From Brother Tecwyn Morgan by email on 14 May 2021
Dear Sister Avril and Brother Ian,
Loving greetings in Jesus
It was nice to hear from you both this morning and to know that you’re
well. Thank you for copying the material to all the CMPA Committee members,
which we would otherwise have had to do. It will take us a while to reply to
you as you have given us plenty to think about and work through. But as you
have been writing and speaking about this subject for years now, a few more
weeks shouldn’t be too problematic.
Of course we are not trying to engineer a split in the brotherhood, as
you say someone has suggested. We are trying to be faithful to Scripture
teaching, as you are also; and we have been explaining our understanding of
that teaching in recent issues, starting with the series “Working Together” and
more recently with Brother Peter’s three articles. I have read your
publications over the years and we have to agree to disagree about the correct
interpretation of the various key passages. As you know, there has been a lot
of controversy about these passages in the religious world over many years, so
they are not straightforward.
We will spend some time together working through the various points you
have raised and will send you a corporate reply when we have an agreed
response.
In the meantime Mary and I send our love
With love in the Lord,
Tecwyn
PS I posted this yesterday and got a notification today that it had
bounced. I had spelt your email address wrongly!
From Averil and Ian to Brother Tecwyn Morgan on 16 May 2021
Dear Tecwyn,
It’s some years since we
last met, so thank you for the greetings and love from you and Mary. We hope
you are both well.
We are pleased that you
acknowledge that we are trying to be faithful to Scripture teaching as you are.
We hope you extend that understanding to those brothers and sisters and their
ecclesias where they now accept inclusive male-female involvement.
The CMPA entry in the ALS
diary reads: “The CMPA supports ecclesias and organisations worldwide…. Where
appropriate it assists the Brotherhood worldwide in ecclesial and fellowship
matters.”
If
the CMPA is to live up to that claim, it should be willing to allow reasonable
biblical presentations on the relevant passages, especially because, as you
say, “they are
not straightforward”. Instead, The Christadelphian presents only one view and then implies by the series of
articles that those Christadelphians who disagree with the CMPA interpretation
are deliberately avoiding what Scripture says:
“When approaching this
subject we should not start creating our own laws, but neither should we search
for ways to work around what scripture says” (The Christadelphian, March
2021, page 113).
Another of your writers in the “Working Together” series wrote:
“The argument
for sisters speaking, reading, praying, and leading ecclesias has no
justification from the Scriptures. Instead it is a prime example of the
temptation to amend our beliefs in order to fit in with the world around us.” (Cross-referenced
by the writer, The Christadelphian, July 2020, page 314)
When the integrity of
your brothers and sisters seems to be under attack in remarks like these, can
you wonder that it has been said that CMPA is seeking to engineer a split?
The Magazine already
demonstrates a divide since it refuses to publish information on
Christadelphian events where sisters speak.
The Christadelphian
community has changed considerably on this issue and a number of ecclesias are
discussing it right now. By publishing only one side you are likely to be
stirring up those who object to these changes. Instead, it would be helpful if
you allowed publication of the biblical analysis by those members of our
community who see a different way of honouring Bible teaching. That would at least allow brothers and sisters
to understand why different conclusions are reached by faithful believers, and
improve the likelihood of being able to agree to differ.
Involved in the things on
which we need to agree to differ is the application of practices in the New
Testament. Jesus specifically told his disciples to wash one another’s feet
(John 13:14-15), but we don’t do it: we understand His instruction to mean that
we should serve one another in whatever ways are appropriate. Likewise with
anointing with oil (James 5:14); we don’t do it: we understand it to mean that
we should show care, and provide whatever help and support we can. The apostle Paul
says that men should pray, lifting up holy hands (1 Timothy 2:8); but we don’t
follow that instruction either; we understand it to mean we should pray
reverently. In other words, we aim to go by the principle, not by the literal
practice. Many of us consider this Christadelphian understanding applies also to
1 Corinthians 11:2-16. The application is for both brothers and sisters to act
and dress modestly when they (brothers or sisters) speak and pray.
We ask therefore that you
all, as individuals and as a committee, issue a statement that as individuals and
as a community we need to be prepared to agree to differ, even though another
brother or sister or another ecclesia sees the Scriptures on these matters in an
alternative light. It is important to state that differences on these issues
should not be regarded as matters of fellowship. They should be a matter of
individual personal conscience. That way you will encourage unity and avoid
giving any support to those who might, because of the above printed statements,
feel inclined to force a division. Unity is in itself an important biblical principle
(John 17:20-21, Ephesians 4:1-6).
We look forward to your
responses and, as we said, will place these on the Internet.
We’ll email this to the
rest of the CMPA to save you forwarding it.
With love in Jesus,
Averil & Ian
