New ACNA Archbishop’s Position on Women’s Ordination could have Repercussions for Denomination
by David W Virtue, Virtueonline:
The Rt. Rev. Steve Wood, Bishop of the Diocese of the Carolinas and rector of St. Andrew’s Church in Mount Pleasant, South Carolina has been elected the third Archbishop of the Anglican Church in North America at its recent conclave at St. Vincent’s College in Latrobe, PA.
He follows in the footsteps of Bishop Robert Duncan and more recently Bishop Foley Beach the first and second archbishops of the ACNA.
What separates the three bishops is their views on the ordination of women to the priesthood. ACNA rejects women being ordained to the episcopacy.
Bishop Duncan affirmed the ordination of women priests when he was Bishop of Pittsburgh. Bishop Beach did not. Beach opposed the ordination of women, unlike his predecessor, but subscribed to the right of each diocese to their own decision on the matter. A majority of ACNA bishops do not ordain women.
Bishop Wood’s position is more nuanced. The Anglican Diocese of the Carolinas Policy for Women in Order has supported the ordination of women as deacons and priests in the church, with the provision that women may not serve in the office of rector.
The bishop argued that this provision grew out of their engagement with Scripture which is silent on who may preside at the Table and celebrate Holy Communion while it is not silent on who may assume the teaching/overseeing office of a congregation.
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