Ed: The actual title of this piece is "Half of all vicars will be women 'by 2025'" - but look at the reason why, and check these pictures again!
When Dawn French was appointed Vicar of Dibley in the BBC comedy 13 years ago, women priests in real life were a rarity.
Today, almost half of newly-ordained priests are female and by the year 2025 they will form half of all Church of England clergy according to a study.
While traditionalists still struggle to accept the role of women, some parishes would not have survived without them, says Christian Research.
The group, which analyses church statistics, says that between 1990 and 2015 the number of women priests will have doubled to 2,200 while the number of male clergy will have almost halved to just over 4,500.
This year, 47 per cent of new priests have been female.
In the Bath and Wells diocese, 13 out of the 16 priests ordained have been women.
In Wakefield, it is 10 out of 14. Read more
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Monday 13 August 2007
Male ordinations plummet in CofE
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2 comments:
The reference to "job" in the original article says it all. The Church is becoming another branch of social services. Trevor Ireland Colchester
(Chelmsford)
I agree with your concern about where all the young men have gone. But I don't think it is just an Anglican problem. I have seen over the last few years a deliberate policy in missionary societies as well as in churches to prefer older applicants with some experience of the world to young ones straight out of college. And indeed I can see good reasons for preferring vicars to have life experience. The problem is that it reinforces the tendency for the church to be seen as an institution for the middle-aged. I have also seen signs of this policy being partially reversed at least here in Chelmsford diocese; certainly candidates in their twenties, as well as older ones, are being encouraged to come forward for ordination.
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