Letter: Making decisions in the time allotted to us

Sir: If the General Synod of the Church of England is, per se, not able to decide about the ordination of women to the priesthood, then neither is Rome, Moscow nor Jerusalem. The fact is, the Church of England is both Catholic and reformed. It is in its reformed status that it can and must make decisions. In the unforeseen future, perhaps it will be possible, for the sum total of the parts of Christendom to come together in an ecumenical council.

Just now there is no mechanism for summoning such an assembly. Rome may be the largest in numbers, but that does not make it superior to the sum total of all the parts. If the synod cannot decide, neither can the Vatican, nor Geneva. . .

We cannot live in a state of indecison. We have to be stewards of the time allotted to us on earth. The Church of England as part of worldwide Anglicanism is exercising its stewardship under God, in faith, with risk. That is how Christian pilgrimage has to be. I am glad to be an Anglican, even proud to be.

Yours sincerely,

DENNIS EDE

Archdeacon of Stoke-upon-Trent

Newcastle-under-Lyme

Staffordshire

24 April