[faithandlife] Re: WOMENS ROLES

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From: <cranmer@...>
Date: Wed, 23 Aug 2006 13:19:21 -0400
I don't how many of you got this, but this was the way I handled the issue in my parish since the influx of ex-Episcopalians some of whom are FOR women's ordination.

Doctrine on the Sacrament of Holy Orders
It is the doctrine of the Anglican Province of America to limit the reception of sacred ordination to baptized men in keeping with:
a) the order of creation in which the 1st Adam not Eve (Adam having been created first as head and representative of Man) is held responsible for the entry of sin into the world, the consequence of which only the 2nd Adam (the Man Christ Jesus - 1 Timothy 2:5-7) is able to reverse (cf. Romans 5:12 f.;  1 Corinthians 15:20-24, 45-48; 1 Timothy 2:14) – although both man and woman are made in God’s image and are therefore equal with regard to their personhood, they are not equal with regard to their functionality and therefore are called upon to fulfill different roles;
b) the fact that God chose to reveal Himself in masculine terms (not feminine nor asexual terms even though ancient pagan customs allowed for this) both in Scripture and in the incarnation and as the priest represents God in the sacraments and especially in absolution, he must necessarily be male – a false representation of Christ thus creates a distorted view of His Person;  
c) our Lord’s choice of men to form the college of the twelve Apostles in spite of the fact that He afforded positions of equality and authority upon women (for instance, women were the first witnesses to the resurrection);
d) the decision of the Apostles to continue to choose men as their successors in spite of the fact that priestesses were customarily accepted in the Gentile world (note that in replacing Judas the list was exclusively male even though colossal figures such as the Virgin Mary and St. Mary Magdalene were active members of the group – cf. Acts 1:14, 23-26);
e) and the unanimous agreement in the unbroken traditional teaching of the Church since her inception to the present day on the subject.
Those who teach otherwise are thus in conflict with the order of creation, the representational and sacramental ministry of the priesthood, the plain teaching of both Old and New Testaments, the universal practice of the Early Church as well as the Apostolic Tradition preserved by those who “follow steadfastly in the Apostle’s doctrine and fellowship” (Acts 2:42, cf. Deuteronomy 4:2, 12:32; Proverbs 30:5, 6; Galatians 1:8, 9; Revelation 22:18, 19; see also Article XX, XXXVI).
However, this in no way excludes women from all other forms of ministry within the Church (one of which is the ancient Order of Deaconess) nor does it imply that women are inferior to men as our Lord Himself was ministered to by women, the Apostle Paul mentions a number of important women whom he considered his fellow co-workers in the Gospel, and some of the most remarkable and outstanding figures in the Church throughout the Ages have been women (the Blessed Virgin Mary, St. Mary Magdalene, Mary and Martha, Priscilla, Phoebe, Lydia, St. Teresa of Avilla, and so on).