And I pray that this experiment is successful, but I have strong fears that the next stage is gay married pastorettes.
My, admittedly prejudiced eyes, see first letting in female clergy as the first step. Is this a wrong belief?
I believe women should play more and more of a role, but baulk at them being pastoresses. Don't get me wrong -- in my humble opinion and in my 30+ years of life experience, women are on average far more devout and holier than men -- the sex ratio in heaven could be extremely skewed!
I do not disagree that female clergy can become part of the slippery slope, particularly when the only rationalization for their Ordination is “justice”.
Another point along that slope is the acceptance of clergy who have remarried after divorce. On that issue, the LCMC has done no better than the ELCA. The NALC Executive Council was charged with presenting a paper on that issue to the next NALC assembly—keep in mind, NALC is not quite one year old.
The ACNA has taken the hardest line: divorced persons who seek to serve as clergy must have their cases heard by the Archbishop and fitness for service is determined on a case by case basis. No carte blanche....and that is how it should be, IMHO.