Friday 28 May 2010

Bishop Wright's Farewell Discourse

That Bishop Tom Wright is all in favour for the admittance of women to the Anglican episcopate is no news. He has addressed for the last time his diocesan synod in Durham. Among other things he had to say this about the matter:
All ministry, according to St Paul, is given to serve the unity of the church, not to divide it. That is especially true of the ministry of Bishops. I hope and pray we will be able to square that circle, and I would rather get the right answer in two or three years’ time than the wrong one tomorrow. I really do believe that ordaining women is the right thing to do; but St Paul’s insistence on how adiaphora works prohibits me from forcing it on those who in conscience are not ready for it. And the answer here, I believe, is a proper theological argument, which we have not yet had. The Rochester report has never been properly discussed.

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