Anglican women as bishops moves nearer

Press, 5 August 1985, Page 4

Anglican women as bishops moves nearer

PA Auckland The consecration of women as Anglican bishops moved a step closer at the Auckland Synod yesterday. Archdeacon John Mullane asked the Synod’s representatives to the General Synod next year to “promote the necessary declaratory legislation” for the consecration of women. Archdeacon Mullane noted there was nothing in the Ordinal, or Book of Common Prayer, nor in the Constitution and Canons, to preclude women from consecration, and put his motion to clarify the exist-

ing legal position. The motion was passed. A recommendation that a consultancy ministry to the disabled be set up by the Anglican Church was made on Saturday during discussions on the Church’s report on handicapped people and their families. Presenting the report and putting the motion, the Rev. Lloyd Cullen said it was natural to plan programmes with only the able-bodied in mind, but the handicapped must be included in Church planning. “The deaf will stop coming to church if they cannot

hear, the lame will stay at home if they cannot negotiate the steps.” Thinking about the challenge, he said, could well make the able-bodied feel uncomfortable and guilty. ■ “But what we need is not guilt but greater sensitivity to one another that will motivate us to provide for each other’s needs and foresee and provide facilities that speak welcome.” The handicapped, he said, were slow to speak up for themselves but were quick to appreciate efforts made for them.

The suggestion of a con-

sultancy ministry to the disabled was put by the Rev. Mark Anderson. He asked that the report task force investigate the feasibility of such a ministry and report back to the Synod next year. There was a need, he said, for the Church to be with the impaired. In his charge at the opening of the Synod, the Archbishop of New Zealand, the Most Rev. Sir Paul Reeves, praised the report as a practical document and said that a person with an intellectual handicap was to be encouraged to become a communicant.