WOMEN IN THE CHURCH

Press, Volume LXXXVII, Issue 26477, 19 July 1951, Page 2

WOMEN IN THE CHURCH

Three Fields Of Work Described

REV. MARTIN SULLIVAN’S VIEWS

The urgent need for women workers in the Church was emphasised by the Rev. Martin Sullivan, who was the guest speaker yesterday at the annual meeting of the Mothers’ Union for the diocese of Christchurch. Mr Sullivan is a member of a committee set up by the Synod to investigate the field of women’s work in the Church. “Any kind of work done for the Church should never be departmentalised. It is a part of the total work of the Church, and is done as an all-over job,” Mr Sullivan said. "The operative word is ‘work,’ not ‘men’ or ‘women.’

"We must not think that women’s work is going to be something lighter in effect than the men’s. If we are honest and analytical, we must admit that nearly all the work is done by women anyway. The congregations are in the main women.”

Churches were grossly understaffed to-day; and there were not enough men to do the job, Mr Sullivan continued. "It will be some years before we have enough men, if we are longsighted enough to make provision,” he added. Parochial, educational and institutional fields of work were open to women who were prepared to help, continued Mr Sullivan. The need for parochial visiting was obvious. With about 750 families to a parish, a vicar was lucky if he managed to visit each family once in 18 months. For many this visit might be their only contact with the Church, apart from their attendance at church on Easter Day. "Any vicar would panic if he had to face an Easter Day every Sunday,” Mr Sullivan said. "We would get the fright of our lives if everyone we asked came to church.” A vicar obviously needed help in keeping in touch with all these members of his parish. Of what real value was one visit in 18 months?

Religious education for children was the biggest problem for the Church in New Zealand to-day, said Mr Sullivan. Children received religious instruction in their homes if they were fortunate, but there had been a great decrease in this. Most teaching in Sunday schools to-day was being attempted by adolescent girls, who were not properly equipped and who were aware of this lack, said Mr Sullivan. These teachers needed training. Many who discarded the Christian faith later in life did so because they had only fragmentary recollections of a faith incompetently and ineptly taught. "Given the right group of young women we could transform our levels of Sunday school work,” Mr Sullivan said.

Need for Adequate Training In the present age, it was not sufficient to put persons in the positions of matrons or sub-matrons of institutions unless they were trained, continued Mr Sullivan. Work done without training had been superb, but infinitely more could be done with training. Very few clergymen had had training to deal with social problems. They had to learn by rule of things. "We are not just looking for kind-hearted persons,” he added. "Their hearts must be right, but their heads must be right too. “Speaking generally for the Church in its ministry, we are required to-day to raise the educational standard. I am sure we are wrong if we lower it. The opportunities for education are so much greater to-day that soon you will have to have a degree to do any sort of job.” Mr Sullivan emphasised the need for some training in theology. "Belief is prior to action.” he said. “It is time the Church of England came to read its Bible.” Knowledge of the attitude of the Church to such questions as marriage and baptism was also necessary. “It is no good bringing people in to do work in the Christian Church today without knowledge.” said Mr Sullivan. “We are there to prevent people's lives from breaking down. We need knowledge for that. On the other hand, I do not suggest that we should have people with a lot of slick answers. They would be a menace to the Christian Church, but you must understand the Christian faith before you can live a Christian life. We most certainly cannot send people out in the name of the Christian Church without a modicum of training. Mr Sullivan outlined the courses of training which are available for the three types of work he described. In all cases a student needed a good educational background of not less than School Certificate standard, and would be required to do a general course in theology, he added.