MINISTRATION OF WOMEN.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 18446, 6 January 1922, Page 8

MINISTRATION OF WOMEN.

The Bishop-of Chichester, in an address to his clergy gathered in Synod, dealt with the question of the ministration of women, asking for expressions of opinion on the matter. His lordship summed up what he thought should be tho Synod’s attitude towards the Lambeth resolutions on this question as follows: —“ (1) Great respect to them; (2) a conviction that wo must not go boyond them; (3) a. sense of freedom in that we are not bound to go as far.” He thought it was very_ difficult to see what functions could be assigned to tho deaconess which would make a difference between her status and that of a licensed female Scripture reader of tho like. , “There is the Scriptural aspect, continued the bishop, “ wliich involves the questions; (a) What St. Paul meant; fb) whether what he said is binding on tno Church for all time, or whether it was of the • nature of a disciplinarv r«le based on expediency, and therefore to bo changed when the situation changed. When St. Paul bids women keep silence in the churches, he is not referring to any sort of building, but to the assembling together of the faithful for worship and edification; for there were no consecrated Christian churches in his day, nor for a long time afterwards. Still less are, his words to be interpreted by any , reference to such modern artificial and, indeed, local English differences as those ’ between consecrated and dedicated churches, or dedicated and licensed ihission rooms. If wo, paraphrased his words thus, ‘ Lot tho women keep silence at the Liturgy, at Holy Communion,’ though I hardly think that would- really be adequate, it would bo nearer to his meaning than what is often attributed to him.” Since they have received the franchise women have come to the fore in Western Canadian public life. Following the appointment of a woman Cabinet , Minister in British Columbia. Manitoba has a woman deputy-minister, Mrs A. W. Larson, registrar of companies, who has been officially gazetted as deputy provincial secretary. For the first time in history. in the province of Alberta a woman solicitor has been aopointed, Miss Gretna Playter, who will in future deal with work pertaining to women’s organisations throughout tho province.