DEBATES ABOUT FEMALE ORDINATION: CHURCH OF ENGLAND
THE ORDINATION OF WOMEN TO THE PRIESTHOOD
- there has been a debate about the ordination of women in the Church of England since 1920
- In 1944, Tim-Oi was ordained priest in china because there was an insufficient amount of men available who could serve the Anglicans there
- as soon as the war ended she handed back her licence and returned to her role as a deaconess
- but in 1971 when the synod of Hong Kong and Macao accepted the ordination of women, her status as preset was officially recognised
- in the uk there were decades of debate but in 1994 the first ordination of women priests took place
- it is thought hat by 2025 there will be as many women priests as male priests
- again after much debate, the first Church of England bishop (Libby lane) was consecrated in 2015
- to prevent the split in the COE over the issue of the ordination of women, special provision was made for those who could not accept oversight by female bishops of the ministry f female priests
- christian communities can state that they will only have a male priest to serve in heir church
- 'flying bishops' have been appointed to exercise pastoral care for the churches the reject womens ordination
- they administer conformation and ordain posits to serve in those churches
- there has been an increase in the number of men seeking ordination under this system
- some priests have felt unable to remain in the Church of England since 1994
- many have received ordination on the catholic church
- In 2011 the ordinate was set up to allow angel can preisstnwjo were married to become catholic preists
FOR ORDINATION OF WOMEN AS PREISTS/BISHOPS
- 2) Jesus' decision was a pragmatic one
- had he chosen women, his mission would never have taken off
- the choice of men were based of culture in that time
- the ordination of women reflects he culture of todays society
- 3) the idea of equality requires an egalitarian interpretation
- to refuse women ordination is to regard and treat hem as unequal
- 4) there are metaphors in the bible that compare god to a mother, but It would have led to the danger of syncretism with fertility religions for jews to refer ro god as mother
- there is no longer this danger and mother Julian referred to god this way
- 5) gender should have nothing to do with he apostolic succession
- there is no rason why the ordination of female bishops should break it
- 6) Biblical writers may have been guided/inspired by god, but god was working through fallible humans, who were also products of their culture
- christians today should use nsihts of church leaders today and of psychology, as wells their own religious experience and the tools of biblical criticism to help them discern what are/are not universal truths in the bible
- 1) sometimes one branch of the universal church must do it alone in order to do what is right
- in declaring the pope as infallible, he Catholic Church didnt consult with other christians
- so in this case, the COE was justified in the action taken, without seeking the agreement of other christians
AGAINST ORDINATION OF WOMEN AS PREISTS/BISHOPS
- 1)The decision ;calks 'catholic consent'
- it has been made without the consent of the universal church
- 2) Jesus challenged many social conventions of his day but chose only men as apostles and leaders of the church
- religious change should not be dictated by culture
- 3) equality of status does not mean interchangeability- a complementation approach
- 4) as a 'father' in god, the bishop represents the fatherhood of god
- the bible does not refer to gos as mother
- ordaining women as bishops overturns the teaching of the bible
- 5) the ordination of women bishops threatens he apostolic succession and therefore the validity of many sacraments
- 6) the evangelical wing of the Church of England opposes he ordination of women on biblical grounds
- texts such as 1 corinthians 14 and 1 Timothy 3 are to be obeyed as the infallible word of god