General Question

mattbrowne's avatar

Are there female bishops in the US or Canada?

Asked by mattbrowne (31732points) July 16th, 2009

Sadly, too many religions still are sexist institutions. The German Lutheran Church however has hundreds of female ministers, even a few bishops. Here’s one example:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maria_Jepsen

the first female bishop worldwide in 1992. I’m not sure about the situation in America. I tried to google it without success though. There seem to be some in the UK.

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29 Answers

KatawaGrey's avatar

I believe the episcopalian archbishop of San Francisco is a woman but I am not sure. Typing “female american bishops” in the google search bar turned up mostly hits about certain branches of Christianity banning female clergy or simply disliking the idea.

Zaku's avatar

Anglican, yes. Here is one article. Googling “female bishop” seemed to give me a lot of articles.

Strauss's avatar

Here is a list of women bishops in various denominations, including Anglican, Methodist, etc.

TylerM's avatar

I’m sorry buy I must say something. Just because a church doesn’t allow a woman to be a Minister or Bishop doesn’t mean they are sexist. It means they interpret the place of the woman within the church differently than you. The woman is considered the “weaker vessel”, which for many is automatically labeled SEXIST, but it truly isn’t. I am not a Pastor, but I do know that at my church we preach that the woman is not to preach but no one in my church is a sexist by any means.

1 Timothy 2:12 states:
I do not permit a woman to teach or to have authority over a man; she must be silent.

This is how we base our belief on women in the church. The only reason I even commented on this is because of the use of the word “sexist”.

mattbrowne's avatar

@TylerM – Would Jesus agree with Timothy?

ABoyNamedBoobs03's avatar

@TylerM
1 Timothy 2:12 states:
I do not permit a woman to teach or to have authority over a man; she must be silent.

lol really? you don’t see that as sexist? It means that a man is higher than a woman, meaning they are not equal… meaning it’s sexist…. come on bud use your noodle.

smack's avatar

@TylerM No, discriminating against a sex is pretty much sexist.

At the OP: Yes, there are.

smack's avatar

@Yetanotheruser oops, sorry, I didn’t see your list!

cwilbur's avatar

The presiding bishop of the Episcopal church is a woman, Katherine Jefferts-Schori.

@TylerM: as I asked yesterday, what part of “There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus.” (Galatians 3:28) is so fucking hard to understand?

And yes, if you’re forbidding women to preach, that’s sexist. The gifts of the Spirit are given to all.

TylerM's avatar

COME ON.

Definition of sexism:
refers to the belief or attitude that one gender or sex is inferior to or less valuable than the other.

Last time I checked that does not say that a woman is inferior or less valuable. It simply states the belief that women are to remain silent in the church.

lefteh's avatar

Last time I checked that does not say that a woman is inferior or less valuable. It simply states the belief that women are to remain silent in the church.

You cannot be serious..

ABoyNamedBoobs03's avatar

“women are to remain silent in the church.”

but a male doesn’t have to be silent? a male can teach? saying one gender is permitted to do something while the other is not, is sexist dude. I hate to piss in the cheerios that are your religion but there’s no dancing around it kid.

TylerM's avatar

http://aabible.org/332177.ihtml

My churches website. My pastor is preaching on women in the household and the church right now. If you find one sexist thing in any of those sermons you tell me.

I am not sexist. I truly am not. I believe the line of sexism extends through society but does not include the church because it much more complex. Women in my church don’t preach sermons, but they do teach Sunday School and lessons. Women run committees, but don’t serve on the theological board. We are not sexist. It seems everyone here believes that any limitations whatsoever automatically makes one Sexist.

If I don’t let a person with a heart condition on a roller coaster does that make me a person with a discrimination?

ABoyNamedBoobs03's avatar

So what is a woman’s “heart condition” that prevents her from getting on certain roller coasters in your religious theme park?

you don’t let someone with a bad ticker on the Predator because they could die.

what makes women less qualified, or prevents them from doing whatever is reserved for men in your religion? Because doing something ‘just to do it’ is utterly pointless and laughs in the face of logic and reason.

TylerM's avatar

I know many of you are going to think I’m a complete idiot, I am not a bigot. Three of my siblings are severely mentally retarded, two of them are black.

