Church is embroiled in gender row

The symbol of the Presbyterian Church in Ireland

The Presbyterian Church in Portadown is embroiled in controversy after a minister refused to allow a female cleric into his pulpit.

The churches - First Portadown at Edenderry and Armagh Road - have taken turns to host a joint Christmas Day service for almost 60 years.

However, this year Reverend Stafford Carson said he could not allow a woman minister into his pulpit.

Reverend Christina Bradley said she wanted to resolve the gender row.

She said she plans to meet Reverend Stafford Carson away from the media glare.

"I come from Germany where this issue never arose during my ministry there," she told the Belfast Telegraph.

"I am saddened and puzzled that women - who are fully-fledged ministers within Irish Presbyterianism - are not fully accepted by some clerics."

Reverend Carson of First Portadown had said he could not "in all conscience" allow a female into the pulpit. He was contacted by the BBC, but did not respond to a request for an interview.

Presbyterian Moderator Dr John Finlay has moved to diffuse the situation.

We allow those who have reservations about the role of women in ministry to exercise freedom of conscience Dr John Finlay Presbyterian Moderator

He told the BBC's Sunday Sequence programme: "There are two opinions. We are trying to hold the two in balance. It works as long as there is respect and good will on both sides."

The church voted to ordain women 35 years ago, but there is a so-called "conscience clause" which caters for those who disagree.

Dr Finlay said: "We are quite unequivocal as far as women are eligible in the same terms as men and our stance on gender equality is absolutely clear on that one, and nobody is allowed to frustrate the law of the church, either an individual or a body. So that's one side of it.

"The other side of the story is that, as a church, we allow those who have reservations about the role of women in ministry to exercise freedom of conscience, so that nobody is forced to act contrary to their own personal opinions."

Reverend Ruth Patterson, who was the first women to be ordained a minister in the Presbyterian Church in Ireland, said the situation was regrettable.

"I would have hoped that we would have moved a little bit further in terms of mutual acceptance, understanding, respect and a recognition of one another's integrity of their calling," she said.