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Let Women Be Women:

Equality, Ministry & Ordination

by Peter Toon

Gracewing.  Fowler Wright Books, 1990 

CHAPTER  1 – Ordain women now!

      Let me begin by being open and honest. Often I feel and think that the arguments in favour of ordaining women are persuasive.  They are particularly so when presented by an intelligent woman, who is not obviously seeking to make any feminist point and who does not make it her duty to criticise men!  I have heard seemingly compelling reasons from both an “ordinatíonist nun” (a phrase now used by nuns) and a conservative, evangelical female deacon.  In such circumstances the doubter can so easily be led to confess: “Yes, I agree; of course women ought to be ordained.”

      In fact to many people today the question “Should a woman be ordained?” is a non-question for they have answered in the affirmative a long time ago.  So they become impatient with those who hesitate or oppose.  They believe that unless you are an old-fashioned traditionalist, who wants to preserve things as they are, or a woman-hater, who is against women on principle, then you cannot have any acceptable reason for not wanting to see women ordained. 

Setting the scene

      Before going any further perhaps we need to be clear what we mean by the “ordination” of women.  In the Anglican Church (as also in the Roman and Orthodox Churches) there is a threefold ordained ministry of deacon, presbyter/priest and bishop.  Since women are now admitted to the Order of deacons in the Anglican Church, the debate there concerns the other two Orders.  Should women be admitted to the Order of priests and to the Order of bishops?  Several provinces of the Anglican Communion have already gone ahead, without waiting for the others, and ordained women as both priests and bishops – the American Episcopal Church and the New Zealand Anglican Church are the best known examples.

      The Church of England, however, the mother Church of the Communion, is still very much involved in debating the question at all levels, from the parish, through the deanery and diocese to the general synod.  Yet due to the generally conservative nature of the Established Church of England only the ordination of women as priests is being considered at this time.  If this is eventually accepted in 1992/3 by the General Synod by a two thirds majority and by the British Parliament then perhaps the further question of whether women may also be bishops of the Church and members of the House of Lords will be voted on at the turn of the century.  (See the Appendix at the end of this book.)

      In the Roman Catholic Church there is a vocal, educated minority which is pressing for the ordination of women as deacons and priests.  This is often associated with the call for the abolition of the requirement of celibacy for the priesthood.  At an official level (within the Vatican and the national hierarchies) there is no interest at all in these proposals however.  There the traditional ban on female ordination remains in place.  The same is true of the Greek and Russian Orthodox Churches.

      The situation within the Church of Scotland (the National Church) and the Free Churches in Britain is somewhat different.  They have recently admitted women to the office of pastor and so not a few congregations now have ordained women as their ministers of word and sacrament.  Some congregations have a team ministry of a man and his wife, both ordained pastors.

      It is now appropriate to ask the question.  What reasons do the proponents of female ordination in the Church of England, the Anglican Communion and the Roman Catholic Church give to support their belief that the time has come for making women not only deacons but also presbyters (priests) in God’s Church?  I have done my very best to hear these and what follows is my summary of the ten I have heard (or read) most frequently.  I do not doubt that there are others. 

Receiving God’s call

      First of all there is the argument from religious experience.  Not a few mature and intelligent women claim in all sincerity that God has given them an inner call to the ministry of Word and Sacrament.  They believe, therefore, that the Church has a duty to test their call (as it does that of men) to preach the Gospel, to preside at the Lord’s Table, and to be a pastor of a congregation of Christ’s flock.  They maintain that if the Church were to test their call by the same criteria used for men at least some of them would go forward to ordination to the priesthood.  The fact that they are not allowed even to have their call tested at a selection conference or by the bishop adds to their feeling of being shut out or even oppressed by men in the Church.  Further, they feel that men and women who support an all-male priesthood are preventing the work of the Holy Spirit, for it is the Spirit who calls people to sacred office.  Further, they do not like to be told that they can be deacons and can find fulfillment in this sacred office.  Their call they insist is to the priesthood! 

