The election of the first woman to serve as the Archbishop of Canterbury, heading the global community of Anglicans, is a historic event. Bishop of London Rt. Rev. Sarah Mullally has certainly broken through a number of stained glass ceilings! No matter what the field, women in leadership face additional hurdles, but as the first woman mayor of any large Canadian city, former mayor of Ottawa Charlotte Whitton, famously said, “Whatever women do they must do twice as well as men to be thought half as good. Luckily, this is not difficult.”
The Archbishop of Canterbury is to Anglicans what the Pope is to the global community of Roman Catholics, without the assertion of infallibility. While women are still not allowed to be priests in the largest Christian branch of organized religion — Roman Catholicism — would women as heads of their churches be more likely to be progressive?
You may unsubscribe from any of our newsletters at any time.
I am fortunate to have known two of the women who have served as moderators of The United Church of Canada – both the late and miraculous Very Rev. Lois Wilson and (a strong “green”) and a dear friend, Mardi Tindal. And while not knowing them well, more recently, Very Rev. Carmen Lansdowne and now Rt. Rev. Kimberly Heath continue to be voices for peace and justice and the protection of sacred Creation.
At a time when declaring oneself as a follower of Christ is likely to invite skepticism, if not outright hostility, I persist in doing so. While a U.S. politician cannot hope to be elected without loud proclamations of belief in “OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST,” outside some distinct and relatively small geographical Bible belts, a Canadian politician gets no such advantage.
As the late NDP MP Rev. Bill Blaikie once said on the CBC Radio program Tapestry, we need to be clear, that while the so-called “Christian Right” gets media attention, there is also a Christian Left. We, who identify as being on the left of the political spectrum, pull back from the non-inclusive interpretation of faith. We seek to be inclusive of all religions, faiths and non-faiths and in doing so, we cede the field of faith to those who, with all the good will and love I can muster toward them, seem not to be familiar with the core of Christ’s message – love all. Clearly Donald Trump is not a person with even the vaguest familiarity with Christian faith, declaring “I hate my enemies” as he seems determined to break all 10 Commandments.
The election of a woman is a message. So many non-Christians assume that one cannot be a feminist, defend women’s reproductive rights, and still be a Christian, but some of those assumptions are shaken when Christians, willing to be political, speak up. Many non-Christians were cheering the Episcopal Bishop of Washington, D.C., Rt. Rev. Mariann Budde, when she called for newly inaugurated U.S. President Trump to show compassion toward the marginalized groups he was menacing. In her homily at his inauguration mass, she was brave as he, and especially his vice president, glowered. Budde continued to speak truth to power. She has held the position since 2011, and like her fellow Anglican — our new Archbishop of Canterbury — Budde is the first woman to serve in that vaunted role.
More on Broadview:
- Watch the moment a bishop begs Trump to ‘have mercy’ on 2SLGBTQ+ people, migrants
- Why today’s spiritual seekers are reviving ancient practices
- Readers respond to Mariann Budde’s powerful plea to Trump
As a climate activist and Anglican, one of my most electrifying moments was when the former Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams, spoke at the 2009 Copenhagen climate meeting and said, “to spread lies about climate is to spread lies about God and is blasphemy.” Amen.
So wherever this message finds you, at home, at coffee hour after church or decorating the hall for the Christmas sale, please take a moment and consider what a radical Christian Left could do to right wrongs, protect Mother Earth and call out the world’s billionaires and rapacious bullies. What if?
I live by Ephesians 3:20, giving me the strength to believe and affirm that miracles happen. If we are trapped in a world where only what is possible can be realized, we are in a very dangerous place, living on the edge of doom. We must believe in and accomplish the impossible. A woman Archbishop of Canterbury? Quite impossible!
***
Elizabeth May is the Member of Parliament for Saanich-Gulf Islands and the leader of the Green Party of Canada.
Thanks for reading
Independent journalism rooted
in faith and justice is under threat
Broadview is the only media organization in Canada offering thoughtful, values-driven journalism from an inclusive, progressive Christian perspective. But our work depends on your support. If you value what you've just read, please act now.
A gift today helps keep this journalism alive tomorrow.
With gratitude,
Ephesians 3:20 – Perhaps you could start by using this verse in context. This verse has nothing to do with what you can do.
It relates to what God does for the believer (Christian). He gives us Christ living in us, the experience and genuine knowledge of God’s love, His sufficient grace. Most importantly, He gives us the fullness of God, meaning that in spite of God’s attributes, we can obtain His presence and redemption when we submit to Him.
Zero to do with miracles. BTW -Where is mother earth mentioned in the Bible? I keep losing track of the verse.
