The present study drew on data provided by 179 clergymen and 226 clergywomen to discuss the psychological type and temperaments profile of stipendiary parochial clergy serving in The Episcopal Church (USA) and to set this profile alongside 591 clergymen and 486 clergywomen serving in the Church of England. The data indicated a similar profile for Anglican clergy on both sides of the Atlantic, with preferences for introversion, intuition, feeling and judging. In terms of temperament, in the USA 41% of clergymen were SJ, 38% NF, 17% NT and 4% SP; 43% of clergywomen were NF, 41% SJ, 13% NT and 2% SP.

This paper seeks to grapple with questions of polity and innovation in the Church of England and specifically to explore the place of non-parochial forms of church within this tradition of Anglicanism. The paper begins by outlining recent developments within the Church of England around the ‘mixed ecology’ and church planting, before summarizing Alison Milbank’s recent critique of these changes. Then, building on in example of the Guild Churches Act from London Diocese in the mid-twentieth century, it is argued that within a commitment to Anglican polity there lies a vision for creativity in mission which might sometimes mean the pursuing non-parochial forms of ministry.

The 1984 election of David Penman as Anglican Archbishop of Melbourne was surprising, coming at the end of a controversial process in which two better-known candidates had consistently been the front runners. His election disrupted the longstanding power base of Melbourne Diocese represented by the two men passed over. But his election disrupted more than that – it disrupted the stalemate preventing the ordination of women in the Anglican Church of Australia. His election was crucial to the struggle to have women ordained in the Australian church. As Melbourne Diocesan Synod prepares to elect its next archbishop in 2025, it is timely to re-visit the 1984 election.