New Church Life Mar/Apr 2014 | Page 26

new church life: march / april 2014 themes and issues from various presentations and social media discussions of the topic. This will then be shared with all clergy prior to the meetings in June. At the meetings: There will be presentations both favoring our current practice and arguing for a change. We envision up to two days of meeting time related to these presentations and discussion of them. After the meetings: When clergy members have had time to hear, reflect and pray, I will ask each one to submit a synopsis of his best understanding of the teachings of the Word on this topic, and the applications that flow from that understanding. I will process these clergy responses with a small group of clergy advisors, aiming to determine authentically the consensus of the clergy on this subject. I will then report these findings to the Church at large. The goal is to bring some resolution to the question, instead of leaving it open-ended. It is useful to note that clergy already have started reexamining this issue. At a number of the regional clergy meetings held last year the topic was considered, with numerous presentations on the subject. It is also true that a number of clergy members have been engaged with the people they serve, listening and providing relevant teachings to feed the discussion. I recognize that gender and the priesthood is a subject of passion for many people, and that those passions exist on different sides of the issue. I ask for your patience as we go through the process outlined above, and look forward to communicating its results in due course. 122