by Katie Sherrod
Lambeth Conference Communications

If there is one experience that sums up the reception of the first bishops who are female at a Lambeth Conference, it is the power of the incarnational encounter.

Time and again, the Lambeth Eleven all have experienced a scenario that goes something like this: A person approaches one of the women, introduces himself or herself, and says, "I've never met a woman bishop before."

Sometimes they gently touch the bishop, as if to make sure she is real. Women frequently have tears in their eyes. Sometimes the person with tears in his eyes is a brother bishop. People remark on how much it means to them to have female bishops at Lambeth. With other bishops, after the initial exchange of names, greetings, etc., the encounter often turns to episcopal shoptalk.

"People from all over [the Anglican Communion] have been introducing themselves," said Barbara Harris, bishop suffragan of Massachusetts (USA) and the worldwide Anglican Communion's first bishop who is a woman. Some encounters are particularly moving.

"One African bishop introduced himself and told me he was at Virginia Seminary when I was elected. He remembered how joyous it was and how they had rung the bells and how exciting it was for him to be there at that moment," she said. Many bishops' wives also have sought her out to tell her how important her election had been to them personally.

Photos of history

Ann Tottenham, bishop of the Credit Valley in the Diocese of Toronto (Canada), related an encounter with three teenaged stewards from Tanzania who met her as she was returning from having her photo taken with the other women in her rochet and chimere.

"They all wanted their photo taken with me in all my gear. So I had my photo taken with each of them, and then with all three of them. By the time we finished I felt like a national monument," Bishop Tottenham laughed. "I'm having a good time."

"It has been a good, stretching, almost overwhelming experience," said Mary Adelia McLeod, bishop of Vermont (USA), and the first diocesan bishop who is female in the Episcopal Church. "Overwhelming in listening to all the voices from all over the world-the sense of our connectedness regardless of culture, of theology, that sense of worshiping the same God."

Lack of open hostility

While a few opponents of the ordination of women made intemperate remarks on talk radio shows and in other news interviews prior to Lambeth, almost no open hostility has been evident at Lambeth.

"I've had no bad moments," said Catherine Waynick, Bishop of Indianapolis (USA). "I've felt very welcome. I was not sure how we would be received here, but I was determined to have fun. And I am."

"The people who are unappreciative of our presence here are probably just avoiding us," said Bishop Harris. She has an injured ankle and has been getting around on a motorized cart. "People have been very solicitous and kind," she said.

"I came to England very nervous," said Victoria Matthews, bishop of Edmonton (Canada). "I wasn't sure what to expect. I thought Lambeth would be something good to look back on. But I'm enjoying it thoroughly. It's an incredible privilege to be here."

Bishop Matthews is Canada's first bishop who is a woman. She was elected suffragan with responsibility for the Credit Valley in the Diocese of Toronto. When she was elected diocesan in Edmonton, she became the first bishop who is a woman to be translated [to be elected twice] in the worldwide Anglican Communion. Bishop Tottenham was elected to follow her in the Credit Valley.

Bishop Tottenham said, "The church has called me to act in a certain way [as a bishop] and I am."

"I have been participating as a bishop at Lambeth, as a bishop who is a woman," said Catherine Roskam, bishop suffragan with responsibilities for Region II of the Diocese of New York. "I go about the business of being a bishop [both at home and at Lambeth] and when my gender is an issue, it's always a positive."

A time to pioneer

The timing of their ordinations-with one exception they were all ordained priests between 1978 and 1984-has meant that all 11 have been pioneers from the first days of their ordained ministries as deacons and priests. As such, their every action has been scrutinized in ways unimaginable by most male clerics. As pioneers, they bear the scars that come from breaking new ground. Nearly all can tell tales of painful marginalization, even, in a few cases, of being spat upon, shouted at, verbally abused. Barbara Harris received death threats during her consent process. With each bishop, however, such tales are told only rarely and then reluctantly, and usually, only to illustrate how much progress has been made.

Bishop Geralyn Wolf of Rhode Island (USA) was the first dean of a cathedral who is a woman [elected in 1987 at Christ Church Cathedral, Louisville, Kentucky]. She tells of a rector early in her ministry who was disappointed because she did not address the ordination of women when she preached at his church.

"I told him that I didn't have to talk about the ordination of women. I just had to show up [and function as a priest]," she said. "I've often thought of my ministry as a wedge plowing a field that is hard, leaving behind something softer that's ready for new life."

Holding on to individuality

All bishops have to learn to live within the office while remaining grounded in their individuality. The 11 women share that adventure with their brothers, but also find themselves exploring how gracefully to live out an additional role-that of historic icons.

"One thing that hasn't really come out yet is how different we all are. No one has said 'What do the women bishops think about so and so,'" said Bishop Roskam.

Frequently they are reminded that while their ministries may be flourishing, the state of women's ministries elsewhere in the Anglican Communion and even in their own Provinces is not always so happy. Some of the most emotional encounters they have are with women who live in parts of the Communion where women's ministries are denied or frustrated. Many provinces still do not ordain women as priests or bishops.

