God should not necessarily be seen as a masculine figure, according to the UK’s first female bishop to sit in the House of Lords on Monday. “God is not to be seen as male. God is God,” said Rachel Treweek, bishop of Gloucester, who is to be inaugurated in parliament.
While acknowledging that many Anglicans would profoundly disagree, Treweek said the Church of England should use both male and female pronouns when referring to God. She personally prefers to say neither “he” nor “she”, but “God”. “Sometimes I lapse, but I try not to,” the bishop told the Observer.
“In the creation narratives, we’re told that God created human beings in God’s likeness, and then it goes on to talk about male and female. If I am made in the image of God, then God is not to be seen as male. God is God.”
Some want to use only the feminine gender throughout liturgy and prayers, “and some people have seen that as threatening”. Treweek added: “I am not in the business of wanting to offend anyone, but I do want to gently challenge people.” Language, she said, was “very powerful in shaping people’s views and shaping our culture”.
Treweek will be introduced as one of parliament’s 26 Lords Spiritual by the archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, and the bishop of London, Richard Chartres, after her “writ of summons” is read aloud.
She sent back the first version of the writ because it referred to her as a “right reverend father in God”. Now it describes her simply as “bishop”. “There may be women who’d be happy with ‘right reverend mother in God’, but that doesn’t sit comfortably with me,” she said.
“There’s something about the whole connotation of ‘mother’ that has a sense of dependency for me. It’s not how I want to be looked at. I see myself as a leader, as leading from among people.”
She was often asked if she considered herself a feminist, she said: “It’s a word that’s heavily loaded. If it means I believe that men and women were created by God as equal but different, then yes I’m a feminist. But if it means women wanting to be men – and sometimes that’s a slight feeling of being loud and domineering – then I would reject that.”
There was still “a long way to go”, she said, on gender equality within the church, despite more than 20 years of women’s ordination and the appointment of seven women bishops since last December – of whom Treweek is the most senior. “We’re not at a place where men and women are represented in equal numbers across church roles. We don’t have large numbers of young women coming forward to be ordained. We have to ask ourselves why that is.”
Treweek criticised the Church of England’s lack of diversity, calling for more participation across race, class, gender and age. Despite advances for women, “we’re not where we should be with diversity, particularly with ethnic minorities”. The church, she said, is “the Church of England, and England is made up of people of all colours, genders, different experiences, different social backgrounds.
The church is there for everyone, and that message should be clear. If anyone walks into a church and thinks this is not for me, I don’t see people like me – that matters.”
Among those who may feel excluded from the CofE are gay men and lesbians, but Treweek was reluctant to explicitly state her views on a debate that has caused a rift in the Anglican church and is expected to dominate the next five-year synod, which starts [NOV]in November.
The church must learn to live with a range of views rather than expecting to reach a consensus, she said. “I do believe in miracles, but I don’t think that’s what’s going to happen.” Instead, Anglicans should “listen to one another, understanding there are different interpretations of scripture, different experiences of life” rather than being dogmatic.
Since she began work in Gloucester six weeks ago, following four years as archdeacon of Hackney in east London, the new bishop said she has discovered layers of complexity in the diocese. “It’s a city of many parts – there is beauty and wealth, but just five minutes from the cathedral you will see immense poverty, struggle and deprivation. It’s got grit.”
The bishop intends to speak on issues of social justice, including refugees, homelessness, domestic violence and those “seen as on the margins of society”. Sitting in the Lords was “an immense privilege. But when you take a leadership role you’ve got to be willing to deal with conflict and take risks – and also when you get things wrong, to be able to say so and to say sorry.”
Treweek was among 84 bishops who signed a letter to David Cameron in September, calling for a greater response to the refugee crisis. The diocese has been working with local grassroots organisations to assist refugees and asylum seekers in and around Gloucester.
While insisting the UK had capacity to accept more refugees for resettlement, the bishop said she was aware “there will be people who feel everyone’s focusing on refugees while they’re struggling too. But this is not either/or, but both/and. We live in a very broken world – there are lots of issues we need to address.”
Treweek has run into controversy over a plan to sell church land in a nearby village for housing. Some opponents sent her hate mail and rotten food. “I’m going to have lots of controversies,” she said. “Sometimes people express views in not very appropriate ways. Do I feel bruised? No. Do I feel frustrated that people haven’t necessarily heard the narrative I want to give? Yes. But that’s part of the risk.”
Before being ordained, she worked in the NHS as a paediatric speech and language therapist. Asked if such work might not be of more practical use for those in need than being a vicar or bishop, she said: “When I heard God calling me for ordination, I had that battle with God. Surely I’d be of more use living out my faith working with these people? I lost that battle – God said I want you to be ordained.”
The historic significance of being the first woman bishop to take a seat in the House of Lords was “only just beginning to sink in,” she said.
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