Council Day 5: Division Disguised as Unity

The creedal statement formulated and adopted by Emperor Constantine will and I believe should stay as it is. The creed of Jesus Christ stands as stated, “We believe in one Lord Jesus Christ..Son of God..the Son truly Son..”, which defines the true position of Jesus Christ with respect to the Father God. I accept this creedal statement and will vote to approve the creed in its current state. We have established that there is one true Father God, a Holy Ghost truly the Holy Ghost, and the Son truly the Son. We could not diminish the power of God by stating that He is equal with the Son he created. I believe in this creed because we have clearly established that the Son in not the same substance as the Father.

In council day 5, we discussed two important issues that will be crucial for the unity of the church. The canon on women in the clergy and the canon on Metropolitan Bishops were decide on, which left many sides divided, and I believe will surface in future councils. The canon has decided that women will not have any authority in the clergy nor will they be ordained. It saddens me to see a council full of men choose to undermine the role of women in the church and simply choose to keep them from having power in the church. Women historically have played a variety of roles in the early Church. They played key roles in organizing prayer groups, providing service to the church, and serving as deaconesses to the clergy, while also becoming virgins who led monastic lives of service and prayer. Some of the men in the council, who call themselves bishops and presbyters have not done as much service nor stayed celibate as these women have, yet the decision made was to continue to keep women out of taking the power of men. The second ruling to create a second Metropolitan Bishop in Jerusalem did not achieve any relevant change for unity. The council has voted to have another  Metropolitan Bishop preside over Jerusalem, which I am disappointed to see because it has opened a gateway for further disagreements and ultimately taking away the order we have had for more than 255 years with the Metropolitan Bishop sitting in Caesarea. Having multiple metropolitan bishops will only cause divisions and it is something that I will bring up again for the sake of empire and the Church.