (Blue, 2008). When women do work as parish priests, they are not only expected to

perform the duties of ministry but also fulfill the role of “minister’s wife” (Sison, 2014).

According to Ward (2008), women’s roles are local, flexible, family friendly, voluntary, junior

level or of new creation. But as women become more visible, in the sacred world, there are less

stipendiary jobs available consequently restricting career mobility (Lummis, 2008).

One of the most prominent organizational challenges for women, in any sector, is the pay

gap between men and women (Kelan, 2008). Despite equal opportunity legislation and equal pay

legislation, men still tend to fill the majority of full-time positions, while women fill the vast

majority of part-time positions (Guy & Killingsworth, 2007). A good secular model would be the

‘sports world’; wherein the first teachers of a sport are normally women, who volunteer to teach

a large number of children (normally), who are not sure if they want to play this sport and as

such are probably unruly. Once an athlete has dedicated him/herself to pursuing the sport to an

elite level, the professional coaches are typically men (even in women’s sports) who are paid for

their time (Shaw & Hoeber, 2003).

Within the sacred world, regular pay (stipend) is based on where you work, what position

you hold and what can be afforded by that parish, business or sector. It has been noted that men

tend to head larger and/or older parishes/institutions, which tend to pay well through stipends,

endowments and bequests (Bagilhole, 2003; Blue, 2008; Lummis, 2008; Sison, 2014). As well,

despite many women’s higher level of education, many are on their second career (Sison, 2014;

Ward, 2008), they are far less likely to find stipendiary work at any level (Adams, 2007). The

jobs that many women are filling (small parishes, parishes in destitute areas, hospice care) pay

less than what a male priest can earn at a large parish (Adams, 2007; Blue, 2008; Lummis,

2008).

One of the most fraught “site[s] of struggle and contestation, (Trethewey, 1999, p. 429)”

facing professional women is that of the female body itself. As the “female body has a tendency

to overflow, (Trethewey, 1999, p. 432)” front, back and out there are many unvoiced, but

observed, clothing rules for the professional women. According to the women interviewed by

Trethewey (1999) professional clothing should be: stylish but not trendy; pretty but not feminine;

interesting but not suggestive; ‘tailored’ but not tight. Of note in this list is the use of the

masculine term ‘tailored’, over the more inclusive term of fitted. Further to this, professional

women indulge in “cheerful defiances of custom (p. 593)” including makeup, nail polish,

clothing colours, jewelry and hair length and style (Gherardi, 1994). These defiances are now

deemed commonplace and un-noteworthy, as they assist in establishing a woman’s professional

identity. In the mid-70s, it was not uncommon for secretaries to take courses on professional

demeanor and clothing options (Kanter, 1977).

Within the sacred world, Page (2013) found that “[d]ress function[s] as a key test in

women’s integration into the organization, often operating as a constraining and exclusionary

mechanism (p. 1) …. Therefore, status and prestige are bound up with particular items that hold

not only professional significance but also sacred status. (p. 2)” Sacred clothing (robes, stoles,

and such) are traditionally bright in colour, made from lush fabrics and, in many cases, are richly

embroidered; normally a hallmark of “feminine” clothing. Yet, these feminine clothes have been

worn by men for thousands of years. Therefore, many would think that women’s acceptance of

and wearing of sacred clothing would pose no problem. However, it has been “conclude[d] that

the female, for the most, cannot be adequately represented with male body size data. (Robinette,

Churchill, & Mc Conville, 1979, p. 25)” The areas that did not scale well between, or within

gender, included: hip circumference, chest circumference, shoulder circumference and

hand/head/feet scales (Robinette, et al., 1979, p. 25). Hence, women priests are left with the sub-

conscious feeling that they are unable to fill the robes adequately, thus they are only playing at

being a priest (Page, 2013).

