Jamieson, Penny
Jamieson, Penny
New Zealand bishop. Name variations: Penelope Jamieson. Born in England; married Ian Jamieson.
Penny Jamieson grew up in England, emigrating to New Zealand when she was 22. After some years as a cleric, she was named bishop of the Diocese of Dunedin in 1989. Upon assuming this post, she became the first woman diocesan bishop in the Anglican Communion. "It was clearly seen as an enormous triumph, not for me personally, for I had been but a passive player in the process, but for women in general," Jamieson wrote in Living at the Edge. "I discerned some ambiguity in it all. Was the sense of triumph, of achievement, because a woman had gained a position that was defined, at least historically, as one of the most powerful that society has created? Or was it because a woman had broken the stranglehold that men have held on the episcopal leadership of a church which is undoubtedly one of the most patriarchal institutions in the history of Western society? … I began to tremble."
suggested reading:
Campbell, Douglas A. The Call to Serve: Biblical and Theological Perspectives on Ministry in Honour ofBishop Penny Jamieson. Sheffield, U.K.: Sheffield Academic Press, 1996.
Jamieson, Penny. Living at the Edge: Sacrament and Solidarity in Leadership. Mowbray, 1997.