The mother-in-law to two PCUSA ministers spoke up:

"It's just a man-made law that women can't be ordained. There's nothing in the Bible about it!"

He and I shot concerned glances at each other before he replied, "I can't talk about it."

His admission didn't shut her down. On the contrary, she exploited his silence:

"I used to think there were you Catholics on one side and us Protestants on the other.

But I've learned over the years that Protestants disagree with each other about so many silly things!"

Not about silly things. I told her, "The things are important."

And what sparked her outburst? Jim read all of the 1994 christological agreement between John Paul II and the Assyrian Church of the East, emphasizing this portion:

That is the reason why the Assyrian Church of the East is praying the Virgin Mary as "the Mother of Christ our God and Saviour". In the light of this same faith the Catholic tradition addresses the Virgin Mary as "the Mother of God" and also as "the Mother of Christ". We both recognize the legitimacy and rightness of these expressions of the same faith and we both respect the preference of each Church in her liturgical life and piety.

He said there were still barriers to full communion but this agreement was a beginning, a movement in the right direction. And that some practices are a movement in the wrong direction, like those churches that ordain women.