No Women Priests!

There is a group of people in Botswana, mostly women, which is contesting the ordination of The Botswana Dutch Reformed Church's first woman priest. The first mention of a woman church official might be the "2nd or 3rd century Christian inscription in Egypt for Artemidoras, whose mother is described as 'Paniskianes, being an elder' (presbytera)." It is disturbing that in our day and age discrimination of this sort, of any sort, indeed, is still vented. Africa is a continent of extremes, granted -- for example, women are the glue that holds families and life together in Africa, yet they are still ill-treated and shrugged off as non-equals -- but this has got to stop, folks. Botswana's Dutch Reformed Church needs to look at that constitution with fresher eyes and update it.

In 1967 when the Catholic Church consecrated the first American Black Bishop in Louisiana, many Catholic lay people protest [sic] against the Vatican and carried racist and anti-Black placards. One of these placards read:

GOD DOES NOT HONOR
NOR HEAR
THE MASS AND PRAYERS
OF A NIGGER
BISHOP!

So, what sayeth thee to that? Would the same group that is so opposed to the church's having a woman priest today have fought against those insults of not so long ago? Hell yeah! I have no doubt that they would have. I just don't understand why they are the ones discriminating today.

Reverend Monnie Kgosiemang was ordained in March this year, although

The saga erupted in February when the church's oldest parish in Mochudi, a small town 60 kilometres north of the capital, Gaborone, announced plans to appoint Monnie Kgosiemang as its first woman moruti (priest), to fill a vacancy created by Rev Ranfi Seoke, who retired in December 2002.

Since then, the church has not enjoyed peace, and to date, rivalry reigns supreme. Sadly, this is emerging at a time the Mochudi parish is due to celebrate 100 years of its existence this month, having been built in 1903. Kgosiemang's appointment is supported by majority of the church's membership, but a small segment calling itself the Concerned Group, led by hard-line anti-feminists, has managed to stall her installation.

In a town with nearly 35,000 people, the majority of who belong to the Dutch Reformed Church, the Concerned Group seems very insignificant. Kgosiemang would have been installed in March, but the group found a loophole in the church's constitution, to block the installation.

A clause within the church's order states that "only confessing male members of the congregation, known to be blameless in doctrine and life
according to the scripture, may be elected as elders or deacons".
[ Source... ]

THIS IS MY POST AT THE TIME.