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My hope that the spirit of unity and Godly love would be allowed to settle on the Church of England at Pentecost was short-lived. The response from the former Chair of WATCH to the amendments agreed by the House of Bishops to the draft Measure concerning the ordination of women as bishops is uncompromising: "Churchgoers in Cambridgeshire could turn up to find the pulpit empty if 'furious' campaigners for female bishops in the Church of England carry out their threats to strike. Christina Rees, a lay preacher in Barley who has been a member of the General Synod, the church’s parliament, for 20 years, told the News there is 'uproar' over last-minute changes to new legislation. .... American-born Ms Rees, who is a leading campaigner for female bishops, told the News many members of the church are threatening to leave in protest and there are loud calls for strike action."
In an earlier outburst the Rev Miranda Threlfall-Holmes, questioned why women should stay in an “abusive institution”: “Do we stay, hoping it will get better? Do we stay, because we feel called by God to be in this marriage? Do we stay, thinking we can continue to try to change it from the inside? Or do we flee to the nearest refuge (let's ignore the fact for now that they rarely exist) — leaving home, family, community, and our dreams behind?" Dr Threlfall-Holmes should have realised that the cost of discipleship is not easy and certainly not one to be defined by secular employment laws.
We have been here before with threats from women clergy to leave unless they get their own way. This vociferous group which campaigns for parity in employment based on false claims of inequality have dictated the direction the Anglican Church for far too long using bully-boy tactics which have nothing to do with religion. Equality of opportunity in the work place is their guiding principle; faith is secondary, if it figures at all. The call now by Christina Rees to use their not inconsiderable feminist muscle to threaten the stability of the church clearly illustrates what the feminist movement has been up to all along. It is time to call their bluff. They do not want to serve, only to be served, accepting no authority but their own. As they have often told those who disagree with them, it's your choice. For Christ's sake and that of His church, take it or leave it.
We have been here before with threats from women clergy to leave unless they get their own way. This vociferous group which campaigns for parity in employment based on false claims of inequality have dictated the direction the Anglican Church for far too long using bully-boy tactics which have nothing to do with religion. Equality of opportunity in the work place is their guiding principle; faith is secondary, if it figures at all. The call now by Christina Rees to use their not inconsiderable feminist muscle to threaten the stability of the church clearly illustrates what the feminist movement has been up to all along. It is time to call their bluff. They do not want to serve, only to be served, accepting no authority but their own. As they have often told those who disagree with them, it's your choice. For Christ's sake and that of His church, take it or leave it.
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