Well, yes. If apostasy to another religion is not abandonment what is? Wolf has been extremely kind, doing only the minimum required here, which of course is her right. Interestingly IIRC she was originally Jewish so of course she doesn't buy the 'I can be of both faiths at the same time' argument.

This incident is also educational about Islam. Sunni Islam, the larger or mainstream version of the religion, has a spectrum as wide and decentralised as Protestantism's, from the conservative Saudi version to the Westernised liberal local version Redding has joined.

The issue here seems clear: the fact that Mother Redding is a priest. An ordained person -- priest or imam -- had better represent fully the tradition in which she is ordained. Ordination vows are serious things.

--Scott Knitter

As a lay person Redding can explore both faiths and be active and welcomed in the church as any other seeker. She just can't be a priest - I hope she understands that although I am not sure the reporter does.

There's dialog to be had between Christianity and Islam, just as there is between Judaism and Christianity. I certainly believe one can be a minister in one faith and yet learn from the teachings of another. I certainly wouldn't want a Christian chauvinist as a priest. However, Rev. Redding (still a Rev since she's only inhibited) may not have thought this through enough. Christianity and Islam are mutually exclusive enough that you can't be a priest in both, same as Christianity and Judaism.

I hope she will continue the interfaith journey she's embarked on, but ordained interfaith ministry might be more appropriate for her. The New Seminary in NYC offers such training, although I haven't checked it out and am not endorsing it.

There's a sense in which I think all of our "x/not x" dichotomies are "too small for God" (as in "Jesus is/is not God").

That said, that kind of deep dialogue cannot be conducted apart from our specific faith communities to which have affiliated/vowed.

Perhaps, someday, it will be possible to be BOTH a Christian and a Muslim...

...it's simply not for Rev. Redding, vowed to *one* of those communities, to make that call by herself.

God bless Ann in all her sojourning.

JC Fisher

My take is the following...

I think she's a maverick in this denomination. In this context, she is going through a path that few (if not first for an ordained person) ever traveled. So, I am not surprised she got ridiculed.

In my opinion, I think we should approach the subject with cautiously. With that said, my opinion would be two fold.

Lay- Lays are more likely to be wishy washy with their faith. As long as they have a justifiable reason, I think we should respect it.

Ordained- Getting ordained is no fun and games. So, if a clergy attempts to do what Rev. Ann did, I really think she was playing with fire. With that said, if she prayed long and hard about this and God pointed her to that direction, we as a church should not stop her. My reasoning is... if we don't accept her, we simply are no better than the high priests or Pharisees in Jesus' times. However, if God didn't point her to this direction, we have a right to be skeptical about her intentions. Beyond that, though, we will commit sins by having prejudice against her.

In both instances, though, we must realize that she's one of God's children. So, ultimately, while we might not forget her for what she did, we should at least forgive her.

- Bill Wong