The Declaration also set up a grievance process for those who feel new women bishops have been slighted or not fully accepted in their episcopal ministries.

"We have discovered that there are to be many 'alternative' Chrism Masses this year, as in former years, at which SSWSH bishops will preside," Ms. Cotton complained in her initial April 13th letter. "Our question is, in what possible way does the continuing of these occasions honor the five principles, in particular the first two, and the call to promote mutual flourishing?"

During the week of March 25-April 1 leading up to Easter on April 5, six Society bishops -- Tony Robinson (Bishop of Wakfield); Glyn Webster (Bishop of Beverly); Philip North (Bishop of Richborough); Jonathan Baker (Bishop of Fullham); Jonathan Goodall (Bishop of Ebbsfleet); and Martin Warner (Bishop of Chichester) -- celebrated 16 Chrism Masses for their people -- clergy and laity -- who could not in good conscience and for the sake of their souls break Communion bread at the altar with ordained women or bishops who ordain those women. They are in broken or impaired communion with bishops who ordain females and their women clerics.

Ms. Cotton called The Society's Chrism Masses "a powerful expression of disunity."

The Chrism Mass has developed though the ages and has become a symbol of unity between a bishop and his priests within a diocese. At that time, the oils of Healing and Baptism and the Sacred Chrism for use at Confirmation and ordinations are consecrated and distributed to the parishes. It is a collegial time when priests also reaffirm their ordinal vows. The Chrism Mass is usually held early in Holy Week and sometimes called Passiontide.

The five guiding House of Bishops' Declaration principles to which Ms. Cotton alludes are: the Church of England did pass legislation which enables women priests to be raised to the episcopate; CofE clergy and other ministers must acknowledge that the Church of England has reached a definitive decision on the matter; the CofE shares the historic episcopate with other churches which do not ordain women both within and outside of the Anglican Communion thus allowing for continued discernment on women's ordination issues throughout Christendom; there are those within the Church of England who reject the ministry of women through strong theological conviction so the CofE remains committed to allowing them to flourish spiritually within the church; and pastoral and sacramental provision is to be made for the minority within the Church of England to allow the highest possible degree of communion.

"There is no sacramental need for bishops of The Society to provide such Masses as Chrism Masses are also held in each diocese and, presided over by the diocesan bishop, provide an opportunity for all clergy of the diocese, whatever their view on the ordination of women, to show their full involvement in the diocese's life," Ms. Cotton complains, stating that alternative Chrism Masses emphasize division and is "a cause of much pain to clergy women and their supportive male colleagues" and that the continuation of such events is "a thoughtless challenge to mutual flourishing."

WATCH was carved out of the Movement for the Ordination of Women (MOW) shortly following the first ordination of women as Church of England priests two decades ago. WATCH was created with a laser-focused eye on seeing to it that there are not only women priests in the Church of England, but also female bishops. In 2014 that primary goal was accomplished when the legislation creating female bishops was rammed through the CofE General Synod. Now WATCH is focused on scrubbing masculine language from the Church of England and making God either genderless or feminine through working with the Lambeth-based Transformations Steering Group to change the male-based gender culture of the Church of England.

"Founded in 1996 with ten over-arching aims, we have achieved one: the appointment of women as bishops," the WATCH website explains. "Even though our first female bishops have been appointed, we still face an enormous disparity in the numbers of women and men appointed to senior leadership roles or chosen to run parishes."

WATCH's Facebook page notes: "WATCH (Women and the Church) is campaigning to see women take their place alongside men as bishops and at every level in the Church of England."

Libby Lane (Bishop of Stockport) was the first Church of England woman bishop appointed. The floodgates have been opened. In less than a year, five more have joined her ranks -- Alison White (Bishop of Hull); Rachel Treweek (Bishop of Gloucester); Sarah Mullallay (Bishop of Crediton); Ruth Worsely (Bishop of Taunton); and Anne Hollinghurst (Bishop of Aston).

