[Stand Firm] 30 Dec 2008-- The following link will take you to a sermon by Dr. Anne Payton of the Diocese of Pittsburghthat was sent to me this morning.Dr. Payton is ordained and conservative. In this sermon she calls for the ACNA to remove any restrictions on the consecration of female bishops. I hesitated to link her sermon because I know well how contentious these sorts of discussions can be, but it is important, in my view, that issues like this, once raised, are discussed and debated thoroughly. Indeed, if the new province is going to survive I believe they must be dealt with definitively. Canon 4 of the Provisional Canons of the ACNA reads:
Eligibility for bishop must include being a duly ordained male[bold added] presbyter of at least 35 years of age, who possesses those qualities for a bishop which are in accordance with Scriptural principles, and who has fully embraced the Fundamental Declarations of this Province.
I can tell you, that regardless of personal views and positions, there is wide, broad, and deep consensus on the part of ACNA leaders that the consent to the election of female bishops would doom the province.
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