How to
agree to differ
A
vital
This
is, of course, not a new issue. In the earliest days of the Christian Church
there was passionate disagreement on the question of whether Gentiles who became
Christians needed to be circumcised and obey the Jewish law in its entirety. St
Luke tells us that in order to resolve this issue, which was threatening to
divide the Church, a council was held in Jerusalem (Acts 15. 1—35) at which
the issue was debated and the will of God was discerned.
What
the story of the Council of Jerusalem points us to is the truth that if
collective discernment of the will of God is to be achieved, then there needs to
be a godly discussion of contentious issues. As the ARCIC report The Gift of
Authority notes:
In
changing situations producing fresh challenges to the Gospel, the discernment,
actualization and communication of the word of God is the responsibility of the
whole people of God. The Holy Spirit works through all members of the community,
using the gifts he gives to each for the good of all.’
People
of God
In
order that the people of God can discharge this responsibility it is necessary
for discussion to take place, so that there is the opportunity for the voice of
the Holy Spirit to be heard through the different contributions made by those
taking part.
However,
for debate to be fruitful it needs to be informed debate. The voice of
the Holy Spirit is heard not in spite of, but most often on the basis of,
careful study and reflection of matters under discussion.
In
Acts 15, for example, we see a decision being made after careful consideration
on the basis of three factors: the theological argument from St Peter that the
basis of salvation was by grace through faith and not through observance of the
Jewish law (Acts 15.6—11), the testimony of St Barnabas and St Paul as to what
they had seen God doing among the Gentiles (Acts 15.12) and an exposition of
Amos 9.11—12 by St James (Acts 15.13—21). There is an interplay between a
general theological argument, the testimony of experience, and the exploration
of the meaning of specific biblical texts, and it is on this basis that a letter
was sent out saying ‘... it has seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us’
The
question of whether there should be women bishops is one on which there is
currently disagreement in the Church
That
this Synod ask the House of Bishops to initiate further theological study on the
episcopate, focussing on the issues that need to be addressed in preparation for
the debate on women in the episcopate in the Church of
Working
party
The
House of Bishops responded to this motion by setting up a Working Party under
the chairmanship of the Bishop of Rochester to undertake this study and both the
composition of this Working Party and the way it has gone about its work have
been intended to ensure that its report will help the debate that will take
place in General Synod and in the Church of England more widely to be as well
informed as possible.
The
members of the Working Party were deliberately intended to represent a broad
cross-section of the Church of England. The membership has consisted of bishops
(both diocesan and suffragan), and both male and female clergy and lay people
with a wide range of academic, pastoral and ecumenical experience. In addition,
there have been two ecumenical representatives, one Roman Catholic and one
Methodist, and two consultants chosen for their academic expertise.
Administrative and secretarial support has been provided by staff members from
Church House, Westminster.
In
addition to the forms of diversity already mentioned, it also needs to be noted
that those on the Working Party have reflected a wide variety of different forms
of church
tradition
and theological approach, and a spectrum of different opinions on both the
general issue of the ordination of women
and
the specific issue of their ordination as bishops. In this way, they have
reflected the diversity of approaches within the Church of England as a whole
and have helped to make sure that a range of different points of view
The
ability of the Working Party to reflect on a range of different convictions and
approaches has been further enhanced by the fact that it has received over seven
hundred submissions which have come from Anglican provinces, partner churches,
parochial church councils, church organizations and individuals. All these
submissions have been worked through and they have formed a valuable
contribution to the Working Party’s work.
The
Working Party has also met with seven individuals and representatives of six
groups during the course of its meetings. The individuals have included Bishop
Basil of Sergievo representing the Orthodox tradition, the Rt Revd Victoria
Matthews from the Church of Canada and the Revd Professor Eric Brod from the
Church of Sweden. The groups who sent representatives have included Women and
the Church, Forward in Faith and the Third Province Movement. These meetings
have given an opportunity for an open exchange of ideas, experiences and
opinions and much of the material that was presented to the Working Party at
these meetings has been included in its final report.
Exploration
From
the outset of their work it has been clear to the members of the Working Party
that their task has not been to anticipate the outcome of subsequent debates by
recommending whether or not the Church of England should ordain women bishops.
Instead,
their task has been to try to assist these future debates by providing those who
will take part iii them with the information they will need in order to hold the
kind of properly informed debate referred to earlier.
In
specific terms this has meant trying to help people to think in an informed
fashion about three key questions.
In
the course of its work the Working Party
Development
In
order to set these questions in a proper context the Working Party has also
considered how the bishop’s role is understood and exercised in the Church of
England, how women’s ministry has developed in the Church of England, and the
central issue of how we should assess theologically a proposed development such
as the ordination of women as bishops in the light of scripture understood with
reference to tradition and reason.
As
has already been explained, the Working Party has represented a spectrum of
views on the issues that have been under discussion. This has meant that there
have been genuine and deeply felt differences of opinion within the Working
Party and the process of exploring these differences together has sometimes been
a painful one. Nevertheless, at the end of their work the Working Party has been
able to produce a unanimous report, and what they have also been able to model
for the wider church is a process of discussion and debate in which genuine and
serious disagreements can be aired in a context of prayer, mutual charity, and a
shared commitment to discern the will of God and pursue the welfare of God’s
people.
It
is the hope of the members of the Working Party that this model will be followed
in the debates about the ordination of women bishops in the Church of England as
a whole in the years to come.
The
Gift of Authority London,
Toronto and New
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