Next to Homosexuality nothing has split the Anglican Communion (and in particular the Church of England) than the present debate about ordaining women bishops; this is not surprising when you look at the history of the Church in the British Isles.
Very early on the infant British Church fell prey to the Romanizers who unwittingly brought with them the Roman attitude towards women, who they saw as mere property of their husbands or fathers. (Something we only dispensed of in recent history.)
To the Medieval Church women were intrinsically evil. It was a woman who brought sin into the world and through whom the curse of original sin was propergated perpetually. The result of all of this was that woman were given a very inferior role within the Church. Of course there were exceptions and any woman who was a virgin could atone for her sins and pray for others by ‘taking the veil’. Some rose to the high rank of Abbess and did wonderful things for God – but men were still firmly in overall control.One such woman was Brigid, said to be Ireland’s first nun. She took the veil from the Scottish Bishop, Mél.
St Brigid
Now there are lots of stories about Brigid and it is hard to say what is fact and what is fiction but there is one I like. For one reason or another it is said that Mel broke Christian tradition and ordained her as a female bishop. When questioned he is reported to have replied “No power have I in this matter. That dignity has been given by God unto Brigid, beyond every other woman.” For some strange reason the story is missing from Roman Catholic accounts!
When Bridit and Mel were around the Celtic influence was still strong. It was not unusual for a woman to be in a position of power and lineage was reckoned through the woman not the man, so it would not have seemed so unusual!
Mel, believed he did what he did by the Holy Spirit and that was more important than Church tradition. I hear lots about tradition in the Woman Bishop debate and little about what the Spirit is saying to the Churches.
If you are reading this on 1st February, then happy St. Bridgit’s Day.
Tags: Church, History, saints, Social Justice
Tags: Church, covenant, Kingdom of God, Ministry, mission
Anglican churches are being asked to adopt a so-called Anglican Covenant that seeks to bind them more tightly to one another and to codify procedures by which future disputes within the Anglican Communion will be resolved.
We believe that this covenant is ill-conceived. In response to the reputed “crisis” in the Communion, drafters of the covenant have favoured coercion over the hard work of reconciliation. The covenant seeks to narrow the range of acceptable belief within Anglicanism and to prevent further development of Anglican thought. Rather than bringing peace to the Communion, we predict that the covenant text itself could become the cause of future bickering and that its centralized dispute-resolution mechanisms could beget interminable quarrels and resentments.
We believe in an Anglicanism based on a shared heritage of worship, not on a set of doctrines to which all must subscribe. Our understanding of Anglicanism leads us to view the covenant as profoundly un-Anglican.
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