The Rev. Canon Mark Harris writes about the House of Deputies’ special committee appointed to address issues of sexual harassment and related issues:
As far as I can tell from an initial read, all 47 of the members of this special committee are women. There is a good mix of ordained and lay, and I presume a wide range of inclusion(s) — persons of color, indigenous peoples, sexual orientation, etc. But there seem to be no men.
Fair enough. The committee needs to be clear that its members are driven by “their determination to change our church for the better.” That drive is without question a product of personal experience, and because the matter at hand has to do with sexual harassment and exploitation, women need to be at the center of this work. But is that sufficient reason to not include men in any of the committees? Perhaps it is, but if so it is a sad testament to the level of disunity, fracture and lack of maturity, that keeps us from the “full measure of the fullness of Christ.”
Matthew Townsend is a Halifax-based freelance journalist and volunteer advocate for survivors of sexual misconduct in Anglican settings. He served as editor of the Anglican Journal from 2019 to 2021 and communications missioner for the Anglican Diocese of Quebec from 2019 to 2022. He and his wife recently entered catechism class in the Orthodox Church in America.