I don’t tell women to “make me a sammich”. A woman is absolutely valuable. I do not demean them.

We are not “restricting” women in the workforce, only within the church and ONLY to certain duties. That falls under freedom or religion and is not sexist. If we believe that women shouldn’t serve on an elder’s board within our church that’s our choice. Does not make us sexist. It’s how we interpret the Bible.

TylerM's avatar

True sexism would extend throughout all of society and would not pertain to only a spot within the religion. Many Muslims are sexist, they restrict the woman’s place in society. We restrict only whom they are allowed to teach within the church.

ABoyNamedBoobs03's avatar

“only within the church and ONLY to certain duties. That falls under freedom or religion and is not sexist. If we believe that women shouldn’t serve on an elder’s board within our church that’s our choice. Does not make us sexist. It’s how we interpret the Bible.”

dude, it doesn’t matter where it is. Sexism isn’t just a law, it’s an ideology.

“Three of my siblings are severely mentally retarded, two of them are black.”
that’s sad and I’m sorry but it has nothing to do with this thread.

”“restricting” women in the workforce, only within the church”
lol you just admitted you’re restricting what a woman can and cannot do… by definition, that is sexism. please dude, reevaluate what you’re saying here….

ABoyNamedBoobs03's avatar

“That falls under freedom or religion and is not sexist.”

No, it does not, and should not. If Catholics start beheading born again christians is that not murder because it’s part of their faith and falls under “freedom of religion”?

brettvdb's avatar

This thread is hilarious. Amazing how ideals can get so twisted like this.

cwilbur's avatar

@TylerM: Restricting the role of women in your church does, in fact, make you sexist. It’s just sexism that you attempt to justify based on your interpretation of the Bible.

CMaz's avatar

” It means that a man is higher than a woman”

Yes. Or to better put it, we all have certain responsibilities. Equally as important.

fireinthepriory's avatar

@TylerM So say my religion wants to keep all non-white people quiet in the church and restrict the duties they are allowed to perform (assuming there were passages in the bible that could back up these racist policies, which I’m sure there are). This would not be considered racism because it only extends to church and not to society as a whole? I think you’d agree that racism is racism whether it’s only happening inside one church, one school, or one business. It doesn’t have to be widespread to “qualify.” What makes sexism any different?

Ivan's avatar

@TylerM

So far in this thread you have compared being a woman to having an illness, you’ve called them weaker than men, you’ve said that women and men should have unequal roles in society and religion, and you’ve said that women should not have the same privileges as men in certain contexts.

I don’t exactly know how you define sexism, but this is how I define it.

dannyc's avatar

In a few United Church groups. As demographics change, more women will take lead roles, or the churches will die. Necessity being the mother of invention…once again.

mattbrowne's avatar

Thanks for all the interesting links, especially

http://www.guide2womenleaders.com/bishops.htm

Impressive!

I guess I used the wrong Google keywords or it might have to do with my preference settings. Very often UK hits show up before US hits when using Google in Europe.

mattbrowne's avatar

@TylerM – I’m not surprised that you avoided my question about whether Jesus would agree with Timothy. I think he didn’t. In fact, I believe there have been many female apostles in the early churches, but they were hardly mentioned.

If Timothy really said what we find in 1 Timothy 2:12, he would clearly be very sexist unlike Jesus. If women can’t be teachers they are treated as being less valuable and a humiliating restriction is being imposed. The impressive list of today’s female ministers and bishops shows everyone how beneficial it is to eliminate the restrictions.

Tell me one reason why women can’t teach about Christianity. I’m pretty sure not a single one can be found.

cwilbur's avatar

Actually, in the Acts of the Apostles, there is mention of several prominent church women.

mattbrowne's avatar

The letters to the Thessalonians were written by Paul, Silas and Timothy. The Timothy letters were written by Paul, so it’s actually possible that Timothy might not have agreed with Paul and his view on women. I don’t know enough about Timothy so maybe he was a sexist, maybe not. Again, I firmly believe Jesus wasn’t.

It’s also important to note that only 7 out of the 13 Pauline epistles are called the undisputed epistles. First Timothy quoted by @TylerM is NOT among them. So the origin and authorships remain unclear

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pauline_epistles#Authenticity_of_the_epistles

So even Paul might not have been sexist after all.

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