I was interested to see your report of a wedded couple appointed to parish and pastoral leadership in Spalding. But is this Biblical? The Church of England’s Book of Common Prayer (1662) speaks of parish priests or ministers, but never of parish priestesses.
The reason for this is that the Apostle Paul says that women are not to lead in the Church (1 Timothy 2: 11-15) whilst the Apostle Peter speaks of women as being the ‘weaker vessel’ (1 Peter 3: 7).
Is it ever right to depart from the Bible pattern, or to put the more vulnerable into the spiritual firing line?
If the Church goes on following society, instead of the Lord, it will surely only lead to yet more decline.
Rev Robert West
Farrow Avenue
Holbeach
