More new women priests than men for first time

More female priests are joining the Church of England than male ones for the first time ever, it can be disclosed as it takes another step towards the introduction of women bishops.

General Synod - Church of England exodus feared unless women bishops plans changed
The debating chamber at Church House, Westminster. Credit: Photo: AP

Official figures show that 290 women were ordained in 2010, the most recent year for which figures are available.

By contrast, just 273 men entered the priesthood.

The watershed moment comes less than 20 years since the Church first allowed women to be priests, in the face of opposition from Anglo-Catholics and conservative evangelicals who believe that only men can be church leaders.

Back in 1994, just 106 women were ordained compared with 299 men.

Overall there were still more than twice as many ordained men (8,087) as women (3,535) in 2010.

Sally Barnes, spokesman for the campaign group Women And The Church, said: “The figures are very good news. They show the increasing numbers of women whose vocations are being recognised, accepted and valued by the Church.”

But detailed breakdown of the figures, published in The Church of England Yearbook 2012, shows that most of the new women priests are “self-supporting” rather than having full-time clergy jobs.

Among men, 173 chose when they entered theological training colleges to be stipendiary priests and 100 decided to take other jobs alongside unpaid work in parishes.

By contrast, 111 women chose to be stipendiary priests and 179 went for self-supporting ministry.

Miss Barnes said: “The issues of non-stipendiary ministers (NSMs) is a real and present one about which we do need to gather more evidence. It does vary from diocese to diocese.

“For some women, the opportunity to work as an NSM priest is a very welcome one and we wouldn't want to undermine what they do at all as the work they are doing is extremely valuable, but it does concern us that there seems to be a bias at work during the selection process that means that once someone has committed to training as an NSM it is very difficult/impossible to transfer to being stipendiary as personal circumstances/calling develops later and that this seems to cause difficulties for female NSMs particularly.”

Some have said there is a far greater “gender imbalance” among congregations, with one cleric claiming there is now a “testosterone deficit” in the pews.

The figures on ordination come on the eve of another critical meeting of the Church of England’s governing body, the General Synod.

The week-long gathering in Church House, Westminster, will hear four debates on the draft legislation to introduce women bishops.

If substantial revisions are suggested, making either greater or lesser provision for opponents of the move, then the plans could be sent back to each of the 44 dioceses for further consideration.

However if the proposals remain largely unaltered they will proceed to the Synod meeting in York in July for the crucial vote, which must be passed by a two-thirds majority in each of the “houses” of laity, clergy and bishops.

Frank Field, the veteran Labour MP, has tabled an Early Day Motion welcoming the Church’s move to ordain female bishops.

By Friday night it had been signed by five other Labour MPs and one Conservative, Nicholas Soames.

Meanwhile new divisions are opening in the Church over whether or not clergy should be able to bless civil partnerships or support full gay marriage.

The Bishop of Salisbury, the Rt Rev Nicholas Holtam, became the most senior cleric to say that same-sex couples should be allowed to wed, after the Archbishop of York declared that the Government did not have the power to allow the move.

The former Bishop of Rochester, the Rt Rev Michael Nazir-Ali, said: “Marriage is a special kind of relationship and should not be confused with other relationships which have their own integrity.”