"The Community of Women and Men" : Reports of a Working Party made to the URC General Assembly, 1982 and 1984.
- Assembly Reports
- 1982: p.18
- 1984: pp.57-8 (report); p.81 (resolutions)]
[1982 Report]
51. This working party on the Community of Women and Men in the URC has met three times in 1982, increasing its membership from six to ten to give a wider range of experience and contacts. We have become increasingly aware of the complexity of the issues, the feelings they arouse and the importance of the working out of the community of women and men not only in the secular sphere and in other denominations, but also in the United Reformed Church. We have by no means achieved perfect community of women and men in the URC, nor are we well along the right road as we had perhaps once believed. We reaslise that our thankfulness for the cooperation between men and women in the URC should be a spur to further action rather than a cause for complacency.
52. During the year the Working Party has sought to raise the consciousness of members of the URC to the importance of the issue, through a display at the 1982 Assembly, through articles in Reform, and by means of a questionnaire sent to Elders meetings in the Information Service in January 1983. We have also publicised the Study Guide `Circles of Community' and advocated its use. We have prepared a leaflet, for circulation at this Assembly, explaining some of the issues and giving some facts, and hope to plan a more complete presentation for the Assembly in 1984, possibly through a lunch-time event.
53. Among the questions which remain before the working party are the following:
54. The working party is grateful for the encouragement received from members of the Departments and committees and other individuals in the URC, and is in touch, through various members, with developments and thinking in the WCC, BCC and in Christian feminist groups.
37. The Working Party was set up in 1982, in response to the Sheffield Consultation and other initiatives by the British Council of Churches, at the request of the World Church and Mission and Church Life Departments. An interim report was given to Assembly in 1983 and a degree of informal consultation with the URC undertaken. The following people shared in the Working Party:
Susan Armitage, Pamela Cressey, Martin Cressey, Derek Gardiner, Barbara How, Kate McIlhagga, Ruth Mealand, Norah Morgans (who also represented the URC on the BCC Working Party), Timothy Sykes, Margaret Taylor (Secretary) and Richard Taylor.
38. The Working Party has very much valued the sharing of experiences and the new understanding gained during its work, and comes to the end of its specific task with the firm belief that the insights into people's feelings and the incentives to change of which it has become aware need to be carried on into the life of the URC. A brief leaflet has been prepared outlining some of the responses to the questionnaire. Copies of this will be sent to those who wrote to us and some will be available, on request, at Assembly.
39. A small booklet from the United Church of Canada has come to our notice. Called `Bad Language in Church', it is a most sane and helpful comment on the hurt caused by exclusive language and the possibility of replacing this by inclusive language. Copies (at 50p) will be available at Assembly.
40. We share our findings and concerns with the General Assembly in the following terms:
1. "In Christ there is neither male or female". Christ has set us free from stereotypes and prejudice so that we can accept and value one another as individuals. As a church we rejoice in this and are always open to new ways of deepening and giving fuller expression to our oneness in Christ. Are we not `united' and `reformed'? We must therefore
- continue to explore the relationships between men and women in the light of both Scripture and contemporary experience, believing that God guides us through both;- enable everyone to use to the full the gifts that God has given them for the building up of the Church;
- ensure that cooperation between the sexes is shaped, not by domination but by a reciprocity which reflects the relationship of mutual love between Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
2. To those who do not see this as an issue, and to those who feel that the URC has already achieved a right relationship in this area, we say
- there is a real hurt and frustration among both men and women in the URC. We must be careful lest we miss `the beam in our own eye';- there is a need to show solidarity with fellow Christians in Churches which do not yet ordain women to the Ministry of Word and Sacrament, and a responsibility to share our experience with them;
- moreover the examination of the relationship between men and women is part of the continuous effort needed to build and maintain true community within the Church, as part of our Christian witness. "The world will not come to believe because of what we say, but because of the quality of our life as a reconciling, loving, inclusive community in Christ";
- and the BCC has asked member denominations to respond to the issues raised by the 1981 World Council of Churches Conference on the Community of Women and Men in the Church.
3. We have a vision of the Church which offers
- positive support to all, whether in the Church or not, who are trying to find their identity as human beings created in God's image;- a place for deep and searching dialogue about different patterns of marriage and family life, about sharing power and responsibility and about where authority lies in these areas;
- a practical sign of hope that women and men can progress together towards human wholeness.
4. As a Reformed Church, claiming to follow Scripture, the URC must be prepared
- to face up to the generally `patriarchal' tone of the Bible, and the difficult texts in the Epistles which subordinate women to men;- to ask ourselves whether we are doing justice to the richness of the Biblical image of God which on the one hand includes both feminine and masculine characteristics and on the other hand transcends both;
- to make it clear through the language we use that the people of God comprises both men and women.
5. The role of existing women's groups in the Church has been much debated. These are valued by many and can play a useful part in building confidence and teaching leadership skills needed by the wider Church. It can be helpful for men and women to discuss separately what it means to be male and female today in the light of their faith. We recognise, however, that it is no more acceptable for women to acquire confidence and freedom at the expense of men, than it is for men to excercise leadership roles at the expense of women.
6. Many people, particularly women, find their ability to contribute their talents restricted by practical considerations. Synods, District Councils and committees could help, for example, by changing times of meetings, seeking to remove obstacles in the way of those who would otherwise take part, offering training opportunities, and by including appropriate questions on visitations.
7. These issues are threatening and sometimes make us feel defensive or react defensively, but we have discovered that it is through experiencing the hurt and working through the insecurities produced by the changing role of women and men that we can begin to make a new creative dimension to our life together, in the URC and beyond.
The Assembly
(a) receives the report of the working party on the Community of Women and Men in the URC, and requests Synods, Districts and local churches to give consideration to the issues raised.(b) requests Synods, District Councils and local churches to develop ways of enabling women to use their gifts in the service of the Church and asks Synods to onform the Nominations Committee of progress by January 1987.
(c) asks the Nominations Committee to review the membership of Assembly Departments and Committees in the light of note 6(a) in the URC Manual (p.79) and to report to the Assembly in 1985 on the steps to be taken to achieve a minimum of one quarter men and one quarter women on every committee by June 1987.
(d) asks Departments and Committees to take steps to ensure that all future publications use inclusive language.
(e) expresses its ecumenical solidarity by: -
(i) urging members to support movements for the ordination of women(ii) requesting those responsible for staffing in Local Ecumenical Projects to consider the appointment of women ministers where they are at present unprepared to do so, and
(iii) recognising the contribution of feminist theology.
At the 1984 Assembly itself, the first four sections of the Resolution and the three sub-sections of section (e) were put separately. All the sections were carried; but tellers were called for on section (d) and on sub-section (e)(iii). The card voting was
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