Precisely. The Christian Left gets no attention because they aren’t Christians for the most part. They’re political actors using Christianity as a prop. The right does that, too, but at least the right does not get into bed with those who explicitly hate the Lord Jesus.
Did you not read the part about Trump proudly declaring that he disagreed with Jesus? “I hate my opponent and I don’t want the best for them”.
And then “Sorry, Erika” because he said this right after Erika Kirk, at her husband’s funeral, said that she forgave his killer and that the Gospel is about love.
Gary, you may have lost track of Psalm 24:1-2.
A thoughtful, challenging and inspiring article celebrating women; women in leadership; women in leadership in the Church; and women in leadership protecting the environment. If Elizabeth May wants to start a multi-faith radical left Christian movement, just tell me where I sign up.
Sadly, the first two comments on May’s article, both men, just don’t get it. Ephesians 3:20 reads:
“Now to him who by the power at work within us is able to accomplish abundantly far more than all we can ask or imagine.” (NRSV)
Pretty clear to me – it’s about how God’s presence within each of us gives us the strength, wisdom and courage to act in this world. Nothing about God’s “love”, “sufficient grace”; “fullness”; “redemption”; or “submission”. It’s about God’s “power at work within us”.
These comments are typical of what we see from the radical right – using the Bible, and literal/traditional interpretations of the Bible as a sledgehammer to punish or to discredit others.
“If you can’t say anything nice, don’t say anything at all.”
– Thumper in “Bambi”
Norm Biram
McClure United
Saskatoon
Great response, Norm!
Does it make a difference whether a man or a woman comments? Perhaps I should use current cultural norms and say I’m insulted that you assumed I was a “he”. Funny that you think men are ignorant, I will assume you are a “he” as well.
Why do you assume I am punishing or discrediting others? My point is what is the context of the verse? (ask the 5 W’s starting from Ephesians 3:14) If we are going to quote the Bible we need to use it correctly.
If I say “I love Lucille Ball.” What do I mean? I think she’s gorgeous? I think she’s funny? You can’t take my sentence and say “It’s pretty clear to me – it’s about …” you need context.
You also assume that I’m a radical right. I agree I’m right in what I posted, but I’m not very radical. Basically calling me part of the “radical right” you insinuate that I’m a fascist, chauvinist and any other boogie man you can think of, that’s not fair, you don’t know me. All I am questioning is the frame in which the author uses the Scripture verse, we as Christians are told to do that.
I am also concerned that Christians use the term “mother earth” it is not a Biblical (therefore Christian) term. It is derived from the ancient Greek and Roman mythology. It conjures up the idea of evolution, rather than Creationism. It is definitely Deistic in its usage, God didn’t set the wheels in motion and leave it up to itself (or us) to keep it going, we don’t have that capability as fallen creatures. God still controls everything. (Romans 11:33-36)
In a way I’m glad you offended, perhaps you’ll dig deeper into what I’ve said.
Norm Biram’s comments are quite apropos, especially his quotation of Thumper!
Totally disagree. Ministers who preach only the literal word of God try to keep God in a box and make that Holy Essence and all of Creation limited and contained by humanity’s closed mindedness.
They like Religious Councils of old see the Bible as a closed book and nothing further to be done or added. Everything we need to know and do is contained in the Bible literally. (Then why don’t we follow the hundreds of laws over and beyond the 10 commandments we claim to follow?) Even the earliest oralists, writers, listeners and readers knew that much of the words that formed the writiings were allegorical.
There was truth to be had, but not without being cognizant of the fact that each part represented several different types of thinking by several different writers from several different perspectives and times.
Christian theology recognizes what it refers to as the Trinity (Father, Son, Holy Spirit). God is not limited to one persona. Those persona are not off somewhere leaving everything up to humankind to accomplish just by following the literal words of everything in all the different books in that particular Library which according to translation and derivation is what Bible means.
Creation and Creator are both naming words or nouns, but what we sometimes forget is there is also a verb to those words. For many who insist that all is done and finished and not ongoing throughout our lives and beyond we might summarize our faith in the sentence
Creator created all of creation. ( It’s all in the past you might say…)
My faith tells me it might better be written
Creator Creates and is Creating Creation. (It’s still going on here today).
Creator gave us heart and mind to join the Spirit in this work, but also the free will to decline. Which way we go is up to us. Jesus was a very devout Jew but did not follow blindly the laws and teachings of that as a human being and even was able to understand better than the religious and political leaders of that time. And since Jesus used parables to teach I am pretty sure Jesus had a pretty good grasp of underlying meanings.
I’m sorry, but I’m too old to understand what you are trying to say.
Could you speak in 1950’s terms? It would help me to see your point.
If in response to my mother earth question, the person “Lord” is masculine, not feminine.