In God’s Image

One deacon’s view of being a clergeywoman

Honor Meynell has been a deacon since October 1987, living and working in rural Derbyshire. Honor, her husband Godfrey and their son and daughters have the job of maintaining the ancient house and grounds of the family estate and form the affectionate hub of a large extended family. They are known for their hospitality in spite of the demands made on them by their individual careers, and all play a part in the life of the church, although only Honor is ordained.

She describes herself as a cradle Christian, but during the preparation for her confirmation at the age of fifteen, “I realised that I had been concentrating on ‘Love your neighbour’ and began to understand ‘Love God’.” When their three children had grown up, she began training with the East Midlands Ministry Training during the course of which she decided to go forward to have her vocation tested. She went on to be ordained.

Looking for something sizzling and topical to write for Christis, I kept pressing her during the interview to make some pronouncement on feminism. “Libraries of books have been written about feminism,” she said. “I don’t think I can add to that.” When I asked her if any particular Christian women had been an inspiration for her, the answer was Mother Theresa and Mother Julian of Norwich, but she sounded a little bemused by the question and pointed out that she has never seen Christianity as a “sex issue”. Never, she said, had she come across opposition to her work in the Church on the grounds of gender until after her ordination, and she was surprised by it. “My father believed in equal opportunities in education for his children, and my marriage is a partnership.”

By the time that the General Synod vote was approaching, however, Honor declared herself very much in favour of the ordination of women, and was supported in that view by her husband. “I saw it as a sort of justice issue for women,” she said, “and an impediment to preaching the gospel in the twentieth century. It was a barrier in the Church.” That women were not ordained may have been appropriate in past centuries, she thought, but not now that they have the right to own property, to vote and to teach. “I don’t see that feminism and Christianity clash,” she said in response to one question, “in the practice of loving God and one’s neighbour — except where women are taught to be subject to men. Women deserve equal respect to men.”

She added, “It’s partly an issue of how we see God.”

I asked her if she thought that accorded with the teaching of scripture. “Genesis tells us that man and woman are made in God’s image”, she said. She went on to say that although the apostle Paul taught that women shouldn’t speak and should cover their heads in church, these were concerns in the first century Jewish church, which applied both to a different age and a different culture. “We don’t need to concern ourselves with circumcision laws.” She quoted Paul’s teaching that there is no slave nor freed, man nor woman in Christ and pointed out that there were women apostles in Paul’s time, for instance Priscilla. “I think that if Paul was living today, he would be in favour of women priests”, she concluded.

We got onto the subject of the General Synod’s vote. She thought that women in the Church of England should be encouraged by the outcome of the vote. “The fact that the majority voted in favour in parishes throughout the country shows that woman are going to be accepted as equals in the Church.”

What was her reaction to the aftermath of the vote? Honor rejected the charge that the Church of England has become a ‘sect’ — “It is still in the apostolic tradition.” Looking ahead, she said she thought it a good thing that there will be an 18 month pause before any women are ordained as priests, allowing people to get accustomed to the idea. She hoped that they would come round to it and work together — “everybody’s gifts are needed. There are much more important issues to be tackled together.” As for women, “they should hang in there and use their gifts within the Church.”

Honor repeated at the end of the interview that “everybody is needed in spreading the good news, and tackling — for want of a better word — ‘social’ problems. I hope we’ll work with tolerance and affection between us.” And to all the discussions about men and women and their rights, “He doesn’t see us like that.”