Woman bishop: why I don’t like all-female clergy leading services

THE first female bishop to sit in the House of Lords has said she feels “frustrated” at seeing all-women clergy leading Church of England services.

The Rt Revd Rachel Treweek, who was appointed as Bishop of Gloucester in 2015, believes it is undesirable to see women “at the front” of the church with no men beside them.

Appearing at the Cheltenham Literature Festival to discuss her journey towards becoming a bishop, she spoke of “discovering the joy of being in leadership alongside men, as an equal” and having “the privilege of working with an amazing male vicar”.

She went on: “Sometimes, I get frustrated when I go to churches where I see all women at the front in positions of leadership, just as I used to get frustrated seeing all men at the front of leadership. For me, I want to see diverse leadership, and part of that includes men and women working together.”

She recalled a primary school essay in which she wrote of wanting to be an author when she grew up.

“My teacher at the time crossed out the word ‘author’ and corrected it to ‘authoress’. It really makes me smile now when I think about my passion for equality. I am most definitely a bishop, and not a bishopess,” she said.

At theological college in the Nineties, “there were a large number of people who did not believe that women should be priests. It was sometimes a challenging territory to negotiate.” Last month, she said the Church should be “mindful of our language” and avoid constantly referring to God as “he”.