Women and the Church

For far too long women have taken a back seat in the church. For years we, men that is, have required women to jump through all sorts of hurdles to gain entrance in to the church. In our own Orthodox Church the tradition is that women should not take communion while menstruating (obviously a man came up with that word) and after child birth there is the ever insulting service called the churching of women. It was not that long ago that in my own Archdiocese women were not given the right to be members of the church and women sat on one side and men on the other.

I have heard all of the arguments out there,mainly from men by the way, and I think they are all bunk. Yes Jesus had only men as his apostles, why? Because in the culture to which he came women were treated worse then slaves so to have women apostles would not have been a good thing for him to do. But who did he appear to first? Who was with him at the Crucifixion when most if not all of the men had run away? Who washed his feet? Who gave him life?

In our modern culture women have a place at the table, not just putting the food on it, and it is time the church caught up with that. Recently the General Synod of the Church of England has approved the ordination of women as bishops of the church. I say good for them, and the rest of us need to hang our heads in shame for not following suit. Why is it women are not allowed to lead our congregations? While in seminary, the Roman Catholic seminary that is, we were not even allowed to speak of such things as women priests and optional celibacy. It’s okay ladies you can clean the church but you cannot serve at the altar!

Jesus did what he did because that was the culture of his time the culture of our time is full inclusion of all of God’s people in the ministry of the church. Some in the Church of England are saying this is end and will be leaving and heading for Rome or elsewhere. So in other words I am taking my ball and leaving. Very adult by the way! That’s the way we Christians handle things. If we don ‘t like a decision we threaten to leave and go find greener pastures that’s why the church is splintered in so many ways!

What would Jesus do? If Jesus were to come today to England or the United States, his apostles would include women and, I hope you are sitting down, people of alternate life style! Yes I said it! Just look at scripture, who did Jesus hang with but the dregs of society, not the learned or the clean, but, wait for it, SINNERS! None of us are perfect and as soon as we realize that fact the better our life will be.

So ladies welcome to the table. It has taken more than 2000 years but you hung in there and slowly you are coming into the place you deserve. We honor Mary as the birth-giver of God, but if she were alive today we would not let her celebrate the Eucharist or preach in one of our churches. The church needs to atone for how it has treated women over years. This is just the first step.