March 1996 New Horizons

Something on My Mind: Letters to Families and Others

by Various Authors

Priest or Minister? James A. Zozzaro When James A. Zozzaro was ordained to the gospel ministry in a service at Calvary Orthodox Presbyterian Church in Wildwood, New Jersey, on September 23, 1995, present with the congregation was Jim's family, including a number of Roman Catholics. Rather than have his loved ones wonder why he was being ordained as a Presbyterian minister rather than a Catholic priest, Jim tells them via this loving and clear piece in the worship bulletin. To My Beloved Family, Many of you may be wondering why I am being ordained today as a Presbyterian minister rather than as a Roman Catholic priest. This is a fair question—after all, I was baptized as a Catholic and received my first Holy Communion in the Catholic Church. In order to understand why I have not sought ordination as a priest, you must first know what a priest does. The Catholic Church teaches that "The chief powers of the Priest are to be able to offer the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass and to forgive sin" ... Read more

Women Speaking in Church: A Response

by Richard B. Gaffin, Jr.

Editor's note: In response to " May Women Speak in Church? " by James W. Scott, published in the January issue, Professor Richard B. Gaffin, Jr. of Westminster Theological Seminary (in Philadelphia) has written the following letter. An exchange between Drs. Scott and Gaffin follows the letter. Editor: Dr. Scott is to be commended for seeking to explain 1 Corinthians 14:33b"36 in its immediate context (something these days, especially in the highly charged debates about the role of women in the church, that too often does not happen), and he makes some valid observations about the passage. However, he recognizes, rightly, and his readers should not miss this: virtually the entire case he wishes to make for the silence of women in the church today stands or falls with being able to show that these verses are, as he says, a "separate section," and not part of Paul's discussion about spiritual gifts and their proper exercise; that discussion, he believes, ends with verse 33a. The reader may want ... Read more