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And then there were two
By Market-Place
June 5, 2008
PIONEERS: Australia's newest woman bishop, Barbara Darling chats after the her consecration in Melbourne with Bishop Kay Goldsworthy, ordained in Perth mid-May. PHOTO: Janine Eastgate/Anglican Media Melbourne (CLICK FOR ENLARGED IMAGE)
By Market-Place
June 5, 2008
PIONEERS: Australia's newest woman bishop, Barbara Darling chats after the her consecration in Melbourne with Bishop Kay Goldsworthy, ordained in Perth mid-May. PHOTO: Janine Eastgate/Anglican Media Melbourne (CLICK FOR ENLARGED IMAGE)
As June began, two women were ministering as Australia's pioneering Anglican women bishops.
A fortnight after the Diocese of Perth led the way, consecrating Kay Goldsworthy as the nation's first women bishop, a service in Melbourne's St Paul's cathedral saw the long-awaited change introduced to the eastern states.
A congregation numbered around 1400 packed the cathedral Saturday 31 May to be a part of the landmark event as the vicar of St James Dandenong parish, the Revd Barbara Darling, 60, became a bishop.
Anglicans in Melbourne diocese have taken a leading role in the long campaign to give women equal opportunities to minister as clergy. Melbourne synod first called for women bishops more than three decades ago.
Former Archbishops of Melbourne, Keith Rayner and Peter Watson, joined current leader, Archbishop Philip Freier along with sixteen other bishops from around Australia for the two-hour service.
According to Anglican Media Melbourne reports there was sustained applause when Archbishop Freier presented the new bishop to the congregation : "Brothers and Sisters in Christ, I present to you Barbara Brinsley Darling, Bishop in the Church of God."
Earlier in his sermon Archbishop Freier compared the significance of the service to the recent landmark apology by Prime Minister Kevin Rudd to the aboriginal 'Stolen Generation'.
"Sometimes the sense of being on the verge of a transition point in history is almost tangible," Archbishop Freier said. "I heard many people speak about the Prime Minister's apology to the Stolen Generations... in that way.
"Such transition points seem to integrate a past of pain and disappointment with a future of hope and promise. You may well have some sense of this as we gather today for Barbara's consecration."
"I'm excited, overwhelmed," Bishop Darling told reporters after the service. "There's been very supportive prayers by many people."
Bishop Darling will become Melbourne's Director of Diocesan Services in August, overseeing the management of chaplaincies, parish development and communications.