14 mins
From The Editor
EDITORIAL
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For women today it is unthinkable that they would not be equally treated with the same respect as men when it comes to any sphere of life.
THIS is a remarkable year of celebration for women.
A century ago, thanks to the tireless campaigning of Suffragettes – and their suspension of militancy to offer much needed assistance during the First World War – some women secured the right to vote for the first time.
In this issue we also celebrate the 50th anniversary of the decision by the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland to ordain women ministers for the first time (see page 18) – and (of course) the nomination as this year’s Moderator- Designate who is a serving female parish minister (see page 24).
Those women who fought proudly to secure the right to vote for women a century ago would likely be astonished at the equality enjoyed by 21st century women.
Having a female editor of this magazine, for example, would have been unthinkable a century and even 50 years ago.
Equality has come a long way in a relatively short space of time when reading the pages of history.
Yet the contribution of women to our Church is beyond price.
Instead of tirelessly working behind the scenes unsung and unrecognised and not able to play a full part in the decision making of the Church, both local and central, women now play their part in our Church.
As an article by the Very Rev Dr Finlay Macdonald in 2016 recorded, the journey to equality was championed by the Woman’s Guild (now the Church of Scotland Guild) and rejected. However, the argument for equality within the eldership gained momentum and it was here that women initially made their mark. It took a little longer, but 50 years ago this month, women were granted equality and the right to follow a call to the ministry of the Church of Scotland.
It took a few years for some areas of the law to catch up: I was shocked to learn that a woman could not open her own bank account without the permission of her father or her husband until the Sex
Discrimination Act of 1975 ruled that women had equal rights and did not require such permission when it came to personal finance. There is still much ground to be made in terms of pay inequality and (in some places) women still remain unwelcome in leadership roles, eg the small number of women leading the top companies on the FTSE 100.
For women today it is unthinkable that they would not be equally treated with the same respect as men when it comes to any sphere of life.
Over the last 50 years there has been a significant shift and whilst there is still some way to go in some places, the Church is undoubtedly the richer for the increased and increasing contribution of its women in all – not just some – areas of its work.
Lynne McNeil Editor
This article appears in the May 2018 Issue of Life and Work
If you would like to view other issues of Life and Work, you can see the full archive
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This article appears in the May 2018 Issue of Life and Work