Leaders or Leadership Are Needed
The work of women in the Coptic Church needs unification and organization and leading bodies, so that it does not dissolve into the broad Coptic community without having a distinct identity.
Women currently work individually, with no body bringing them together to organize their ranks. And at present, they cannot organize their ranks on their own.
We expect His Holiness the Pope to take this vital step in bringing together the Coptic women, to guide them and organize their work, for he is the only one who can call together all the capable women working, whether within or outside the ecclesiastical sphere.
After a series of meetings and gatherings, a supreme committee for women’s work in the Church can be formed. Records can be made containing the names of all the women servants, a permanent secretariat can be established, bylaws can be set, and a working document can be prepared according to which women can proceed.
There is no doubt that Coptic women will have their own method of work, based on the traditions of our Church, and far from the extremism into which women in the West have fallen, where they demanded priestly ranks and responsibilities that are not suitable for them.
Woman is undoubtedly a resource, and it is beneficial for the Church to make use of this resource so that she may work quietly, without deviation or extremism.
We would be pleased to dedicate one or more rooms to contain women’s activities.
And we hope that the new formations of the Church Councils in Cairo and Alexandria will include some virtuous women, giving them official membership in the council, to supervise some services, such as social service, for example, or supervision of a home for expatriate women, or a nursery, or the service of church education for girls, even if this is only in some churches and not all.
Love in a Wrong Way by Some Women
· There is no doubt that Eve loved Adam. And in her love, she was unable to eat from the fruit alone; she gave it to her husband so that he might eat with her, and thus she caused his downfall… And so Eve presented the first example of wrong love, which harms the one whom it loves.
· There is no doubt that Rebekah loved her son Jacob, and desired that he should receive the birthright and his father’s blessing, rather than his brother Esau. But—in order to bring him to this blessing:
—she gave him wrong advice by which he deceived his father.
Through this wrong advice, which came from love, Rebekah caused her son Jacob hardship, which continued to afflict him for a long time.
She loved her son and wanted good for him, but through this love she harmed him…
· There is no doubt also that Jezebel loved her husband, for when he could find no way to take possession of the field of Naboth the Jezreelite, she eased his sorrow and guided him to a way by which he could achieve his purpose. So Naboth was killed through a wicked scheme, and he took possession of the field…
But Jezebel, through this love of hers, caused King Ahab’s downfall, and he died perishing…
And in the place where the dogs licked the blood of Naboth the Jezreelite, the blood of Ahab was shed and the dogs licked it; his life and eternity were lost, his kingdom was lost, and Jezebel was also lost..
It is love in a wrong way.
· There is no doubt that Bathsheba, Solomon’s mother, wanted to fulfill a request for Adonijah, Solomon’s older brother, who wanted to marry Abishag the Shunammite. So she interceded with King Solomon to give him Abishag as a wife (1 Kings 2).
But Bathsheba caused Adonijah’s downfall by interceding for him in a wrong request..
It would have been better for her to advise him to withdraw his request, rather than help him fulfill his desire and put herself in an embarrassing position with Solomon, who, despite honoring her as a mother, not only refused her request, but also killed Adonijah on the same day.
True love is helping a person toward the salvation of his soul and the purity of his heart.
Deviations in Women’s Service
We love for women to serve the Church and contribute with all their strength to building the Kingdom of God, but within the limits of their rite..
Let women not exaggerate the responsibilities they can undertake, as some women in the West demanded that they have priestly service. This caused an uproar whose effects still remain..
Women have many fields of service, in Sunday School education, in serving the poor and in many areas of social activity, and in childcare. But we notice that some women depart from what is customary through many examples:
- Some women now go around in homes and pray over water, so that it may be sprinkled in the house for blessing..!
- Some women place their hands on girls, with the intention that the Holy Spirit may come upon them through the laying on of the hand of a woman like themselves, and they test by this the gifts of the Spirit, as these women claim!! In the past, the Holy Spirit came through the laying on of hands only by the Apostles in the early Church. Then through the laying on of hands by the fathers, the bishops, before the use of the Holy Myron in the sacrament.
- Some women go around in homes and practice anointing women with oil, and sometimes they also anoint men, things that are foreign to the spirit of our Church.
- Some women claim that they give people messages or missions from heaven, which God delivers through them!! And some of them open their homes for this purpose!
- Some women hold prayer meetings and pray in the presence of men; indeed, they have no objection to praying in the presence of the priest!
What is even more astonishing is that the priest permits this matter or invites them to it!!
- Some women distribute copies of the Gospel to people without knowledge or discernment—in the streets and on buses, even to non-Christians—which causes problems that are not consistent with wisdom..
- All this and similar things are done by women who say that they are Orthodox, but they follow erroneous, non-Orthodox teaching. An end must be put to this so that matters in the Church may be set right.
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