29
July 1974 A.D. 11
Episcopal Feminists Revolt & Demand Ordination
Graves,
Dan. “Feminine Revolt: 11 Demand Ordination.” Christianity.com. Apr 2007. http://www.christianity.com/church/church-history/timeline/1901-2000/feminine-revolt-11-demand-ordination-11630838.html. Accessed 14 May 2014.
Eleven women, with the
connivance of four bishops, determined to smash the barriers of
"sexism" in the Episcopal church on this day July 29, 1974. Fifteen hundred
people crowded the sanctuary of the Episcopal Church of the Advocate in
Philadelphia to witness this confrontation with church rules and authority. A
banner shouted Paul's words: "In Christ there is neither male nor
female."
Bishop Corrigan asked if there
was any known impediment to ordination of the eleven. "Yes," shouted
several. Five priests stepped forward to take the microphones. What was about
to be done was illegal and divisive they said.
They could not state all the
reasons for their view. For much of church history, women were barred
from ordination. The reasons were many. Women held chattel-like status
throughout much of history. Their parental and nurturing roles often made it
impractical for them to be active as leaders. Many men were (and are) reluctant
to accept instruction from women.
Under Old Testament Passover
laws, only males had to be redeemed and only male animals could redeem them.
Only males were allowed to serve as priests offering the sacrifice. Christ,
both priest and sacrifice, came as a man. He is the very masculine bridegroom
of the church. He selected only men as apostles. Paul taught that women were
not to teach men in a public church setting. Women are subordinate to men in
the same way that the church is subordinate to Christ, he wrote. He argued that
Eve had disobeyed first and brought Adam into disobedience. Peter taught that
wives were to be subject to their husbands as Sarah had been to Abraham.
On the other hand, Christ had
not spurned women. They were the first bearers of the news that he was raised
from the dead. Indeed, he may be seen as the one who more than any other in
history raised the status of women. With the Reformation and with the
emancipation of women that followed, roles began to change. Sects increasingly
gave women new responsibility. Some, while refusing to allow women to preach in
formal services, thought it fine if, like the women who rushed from the tomb to
tell Peter the Lord was risen, they were allowed to informally convey the
gospel. Ordination remained largely taboo to women until small Protestant
denominations began to grant it. Technological and medical changes also made it
easier for women to assume such roles.
The Episcopalian ordination
ceremony proceeded despite opposition. The eleven women became priests and
offered the cup and bread. But soon afterward the procedure was annulled by
higher authorities. Too many rules had been broken. Three of the bishops were
retired men and not permitted to ordain without express approval. The other
bishop was out of his jurisdiction. Furthermore, none of the women had been
approved by their local bishops as is required by Episcopal law. Today a number
of Christian denominations still refuse to ordain women. Chief among them is
the Roman Catholic church. The subject remains one of the most controversial in
some church bodies both at the local and national levels.
Bibliography:
1. Newsweek, August 12, 1974.
3. Time August 12, 1974.
Last updated April,
2007.
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