FRAMING THE PROBLEM
It has been said before that the only two constants in life are taxes and death, but since the inception of the ACNA, a third has come around: the publication of articles calling for a moratorium on women’s ordination to the priesthood.
The majority of these articles are simply retreads of the same handful of arguments from Scripture and tradition. “Paul says no.” “Women are ontologically unable to be priests.” “It is an accretion brought on by feminism.” At this point, it seems as though many of these writers are either hoping to win the day by the weight their names carry (which would be ironic, given how few of them I’ve ever heard of) or to break the back of the proverbial camel with one more straw.
I get it. Nobody wants a province that is faithful to the clear teachings of God’s Word more than I do, and I long for the day when I no longer have to explain the concept of “dual integrities” to the cultural conservatives amongst whom I live and work. The problem with these articles, essays, podcasts, and social media posts is not their idealism, but that, as of ye,t they remain little more than ideas, theories pulled down from the realm of wishful thinking into the world of X and Substack (a place where, for traditionalist voices, there is often much weeping and gnashing of teeth). It is clear that there is real work to be done if we want to see real change in our province.
All this is not to say that the majority of our work lies outside of the realm of ideas. The ACNA’s canons and the canons of our respective dioceses are more likely to change to reflect our position if we are able to voice our view in such a way that resonates with our readers and hearers, and even if they didn’t, it would certainly be better to end the practice by correcting the theological error rather than merely wielding the canons against those with whom we disagree. To that end, I put forward three things which traditionalists need to do if they are to win over the leadership of the province to our position.
RESOLVE TENSIONS INTERNAL TO OUR MOVEMENT
Although I’ve used the term “traditional position” or like terms a handful of times in this essay, strictly speaking, the phrase is something of a misnomer. While there is a specific practice which all traditionalists are opposed to – women’s ordination to the priesthood – there is not, ultimately, a single, unified position on the issue. Our coalition, to the extent that we have one, is fraught with tensions between those who support a female-inclusive diaconate and those who do not, as well as tensions over the sacramental character of ordination.
This is more pivotal than we often realize. As someone whose critique of women’s orders comes more from an evangelical biblicism than from concerns about the validity of the sacraments, I’ve been miffed more than once by Anglo-Catholics who have called my reasoning an oversimplification. At the same time, I’ve probably ruffled the feathers of a Puseyite or two by expressing concerns about a subtle Donatism underlying their stance.
This is not to say that none of the positions described here should be put aside for the sake of a unified front. In fact, I envision much the opposite. Those of us who hold a common position against the ordination of women to the priesthood need to have serious conversations about why we oppose the practice if we are ever going to work together to see a moratorium on the practice. To get to that point simply requires that we recognize the distinctions that are internal to our movement and allow an open dialogue based on our shared desire to see a more faithful province.
DEVELOP A ROBUST THEOLOGY OF FEMININITY
Here is where I recognize the high probability that I will be called a liberal or (worse, in some eyes) a moderate. But before either epithet is applied, I ask the reader to continue with patience and prayerful consideration. May God grant the wheat to be sifted from the chaff.
One of the reasons that the debate on women’s ordination is so heated is that gender itself is at present a heated topic. Many have mapped questions of human sexuality onto today as a kind of historical sequence of issues of the faith. First, it was the debate over Gentile inclusion that plagued the church; then followed the doctrines of the Trinity and the two natures of Christ; then followed justification and the primacy of Scripture at the Reformation; and today, gender is the primary matter for concern.
Perhaps this is the case. But if so, shouldn’t those who hold the classical position be doubling their efforts to offer a vivid and appropriately beautiful picture of God’s design for femininity? It is most unfortunate that, as a result, femininity has often been described in exclusively negative terms, focusing on what a woman cannot or may not do in the Church and in the world.
This apophatic theology of the feminine often creates an unfortunate vacuum that everyone from Nadia Bolz-Weber to Ballerina Farm are happy to fill. We ourselves have often been all too happy to fill the void with cultural assumptions resembling mid-20th-century America more than first-century Christianity. Ignored are rich Scripture passages like the Book of Proverbs, which, in casting Wisdom in the role of a woman calling out to unlearned youths, teaches us about the role women play in offering counsel to devout learners.
When all we have to offer women is a vision of the family borrowed more from 1950s soda ads than from the sacred Scriptures, not only do we run the risk of exporting them to the left, but we also miss out on tremendous blessings. A theology of the feminine exclusively oriented towards negative definition simply cannot create women like Perpetua, Hildegard, or Amy Carmichael. None of the above names would have been able to serve Christ in the ways that they did if they were only ever offered a collar or a kitchen. It is true that the ACNA does not need female priests, but it does need female saints, and we in the complementarian camp must come up with adequate ways of forming them as such.
FIND WAYS TO INCLUDE WOMEN IN THE CHURCH
It follows from the need for robust theology that we must also develop a robust practice regarding the role of women in the church. Here, also, a negative definition has plagued us far too often, but if any tradition should have the capacity to offer women a significant role in the life of the congregation, it should be Anglicanism.
After all, our robust theology of beauty – certainly more developed than that of many other traditions – ought to lead us to consider the feminine eye for beauty. Proverbs 8 casts a female wisdom as having a particular eye for the intricate design of the universe, and we would do well to include women in helping us bring out the intricacies of beauty in our worship. Inviting women to serve on liturgical task forces, assist in the layout and decoration of the church, and be involved in the music of our congregations are all potential ways to invite women into the life of both parish and province.
Similarly, following Proverbs 8’s wisdom, the business savvy of the Proverbs 31 woman ought to open our eyes to the significance of having women on our vestries, committees, and advisory boards. In their lives, St. Lydia, Macrina, Hannah More, and the Countess of Huntingdon all stand out among many others as exemplars of the wise woman counselor. We would do well to listen to similar voices today by seeking the advice and wisdom of discerning women in the life of our province.
All this is to say that we do women a disservice when we begin our discussions with all of the things forbidden to them in worship. There are, after all, myriad more ways to include women in the life and worship of our province than those outlined here. But just as in theology, so in practice: before we clear away contemporary accretions, we must offer a positive vision for what women contribute to the body of Christ, lest we lose them in the process.
We must not win arguments, but people, and to do so, we must be able to put forward a vision of femininity which is not only more faithful but also more attractive than the revisionist position. Thomas Chalmers summarized this Augustinian notion as “the expulsive power of a new affection.” When we offer a vision of womanhood that more adequately conveys the God-given beauty of the feminine, we will advance further than we already have.
CONCLUSION
What I have put forward here are only some suggestions that I believe will advance the traditionalist cause if acted upon. Doing so is easier said than done. My first proposal alone will require perhaps more civility than can be mustered by the average Anglican, myself included, and the latter two demand yet more exegetical rigor and pastoral creativity than has already been applied.
That said, I am optimistic about the future moving forward. The majority of Anglicans I talk to, male or female, have expressed a distrust of the practice, even while rethinking cultural assumptions surrounding femininity, and our province is full of thoughtful and creative people who can do the kind of work I have advocated for here. May God bless the work of our province in seeking to faithfully minister to men and women in an oft-confused world.
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