Yesterday we joined D+2 for a picnic and open-air service at Bosworth battlefield.  The sun shone (so presumably their prayers received their desired answer) and a pleasant afternoon was had.  But I was uncomfortable with the choice of hymns - lots of war imagery and battle language - which, whilst it connected with the location and the reading chosen (Jehosophat's victory) didn't sit too well with the daily reports of military deaths in Afghanistan, to say nothing of the civilian deaths in endless violence.  Wars on terror and battles with knife crime... not helpful.  Nor, for me, was singing 'onward Christian soldiers' (a hymn I've never liked anyway!)

This Sunday should be Ephesians 6 - the 'gospel armour' passage, but we are deferring it a week due to a songs of praise we already had planned.  So, what do I do with it?  Last time I spoke on the unhelpfulness of war-imagery I got a load of verbals from a small number of folk at church (I vaguely recall blogging about it at the time and an alternative concept of PPE - personal protective equipment).  At one level the passage is really easy to work with, a nice shopping list of stuff, but in a violent world I need something more to say.

Tricky.

HT Julie

This is funny but in inverse alas cited far too often...

Ten reasons men are unsuited to pastoral ministry and therefore should not be ordained...

10. A man’s place is in the army.

9. The pastoral duties of men who have children might distract them from the responsibility of being a parent.

8. The physique of men indicates that they are more suited to such tasks as chopping down trees and wrestling mountain lions. It would be “unnatural” for them to do ministerial tasks.

7. Man was created before woman, obviously as a prototype. Thus, they represent an experiment rather than the crowning achievement of creation.

6. Men are too emotional to be priests or pastors. Their conduct at football and rugby games demonstrates this.

5. Some men are handsome, and this will distract women worshipers.

4. Pastors need to nurture their congregations. But this is not a traditional male role. Throughout history, women have been recognized as not only more skilled than men at nurturing, but also more fervently attracted to it. This makes them the obvious choice for ordination.

3. Men are prone to violence. No really masculine man wants to settle disputes except by fighting about them. Thus they would be poor role models as well as dangerously unstable in positions of leadership.

2. The New Testament tells us that Jesus was betrayed by a man. His lack of faith and ensuing punishment remind us of the subordinated position that all men should take.

1. Men can still be involved in church activities, even without being ordained. They can sweep sidewalks, repair the church roof, and perhaps even lead the song service on Father’s Day. By confining themselves to such traditional male roles, they can still be vitally important in the life of the church