The Church of England has seemingly ended up installing for itself a stained glass ceiling. The veto that the proposal to ordain women to the episcopate suffered at its general synod in London, marked a moral setback that questions the very credibility of the institution in this age and time.
The Church of England has seemingly ended up installing for itself a stained glass ceiling. The veto that the proposal to ordain women to the episcopate suffered at its general synod in London, marked a moral setback that questions the very credibility of the institution in this age and time. An enlightened outcome was expected from the church that had two decades ago pushed through reforms to let women be priests, albeit after some resistance: a third of the clergy today are women. But the vote instead ended up exposing bitter divisions in the Anglican communion that has faced years of wrangling between traditionalists and liberals over questions including women and gay clergy. The bar spells indefensible discrimination. Many Christians consider it a paradox that while their religion proclaims a gospel of equality, a large part of the church sees a section of its members as unfit to lead it. There may be varying theological interpretations of whether the elevation of women would go against the church’s fundamental tenets, and even whether the fact of Jesus’s 12 apostles being men held any prescriptive weight. But by not bringing the barriers down, the church risks giving the impression that it believes only men can ‘represent’ god. Indeed, there can be no rationale to offer now — except perhaps that the vote wouldn’t anger the Vatican, which has a hard-as-nails position against the appointment of women even as priests.
Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams, the spiritual leader of the Anglican church, has promptly accused elements within it as being “wilfully blind” to societal trends. But he should take some of the blame for not having provided aggressive enough leadership on this critical issue in the run-up to the vote. His successor-in-waiting, Justin Welby, to whom the synod vote is equally a blow, has asserted that there would be women bishops, only it’s going to take “some time, some care, and some prudence.” Significantly, at the synod vote the bishops and the clergy backed the move in sufficient numbers. The representatives of lay churchgoers are the ones who made the difference, by a mere six votes. All is not lost, and it would appear that the church has indeed voted in favour of the principle involved. Perhaps it is now a question of finding a way forward, marked by prudent consensus and crisis-management. Although the church will not be able to bring up the plans again till 2015 when a new general synod is in place, there are ways in which its top echelons will be able to revive the initiative in the next few months. This they should do. It is important for the C of E to be a modern church in touch with reality. The glass ceiling needs to be broken.
The following passage form St. Paul clearly states reasons why women shouldn't be priest
and bishops.
1 Corinthians 14:31-35
English Standard Version (ESV)
31 For you can all prophesy one by one, so that all may learn and all be encouraged, 32 and
the spirits of prophets are subject to prophets. 33 For God is not a God of confusion but of
peace.
As in all the churches of the saints, 34 the women should keep silent in the churches. For
they are not permitted to speak, but should be in submission, as the Law also says. 35 If
there is anything they desire to learn, let them ask their husbands at home. For it is shameful
for a woman to speak in church.
English Standard Version (ESV)
The Bible strictly condemns homosexuality and regards it as a
perversion of thought, but women have been given much importance.
Infact Mary Magdalene was the first to witness the rersurrection of
Jesus(John20:1-18) , and is regarded as " the apostle to the
apostles". Therefore to place women and gays in one category of
argument is wrong. The Bible gives enough evidence that women can
become Church leaders, but strongly condemns homosexuality.Moreover
there can be no doubt that all of Jesus’ 12 disciples were men.
Fuelled by influence of many social elements such as pornography,
homosexualtiy has spiralled, has become rather sort of a fashion and
as such many institutions are seeking ways to cater to this new
societal group. But on careful consideration, we can conclude that it
is distortion of perspective. The C of E has done well in keeping
distance regarding consideration of gay clergy, but it could do well
in appointing women clergy, because the Bible, which they believe,
tells so.
The whole reason why these quarrels even exist is that people tend to forget where their beliefs come from. Christian faith is strictly based on the Bible, and not on the view of a person. The answer to the question could simply be obtained from the Bible, and there would be no point of discussion if people "believed" in Christianity. As long as one believes in Christianity, he has to follow its teachings, no matter what age we live in. Probably that is one area the church today has failed, but that needn't be a reason for us to judge it. Our motive should be to follow a standard once we claim to believe it.
It should be remembered that the mother of Jesus was Mary and in today's
modern world after European Renaissance this difference is not expected
from the head of world's largest religious population. Feminism has to
be valued.
That the Anglican Churches have displayed its misogyny through
its synod elbowing women out from papal assignments, has belied
the acclaim its religious institutions have earned for the
historic access for altar England women were promised juxtaposed to
the churches in other nations. Sad that the air of conservatism has
crept in.
Thanks for this Editorial. Perhaps things will be alright soon.
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