The CofE House of Bishops' guiding principles for the implementation of women in to the Church of England bishopric calls for "those who, on grounds of theological conviction, are unable to receive the ministry of women bishops or priests" are to "continue within the spectrum of teaching and tradition of the Anglican Communion" and that the "Church of England remains committed to enabling them to flourish within its life and structures." WATCH doesn't seem to think that generous provision extends to Chrism Masses celebrated by SSWSH bishops of The Society.

"Such 'alternative' Chrism Masses separate clergy within a diocese or region simply on the basis of their views on the ordination of women," Ms. Cotton writes in her initial letter of complaint. "Their existence has always been a cause of much pain to clergywomen and their supportive male colleagues, and an expression of division within the diocese. The continuation of such events, sacramentally unnecessary as they are, seems to us to be a thoughtless challenge to mutual flourishing."

WATCH fails to understand that for Scripturally-based Anglo-Catholics the ordination of women is the overriding issue which is the major stumbling block to communion, fellowship, and oneness within the Church of England, parts of the wider Anglican Communion, and the rest of Catholic and Orthodox Christendom. It's not just a matter of hurt feelings or injured pride.

SSWSH, established in 2010, defines itself as "an ecclesial body" not a "membership organization," and that it is "not another catholic society among the many catholic societies of the Church of England." It is financially supported and administered by Forward in Faith-UK, whose director, Dr. Colin Podmore, is also the Secretary of the Council of Bishops of The Society.

"We understand that those who dissent from the ordination of women may wish to gather together for support and friendship, ands to celebrate the Eucharist together," Ms. Cotton continued in her complaining letter. "But to do this in a way that perpetuates division on an occasion when all the clergy of a diocese are urged to unite in renewing their common views seems to us to be wrong."

FiF-UK Chairman Tony Robinson (Bishop of Wakefield) counters that there is a "sacramental need" for Society Chrism Masses during the Passiontide week.

"Chrism Masses are an essential part of our sacramental ministry, as bishops, to the clergy and people who have been placed by means of the House of Bishops' Declaration under our oversight," stated the Bishop of Wakefield on behalf of The Society bishops who celebrated the Chrism Masses. "It could be argued that NOT celebrating them would be a breach of our duty under the Declaration 'to provide oversight' and offer 'sacramental ministry.'"

Taking all pro and con arguments under advisement, Sir Philip determined that WATCH's emotional concerns were weaker than The Society's sacramental need and that the woundedness felt over females' clerical ministries being shirked by Anglo-Catholics was a sad fact of the theological divisions within the Church of England.

Sir Philip has a rich history in resolving secular and ecclesial disputes. He has been the secretary general for the Church of England's General Synod so he is intimately familiar with the internal working of the Mother Church of Anglicanism. Queen Elizabeth II awarded him a knighthood for his work with the Synod. It was during his tenure as secretary general that women were first ordained to the CofE priesthood. He also served as Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards for the House of Commons and then became an independent advisor on ministerial standards to Prime Minister Gordon Brown, where he was charged with investigating alleged breaches in the ministerial code of conduct. He was also made chairman of the Professional Regulation Executive Committee of the Actuarial Profession. Last November (2014), he was appointed the first Independent Reviewer to mediate disputes arising from the elevation of women into the CofE House of Bishops.

"In brief, I understand the concern expressed by Ms. Cotton on behalf of WATCH that the Chrism Masses organised by bishops who are members of The Society of Saint Wilfrid and Saint Hilda emphasise the continuing division within the Church of England on the subject of the ordination of women and are hurtful to women clergy and their male supporters," Sir Philip concludes. "However I do not find that these Masses are, in themselves, a breach of the principles set out in the House of Bishops' Declaration. Rather they are a consequence of the underlying division and of the pastoral arrangements the Church has thought it right to make for those who hold the minority view."

Mary Ann Mueller is a journalist living in Texas. She is a regular contributor to VirtueOnline