Do the worship recommendations forbid women from taking leadership roles?
In no way does the proposed framework forbid women – ordained or not – from taking leadership roles. Rather, it attempts to defuse the question of women’s ordination, which divides Protestants among themselves as well as Orthodox and Roman Catholics. Thus in the case of “interconfessional” prayer (Appendix A, paragraph 30), ordained status is down-played altogether, for women and men alike, in order not to give signals of ecclesial identity. So anyone can take part, and leadership should be open to women and men, ordained and lay, young and old – i.e. the whole people of God. When a prayer service is offered “confessionally,” the confession’s practice and tradition is followed regarding the ordination of women. Those preparing worship are asked to “avoid taking a confrontational stance” on this or any potentially divisive issue, since the purpose of praying together is not to confront one another. How the idea of “confrontational stance” is interpreted is left entirely up to the person
