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The US Episcopal Church was third, not first

I read in the latest Letter: "In North America, women's ordination—at first canonically illegal—has been practiced in the Episcopal Church for some 38 years and in the Anglican Church of Canada for 36 years."

It is my understanding that the 1970 meeting of the Anglican Consultative Council (its first gathering) gave the ordination of women a nihil obstat, so to speak. The request came from Hong Kong, which proceeded to ordain women immediately, followed by Canada, and then by the Episcopal Church.

Pierre Whalon
Bishop, Convocation of Episcopal Churches in Europe
Paris, FRANCE
13 February 2012

Nor halal

My "conversion experience" in these matters occurred several years ago, when I was asked to celebrate the Eucharist at a Lutheran colleague's church when he was out of town (this was before full communion with the Evangelical Luthern Church in America, and so not quite "kosher"). When asked if I would ask him to do the same for me, I replied, "No. After all, when I celebrated at their church, the sacrament was valid. It wouldn't be the same if he celebrated at ours, because his orders aren't valid."

The friend to whom I said this replied, "So that's how you think God works in the world. Millions of Lutherans around the world truly believe that they're receiving Christ's Body and Blood each week, but they're wrong, because their clergy aren't validly ordained." I realized then that I believe that God is much bigger than that, and will not be bound by our rules.

Does our obsession with "pedigree" cause God to laugh or to weep?

William Bippus
St. Paul's
Marinette, Wisconsin, USA
14 February 2012

(Editor: Both.)

We launched our 'Letters to AO' section on 11 May 2003. All published letters are in our archives.