Knox would be unimpressed by women in key church roles says Moderator

                                                                                                                                               Tuesday September 3 2013

The Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland believes John Knox would be "not very impressed" by the participation of women in key church roles today.

Speaking in an interview with BBC History website today (Tues), the Rt Rev Lorna Hood says Knox was "hugely important" to the Church of Scotland, but questions his view of women.

Knox famous decried a "monstrous reigment of women' in 1558 when he published The first blast of the trumpet against the monstrous reigment of women in Geneva. The work was directed against England's Queen Mary, but it did not endear him to her successor, Queen Elizabeth I, who refused him passport through England.

Mrs Hood - only the third woman to serve as Moderator of the General Assembly since women were first permitted to be ordained to the ministry in the 1960s - acknowledges Knox's legacy to the Church: “I think he was hugely important to the Church of Scotland; in fact there are those who would say that he was the founder of the Church of Scotland but not in fact of Presbyterianism which was developed by Andrew Melville some years after the death of John Knox, with the Second Book of Discipline.

“As we go into the Assembly Hall each year at the General Assembly there’s a huge statue of Knox so you can’t fail to see him on the way past and realise how important he is within the church.”

However, she adds: “It’s only 50 years since women have been ordained within The Church of Scotland. We’ve moved a long way from Knox’s view of seeing women leaders as being repugnant and subversive to having equal opportunities.  Would Knox approve? Probably not!”

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