In Blue’s classes (2008), one thing that every guest speaker brought was their robes that

had been modified by the women ministers. For example, most robes do have slits for the wearer

to reach their pockets; but most female, professional clothing (worn under the robes) does not

have pockets, so where do you put the battery pack for the microphone (Blue, 2008)? In her

study, Page (2013) noted many items that are deemed by ‘someone’ as being “at odds not only

with the professional self, but also the sacred self. (p. 6)” Conflicts were noted on the use of:

patterned clerical shirts; traditional black over coloured clerical shirts; the (non)wearing of

earrings; hair length; the use of make up; the use of nail polish, and; the wearing of jewelry on

secular clothing while talking at a meeting (Page, 2013). Many female ministers have felt the

need to ‘play to the audience’ when dressing for secular and sacred purposes (Sison, 2014). In

researching women’s sacred clothing, using the links at Anglicansonline.org, men’s clerical

shirts only come in black while women have the choice of black or pastels, if offered at all. As

well, for formal sacred clothing, those sites that offer tailoring services suggest that all

purchasers go to a tailor for proper measurements “as shown in the diagrams above,” of which

there is normally only one diagram for women.

As we have seen above, ordained women face the same organizational challenges as their

secular sisters: underrepresentation at senior decision making levels; the need to enter into

portfolio work instead of a traditional career; wages gap, and; the female body in a man’s world.

How then should the ACC address these challenges and assist its sisters in Christ to reach their

full professional and spiritual potentials?

The easiest one to ‘fix’ is that of sacred clothing. As a forward thinking organization, the

ACC should contact a woman’s clothing designer to create new, or modify traditional, sacred

clothing to better fit and enhance the female minister in the performance of her spiritual duties.

As for the resistance of some parishioners to the female body in priestly vestments or clothing;

only time and an acceptance of new societal norms will ameliorate this problem.

The other challenges and barriers may be problematic. The idea of forcing/legislating a

quota for female bishops does not seem to be appropriate. Besides, will enough male bishops

retire “soon enough” so that women can be elevated? Forcing female ministers into parish work,

when their calling maybe to the chaplaincy or teaching, is again felt to be inappropriate.

Regarding wages, it could be ‘equalled out’ if all monies collected, bequeathed and endowed

went to the ACC instead of to specific parishes, sectors or foundations. But that would give rise

to division within the ministry. A secular example of this idea is the current state of affairs in the

National Hockey League, where you buy tickets for the “Canadiens” but a portion of that money

goes to prop up the team in Phoenix.

One of the most powerful themes in Carl Jung’s work is “the unity in opposites. (Morgan,

1997, p. 241)” It is known that Christianity moved from Jesus’ egalitarian movement to

Aristotle’s gender ideas, that give an “essentialist notion of gender that leaves the nature of one

gender unassumed and unrepresented before God. (Bates, 2011, p. 11)” The ACC needs to

contemplate upon the idea of an in-dwelling God that “knows women so well that he never

touches them directly, but always in that fleeting stealth of a fantasy that evades all

representation. (Luce Irigaray quoted in Joy, 2006, p. 17-18)” If the ACC reflects prayerfully

upon this idea that it will see that "[t]he voice of women, the female and femininity have been

largely invisible, (Metcalfe & Linstead, 2003, p. 95)” within the Church. Once this revelation has

been made plain, then the ACC can work towards the ‘critical mass’ of women needed at senior

levels of management so that norms will change, as a strategic and Biblical necessity “not a

reluctant concession to demands of [social/secular] justice. (Ward, 2008, p. 83)”

The ACC is a gendered organizational culture that continues to reflect its gender biases

on female ministers who “ha[ve] felt gender bias first hand .… [they] ha[ve] been the target of

sexist slurs, been excluded from male-dominated social situations, and ha[ve] seen men get jobs

instead of more qualified women. (Symons, 2013)” As Edgardh (2009) says, it would have been,

and should have been, magnificent to see the Church lead the way towards equal rights before

the law and God. Because “[i]f women can ‘represent’ God just as well as men, if women can be

priests in the Sanctuary just as men can, then God is not the ‘man’ he was thought to be!

(Diesendorf, 1988, p. 33)” Thus, as we in the Global North (who are torn apart into solitary,

unique individuals, but are more globally connected than ever before) face the challenge of being

different together (Edgardh, 2009), we need to find a mutual support system that could be the

Church. If the Church can find the “unity in opposites” that promotes transcendence and the

Jungian ‘cosmic’ that allows us to link mind-to-mind and mind-to-nature/God (Morgan, 1997)

then the Church can take a “queer” (different and breaking away from the norm) look at itself

and realize that this concept is “an invitation to a deeper theological reflection. (Edgardh, 2009,

p. 43)” A concept that will allow women’s voices to be heard on a level playing field, with the

hoped for result of a more equitable organization and society.

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