Why should parishioners receive communion from female clergy when their bishop won’t?

There are still many unanswered questions in the appointment of the CofE’s first diocesan bishop who does not ordain women, says Martine Oborne. What message does it send to female clergy? And how can they be expected to flourish in an environment where institutionalised discrimination still exists?

A week before the announcement that Rt Rev Philip North had been nominated as the next Bishop of Blackburn, Women and the Church (WATCH), a national campaign group for gender equality in the Church of England, issued a statement. In it, we explained that we could not support the appointment of a diocesan bishop who does not ordain women.

As Chair of WATCH, I want to be clear that our opposition to this nomination is not at all personal; we would oppose the appointment of anyone does not ordain women - and is unclear whether the Church of England should ordain women - to the post of diocesan bishop.

Bishop Philip will be the first person holding this view to become a diocesan bishop since women were, themselves, permitted to hold the role. And there are many questions about the appointment that still remain unanswered.