Women in Leadership blog

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'The healing hands that saved a nation.'

So ran the headline of an article in the Telegraph last Saturday. Rwanda has become the first country in the world whose women MPs outnumber men.

What an amazing achievement, especially in a culture where women are used to being in the background. Part of the secret of this progress has been what one might call positive discrimination, ensuring that at least 30 per cent of all administrative and government posts nationwide must go to women. How else would things change?

Sometimes I almost despair, when I think how difficult the path of progress is for some women, whether in a church or wider context. A few steps forward, followed by a backlash - and several steps back. But in Rwanda, women are seen as key to the healing which is needed since the genocide. 'Women are better able to nurture reconciliation.' I'm not one for stereotypes, but I think this is probably true.

I believe it's important as women leaders to look beyond our own context to see the plight of women in the developing world. But I was caught by surprise when I read what these women may have to say to us. Inspiring, or what?

'Now the young girls see all these women in power and realise they can do anything. To succeed is no longer about physical force, it is about the force of your mind. We know we are capable of anything that men can do.'

And to the challenge that this might threaten men? 'We're not taking over, we're just coming along to join them.'

I long for the day when we are saying that about women bishops, or women leading larger churches! But in the meantime, I'm rejoicing at this news, and praying that these women leaders in Rwanda may teach the world a thing or two.

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I've just received the news that the first woman incumbent has been appointed in Edmonton Episcopal Area.

That's Edmonton, London.

I have to admit I didn't know there were no women incumbents in that Area, despite its particular theological flavour. But it reminds me of how patchy women's deployment still is in the Church of England. In some deaneries there are more women than men, in others, women still find themselves on their own at chapter meetings.

Which no doubt accounts for the varied ways in which women clergy perceive the scene in the Church, and their acceptance. For some, it's 'What's the problem? I'm just getting on with the job of ministry.' For others, feeling as though they have entered a 'boys' club', it can be a very different experience.

So - great news for Edmonton and London, and I hope that Marjorie Brown, who's been appointed vicar at St Mary the Virgin, Primrose Hill, is well accepted both in her parish and her Area.

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I am constantly amazed how many women are still held back.

I've just come back from running a vocations weekend, and met several obviously gifted women who were beginning to grasp the idea that they could be called to leadership as much as their husbands were.

I really thought the days when women aspired to be married to a vicar (rather than being a vicar themselves) were over, but I fear that in some parts of the Church this idea is still alive and well. Over and over again I hear women say how men are always encouraged to consider ministry, whereas they struggle to hear God's voice amid the conflicting messages around them.

Yet it seems so obvious to me that God does not universally oppose the authority or public ministry of women. In Scripture there are so many examples of women who served as apostles, deacons, prophets, judges, church planters - and just one example would be enough to demonstrate that limiting women's leadership is not a universal biblical principle.

One of the chapters in my book recounts briefly the stories of women leaders in the Bible, while another examines the theology often used to restrict women's ministry - the so-called 'difficult passages', the significance of priority in Genesis and the recent concept of 'role subordination.' As more and more scholars support a more egalitarian interpretation, it grieves me so much that gifted women are unaware of how God can call them (and not just their husbands) to serve him in ordained or authorised leadership in the Church.

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Men with sexist views 'earn more'.

One of my colleagues alerted me to this recent news item on the BBC news channel. A piece of US research has found that men who think that women should stay at home rather than work outside the home will consistently out-earn more 'modern-thinking' men.

On average this meant an extra £4,722 a year.

The somewhat obvious conclusion of the study was that more traditional people are seeking to preserve the historical separation of work and domestic roles.

I was intrigued by the possible explanations of the earnings disparity - that traditionally minded men are more interested in power, or that employers are more likely to promote them if they are the sole breadwinner.

I wonder if this is really true in the UK as it may be in the US. Personally it doesn't really worry me - and if the whole US economy is about to collapse, lots of those high earners may not be earning anything at all before too long.

And more modern-thinking men, as they are called, often realise that there's more to life than work, so salary is not everything. They might believe that their spouse and children deserve a little more of their time, or they need some friends and leisure time.

And in the church - well, we get paid the same for the same job, but when it comes to who has a stipend and who does not, I think there is room for progress!

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