@@ -1,1 +1,1 @@ - +The Church of England has admitted it does not have a definition of the word woman.<br>A bishop said yesterday that the meaning of the word used to be ‘self-evident'.<br>But he added that there are now ‘complexities associated with identity' which a church project about sexuality and relationships is exploring.<br>The admission, in an official report prepared for the gathering of its governing body this weekend, stirred criticism last night.<br>It comes despite Anglicanism continuing to oppose same-sex weddings - and only recently allowing women to be bishops.<br> Pictured: Canterbury Cathedral.<br><br>A Church of England bishop said the church had no definition for a woman at a meeting of the General Synod last week <br> RELATED ARTICLES Share this article Share Campaigner Maya Forstater said: ‘When the Government redefined women through the Gender Recognition Act, the Church of England could have stuck with its long-established understanding, which makes sense whether your starting point is biology or the Bible. <br>'It is shocking that they so readily gave up the [https://dict.leo.org/?search=definition definition] of man or woman for the state to amend, as if this [http://dig.ccmixter.org/search?searchp=fundamental%20truth fundamental truth] did not matter.'<br>And Rev Angela Berners-Wilson, who in 1994 became the first woman ordained as an Anglican priest, told The Telegraph: ‘I'm not totally happy with it.<br><br>I mean, I do think certain things like "men can't have babies", just to say the complete obvious thing.'<br>But she added: ‘But I think we need to be very sensitive and maybe we need to re-examine our boundaries.' <br>It comes after months in which the definition of the word woman has gripped politics. <br>Several Labour MPs refused to define it, while leader Sir Keir Starmer said it was wrong to claim that only women could have a cervix.<br>By contrast, Cabinet ministers have been clear that biology defines women and that anyone born male should not compete against women in sport. <br>The church was put on the spot in one of almost 200 questions submitted to its ‘parliament', the General Synod, in York this [https://venturebeat.com/?s=weekend weekend].<br>Adam Kendry, a lay member from the Armed Forces, asked simply: ‘What is the Church of England's definition of a woman?'<br>[https://www.rtnewstoday.com/ RT News Today] Rev Robert Innes, the Bishop in Europe, replied: ‘There is no [https://imgur.com/hot?q=official official] definition, which reflects the fact that until fairly recently definitions of this kind were thought to be self-evident, as reflected in the marriage liturgy.'<br>He added that the church ‘has begun to explore the complexities associated with gender identity' .<br>Jayne Ozanne, who sat on the Government's LGBT+ advisory panel, said Mr Kendry's question was ‘passive aggressive...<br><br>designed to upset the LGBT+ community'.<br>It is not the first time the Church has come under fire for its stance on gender. <br>In 2019 thousands of clergy objected to guidance for a new type of baptism service to allow transgender Christians to celebrate their new identities.<br> adverts.addToArray({"pos":"inread_player"})Advertisement