Ordination of women in Melanesia

ACNS 3264 | MELANESIA | 20 JANUARY 2003

[Church of Melanesia Newsletter] The 10th General Synod of the Church of
Melanesia, which met 20-31 October 2002, has agreed to the amendment of the
Church's Constitution in order to allow women to enter into any of the
ordained ministry of the Church, be it as deacons, priests or bishops.

The decision was passed without dissent by the General Synod when it met in
Honiara. The amendment, however, must first be approved by the eight
diocesan synods of the church before the constitution can be changed.

Currently in the Church of Melanesia, a woman who has been episcopally
ordained in another province of the Anglican Communion may preside at the
sacraments of the Church provided she is licensed to do so by the diocesan
Bishop.

Speaking at the opening of the General Synod in his presidential address,
the Archbishop of Melanesia, the Most Revd Ellison L Pogo, said that when
God created the human species he created both men and women to be
complementary to one another. He also said that not only do we have two
distinct genders but in every man there is a female side and in every woman
there is a male side. Neither gender is complete in any way without the
other.

Archbishop Pogo continued by saying that ministry is enhanced when it is
provided by both men and women.