Women and Ecclesiology - bibliography included

Ecumenical Review, The, Jan, 2001 by Janet Crawford

The BEM text was not entirely uninfluenced by the Community study. Both Cardman and Tanner noted "positive signs" in the text, hints which might be developed in the future. In both the baptism and eucharist sections of the text there are "theological insights about unity, equality and the imaging of Christ in us all" which, at least implicitly, make connections to the Community study and which may signal to women that they are "panners in the search for the visible unity of the church".(16)

It is in the section on ministry that the lack of connection between BEM and the Community study becomes most obvious. The whole controversial issue of the ordination of women is dealt with in two carefully formulated and balanced paragraphs which conclude that:

   An increasing number of churches have decided, that there is no biblical or
   theological reason against ordaining women, and many of them have
   subsequently proceeded to do so. Yet many churches hold that the tradition
   of the church in this regard must not be changed.

As Tanner comments:

   It is at this point that many women must feel the sudden inconsistency with
   all that has gone before and an obvious point where the challenge of the
   Community study has not even been recognized, let alone met ... For many
   this will appear not only a way of evading the challenge of the Community
   study, but also of not recognizing the challenge which comes from within
   the sections on baptism and eucharist.(17)

As Cardman documents, in comparison with statements on ministry made at earlier stages of the BEM study, the final BEM text "considerably reduced its estimate of the significance of the question of the recognition and reconciliation of ministries"(18) -- although this question was actually gaining more significance within the ecumenical movement, as the Community study itself demonstrated. In the ministry section more than anywhere else, both the text and commentary in BEM seem to be either out of touch with the Community study, or else unwilling to grapple seriously with the issues it had raised about the ordination of women.

Baptism, Eucharist and Ministry 1982-1990: Report on the Process and Responses was published in 1990.(19) This volume summarized significant aspects of the official responses from the churches, offered some clarifications and comments on critical points, and identified major issues for future work by Faith and Order. The responses to BEM revealed that "the deepest differences between the churches concerning mutual recognition of ministries relate to the issues of the ordination of women and episcopal succession".(20) While these responses were more or less to be expected, there was unexpected criticism of the BEM text itself, as many responses "challenged the document's counsel not to regard obstacles arising from differences on this issue as `substantive hindrance' to mutual recognition of ministries".(21) Whether for or against the ordination of women, a number of churches were concerned that the issue was not being addressed sufficiently seriously.