New Church Life May/June 2015 | Page 17

    Lord’s leading.  It may be helpful to underscore that the central argument on which my paper hinges is that since careful study of the Doctrines of our church have led some to see reasons for a male-only priesthood and others to envision a priesthood that makes use of the strengths of both genders, limiting our church to only one of these interpretations, in the Rev. Pendleton’s language, places an “external bond” on the conscience of some of our members. Is it right to have one interpretation hold sway over another when both arise from reverence to the Word and humility to the Lord? In this situation, is it not better to embrace the doctrinal principle of freedom? Furthermore, if we are to make application of teachings on marriage to the issue of gender in the ministry, passages that emphasize the essential place of freedom in marriage (i.e., Heaven and Hell 380 and Conjugial Love 248) imply to my mind that the dominion of one gender over another with regard to the spiritual leadership of our church interferes with the Lord’s ability to lead our organization.  Chelsea Rose Odhner Willow Grove, Pennsylvania 237