We welcome you to our service every Sunday at 11:00am

We are a community of Christians committed to know Jesus and to make him known. Develop your faith with roots and fruits. Worship with us as young and old learn together from the Holy Scriptures and share the love of Jesus Christ.

We are here every Sunday at 11 am and you will be made most welcome!

Blackburn Presbyterian Church

Dear Friend of BPC

It used to be widely accepted that ministry in the church was exclusively the domain of men. In many churches this is no longer the case but the discussions have been bitter and divisive.

For churches that take the Bible seriously the issue requires careful thinking. I wrote about this in the Australian Presbyterian in January 1991 in articles headed Softly Spoken Texts.

I was dismayed when in September that year the General Assembly of Australia in Sydney chose to prohibit the ordaining of women ministers.The Presbyterian Church, like the Roman Catholic Church, still does not ordain women.

Tomorrow we come to one of the two passages on which the Presbyterian church has based its prohibition, 1 Timothy 2 verses 11 and 12.

I will pick up on an understanding of the passage based on NT Wright's commentary and translation. He argues that the emphasis is that the text is commanding that women should be allowed to study and learn, and should not be restrained from doing so (verse 11).

It is difficult for us to imagine how counter-cultural this was in the ancient world, but also how dangerous it was in Ephesus in particular!

Join us as we seek Jesus' teaching.

Yours in His Name.

Graham