This debate is erupting at a time when women’s ordination is growing in some corners of the Anglican World — Anglican churches in Africa currently boast six women bishops. All Anglican churches in Africa are members of the Anglican Communion, the global body of churches with roots in the Church of England, and many African provinces also belong to GAFCON, a conservative movement within the communion that includes ACNA.
“It’s a settled issue that this is an option for Orthodox, Anglican churches in the fellowship that we’re a part of,” King said in reference to the widespread practice of ordaining female priests in GAFCON, which has characterized women’s ordination as a “secondary issue” that is not a matter of salvation.
Some ACNA members have also noted that the push to end women’s ordination also comes amid a time of reckoning for sexual abuse and abuse of power among ACNA clergy, something not lost on Hanson.
“I think there needs to be more of a red alert focus on abuse and power in the ACNA,” Hanson told RNS. “I’m honestly not surprised, but still disappointed, that with all the conversations in the larger church in the United States about abuse and power, they want to focus on women’s ordination.”
This article originally appeared here.
