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Serial: |
AC04-R06-02 |
PEP Argument Briefing Paper
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Title: |
Women’s
Ordination Needs Reaffirming
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Applicable to: |
Resolution
6: In Support of Women Priests
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Author: |
Joan
R. Gundersen |
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Date: |
9/25/2004 |
The Resolution in support of women priests will help to reassure women that this diocese does support ordination of women and recognizes their efforts. There is an increasingly chilly climate in this diocese toward women with a call to the priesthood.
·
Despite
being one of the first dioceses to ordain women to the priesthood, and despite
the presence of an Episcopal seminary in the diocesan bounds,
·
This
year is the 30th anniversary of the first ordinations of women to the
priesthood in the
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Currently, the diocese has no more than four
women in process or as candidates for orders.
·
The number of parishes in the diocese
whose priests will not recommend women for ordination has increased; these
clergy absent themselves from the Eucharist when the celebrant is a woman.
·
Leaders within the diocese have suggested
that, in the interests of unity among the “orthodox,” women priests may have to
step back and refrain from exercising their priestly duties for a time.
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A measure of the chilly climate is that
the Diocesan Council at first refused to accept the resolution in support of
women priests and sent it back to its sponsors saying it was “divisive.” In
fact, the measure was proposed in the hope that it might provide a chance for
those otherwise on opposite sides of current issues to join together in a
positive resolution affirming good things in the diocese. Its sponsors include
a broad spectrum of the diocese. The drafters amended the resolution after it
was returned by Council. The resolution now includes text acknowledging that
not everyone in the diocese accepts women’s ordination. This was still not
enough. Those who have labeled it divisive did so because any mention of
women’s ordination to the priesthood is painful to them. Thus, women priests in
this diocese are to be “tolerated” if they remain silent and unacknowledged.
Our women priest deserve better.
·
Some have argued that support for women
priests is coercive towards those whose conscience and faith does not allow
them to consider women validly capable of bearing a sacerdotal presence. In the
last General Convention, the Episcopal Church amended the canons to state
explicitly that sex could not be a bar to the discernment process, to granting
of a license, or to placement as a rector. Thus, the Episcopal Church no longer
allows such views to hinder women’s call to ministry. While there may still
have to be room in the church for those who hold to this outdated theology, it
is inappropriate that it be allowed to diminish the diocese’s commitment to
ordaining women to the priesthood. Not to give proper thanks for the benefits
of ordained women’s ministries would make us poor stewards of God’s grace, as
shown through them.
From page C7 of the materials provided to
deputies to the 2004 Annual Convention:
PROPOSED RESOLUTION #6
In Support of
Women Priests
Whereas the Episcopal Church in the
United States of America has recognized women’s ministry since 1850, when the
Right Reverend William Rollinson Whittingham, Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese
of Maryland from 1840-79, “set apart” two deaconesses; and
Whereas women have been ordained to
the priesthood in the Anglican Communion since the historic priesting of the
Reverend Dr. Florence Li Tim-Oi in 1944 and regularly so since the ordination
of women to the priesthood was re-established in 1971 by the Diocese of Hong
Kong; and
Whereas this year marks the
thirtieth anniversary of events leading the Episcopal Church to recognize
women’s ordination to the priesthood; and
Whereas the Diocese of Pittsburgh
was among the first to ordain women to the priesthood following the 1976
General Convention, when the Right Reverend Robert Bracewell Appleyard, fifth bishop
of Pittsburgh, priested the Reverend Beryl T. Choi on 8 January 1977; and
Whereas the Diocese of Pittsburgh
has encouraged and ordained women called to the priesthood while respecting
those who have not come to this same theological position; and
Whereas the Diocese of Pittsburgh
now has taken a leadership role in the Episcopal Church and in the Anglican
Communion and is working closely with a number of dioceses and provinces of the
Communion that have not yet experienced the gifts brought to the Church through
women’s ministry as priests;
Therefore,
Be it Resolved
That the
Diocese of Pittsburgh commends women clergy in the diocese; affirms its intent
to continue raising up, ordaining, and supporting women as priests in this
diocese; and commits to witnessing to the benefits of women’s ministry to those
who have not yet experienced the grace and gifts brought to the Church by women
priests.
Rationale: Approximately 20 per cent
of the clergy canonically resident in the Diocese of Pittsburgh are women. They
serve as rectors, priests-in-charge, chaplains, and in a variety of specialized
ministries. One serves as the Canon Missioner for the diocese, another as
Provost of the Cathedral. The diocese has been blessed by the faithful ministry
of the ordained women in our midst. Twenty-two of the 39 provinces of the
Anglican Communion now recognize women’s ordination to the priesthood; and two
more ordain women as deacons. Eleven have declared that women may serve as
bishops in their province. Although the Diocese of Pittsburgh has been
ordaining women as priests for twenty-seven years, it has done so while
respecting the consciences of those within the diocese who do not support
women’s ordination. Thus the diocese is especially well positioned to help lead
others to the realization that God has called both men and women to the
priesthood through its example and testimony. In doing so, it will show its
recognition of the ways the diocese has been blessed by the grace of God
flowing through the work of ordained women.
The effect of
this resolution would be to recognize women priests for the work they have
done, and to remind the diocese that we have a role to play in the
encouragement of women to enter the priesthood. It commits the diocese to doing
no more than continuing its current practice of ordaining women. “Witness”
means to give testimony. The resolution asks that the diocese be willing to
tell other good news about the effects of women’s ministry, not to tell others
what they should do.
Submitted by:
Name:
Joyce Magee Parish:
Name:
John Rogers Parish:
St. Mark’s,
Name:
The Reverend Les Martin Parish:
St. Martin’s
Name:
The Reverend Cynthia Bronson Sweigert Parish:
Church of the Redeemer
Name:
The Reverend Michael Ruk Parish:
Trinity Cathedral
Name: Linda Getts Parish:
Church of the Good Shepherd
From Peter Moore
(Dean of Trinity Episcopal School for Ministry when this was written): “Forty
Theses on the Future of Anglican Witness in the
Some
accommodation to the consciences of those who believe that women’s ordination
is an act of profound unfaithfulness to Scripture or Tradition will have to be
made. Perhaps ordained women will willingly refrain from being Rectors for a
period of time in the new Church in order for the process of reception to take
hold?
From the Organizational Charter for the Network of Anglican Communion Dioceses and Parishes (http://www.anglicancommunionnetwork.org/structural/):
ARTICLE VIII
Ordination. The affiliates of the Network hold
differing positions regarding the ordination of women and pledge that we shall
recognize and honor the positions and practices on this issue of others in the
Network.