This ‘gatefold’ leaflet explains the reasons why there are problems with ordaining women as bishops and priests. They fall into three groups:
The text of the leaflet is available here.
A PDF of the leaflet can be downloaded here.
Copies of the leaflet (in packs of 25) may be ordered by emailing admin.assistant@forwardinfaith.com
Further teaching material, both for parish groups and for isolated individuals, is available on the website of the John Bishop Charitable Trust: http://www.jbct.org/teaching-resources
Colin Podmore (ed.)
Fathers in God?
Resources for Reflection on Women in the Episcopate
(Norwich: The Canterbury Press, 2015)
http://www.canterburypress.co.uk/books/9781848258266/fathers-in-god
Available to members of Forward in Faith at the reduced price of £12.50 (inc. p&p).
Please send a cheque, payable to Forward in Faith, to the office.
The book includes
Roger Greenacre (ed. Colin Podmore)
Part of the One Church?
The Ordination of Women and Anglican Identity
(Norwich: The Canterbury Press, 2014)
http://www.canterburypress.co.uk/books/9781848256279/part-of-the-one-church
This book addresses the problems – for the Church of England’s own self-understanding as ‘part of the one, holy, catholic and apostolic Church’ – that are created by unilateral decisions about matters, such as Holy Orders, that concern the whole Church and not just one part of it. It also highlights the adverse impact of such decisions on the quest for the visible unity of Christ’s Church.
Geoffrey Kirk
Without Precedent
Scripture, Tradition and the Ordination of Women
(Wipf and Stock, 2016)
www.wipfandstock.com/without-precedent.html
This book examines the arguments that have been advanced for women’s ordination, and in particular claims of ancient precedent for modern practice. What did Jesus think about women? Was Paul a misogynist or a feminist, a reactionary or a revolutionary? Does the role of Mary Magdalene, in scripture and tradition, offer any guidance? Were there female priests, and even bishops, in early Christianity? Extravagant claims have been made and repeated in all of these areas, and have crucially influenced decisions taken.
As Rowan Williams comments, this is ‘a lucid and helpful survey, which quite rightly punctures some awful historical nonsense’.