by David Robertson on Substack
Some reflections on media coverage of the NSW Assemblies decision to have biblical eldership
The Presbyterian Church of New South Wales has decided to go along with all the other Presbyterian churches in Australia by upholding the biblical teaching that only men can be elders. In today’s age, this may come as a shock to some. And it is very easy for a newspaper to report on it in such a way as so that it appears to be a negative thing for women and a return to the Dark Ages. Before writing your articles, we would suggest that it would be a good idea if you try to understand our position. It is surely the duty of the media to accurately report, seek to understand and avoid sensationalism. And sub-editors please stop destroying your journalists’ integrity with the ‘click bait’ shock ‘evil Pressies vote to oppress women’ type headlines!
We ask you to note the following. The decision was made after a number of years of close examination of the Bible, the theological and pastoral issues involved, and the consequences. The vote in favour of the decision was surprisingly overwhelming – 136 to 61.
The Church does not really need to justify this any more than the Roman Catholic Church or the Orthodox Churches need to justify not having women priests, or indeed Islamic mosques having only male mullahs. Did you write about the Roman Catholic Church being divided and making a bad decision when a conclave of entirely male cardinals elected the current pope? If you are going to condemn us for holding to what we believe to be biblical, then you would have to condemn all of them as well. If you want to be diverse, equal and tolerant.
It is easy for you to portray this as a division, but in reality, the discussion itself was done in a harmonious way. The biggest misunderstanding is not so much the role of women, but the role of what an elder is. In the common understanding of the culture, it is assumed that the elder is equivalent to someone being a board member or CEO in a corporation, and therefore it would indeed be shocking if the church were to say that women were not capable of doing such a role. But that is not the purpose of the elder.