Women's Ministry
Bishop’s Adviser in Women’s Ministry is the Ven Cherry Vann.
The Bishop appoints an Adviser in Women’s Ministry to keep him and other members of his senior staff informed of any issues in the diocese relating specifically to women in ministry. These are likely to include questions of deployment and employment, maternity leave, the particular needs of clergy couples, opportunities for job-sharing roles and the promotion of equal opportunities.
The Advisor represents the diocese at a national level on the National Association of Deans and Advisers in Women’s Ministry (NADAWM), which meets twice a year, and feeds back to the bishop and senior staff issues and developments as appropriate.
In addition, she convenes and chairs meetings of the Women’s Chapter (of which, all ordained women are automatically members). There are generally three meetings a year, which consist of a mix of discussion with a guest speaker, theological discussion on a particular topic and social evenings. These are valued for the opportunities they provide for stimulating discussion, mutual support and the exchange of information and experience. Suggestions for future meetings are always welcome.
The Adviser is a member of the Bishop’s Advisory Group on Anglican Matters and the Bishop’s Advisory Group on the Pastoral Care of the Clergy. She is also co-founder of a group of women priests and members of Forward in Faith who regularly meet to pray, to share fellowship and to explore ways by which those in favour and those opposed to the ordination of women might work more creatively and fruitfully together. They are also exploring together the recent reports on women bishops.
