June 23, 2005

GENEVA – In May 2000, Rev. Bekure B. Daba became the first woman to be ordained as a pastor in the Ethiopian Evangelical Church Mekane Yesus (EECMY). Two years later, she was elected president of the Ghimbi Jorgo Synod in the west, becoming the EECMY's only woman synod leader. But ordination came after a long wait – 20 years – since her graduation from Addis Ababa's Mekane Yesus Theological Seminary, followed by various roles in the church. The over 4-million-member church now counts six women among its 1,287 pastors, who serve in more than 5,500 congregations. The challenges for women are many and factual, Daba says, but she is optimistic that Ethiopian Lutherans will have more women pastors and synod presidents in the future.

Daba recounted her experiences at the June 16-19 Lutheran World Federation (LWF) "Conference of Women Bishops, Presidents and Leaders with the Ministry of Oversight," attended by 14 women leaders from among the LWF member churches. Other participants shared similar stories: Bishops Christina Odenberg, leader of the Church of Sweden Lund Diocese since 1997, and Caroline Krook, leader of the Stockholm Diocese since 1998, were ordained as pastors in the 1960s. In January 2005, Rev. Khunansori Basumatary was elected bishop of the Bodo Evangelical Lutheran Diocese of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in the Himalayan States, in northeastern India. Prior to her 1998 ordination, she had served the church in various capacities including working with marginalized groups.

Participants in the conference focused on the challenges women face in their respective contexts as church leaders, and as women. But they also highlighted the issues they confronted globally including social injustices such as violence against women, and HIV/AIDS.

In their official message from the conference, the church leaders strongly affirmed the Lutheran church's theological understanding that women and men were created in the image of God, and were both called to diverse ministries. "The fullness of the gospel is most accurately represented where both women and men are given access to leadership roles," they said..

They cited significant "benchmarks" within their combined 13 years of service as women bishops and presidents in the Lutheran church. These include a growth in the number of women pursuing academic preparation for ministry, serving as lay and ordained people in parishes, in specialized service, and as bishops and presidents. Mentioned as equally important was the presence of recent generations of church members, which have always, and only, known full participation of women and men in ministry. They stressed the significance of "the presence of 25 Lutheran women Bishops and Presidents around the world who bear witness with their lives to God's amazing, compelling, and sustaining call to ministry." Among the conference participants was Bishop Maria Jepsen of Hamburg, North Elbian Evangelical Lutheran Church, in Germany, who in 1992 became the first Lutheran woman bishop ever.

But there are major challenges to women's full participation in church leadership. The conference participants noted in their message that some Lutheran churches still do not recognize women's call to ordained ministry, and are yet to allow their ordination. Some women and men do not value the particular nature of women's leadership gifts, they observed, and some churches, while speaking of the full participation of women and men, tolerated unequal compensation, and limited access to all the levels of ministry.

The message also drew attention to violence against women as a major concern in all the churches, with some churches still remaining "silent" on the issue. They urged their associate bishops and presidents "to join us in publicly speaking out against violence toward women." Much of the discussion on this topic was sparked by a presentation on "life-giving theologies and ethics," delivered by Rev. Dr Nyambura Njoroge, global coordinator of the World Council of Churches Ecumenical Theological Education program in the Mission and Ecumenical Formation Team. Speaking from an African perspective, the Kenyan theologian said rape, for example, was used as a weapon against women. "Africa begs for life-giving theologies and ethics," she said, at the same time acknowledging the problem as worldwide. "These stories are everywhere. We have to speak out," Njoroge urged.

Underscoring the conference's importance, in their recommendations the women leaders requested that the LWF host another meeting for further reflection on how to encourage ordination of women in places where it was not happening; how to deal with issues confronting them in their different contexts; and in order to learn about different leadership styles. They also requested the LWF to encourage the participation of women in inter-confessional dialogues so that the current 40 percent quota for representation by women at all LWF events would be reached.

Lutheran World Information
Christine Hallenbeck, youth trainee in the LWF Office for Communication Services, contributed to this article.