At long last!
My dear Ecclesiastical Mother, the Church of England, did the right thing this week. The right thing was to approve the ordination of women priests as Bishop.
“What took you so long?” is the first question which came to my mind. After all, the first woman Bishop in the Episcopal Church, my beloved Bishop Barbara C Harris, was ordained Bishop in 1989.
But the dear old C of E made the right decision, even in the face of threats.
The threats were two-fold.
First: That this action will impede unity with the Church of Rome.
“So what?” I respond. “Rome has never been interested in any scheme of reunion which does not involve the recognition of the Pope as head of the Church“.
Second: That we will leave the C of E if women are ordained Bishop. The “we” in that sentence is the “we” of uber-conservatives in the C of E.
Such folks have been making such threats for at least 100 years. The threats are a tired old song.
But, more importantly, no family, or community, or voluntary association, should ever allow itself to be cowered by threats.
For those who make threats are bullies; and they always come back for more! They are never satisfied.
So - good for you dear Church of England as you move at a snail’s pace towards the “vision of God”.
And “good for anyone who reads this“ , and refuses to give in to threats and bullying.
“What took you so long?” is the first question which came to my mind. After all, the first woman Bishop in the Episcopal Church, my beloved Bishop Barbara C Harris, was ordained Bishop in 1989.
But the dear old C of E made the right decision, even in the face of threats.
The threats were two-fold.
First: That this action will impede unity with the Church of Rome.
“So what?” I respond. “Rome has never been interested in any scheme of reunion which does not involve the recognition of the Pope as head of the Church“.
Second: That we will leave the C of E if women are ordained Bishop. The “we” in that sentence is the “we” of uber-conservatives in the C of E.
Such folks have been making such threats for at least 100 years. The threats are a tired old song.
But, more importantly, no family, or community, or voluntary association, should ever allow itself to be cowered by threats.
For those who make threats are bullies; and they always come back for more! They are never satisfied.
So - good for you dear Church of England as you move at a snail’s pace towards the “vision of God”.
And “good for anyone who reads this“ , and refuses to give in to threats and bullying.
Comments
Post a Comment