THE LWF CLEAR PLAN OF ACTION
Programme Priorities
1 Promote leadership development
to equip women for full partnership in the life and mission of
the family, church and society;
2 Focus on justice for women with particular attention to poverty,
violence, illiteracy, health, militarism, displaced women, refugees,
migrants, foreign workers, prostitutes, AIDS sufferers and widows;
3 Promote the education of women in the social, cultural, economic,
environmental and political realities of the world; help women
to organise; promote networking;
4 Expose violation of women's rights by men (and also by women)
within socialm, political, economic and ecclesiaasstical structure;
5 Involved women in theological studies for a deeper contextual
understanding of the biblical message and its implications for
the growth of the church;
6 Encourage LWF member churches to incorporate into their thinking
and teaching women's perspectives in theology.
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"Theologically, women are to be included in the ordained ministry not on the basis of equal rights with men (no one has a right to the ordained ministry), but on the basis of the nature of the Church as the eschatological sign of God's reign." Rev Eugene Brand, LWF Assistant General Secretary for Ecumenical Affairs, speaking at the LWF International Consultation on Women |
The church is called to be a sign of God's Kingdom on earth. In God's Kingdom everybody belongs, both men and women, old and young from all classes and nations. (Gal. 3:2628). In baptism the people of God are called to carry forward the work of Christ in the ministry of proclamation and worship, witness and service. Both lay and ordained have a common calling, to work Together and to depend on each other as equals in the Kingdom of God.
The ordained ministry is given by God and open to all. We rejoice that twothirds of the LWF member churches ordain women and in many churches ordained women are respected by the congregations and by the society in general. A few churches have made further progress by installing female bishops. At present there are only six. Two are in the USA, one in Germany, one in Norway and two in Denmark. Even though bishops who are women are few in number, they are of great symbolic significance to many as a sign of an inclusive community.
However, some churches refuse to ordain women. Others ordain women but do not fully integrate them into the life of the church on equal terms with men. Some churches are struggling to decide about ordaining women and are engaging their members in discussion. We affirm these efforts and urge their continuation.
Lutheran churches which do not ordain women explain this decision in a variety of ways such as having to live side by side with other Christian churches and faiths which do not ordain women. Others are influenced by missionary societies from the North who threaten to withdraw their support if the national church takes steps to ordain women. Tradition and cultural reasons and biblical passages are also used to exclude women as on ordained ministers. Male clergy fear sharing power with women, Churches which use any excuse to deny ordination of women close their eyes to the full vision of the Kingdom of God proclaimed in the New Covenant made by the blood of Jesus Christ.
The church cannot use culture, suppressive practices and traditions as excuses for not ordaining women. The church has roots in the culture and serves in the culture, but at the same time must evaluate critically cultural norms and values which impair the vision of God's Word, Similarly, the church cannot lean on safeguarding relations with other religious bodies as a reason for excluding women from the ordained ministry. Ordination of women can never be traded for the sake of ecumenism. On the contrary, ordination of women is a treasured gift to ecumenism.
The ordination of women has
been addressed consistently throughout LWF history. important
resolutions were made by the LWF at the Seventh Assembly (Budapest,
1984). The resolution addressed to churches that do not ordain
women urged these churches "to take specific steps towards
an affirmative action". Six years later, the Eighth Assembly
(Curitiba, 1990), recognized that the ordination of women was
still not possible in some churches and made the commitment to
"undertake through consultation and cooperation of all member
churches and in a climate of mutual respect, practical efforts
to open the way for women to enter the ordained ministry of all
member churches." This commitment was reaffirmed by the LWF
Council in 1995 (Windhoek, Narmbia) in reaction to churches who
want to reverse their earlier decision to ordain women. The consultative
process with member churches requested in Curitiba, however, has
not been initiated. It has to be initiated without delay.
The Seventh Assembly's resolution also urged "the LWF member
churches that do ordain women to develop policies that ensure
equality in service opportunities and benefits," In claiming
the implementation of these resolutions, the churches have tended
to paint a rosy picture that is not in tune with the reality.
Even though the majority of ordained women are well received,
from what we have heard and observed. there are still some ordained
women who experience a variety of problems. They are not treated
as well as their male colleagues by:
receiving lower salaries
- having difficulties getting placement
- being held back in advancement
- not having opportunities for professional development and personal
growth
- being limited in areas of ministry and service.
Most female ministers as well as many male ministers experience great problems in combining ministerial work with the necessity of taking care of the family. Many churches do not have clear policies on maternal rights and family benefits.
In some churches there are no or few female role models for women clergy. Church structures and the shaping of the role of the clergy are male oriented and dominated by men. Such structures constrain the ordained women. This causes a lack of proper utilization of their talent and potentials.
The failure of churches to challenge and provide moral, spiritual and material support diminishes women ministers. Isolation of women ministers by their male colleagues and in some cases even by the congregation distorts living in communion. LWF Assembly and LWF Council actions are not for the future. The future is now. We cannot wait any longer. Affirmative actions should be taken now.
LWF Secretariat identify those churches that do not ordain women and initiate immediately a process of dialogue in accordance with commitments made by the Eighth LWF Assembly in 1990 and the LWF Council in 1995. facilitate an exploratory study on behalf of the member churches of models of ordained ministry which take into account what women contribute to the ordained ministry. Member churches, facilitated by the above exploratory study, seriously engage in reshaping the ordained ministry for the benefit of the church.