http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2003/10/19/1066502065481.html

Ummm...just curious. Is anyone (you ‘traditionalist wingers’) actually shocked by this (as per the SMH’s forecast)?

For the sake of argument, let’s leave views on female priests out of the discussion, but focus on the fact she was lured into teenage prostitution. Presuming she then repented and turned to the Lord, why shouldn’t she be encouraged to enter vocational ministry?

I’m only shocked that the SMH assumed I would be shocked.

Nope. Not I.

“Go forth and sin no more”.  If it’s an accurate report, it’s a testament of the power of the Gospel to transform lives.

Jesus hangs out with prostitute.  Should I be shocked?  That piece of breaking news is about 2000 years old, so I’ve had a while to get used to it.

SJK.

lol @ Sophie

I read a story about a church in America where the son of a pastor was marrying an ex prostitute, who came to be saved in that church.

The congregation was giving the pastor and the son an overhauling on the coals about how inappropiate it was for he to marry a person of that ilk.

The pastors son said, “What we really are on about here is whether or not the Shed blood of Jesus is sufficient to wash away all our sin and totally make us new, and you are actually passing judgement on that”

With that the congregation took stock and repented and they wen ton to be married without a mumur.

craig

Hmmm, I too am not shocked or concerned about a reformed prostitute being ordained. However, I know that, in this country, there are quite rigorous checks about the history of ordinands, and that the person need letters testimonial saying s/he has lived “soberly, piously and honestly”.

I suspect that many bishops would be reluctant to ordain such a person, particularly a woman, because of the potential for scandal. One has visions of a former ‘client’ making a scene in the papers, or a person using her history for blackmail. Also, the ‘traditionalists’ referred to in the article are probably social traditionalists rather than theological - and that mob probably think every vicar should be a white haired man with a plummy voice and nicely ironed cassock.

None of which makes the objections right, of course.

I have had a further think about this..  How many famous ex-drug addict ministers are there out there?  In some circles it’s so common it’s almost a cliche.  But we aren’t “shocked” at all, rather we rightly praise their courage and the ability of God to turn lives around.

Perhaps this betrays a belief (at laest on the part of the journalist, but possibly much wider) that sexual sins are naughtier then other sins, and therefore you will always be tainted by it?

[quote author="Rowen Atkinson"]Perhaps this betrays a belief (at laest on the part of the journalist, but possibly much wider) that sexual sins are naughtier then other sins, and therefore you will always be tainted by it?

I think this may (to some degree anyway) come from the verses in 1 Corinthians 6:12-20.

[quote author="1 Cor 6:18b-19a"]All other sins a man commits are outside his body, but he who sins sexually sins against his own body.  Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God?

Now to my reading that isn’t saying that they are in any way unforgivable, but that you shouldn’t defile your body because it is the temple of the Spirit.  But I can see that the way it is worded could make people think that the sexual sins are so much worse.

Of course the Puritans have a bit to answer for for this mindset as well.  The idea that sex was a necessary evil was widely held a few centuries ago.

Glenn

Ex-prostitute priest

An ex-prostitute is an ex-sinner, just like the rest of us.

But appointing any person to a position of leadership depends on whether they are a good example to the flock of the church. That is the test.

Many people would not qualify as leaders in the church including myself, because I am not suitable. Is this woman suitable?

Don’t know

Ken

St Paul had the blood of many Christians on his hands, but it didn’t seem to prevent him from being an apostle…

Glenn Slaven wrote:

Now to my reading that isn’t saying that they are in any way unforgivable, but that you shouldn’t defile your body because it is the temple of the Spirit. But I can see that the way it is worded could make people think that the sexual sins are so much worse.

You raise a good point, brother, but we should note that a person’s sexual sins before they turn to Christ are not an act against the temple of the spirit, because they aren’t part of that temple if they are not Christian.

It becomes tricky here because we don’t want to imply that somehow Christ’s blood is a less potent offering for Christians than for non-Christians. There are, however, higher standards of life required of ministers. I don’t think that should generally include an assessment of pre-converted life, but rather look for a recent consistent pattern of some years of Christian maturity.

Indeed, satisfied that a person has embraced self-control and is unlikely to re-offend, I don’t see that any sexual sin (with the exception of paedophilia, since there is a legal impediment) should be a bar to entering ministry. If a person while in ministry fails to maintain celibacy in singleness or faithfulness in marriage, it is another matter entirely.

Matt

Praise God !
For her repentance, faith and the new life she is living in Christ!

I don’t know about you guys, but before I was Christian… well lets us say, God is very gracious .

[quote author="Scott Blackwell"] I don’t know about you guys, but before I was Christian… well lets us say, God is very gracious .

Gosh Scott, was it really that bad? Were you ... Roman Catholic or something?

:D

minorbob

To qoute Scott,

Scott Blackwell wrote:
I don’t know about you guys, but before I was Christian… well lets us say, God is very gracious .

Yep very naughty I was. the hard thing I find now about my past, is not that I’m tempted to go back to my wicked ways, God has been really gracious and delivered me from them.

Its that when I get into conversations about my past and my scrapes etc, I can not help laugh about some of them in remembering them.  Do you think that is wrong?

craig