Letter: Apostolic models for ordination

Apostolic models for ordination

Sir: No doubt Lord Runcie knows his Canon Law as well as the Rev Nigel Scotland does (Letters, 27 May), and ordained men, whatever their sexuality, precisely because they were "of good repute and such as to be a wholesome example and pattern to the flock of Christ." Nothing decadent about simply filling a post with someone who fits the job-description.

The former Archbishop might still, however, be open to friendly criticism in the light of what we know about the choosing of the Apostles. Pre-eminent among the saints whom the early Church routinely invoked as patrons of homosexual marriage ceremonies, we find the holy apostles Philip and Bartholomew, paired disciples whom Christ himself ordained on the same day.

Now if Mr Scotland were to argue that, to be strictly faultless in following the Saviour's example, Archbishop Runcie should perhaps also have ordained these men's boyfriends, there, I think, he might be on quite strong ground.

DR MICHAEL HALLS

Christow,

Devon