WOMEN CHURCH ELDERS

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume LXIV, Issue 19371, 8 July 1937, Page 5

WOMEN CHURCH ELDERS

PRESBYTERIAN DEBATE

SHARP DIVISION OF VIEWS

WIDER TEST REQUESTED

(Special to the Herald.) DUNEDIN, this day,

As a body the Dunedin Presbytery favours the admittance ot women elders to its church courts, though individually there is a sharp division of opinion, and the decision to admit women, was carried on Tuesday night by a bare majority.

The debate arose" from a poll on the question among the sessions of the city and suburban churches, which vetoed a change. The attitude of the presbytery will be framed in the form of a remit to the general assembly.

The debate was introduced when the Rev. J. D. Smith presented a reyort of the ecclesiastical committee detailing the result of the poll among the church sessions. This showed that five churches supported the proposal and that 11 were opposed to it

The admission of women as elders was warmly supported by the Rev. H. J. Ryburn, who moved that the presbytery should 'approve of the proposal. He said he thought it would be quite in order to consider the matter. He explained that his motion was only to test the view of the church.

The Rev. T. Miller expressed surprise that, after the sessions had discussed the question and given their opinions so decidedly, the presbytery should hold a debate to discuss the position further. Women’s Wish Doubted He said that in his experience he had not come in contact with any women who desired to enter eldership. As things now stood the men sitting in session had little to do. He could not see the advantage of Scriptural authority for such a revolutionary change. Mr. J. Farquharson opposed the motion, and said that women desired equal rights with men. “As a representative of the First Church Session, I feel morally bound to oppose the proposal as it did,” said Mr. W. H. Adams, who added that he personally was greatly impressed by what Mr. Ryburn had said.

Mr. Smith said that in many cases the sessions had not had a proper opportunity of having the facts placed before them. If the congregations did not want women elders they would not have them.

The opinion that the demand came from the exigencies of work in which women elders would participate was advanced by Mr. Ryburn before the division was taken.

All present voted, and Mr. Ryburn's motion was carried by one vote —21 1 to 20.

The meeting then decided that if women were excluded from eldership by the general assembly it would support their admittance to the sessions on the Maori mission fields.