Women traditionally promise to “obey” their husbands when undertaking marriage vows, but the Anglican diocese in Sydney has decided a woman must now pledge to “submit” when she gets married.
The new wedding vows have been branded sexist by commentators, who say the change in wording is a step backwards for the church.
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The diocese, which also opposes the full ordination of women and supports an exclusively male leadership doctrine, has denied sexism in the new vows written by the liturgical panel of church’s Sydney diocese.
The panel’s chairman, Bishop of South Sydney Robert Forsyth, spoke out in defence of the change saying the choice of the word ‘submit’ has biblical groundings.
“The Bible never said women must obey their husbands but Paul and Peter did say submit, which I think is a much more responsive, nuanced word,” he said.
“I can see why, if you just came upon this, not having read the New Testament about Christ loving the church, the church responding to him, it would look rather odd, just like the word ‘obey’ would look rather odd.”
His explanation has not satisfied critics. Muriel Porter, a Melbourne academic who writes on Anglican Church issues told the Sydney Morning Herald she was horrified at the use of the word which had connotations of slavery.
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“It is a very dangerous concept, especially in terms of society’s propensity for domestic violence,” she said.
The new vows have yet to be approved by the church, but are already being used in in some Sydney parishes.
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