Equal through baptism

      In the second place there is that celebrated statement of the apostle Paul.  He wrote: “Baptized into union with him, you have all put on Christ like a garment.  There is no such thing as Jew and Greek, slave and freeman, male and female; for you are all one person in Christ Jesus” (Gal 3:28).  Here, surely, it is emphasised, is a clear declaration of equality in Christ.  Through union with Christ, expressed in baptism, the superiority of the Jew and the male is cast aside; in the new covenant God-in-Christ is the Saviour and Lord to Jews and non-Jews, slaves and citizens, and males and females, in exactly the same way.  There are no favourites and there is no preference for one or the other.  Circumcision in the old covenant was for males only but Christian baptism is for both males and females.  If there is such an equality in relationship with God through Christ then, the argument proceeds, there ought to be equality of opportunity of entrance to offices in the Church of God.  In short, the presbyterate (priesthood) and episcopate ought to be open to those women who have truly received God’s call to be ordained. 

Made in God’s image

      Then, thirdly, there is the great declaration in the first chapter of the book of Genesis.  “God created human beings in his own image; in the image of God he created them: male and female he created them.” (1:27).  There is no sexual discrimination here, for, it is pointed out, we learn that man and woman are made together at the same time by God: they are accorded equal importance; and they are given the double task of bringing children into the world and working together that the world may be a good and fruitful place in which they and their children can live.  Working together in partnership both inside and outside of marriage men and women not only discover themselves as human beings but also, even more wonderfully, come to see what it means to be made in God’s image.  Therefore the argument proceeds, if it is true that God created the human race as male and female in order to reflect his own Being (which according to the doctrine of the Trinity is a trinitarian Being-in-relationship) then this relationship should be reflected in the Church.  Thus the priesthood must be open both to male and female for, at the beginning, God “blessed them [MALE and female] and called them man” (Gen 5:2).  The conclusion is that a Priesthood without females is impoverished, for it fails to reflect the whole image of God in which humanity is made. 

True to the mind of Jesus

      In the fourth place, much is made of the example of Jesus himself.  In the face of an entrenched discrimination against women, which saw them only as mothers and homemakers without other basic rights, Jesus, it is claimed, took a revolutionary stand.  Not only did this teacher from Nazareth show a radically new stance towards women by encouraging them to be his disciples (which a normal Jewish rabbi would never have done), he also confirmed their new position in his teaching.  For example Mary, Martha’s sister, was commended for not being in the kitchen at the stove, but at the Master’s feet like a true disciple (Luke 10:38–42).  Further, women were present at the foot of the Cross when Jesus expired and, even more importantly, they were the first witnesses of his resurrection.  In fact at the birth of Christianity, on the first Easter Day, it was women who declared to men that Jesus was truly raised from the dead (John 20:1–18; Luke 23:54–24:11)!  How strange it is then that women have been forbidden to preach in Christian congregations.  Surely if women were the bearers of the Gospel of God concerning Jesus Christ to the apostles, who are the very pillars of the Church, then they should be allowed to preach the Gospel today in the congregation of the faithful!  Further, since Jesus left no specific instruction that women could not be his ordained ministers, on what possible grounds, it is asked, can they be debarred from the ordained ministry of the Word and Sacraments? 

Truly capable

      Fifthly, there is the obvious fact that women have shown that they are capable of all the functions and duties of the ordained ministry.  In their recent work as missionaries abroad as well as in parishes, schools, colleges, hospitals and in specialist ministries (e.g. in the inner cities), not to mention work as teachers, lay readers, deaconesses, deacons, administrators, and counsellors, Anglican women (and Catholic women as well) have shown that they can do or in some cases have already done everything that a parish minister is called upon to do.  In fact in many cases they have fulfilled these duties with great merit and to the blessing of many people.  There is also the experience of women pastors in Protestant denominations who have proved, it is claimed, that women can truly be good ministers of religion.  So it is asked with some poignancy. “Is it reasonable to prevent women from being priests when they have shown that they can do well, everything that a priest is called upon to do?” 

Genuinely representative

      In the sixth place, it is emphasised that the Church ought to learn an important lesson from the world.  It is a fact that women are now widely recognised as able to fulfill a representative role in modern nation-states – think of Mrs Indira Gandhi of India, the world’s largest democracy, Mrs Golda Meier of Israel with its traditions of male leadership, and Mrs Margaret Thatcher, the “iron-lady” of Great Britain.  For the last century or so women have been steadily moving into leadership roles in increasing numbers within western society.

