Jun 26 | Not Permitted

DSC_0005

Photo by Adele Wonnick

I decided to share this as a matter of interest, knowing full well that it may open up a can of worms for some folks.
My wonderful stepmother forwarded me an email conversation with a friend(?) of hers regarding my ordination, asking me for my opinion on it. I share it here, and my response below. Let me say that I am quite impressed with her theological prowess, as I always got the sense that she tuned out when I started talking theology.

 

Just thought I would share this with you both!
Clare was ordained a Priest on Sat. at the Christ Church Cathedral!
Who would of ever guessed!
xoxo Cheri

 

There are always surprises in our life.
This is all NEW to me.
The Bible does not permit women (females) to be Priests……….???????
Lets go back and study more
[X]……. I am so ignorant.!!!!!!

 

Hi [X]
Re; not permit. Does it really? or is it someones interpretation?
When you really think of it, is a woman’s understanding, thought and love less than a mans? Does the bible teach that a woman is of less value, not worthy or have less brains and not of the same quality. Are we not to be considered different but of equal value? I think some things are to be taken in a metaphorically sense from the bible because there are things they did in those days that would not be right today.
Just a little of my thoughts out loud.
;-) Cheri

 

I just wish that it is my interpretation,but it is not You and I can discuss this for a long time.
Not my opinion–God’s
He is not changing over the many thousands of years.
We are.
[X]

 

I’ll ask Clare about this subject. I would like to know too, as I will be getting similar responses and would like to give the proper reply.
Cheri

 

Here was my response (sent only to her).

 

Ohhh dear. Haha.
There are lots of different Christian churches and many of them have
different beliefs on ordaining women to the priesthood. The Anglican
Church of Canada has been ordaining women since the ’70s, and we did find
biblical justification for it, although many Christians would likely not
accept the interpretation. As you say, there are many interpretations –
anyone who says that the Bible is “clear and simple” about any issue is
deluding themselves. (But don’t tell that to your friend, heh).

So folks who say that the Bible does not permit women as priests usually
refer to some passages in the letters of Paul which say that women should
not speak in church or that women should not have headship over men. It
should be noted that Jesus himself does not say anything about this
issue, and although people often argue that he only had male disciples
that too is debatable. In fact, the first people to learn that he rose
from the dead, according to the Gospel accounts, were women, and the
Gospels also have lots of stories about women following Jesus and helping
him, and even more stories of women, particularly rich ones, helping out
the infant church after he died. Jesus spoke to women and treated them as
equals in many accounts – there are a couple of stories of him having
deep theological conversations with women (check out Chapter 4 of the
Gospel of John!)

The apostle Paul also had women helping him, both building churches and
teaching: he had a friend called Phoebe who was a deacon and probably
preached to congregations. There are even people who think that another
friend of his, Priscilla, might have written the Letter to the Hebrews.

The biblical passages that talk about women not speaking in church or
having headship are somewhat problematic, in that some of them are
actually from letters that are attributed to Paul but scholars claim may
not actually have been written by him – and even if they were, these are
Paul’s words, not Jesus’. Paul never even MET the living flesh and blood
Jesus. Those letters containing the problematic passages were written
quite late, in a context where the Church was hoping to ingratiate itself
to the Roman Empire, which at the time had a much more paternalistic
attitude toward women. There are also translation issues, and of course
beliefs about people, especially women, changing over time.

The fact is that women have been in different positions of leadership in
the Church for years already, no matter what people think about it. From
the rich patronesses of the early church to Medieval monasteries with
female abbots to female hymn writers whose theology informed and
continues to inform generations of believers to nuns in the Catholic
Worker Movement, women have been doing leadership already – it’s just
that it was happening under the radar and with no recognition. (Sound
familiar?) The Anglican Church of Canada just finally decided that it was
ridiculous to bar women from full sacramental leadership because they
were women.

All of those in my church who worked to let women be ordained took wisdom
from the Holy Scriptures, the traditions of the church, and the use of
reason, as is Anglican custom.

There are many faithful Anglicans (and other types of Christians) who
really don’t believe that women should be priests and the whole thing
really tore up the Anglican Church back in the day. A lot of people left
and became Catholic!

What matters is that women have been able to be priests in the Anglican
Church of Canada since the ’70s, and since we practice apostolic
succession when we ordain people, we are linked to the Church all the way
back to the apostles/disciples, from the beginning. That means that there
is an unbroken line from my bishop to the apostle Peter. And of course,
Anglicans (and I) also believe in the Communion of Saints, which means
that I believe that there were not only living people ordaining me, but
also saints of the church who had died were doing so as well.

If you don’t want to cut and paste this whole long email, I guess you
could just tell him that in the Anglican Church of Canada we have been
ordaining women for about forty years, and that is the church into which
I have been ordained, so yes, it’s allowed. Whether or not he thinks the
church is a legitimate church is his own concern. I’m the one with the
legal paperwork. ;)

Love you!
-Clare

Welcome to my life now.
Wouldn’t change it for anything.

leave a reply