As one of that ‘gaggle of mature women’ to which Paul Richards takes such exception (and, no, I have no intention of attempting to join any choir, let alone the bastion of All Saints. I have far too much consideration for my fellow human beings than to unleash my warbled high notes upon them), I felt very sad on reading the replies in the February edition of Community to John Fowler’s January letter. Both responses were negative about the contribution girls and women can make to the music of the church. Of course, there is the choir at St Philip’s which has long welcomed female members. The reason the Porter family moved from All Saints was that our daughters wanted to sing in the choir.
But I
think this issue should be seen as part of a wider debate
about the role and position of women in the Church of
England. As Christopher Morgan-Jones set out in his Vicar’s
letter, there are many in the Church of England who
object to women holding any position of influence within
that Church, and many others who appreciate the
broadening of perceptions, talents and responses that
women bring to the Christian ministry. I put myself
firmly amongst those who welcome women priests and look
forward to appointment of women bishops. I hear the
arguments of those who say that the priest is the earthly
representation of Christ and therefore has to be male.
But I also hear what
The Church has for centuries held an ambivalent attitude towards women. It seemed to regard us as either Madonna’s or Magdalen’s – whereas most of us fall somewhere between these two extremities. Why can we not be accepted as people, with as many flaws and failings as men – and with as much variety of skills and understandings to offer to the Church?
It’s not a matter of intellect – most evaluations of students over the last decade show girls far outstripping boys in exam results – and society has moved a long way from patting woman on the shoulder and telling them not to worry their pretty little heads about traditionally male concerns.
And here we come to the nub of the issue. Tradition is an ambivalent weapon to use in any argument in Church matters, whether it be women in the priesthood, girls in the choir or other concerns. For a long time, the Church accepted the tradition that the world was created about 4,000 years ago, until geologists and fossil hunters demonstrated otherwise. For several centuries, heretics were traditionally burnt at the stake. When I grew up in the fifties, it was traditional for women to wear a hat in church. Women traditionally did not work in shipyards or in heavy industry – until war required them to fulfil such roles. Are we not reaching a position where the shortage of male priests is leading to overworked vicars and bishops and making it an occupational necessity to accept the strong vocational commitment women have for Church ministry?
Church music was for centuries mainly written for male voices because men were the only ones permitted to be members of a visible choir. Yet there are recorded instances of medieval, and later, congregations making a point of attending services which were enhanced by the beautiful music from choirs which were required to be positioned behind a screen – because singers, musicians, conductor and composer were nuns. That almost none of this music has come down to us, whereas works by, say, Josquin and Tallis, are still heard, indicates how little value the male hierarchy in the Church placed on the contribution of women. The tradition of male-only church music has as much to do with the imposition of male-dominated values, formed at a time when women were systematically marginalized and belittled, as it has with the purity of boys’ voices.
Any society, organisation, institution, has its own traditions and offers them as proof of its steadfastness, its loyalty to long-cherished values. Yet any society, organisation, institution which cannot accept change as a part of its on-going dynamic, its ability to deal with the world and fresh knowledge about the nature of that world, risks becoming moribund.
Marion Porter