      Now to ordain a woman as a presbyter/priest in a situation where a woman is not regarded by the society as being able to fulfill a genuine representative capacity in human society is, it is admitted, to ordain in effect a priestess (with all the overtones of fertility cults and the like).  However, to ordain a woman in a society where a woman is seen as being able to be a genuine representative and leader of both men and women is, it is insisted, to ordain a genuine presbyter/priest for God’s Church.  And since women do now occupy representative positions in society – in government, education, medicine, social services – then there is solid reason why they should occupy them in God’s Church, especially when it is borne in mind that male and female are equal in Christ (Gal 3:28).  Thus a woman called by God ought to have the opportunity of being a priest, bishop and archbishop, even a pope! 

A missionary calling

      Seventhly, all admit that there is a massive task facing the Church of God in western society.  So much so that the last decade of this century has been named “the Decade of Evangelism” so as to set before the faithful the task of spreading the Gospel within the secularised nations of the West.  To take the message of Christ into the world and to embody that message as “lights in the darkness” the Church, it is argued, needs dedicated and representative leaders to guide the whole body of the faithful in its missionary calling and task.  However, a leadership in mission which is only male will prove to be a stumbling-block to people in a society which has become accustomed to the equality of men and women in all spheres of life.  Thus the point is made that for the sake of the conversion of the world to Christianity, women must be included in the leadership of the mission.  In practical terms this means that they must be ordained leaders. 

Word and Sacrament belong together

      In the eighth place, it is pointed out that in the Eucharist, which is the main service of worship in God’s Church, the ministry of the Word and the Sacrament are two parts of one whole.  They belong together and must not be prised apart for in and through both, the Holy Spirit makes Christ’s presence real to those who attend.  Bearing this important truth in mind, the point is made that, at the moment, a woman deacon/deaconess in the Church of England is invited to, and does actually, preach in the Eucharist; but, she is forbidden the privilege of presiding during the ministry of the Sacrament.  She can celebrate in the pulpit but not at the Lord’s Table!  This is, to say the least, an odd state of affairs and can only be put right, it is claimed, by allowing the one who preaches Christ to the flock also to consecrate the divine food of Christ’s body and blood for the same flock.  And this requires ordination of the deacon to the priesthood. 

Authority to change ordering of ministry

      Ninthly, reference is made to the doctrinal confession of the Church of England, the Thirty-Nine Articles.  In Article XXXIV it is stated that “Every particular or national Church has authority to ordain, change and abolish ceremonies or rites of the Church ordained only by man’s authority, so that all things be done for edifying.”  From this it is argued that since the ordination of men now is merely “by man’s authority” the same “man’s authority” can decide to order things differently.  In other words a national or particular church can decide to ordain women – as the national churches of Sweden and Norway and Denmark have done.  There is no need to wait for the Roman Catholics or for a General Council of the Church to decree the ordination of women. 

A development of doctrine

      In the tenth place, and finally, it is asserted that God is addressing the Church through the changing culture, and especially the new dignity and freedom which women are experiencing.  It is emphasised that this is not the first time that the Church has had to learn an important lesson from events outside itself, rather than from within (listening to God’s word).  Much is made of the movement to abolish first the slave trade and then slavery itself by the British government in the early nineteenth century.  It is claimed that up to that time the Church in general had been content to accept the institution of slavery as part of God’s will; the work of William Wilberforce and many others in the political sphere caused the Church to realise that slavery was evil.  Thus today few if any Christians would attempt to justify slavery.  So, the argument continues, the world is now teaching the Church how to value and use women and in practical terms this means that the Church ought to ordain women as priests immediately.  To do such would be a true development of doctrine, bringing into practical reality a seed within the Gospel which has been growing for centuries. 

Conclusion

      Presented in this simple way there is no doubt, I think, that these ten reasons do as a whole have (at least at first sight and without hearing any arguments against them) a compelling thrust.  Anyone whose thinking has been influenced by the general acceptance in western culture of the equal rights of women in education, work, pay and taxation will probably admit that they appear to prove the case for opening immediately all jobs and orders of ministry in the Church to suitably qualified women.  But there is more to tell and thus more to reflect upon – see chapter two!