Although there have been women deacons in the Eastern churches and, to a lesser extent, in the West, women have not been ordained priest or bishop in either the East or West, except in some schismatic communities. This should not be taken to mean, however, that women have not had hugely significant ministries in the Church. This is what the Orthodox Women's Consultation in Istanbul in 1997 had to say about the ministries of women in both the Eastern Orthodox and the Ancient Oriental churches: "Throughout the history of the Church, we have the testimony of countless women saints who responded to Christ in many ways, such as apostles, evangelists, confessors, martyrs, ascetics and nuns, teachers, mothers, spiritual and medical healers and deaconesses. We Orthodox women of today, inspired through the prayers and examples of these women saints, now endeavour to continue in their footsteps." From an evangelical point of view, we could add missionaries, counsellors, educationists and family-workers. 

The historic churches, such as the Roman Catholic, the Orthodox and the Ancient Oriental, do not admit women to the order of priest or of bishop and the biblical evangelicals do not appoint them to public roles which involve leadership of a congregation or an organisation. Together, these churches represent, of course, an overwhelming number of Christians throughout the world. I am not an "impossiblist" in the matter of women's ordination but the question of universal consent is important. The Church of England, or even the Anglican Communion, cannot claim to share the ministry of the ancient churches and then seek to change it unilaterally. There has to be at least permissive consent, if not uniformity of practice. Until then, any such ordinations will have to be seen as subject to the process of reception (which includes the possibility of these not being received). Naturally, such a situation raises questions in the minds of the faithful about things like sacramental assurance: the need to be sure that they are, indeed, receiving God's grace in the sacraments through duly accredited ministries. 

Whatever the outcome of this debate, and whether women are ordained priest and bishop, we cannot have a monochrome pattern of ministry in which gender does not matter. Rather, we ought to be working towards a situation where the particular natures of men and women, as well as their common and distinctive gifts, are used in the Church's work and witness in the world. 

The partnership of men and women in the Church is not the only partnership the Church needs. When I was the bishop of a diocese, we held a consultation with our partners, and representatives of more than 40 local and national organisations turned up. These included educational agencies, social workers, youth organisations, statutory bodies and others. For the Church of England, with its heavy responsibility for a significant portion of our national heritage, in terms of historic buildings and the like, a new and honest concordat with the state is also very important. Congregations alone, some of them rural and small, cannot be burdened with the upkeep of what belongs to the nation as a whole. If these buildings are to survive for the purposes for which they were built, rather than as museums, they will have to be adapted and extended to meet present-day needs. This requires resources which the Church, local or national, cannot provide by itself.