Hannah Brock Womack. Photo: Courtesy of Hannah Brock Womack.
Quaker in same-sex marriage denied CTE presidency
As part of a news round-up of 2019, Rebecca Hardy looks at the blocking of a Quaker nominee to a presidency of Churches Together in England
The news that Quaker Hannah Brock Womack had been blocked from her appointment as a Churches Together in England (CTE) president because she was in a same-sex marriage sent ripples through the press.
The decision, which sparked sadness and anger in the Quaker community, was picked up by the national media with interviews with Hannah Brock Womack running on BBC Radio Sheffield, BBC TV Look North (Yorkshire), and BBC Radio 4 Sunday.
Paul Parker, Britain Yearly Meeting (BYM) recording clerk, also spoke on Premier Radio alongside Paul Goodliff, of CTE.
While some Friends, particularly from the LGBT+ community, expressed outrage at the decision, others, such as the Quaker Gender and Sexual Diversity Community (QGSDC), told the Friend that, despite being ‘saddened’ by ‘this discrimination… we continue to uphold those leaders in Christian denominations still wrestling in good faith with the concept of equal marriage’.
Hannah Brock Womack pointed out that for the first time CTE was now ‘embarking on conversations about sexuality… as a direct result’ and that ‘this is no longer an issue to be brushed under the carpet’. She added that, while she ‘could walk away… I feel I have to stay in this strange hinterland position to show solidarity with other friends who have had much worse experiences in other churches’.
The plans to appoint the member of Sheffield and Balby Area Meeting for the Fourth Presidency Group – out of six presidency groups – were derailed because not all denominations in membership of CTE would accept a president who is married to someone of the same sex. Although Hannah Brock Womack remains the fourth president, she will not be able to take her place alongside the other CTE presidents when they gather and will be ‘empty-chaired’ instead.
CTE subsequently put out a statement saying: ‘An ongoing process of discussion, listening and prayer has begun.’
