It is the Holy Spirit that Directs

The struggle to get women consecrated as Bishops in the Anglican Church of England came to a close last week as the nation had her first woman Bishop Elizabeth Jane Holden Lane consecrated by the Archbishop of York, Dr. John Sentamu.

Elizabeth was born in 1966 as Elizabeth Jane Holden in Wycombe, a rural district in Buckinghamshire, England. She grew up in Glossop, Derbyshire.

Elizabeth Jane was educated at Manchester High School for Girls. She then studied at St Peter's College, Oxford, graduating with a Bachelor of Arts (BA) degree. After that, she proceeded to do a Master of Arts (MA) degree in the same university. She later studied for her Ordination at Cranmer Hall of Durham University.

In 1990, Elizabeth married George Lane, who is also an Anglican priest and currently the Coordinating Chaplain at Manchester Airport. They were among the first married couples to be ordained at the same time in the Church of England. They have two children.

Elizabeth was ordained in the Church of England as a deacon in 1993 and as a priest in 1994. She served as a Curate at St James' Church, Blackburn.

For the next 14 years, from 2000 to 2014, she served in the Diocese of Chester. She was Vicar of the combined

Benefices of St Peter's Hale and St Elizabeth's Ashleyfrom 2007.

She also served as the Dean of Women in Ministry in the Diocese of Chester from 2010, in addition to being a Vicar.

In 2013, Elizabeth was elected one of eight Participant Observers of the House of Bishops. She represented the North West of England. Observers are senior female priests who are elected to attend and participate in meetings of the House of Bishops until six female bishops have been added to the House. She attended her first meeting in December 2013.

On 17 December 2014, it was announced that Elizabeth was to become the Bishop of Stockport. She was appointed a suffragan Bishop in the Diocese of Chester. A suffragan Bishop is a Bishop who is subordinate to a Metropolitan or Diocesan Bishop. Such Bishops can be assigned to an area which does not have a Cathedral of its own.

Elizabeth was consecrated at York Minster on 26 January 2015 by Dr. John Sentamu, Archbishop of York.

When the Archbishop asked the congregation if Elizabeth should be consecrated as a Bishop, the service was briefly interrupted by a priest, Paul Williamson, who shouted: "It's not in the Bible" and called the consecration an "absolute impediment".

Archbishop Sentamu carefully explained the legality of the act and asked a second time. There was no opposition this time.

And so, Elizabeth Lane became the first woman in the Church of England to be consecrated as a Bishop of the Church of England, after its General Synod voted in July 2014 to allow women to become Bishops.

Many people from all over the world have congratulated Mrs. Lane on her appointment. The British Prime Minister, David Cameron, called her appointment "historic" and "an important step forward for the Church towards greater equality in its senior positions."

History is made by people.
But the struggle does not end here. The Anglican Communion in many African countries like Nigeria has continued to bluntly refuse the recognition of women priests. The argument is that the men are not opposed to the idea. The women are. The women claim they are satisfied with the non-ordained Ministry they run and would not want to interfere with their men folks in the ordained Ministry. The women have, and manage schools, motherless babies' homes, orphanages, skill acquisition centres and so on. They are satisfied with their contribution towards the stability of their society and would not like to “compete” with their men folk in the ordained Ministry.

But an investigation carried out by this writer showed that it is the Bishops' wives who are influencing their husbands. They are at the head of the Women Ministry and are afraid that ordained women priests would endanger their positions and take away the glow from them. So, they instigate their husbands to refuse the recognition of ordained female priests.

It may be argued that countries like Nigeria are not yet ripe to embrace women ordination. But the question is: why?

In the life time of Jesus, he never considered the need to bring women forward as his disciples. His 12 disciples were all men from different backgrounds. Not one single woman was named as a direct disciple of the Master. Jesus was contented at the time to allow them do the jobs supposedly meant for the women. They kept the houses, washed the men's' clothing, cooked their food and even kept their purses. But it did not go farther than that. They did not preach the Word. They were not allowed to.

But when Jesus resurrected from the dead, before he ascended into Heaven, it was the women he first revealed himself to. Why?

There must have been a reason why Jesus did not choose to first reveal himself to the men who had stood by him

all his life. What was that reason?
We may not know. But what we do know is that he revealed himself (his new self) first to a trusted female follower, Mary.

In all probability, this could have meant that women had first been called into witness about the risen Christ.

Years after, it would be a travesty of justice to deny women full participation in the process of knowing Christ. If the Anglican Communion in any part of the world denied him of that need to use the women to preach the Good

News, I would imagine we would need a rethink.
Nigerians are known to be intelligent people. They should prove this, as some others have, across the globe. Our men should not be afraid that the women will take over from them. Even if they do, it would have been the wish of God.

We can do nothing by ourselves. It is the Holy Spirit that directs.