Women (priests) outnumber men in the Anglican Church for the first time

To me it isn’t so much that only men can be the model for Christ in performing the sacraments. Certainly there are Christ-ly women in the world, and women who have laid down their lives for others as Christ did.
Rather it’s an empirical fact of human nature, that female-led institutions become squishy. In the Church in particular, women seem to feminize the priesthood, or the ministry, so much that it’s not a fit place for male leadership any more.
My daughters don’t know yet that they will probably come to see male leadership as a good thing, especially in the home and in the Church. What they do understand is that just about every church with female ministers or priests is pro-abortion - and my daughters are very much against abortion.
As are my sons, but a male priesthood doesn’t bother them at all.

You make a lot of sense. I've seen the same "squishiness" with women ministers, though I am Catholic, and have deprecated the female ministry. A pregnant one may seem to be a "wonderful, sweet" thing but, then, she is like the married minister, she is DIVIDED in her time, efforts and heart. I think celebacy is the best for ministers and male ones are better--Jesus' model.

Jesus came as a man and chose men as His apostles.
I've come to realize that it was for a reason that He did this.

When a family is led by a man, especially a Godly man, the family tends to pray and thrive. This seems to be a solid basis for the human social unit: the family.

I went through all the women's lib stuff and KNEW that men and women are more different than the surface. They are, as you write, empirically different, with different strengths, sources and purposes in the Divine Plan.
I had to do a lot of growing-up to figure that one out. It helped that I am a teacher, college age, of BOTH men and women. BOY, are they different from each other.

Actually Henry VIII really founded Church of England dude want replace his long suffering wife Cathoic king Ferninard and Isabella of Spain daughter Catherine of Aragon with young babe Anne Boylan so she could provided with male children
It like everything in history where powerful men want younger models

I know all this. Old news.

There is a poem, of sorts, to remember how well he succeeded (NOT) with all his wives: divorced, beheaded, died, divorced, beheaded, survived.
:o)

He did get his male heir but the son didn't live past his teen years and Elizabeth, Anne Bolyen's daughter, became the queen of England.

So much for the pride, arrogance and unbelievable crimes of Henry VIII. He DESTROYED the Catholic Church in England and killed THOUSANDS who wouldn't give up the faith of their fathers.
I hope he's still burning.

My second cousin was raised Methodist and from the time she was a small child she wanted to be a minister. After church she would stand on the bed and give the sermon. She did grow up to be a minister and served as a chaplain in the military. But some time after she came back into civilian life, for some reason I do not know, she and her husband converted to Catholicism. The ways of God!

Now she works as a pastoral assistant, and having seen some in action I do tend to be dubious about the pastoral assistant program, as a sort of side door for female administration and a leftwing “therapeutic” approach to faith... but I have no evidence to lay those charges against my cousin.

I wish the RC Church would promote the diaconate to help out where priests are thin on the ground.

I help out in pastoral assistant program, lector and Eucharistic minister. We aren't ordained though we do go through some training.

Deacons have to be ordained though it's not the priestly ordination. I think that it's MUCH easier to get the laity of the parish to pitch in as pastoral assistants...it's mostly us old ladies, who run ALL the churches whichever Christian faith :o).

There really is no reason for being dubious; it's SO simple. Pastoral assistants can be sacristans too. They get the altar and such ready for Mass, keeping the candles in readiness, tossing the dead flowers, making sure the vestments are okay for wear, etc.

I recently noticed that the book cover for the gospel readings was VERY tatty, so I voluntarily bought another one for the book. We all pitch in. It's nice to be useful, especially when there ARE so few priests for so many Catholics.

NOTHING sidedoor or leftwing about it at all. I've found a HUGE DEARTH of the leftwingers at Mass. As for pitching in and HELPING, nary a one. They save their leftwingedness for other stuff...stuff they may actually change. They can't stand against the choices of Jesus, that is, to come to earth as a man-Savior, choosing 12 male apostles, followed by male disciples, bishops, popes, etc. Besides, they might actually have to show up at Mass more often, pitch in and help the $chool fund raising, visit the old folks and sick folks...all that really CHRISTIAN stuff. :o)

Where I live, pastoral assistant is a paid professional title, and they have training which includes theology and counselling and administation - I think there is a master’s degree program. Maybe I am thinking of pastoral associate - here is what the diocese of Chicago says.

http://www.archchicago.org/departments/lay_ecclesial_ministry/certification.shtm

In the parish I left there were two pastoral assistants, one the liturgical minister (choir director) and the other director of religious education. Both of them pushed feminism, New Age, and disrespect for tradition. The pastor was in perfect harmony with them. I walked out in the middle of an Easter Mass when he was giving a sermon about the symbol of the Resurrection, and the only time we have visited since was for an Ash Wednesday service that left us all recoiling from the God-emptied smugness there. My son used to have obsessive blasphemous thoughts during the Mass, that has not been a problem in any other parish. The first priest in that parish, the one in charge of constructing the church, was revealed to be an abuser of teenage boys; he has been convicted. I truly wonder if there is an evil spirit in that place.

My new parish is much more Godly and conservative but we did have a pastoral assistant who did some adult education programs and counselling. Again, the feminism and New Age pagan syncretism. Now she works for the diocese.

My best friend’s sister is a pastoral assistant - what she wants is women’s ordination and this is as close as she can get. Very bitter about the Church’s roles for women, but she won’t leave the Church.

I think the pastoral assistant program (as we have it here) too often substitutes credentialism and a profession for what ought to be a calling. With the declining number of priests, and a growing number of priestless parishes, the administration of some parishes is going into the hands of the PAs, with priests visiting just for the sacraments. Very, very bad news. There is a lay bureaucracy and academic faction which is very content with this development as it means more power for them.

There will be women who are almost-priests - if Ms. Smith administers the parish, and counsels people (so much like confession) and visits the sick and speaks from the pulpit and hands out the already-consecrated Host when the priest isn’t there - well, why not let her hear confession and consecrate?

Far better to encourage married men to become deacons. Or even to permit married men to become priests. Or how about temporary vows? Fifteen years as a celibate priest? Boy would you have courtship issues as the clock ticked down.

Those women reek of pride and arrogance. They aren't really holding true to their vocations as pastoral assistants, are they? The "evil spirtit" in your parish isn't from the outside, it's from the inside with those feminists who WANT things their way, instead of the way things are.

"Almost priests"?? Please.
Where is the humility and obedience that is SUPPOSED to personify God's servants? As long as they push their OWN agenda and are in there for their own reasons (feminism, female priests, non-celebacy for priests, whatever) they are subverting the message that they ought to be living.

Humility and obedience--they would be lousy priests since that is what priests must have.

As for the evil priests...remember, Jesus CHOSE Judas Iscariot, knowing that he would betray his master. I always think of this when I hear of bad priests. I think Jesus was showing us a "template" of humanity--there WILL be a bad apple in every barrel, even His own barrel of Apostles.

I think (and it's only MY opinion) that it's the better course to encourage women to be content with the roles they have in God's plan and to leave their bitterness where it belongs...at the foot of the Cross.

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