2:07pm Monday 19th July 2010
By Anne Peat
Over the weekend of 10-12 July the Church of England took another step towards allowing women to become bishops, when the General Synod passed the revision stage of the legislation. Now it must be approved by 50% of Diocesan Synods, then go back to General Synod, and two-thirds of members in each of the three Houses (Bishops, Clergy and Laity) must approve before it becomes church law.
The legislation will allow women to be bishops, but also make arrangements for those who cannot accept women clergy. It is hoped no-one will feel they have to leave the church over this.
The Church of England is a coalition of people with different views on some matters. It has been ever since the Reformation.
On this issue, some people on the Catholic wing think that women cannot be priests or bishops because the priest represents Christ, so must be as much like him as possible, i.e. a man. Others, on the Evangelical wing, point to verses in the Bible which say a woman should not hold authority above men, and should be silent in church, as arguments against women priests and bishops. Others, on the Liberal wing, argue that since men and women are equal in baptism, they should be equal in ordination too, and point to verses in the Bible which say the Spirit was poured out on men and women equally, and ‘in Christ there is no male or female’.
In Romans, chapters 14 and 15, St Paul tells us not to judge or argue with those who differ from us in the way we practise our faith. Rather, we should always do what makes for peace, and strengthens one another. This is what this legislation seeks to do on this controversial issue.
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