May 20, 2008

GENEVA – Ahead of the 11th Assembly of the Lutheran World Federation (LWF) in July 2010, LWF member churches are being challenged to be open to hearing and learning from one another about the positive experiences ordained women are having on churches within and beyond the Lutheran communion.

A communiqué by participants in a recent consultation called to assess the situation with regard to women's ordination in the LWF member churches, invites the churches to see the ordination of women "not primarily as a societal or women's issue but as a matter that goes to the heart of what it means to be the church."

The exclusion of the public witness of ordained women in proclaiming the Word and celebrating the sacraments compromised the church's witness to God's reconciliation and freedom in Christ, stated the statement from the consultation titled "The Ongoing Reformation of the Church: The Witness of Ordained Women Today." It was organized by the LWF Department for Theology and Studies (DTS) in collaboration with the desk for Women in Church and Society (WICAS) of the LWF Department for Mission and Development (DMD) and the Office for Ecumenical Affairs.

The consultation was part of the DTS "Women in Ministry as Ecumenical Witness" program, begun this year with the aim to encourage especially churches that do not ordain women to view their ordination as an asset for new ecumenical developments rather than as an obstacle to furthering such relationships. One of the program's main objectives is to clarify the biblical and theological bases for women as part of the priesthood of all believers, and in ways that challenge cultural and other obstacles.

DTS points out that the presence of women in all aspects of church ministry was shifting the overall ecumenical landscape especially in relationship to the understanding of ministry and other aspects of ecclesiology including sacraments. Its study program underscores the significance of a Lutheran contribution to this aspect of ecumenical reconfiguration not only because of the sizeable number of women in church leadership but also because of the "bridge" position between Protestant, Roman Catholic, and Orthodox churches respectively.

At the 27-29 March consultation, the women participants from LWF churches in parts of Africa, Asia, Europe and North America also appealed to "each member church to bring to the 2010 Assembly a report of what they intend to do with regard to this matter if they do not ordain women already, or, if they do so now, how they are addressing remaining practical obstacles and seeking to further the partnership of women and men in the ministry of the church."

They acknowledged the progress made with respect to women's ordination in the LWF member churches over the past 50 years, and affirmed the LWF's consistent support, especially through statements of its governing bodies, toward the full realization of the ministry of ordained women and men in the church.

The reception of the ministry of ordained women had been overwhelmingly positive with thousands of ordained women "increasingly visible on all levels and in every facet of the church's work," and resistant attitudes and cultural assumptions "are being transformed through the power of the Holy Spirit," stated the LWF communiqué.

Participants however pointed out that women entering positions of oversight and leadership in their churches face yet new challenges that called for training and resources in order to realize the genuine partnership of women and men in the church's ministry. Some churches, they observed, "do not want to discuss the ordination of women because they fear this may split the church or threaten ties with partners who oppose this." Open discussions with local church members were called for with the aim to elucidate the theological grounds for women's ordination, and not only the opposing perspectives.

The women's consultation called for the witness of women pastors and those in oversight positions to be highlighted in the 2017 commemoration of the Reformation.

The full text of the communiqué from the Geneva consultation is available in English on the LWF Web site at: http://www.lutheranworld.org/What_We_Do/Dts/DTS-Documents/DTS-Ongoing_Reformation-2008.pdf.

and in German at: http://www.lutheranworld.org/What_We_Do/DTS/DTS-Documents/DTS-Ongoing_Reformation-2008_DE.pdf.

For more information about the LWF "Women in Ministry as Ecumenical Witness" program, please contact DTS director Rev. Dr Karen Bloomquist at: Bloomquist@lutheranworld.org.

Lutheran World Information