“Church in crisis over women priests.” This is the kind of headline that was appearing in the press 30 years ago when the general synod of the Church of England began to debate the ordination of women.
I was at that time training at theological college, along with a small number of other women. Like most of them I was a theology graduate studying an identical course to the male ordinands.
However, at the end of the training I knew I would be a deaconess, unable like the male deacons to progress to the priesthood. I would have to live with the frustration which lay ahead, because, unable to preside at the eucharist or pronounce absolution, my options in terms of appointments would be very limited.
How things have changed.
Jane hedges and fudges on Scripture, tradition and reason.
I would have to live with the frustration which lay ahead, because, unable to preside at the eucharist or pronounce absolution, my options in terms of appointments would be very limited.
It sounds as if the only reason that mattered was because of career limitations?
Oh trust me they do not scare me- merely convince me of the fact that the C of E has ceased being one thing and is becoming another. Quite simply the church of my baptism – once the home of biblically faithful Christians who preached a Catholic and Apostolic faith has been overtaken by a liberal elite whose desire is to preach secular political correctness and open the institution to everyone regardless of belief.
I pray that S. Peter might stretch out a hand and rescue the faithful before the whole ship sinks beneath relativist, postmodern, subjectivist waves…
#2 nd therefore she would request exactly that of traditionalist clergy instead! That would solve it- drive them out and into the margins – THEN – I will have ended oppression….er hello?!
It’s very frustrating that when you are against something a liberal is for, they mark you as fearful. If you have something against homosexuals, you must be afraid of them, hence the homophobic label. Just looking at the title here tells me the woman is using the same strategy.
The statement as quoted is “I … I … my options …” If my choice of a career were something that would destroy my church, I’d like to think I wouldn’t do it.
Quoting Hedges: “God created men and women in his image to work in partnership. He has poured upon us a rich diversity of gifts, including the gift of leadership.”
So those of us who are not ordained exercise no leadership in the Church? Where does the idea come from that one can only lead (which, according to the Gospel means serving) by being ordained or consecrated?
If holy orders are a charism of service in the Church (rather than a career), do those women who claim they have been relegated, in the past, to positions of service want to place themselves more resolutely in positions that ought to mean being servants of the servants of God?
It seems to me that something even more radical than ordaining and consecrating women is called for. We should demand nothing less than to reclaim the true meaning of leadership according to the Gospel: getting down on one’s knees to wash the feet of others. Once the priesthood is seen as what it is, i.e. leading by serving, all these pointless comments about equal access to privilege, position, power, and influence will evaporate.
Can anyone direct me to lists, or reference materials, or even a website that documents whatever progress we have made in the last thirty year under any context with WO? Equal rights…ok…anything else? For example, who are the prominent women theologians, and why would they be put into that category? What other evidence is there that this has been a success here in America or anywhere else? I’ve been scratching my brain (small as it may be to some of you) for many weeks now over this, and I just can’t come up with anything.
Want an example of why not, look at TEc.
There are several great Women Theologians.
Kathryn Tanner; Marilyn McCord Adams; Sarah Coakley. Anne Carr (who I studied with) is a Roman Catholic. Rebecca Chopp would have been amazing if she also hadn’t had administrative skills.
Katherine Tanner wrote a very precise book on the Politics of God. Sarah Coakley and Adams have both written solid and useful works of theology.
#10
Dr Alice von Hildebrand.
Midwestnorwegian (#8),
Are you looking for a list of prominent women theologians in general or those who have written specifically on WO? Or are you looking for those who have been ordained? To give a bit more texture to your list, Sr. Benedicta Ward, SLG, is an Anglican religious, a prominent theologian in monastic studies and patristics, and is still, I believe, opposed to women’s ordination.
#10: Evelyn Underhill
I supoort WO, but to demand this on the basis of “What I want” and “as a matter ot right” is plain wrong and shows that these people are not called.
Yes things have changed, churches are closing and membership in anything but name only has colapsed, with women bishops will things get better or worse? I think everyone knows the answer.
Thank you all for your suggested names. I guess I have never seen a discussion about this (probably my own fault), and I am sorry if I have “hijacked” this thread. Really, all I have at this point is a list of names with little reasoning of why they are being suggested, but I appreciate the list and will start some reading…