For the most part, however, while all the women respect the importance of the historic moment they inhabit and represent, it rests lightly on their consciousness.

"I became a bishop not knowing how to be a bishop," said Bishop Waynick. "But I knew how to be me."

"I have a tendency after nine years of moving into the routine of the episcopacy and with the company of the other women, to forget I was the first, because it feels so natural," said Bishop Harris. "But again and again, I've been reminded of some aspects of what that meant, and still means."

Welcome to Canterbury

All say that the procession into Canterbury Cathedral at the opening Eucharist was when the historic nature of their presence here was driven home most powerfully.

"I was tingling walking over the threshold, remembering my first visit at the age of 23, never being able to imagine that one day I would be walking in as a bishop in a beautiful purple cassock," said Bishop Wolf. "Just before we entered, [one of the male American bishops] turned, took my hand and said, 'Bishop Wolf, welcome to Canterbury Cathedral.' I'll never forget it."

"I'm sure I was just gaping as we went in," laughed Bishop Penelope Jamieson, bishop of Dunedin (New Zealand), and the first diocesan bishop in the Anglican Communion who is female. "I was just overwhelmed" at the beauty and significance of the moment, she said.

"The one time when the sense of the moment of history we represent was almost overwhelming was in Canterbury Cathedral," agreed Bishop Waynick. "But at the same time, it felt so natural to be there."

Jane Dixon, bishop suffragan of Washington, D.C. (USA) said that she keeps encountering the historic moment in the faces of other women. She told of being at a dinner party in Durham prior to Lambeth and getting into a conversation with the woman who is the diocesan linkage to the companion diocese in Africa. The woman asked her if she was a bishop, then asked if she was the first bishop who is female.

"I said no, that the first is an African American woman named Barbara Harris. She said, 'Are you telling me that the first woman bishop in the church is a black woman?' I said yes, and her face broke into the most radiant smile, and she said, 'Isn't that pretty!'"

It was the power of the incarnational moment, Bishop Dixon said, as this black woman joyously embraced the reality of a black female bishop.

Importance of Bible study

All of the women have found their Bible study groups to be sources of support and growth. For most of them, it has been the single most powerful aspect of Lambeth.

"My Bible study group is the most profound happening. Here we all are, literally from around the world. I'm sure it's the grace of God that has entered in. From the very first day we've been able to talk in a very deep, intimate way. I wouldn't miss it for anything," Bishop Dixon said.

All the women said they feel they have entered into the small group meetings and other aspects of Lambeth as fully as have any other bishop.

"They've not treated me any differently from anyone else," said Bishop Chilton Knudsen of Maine (USA). "The leadership gifts of the female bishops are beginning to be evident. Gerry has given one of the Bible study videos, Ann was the preacher at the Canadian evening prayer, Victoria moderated the plenary on making moral decisions . . . there's been a gentle kind of acknowledgement of our gifts."

Additionally, Bishop Knudsen led the intercessions at the opening worship service in Canterbury Cathedral, the first bishop who is female to do so in 900 years. Bishop Jamieson was on the design team for the Bible study. Bishop Carolyn Irish of Utah (USA), is on a writing team for one of the small sections.

"People have been accepting us in the spirit of the Eames Report-that we are accepted as bishops in our own churches and that we are not telling them what they should be doing in their churches," Bishop Jamieson said.

"The thing that is never written about is the fact that most bishops in the Communion are reconciled to the fact that there are going to be women bishops," Bishop Tottenham said.

"I learned from [one of] the bishop[s] of Namibia-we were talking about how Christianity interacts with the various cultures-he said one of their guidelines is that if it is something in the culture that oppresses someone, then it cannot be moved into Christianity. He said that as they considered this, they realized that if they applied this guideline to the ordination of women, then opposition to that would be oppressive of women."

Prayers for the female bishops

The Episcopal Women's Caucus (USA) has been joined by Britain's WATCH [Women And The Church] in daily prayers for the female bishops. At 1 p.m. Monday through Friday, people are meeting under an oak tree between the physics building and the Senate/sacred space building. A banner hanging from the tree says, "Meet to pray for our Sister Bishops." In addition to the prayers for the women, every day there has been a prayer that those who do not yet accept the women bishops also enjoy Lambeth and not experience any sense of feeling marginalized.

"We know that any conference is stressful and that any bishop would like to have someone who can ease that stress. So we are here to run errands, to help out, to do what we can to minimize the stresses that can be minimized for the women," said the Rev. Cynthia Black, EWC president. The Caucus also organized the historic color photo of the Lambeth Eleven in rochet and chimere on a hilltop overlooking the Canterbury Cathedral that now has been sent out worldwide via the Lambeth Conference web site: http://www.lambethconference.org/.

WATCH also has a presence at Lambeth, with a booth in the Marketplace and an office in room T4-8 in Darwin College. WATCH is selling T-shirts made by the Caucus that say "From Philadelphia 74 to Lambeth 98" with the names of the 11 women ordained in Philadelphia listed along with the names of the 11 female bishops. Also available for free at the WATCH booth are the Caucus's purple buttons with the female symbol topped by a mitre.