wfn.org | Taiwan Church Jubilee for Ordination of Women

[Worldwide Faith News <wfn@wfn.org>]

Jubilee!
Reported by Lin Niling, Written by David Alexander
      A seminar marking the jubilee of the ordination of women to the
office of minister of Word and Sacrament in the Presbyterian Church in
Taiwan (PCT) was delayed and shortened by Typhoon Nari.  The meeting,
originally scheduled for September 17-19 at Taipei's St. Dominic Center,
was delayed until the 19th and moved to the PCT General Assembly's
Mission Center.
      This jubilee year celebrates the freedom of all God's people and
their liberation from bonds that prevented full participation of all
members in the life of the church.  To God be the Glory!  Seminar
participants joined in a declaration stating. "The God whom Christians
worship has created womankind in the divine image, given women dignity,
and appointed and called women as God's own co-workers.  We call on the
entire Christian Church, in the name of God, to no longer tolerate the
filthy layer of gender discrimination in church life.
      The sponsoring organizations stated simply that, "The question of
whether or not women could be ordained to the office of Minister of Word
and Sacrament in the PCT has, both as a matter of theological stance and
organizational reality, become a non-issue.  The church must become
fully accustomed to this reality.
      Sister Cecilia Yeh, FMM, responded saying, "The time spent on
building theological foundations and doing faith reflection on the
ordination of women to the office of Minister of Word and Sacrament has
been well spent.  We hope that the PCT does not limit its acceptance of
women's leadership to theological stances and organizational structure,
but that local churches themselves come to happily call and install
female clergy, welcoming their participation and decisive witness. May
God liberate all of us from gender discrimination.
      The meeting was jointly sponsored by the Women's Work, Evangelism
and Aboriginal Mission committees of the PCT.  Overseas representatives
came from the World Council of Churches, the World Alliance of Reformed
Churches, the Jesus Christ Church in Japan, the Basel Mission in
Malaysia and the Hong Kong Christian Council.