Ordination of Women Infuriates Anglican Clergy

BY AWAKE! CORRESPONDENT IN BRITAIN

IN November 1992, the General Synod of the Church of England adopted a proposal to ordain women as priests. As a result, about 150 disgruntled Anglican clergymen have announced their intention to resign by 1995. Many of them plan to defect to the Roman Catholic Church. One senior clergyman wants to take his entire parish along​—including the church building! The Sunday Times of London anticipated that the ordination of the first group (which eventually took place in March 1994) would be “the most controversial ceremony of the Church of England’s 450-​year history.”

Why are many clergymen enraged? Some simply feel that it is not proper for women to officiate as priests. Others fear that the synod’s decision damages recent efforts to unite the Church of England with the Catholic and Orthodox religions. Indeed, a Vatican spokesman declared that the pope himself regards the Church of England’s ruling to be “a profound obstacle to every hope of reunion.”

However, individual parishes of the Church of England may still vote to bar women priests. They can even decide to reject their bishop in favor of a traveling clergyman who will, according to the New York Times, “give pastoral care to those who refuse to accept it from female priests.”

How different from Paul’s counsel to first-​century Christians that “you should all speak in agreement, and that there should not be divisions among you, but that you may be fitly united in the same mind and in the same line of thought.” (1 Corinthians 1:10) As the controversy rages on, many parishioners are making decisions of their own. “We don’t seem to have anything left to believe in here in the Church of England any more,” said one woman. “I have only a sense of joy and relief to be leaving.”