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number of membership resignations, etc., I worry that these events, plus the
controversies over women’s roles, are all related to a bigger picture that we
haven’t really understood.
Is our New Church the absolute true religion reflecting the doctrines
and second coming of the Lord? Are we the purest and truest? Or could we
possibly have clouded our spiritual interpretations by our human limitations
and zeal to find immediate solutions?
Our Church has an incredible foundation with our small schools systems,
beginnings to open our doors to “outsiders,” evangelization in areas outside the
United States, outreach efforts, etc. Is our organization growing in committed
numbers or are we still in the midst of a crisis? I fear it is still in a crisis.
Dana Gruber
Lakebay, Washington
Women and the Church
To The Editors:
I see old arguments about women in ministry are still cycling. (Letter, “Why
is the Church not Growing?” Ned Cole, March-April New Church Life, page
119) A fallacious argument is being put forward to suggest women ministers
are responsible for the decline of a church.
The decline of attendance at churches has more to do with people not
feeling fed by the traditional model of church, rather than because women
began preaching. Yet this argument is still being touted with no evidence to
back it up. The Catholic Church does not ordain women, yet its numbers are
decreasing and its churches closing too.
I have heard arguments that more conservative/fundamentalist churches
are growing who don't ordain women, whereas more liberal ones are not. Of
course: people prefer certainty, rather than not knowing, and those churches
provide that certainty, which provides comfort. It's not because they don't have
women preachers, although that may provide comfort for some.
Yet again we hear that the Writings say women should not be priests.
They categorically do not do so! If they did these arguments would never have
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