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The Twelve Theses

The Twelve Theses was a poster blu-tacked to the door of St Andrews Anglican cathedral, Sydney in 1983 by members of the Movement for the Ordination of Women on the eve of the General Synod of the Anglican Church of Australia. The poster was modelled on Martin Luther's Ninety-five thesis and in its 12 statements called for reform of the male heirarchy in the Anglican Diocese of Sydney and drew church and media attention to the issue of the ordination of women.

Background

Constitution of MOW

1983 was the 500th anniversary of Martin Luther's birth. It was also the year the Movement for the Ordination of Women was founded in Sydney. Three women wanted to commemorate Luther and "imitate his prophetic action" by calling for reform of the male hierarchy in the Anglican Diocese of Sydney. Posting the theses on the cathedral door was regarded as an "act of witness" by MOW as a way of drawing attention to the issue of the ordination of women during Synods in Sydney. Monica Furlong, the moderator of the English MOW, visited MOW in Australia in 1984 saying "It seemed to me that it was the adamant, wounding kind of opposition within the Sydney diocese that got MOW started".

Colleen O’Reilly – known to many of us  ­at least by name – was actively involved in the Commission. But she yearned for something distinctively Anglican in composition and focus, so she with Zandra Wilson set up Anglican Women Concerned in Sydney in 1975. General Synod did debate women’s ordination in 1977, and Anglican Women Concerned organised a demonstration. This was probably the first public action by women in Australia against the Anglican Church’s practice of an exclusively male ordained ministry. General Synod in Sydney. Held placards calling for the ordination of women. Also Church Scene 1977. The 1977 Synod agreed that theological objections were not a sufficient barrier to women’s ordination. At its next meeting in 1981, General Synod debated the constitutional implications. Anglican Women Concerned organised another protest at the next General Synod in 1981.According to the Sydney Morning Herald, ‘… most of the reporters were … interviewing women supporters of women’s ordination at an impromptu press conference on the grass outside. Anglican Women Concerned certainly sparked media interest but it was always very small. Another group emerged in Sydney that started attracting members, locally and nationally. The Movement for the Ordination of Women (MOW) was formed in 1983 in Sydney, with Patricia Brennan as its public face. Patricia had been involved in Anglican Women Concerned – she was a key figure in the protests and the press – but she wanted something more focused – ‘Anglican Women Concerned about what?’ she challenged. The name of the new group – the Movement for the Ordination of Women – left no one in any doubt about its objective. Despite the Anglican pedigrees and involvement, MOW’s approach was not conventional. Its activities and statements were challenging, and showed a keen sense of ritual and theatre. Its first protest involved attaching (with blue tak) twelve theses for the ordination of women to the door of St Andrew’s Cathedral, Sydney before the 1983 General Synod in the manner of Martin Luther’s 95 theses. )

blutacked We were celebrating the ending of the three year moratorium the re-opening of the women's ordination debate in the Sydney Synod after more than a decade (or century) of truggle, and demonstrating, symbolically, how women' voice have been excluded from the debate about themselves. And there we tood, pioneers, priests and protester , where 12 year earlier MOW had blutacked its 12 These and Call for Reformation on the Door of St Andrew Cathedral.

Reaction

Much could be said about the Debate between The Australian Church record and MOW. It must first be said that it was not a public one. No one in svdney has yet taken up that challenge. This was t~e closest, a private debat~ .behind clo~ed door~which was subsequently transposed to a written oneby The Church Record. SG in https://www.jstor.org/stable/community.35218478 "Moreover the Editor of A.C.R.worked extremely hard to enthuse his readers with his own opinions of it via strong and often mis-leading editorials....The major obstacle to women's ordination in Sydney, the doc-trine of headship was barely touched on.

Content

The poster was inaccurately reproduced in The Movement for the Ordination of Women newsletter, Balaam's Ass in 1995.

Legacy

DEACONESS CENTENARY

The Deaconess Institution in Sydney marked its centenary with a celebration of women's ministry at Darling Harbour on 8 June, attended by seventeen

hundred people. Speakers included Archbishop Donald Robinson, the Revs Dianne Nicolios and Maureen Cripps, and Narelle Gatenby. A foundation has been launched to support new initiatives in women's ministry; donations would be most welcome (contact: The Rev Maureen Cripps, co-ordinator of women's ministry, St Andrew's House,

Sydney Square, Sydney)Various organisations and religious communities each contributed two photographs to a display of women in ministry.MOW included in their section a photograph of Colleen O'Reilly,the Rev Julia Perry, and Dr Patricia Brennan attaching the MOW theses to the door of St Andrew's Cathedral several years ago. Recalling a previous historic event, the caption read "At their Wittenberg's end".

The Australian quote

(This document is now in the Museum of Australian Democracy, Canberra.