United in Christ

Women in Ministry ... the un-told story
A pro-women's ordination package of stories and theology

In July this year (2000) our church (the Lutheran Church of Australia) will discuss the issue of the ordination of women at its National Synod. The process of discussion has already been a long one. For some it has been confusing. Some people have found it hard to listen to people who think differently. For some people it has been exciting as agreement is found, or as they have gained new insights about God and God's church.

Why this package?
At the series of forums that were held to discuss the issue, we heard concerns raised and requests made for more information to be provided. This collection of papers attempts to address some of those concerns. We have not attempted to make this a "balanced" collection; it is instead a thoughtful collection from people who have reached the conclusion that Scripture does not prohibit the ordination of women, and an exploration of some of the evidence.

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The text files are available individually as follows:

You Were Asking
The ordination of Lutheran women around the globe. Information from LWF as at May 1999
Do other Lutheran churches ordain women?
Yes, Lutheran churches in many parts of the world ordain women. The first recorded ordination of a woman to the Ministry of Word and Sacrament in a Lutheran Church was in 1929, in the Netherlands. ...
World map of Lutheran synods that ordain women

Who will do the the cooking for the fellowship lunch? Mary and Tim Muller
We have often heard people talking about pratical concerns regarding women's ordination. They have been asing questions like: what happens with pregnancy and maternity leave? ...

A Question of Unity. Graham Harms
The question of whether the LCA should ordain women as well as men has generated debate and intense feeling, almost without precedent in the 30-odd year history of the LCA. ...

Discussion Starters
Gospel not Gender. Peter Lockwood
* The ministry is about the salvation of all people, not the gender of the pastor.
God instituted the ministry so that people could be brought to faith through the preaching of the gospel and the administration of teh sacraments. (Augsburg Confession 5) ...

How the Bible leads me to support the ordination of women. Tanya Wittwer
Interpreting the Bible
How do we know what we know? How do we know about God, about God's will, about living as God's people? ...

The Gospel and Women in Ministry. Norman Habel and Shirley Wurst
Introduction
The role of women in the ministry is an important issue within the LCA. The Church's document, Women in Ministry, was produced to facilitate study and discussiion of this issue. ...

An equal partnership. Peter Lockwood
It is said, on the basis of 1 Corinthians 11:3 and other NT text, that there is a biblical order of creation by which women are to be subordinate to men. ...

Disciples, companions, witnesses: Women in the gospels. Peter Lockwood
One of the main arguments used to oppose women's ordination is that Jesus only called men to be his disciples and he only commissioned male apostles. ...

Text and Context. Rolph Mayer
(previously published in the Lutheran Theological Journal 31:82-88 Aug 1997 and reprinted with permission)
The Scriptural authority for the case against women's ordination is based on 1 Cor 14:34-35 and 1 Tim 2:11-15. In stating the case for the ordination of women, I too accept these passages as inspired by God, and therefore authoritative.

Church fathers, women and ordination. Maurice Schild
In the last chapter of Romans we read greetings extended to quite a number of early Christians, among them nine wome: Phoebe, Priscilla, ...

Digging Deeper
The ordination of women in the LCA? A positive answer. Vic Pfitzner
A. Introduction
1. In recent history the question of whether also women may be ordained in the LCA has been debated within the CTICR for over a decade. ...biblicalcommands.html

Biblical commands. Peter Lockwood
By ordaining women is the church disregarding commands of Jesus and Paul? The Lutheran church has always acknowledged that there are biblical command that remain in force 'for a time' and ' to avoid offence' (Augsburg Confession 28) ...

Not a photo but a sketch. Rufus Pech
Our Lord Jesus Christ had virtually a trilingual upgringing. Aramaic was spoken in the galilean Jewish home but common Greek was the language of commerce in the wider community and the scriptures were read in classical Hebrew - the 'literary ancestral language'.

Meandering through the tradition. Inari Thiel
A question of interpretation
The question of tradition entails the perennial question: How do we read the tradition and the texts of the tradition? It is now widely acknowledged that interpretation involves a complex interplay of assumptions and inferences, ...

Do the confession prohibit the ordination of women? Shirley Wurst
1. The gospel - Word and Sacrament - are the focus for the church
The writers of the Augsburg Confession and Apology of the Augsburg Confession strongly articulated the view that all church practice should be normed, measured 'in harmony with the Gospel of Christ' ...

Interview
Voices from another time and place. An interview with Gloria Weber and Ralph W. Klein
Announcer: Is the ordination of women contrary to the Scriptures and the Lutheran Confessions?
Weber: It is certainly my opinion that it is not contrary to Scripture of the Confessions. I feel Scripture and the Confessions really leave it an open question. ...

The Untold Story
A new way of seeing. Margaret Hunt
I was baptised at five weeks of age, and in forty years of growing up in the Lutheran church, I accepted unquestioningly the restricted role of women in the Church. ...

A woman who made a difference. Norm Habel
The scene is South India. The situation is and international school and an ecumenical parish. The time has come to appoint a new chaplain and pastor. The delcision is made to appoint a senior pastor and a youth pastor. ...

Ancient, decrepit and grey. Ivan Wittwer
I am neither a theologian nor the son of a theologian, but I treasure the Holy Scripture. So much so, that before I became ancient, decreptitand grey, I learned the New Testament in the Authorised Version by heart, with the exception of the the magnificent Revelation to John. ...

The challenge. Wendy Begg
I first became aware of 'women's ordination' about twelve years ago. Since then I have been confronted, challenged and stirred by this issue which has not gone away. ...

Time for a new song. Ruth Fehlberg
'Sing a new song unto the Lord'...Psalm 96. Not only do we accept new songs to worship the Lord, we are encouraged to use new and enriching ways of praising Him and spreading the good news of our great God. ...

A positive approach to the ordination of women. Herman Pech
This is the story of the journey that led me to a positive stance regarding the movement for the ordination of women in the LCA. ...

Will women get the blame? Layperson, female, 53, SA (lost this article - working on it)
'Adam was the first, but not the last, man to blame woman when things went wrong', quipped my pastor about thirty five years ago. Unfortunately, I have the same feeling that the women's ordination issue, no matter the outcome, will be blamed for any split that may become more pronounced after the vote is taken in July. ...

Women pastors in the LCA? Linda Allen (lost this article - working on it)
Women pastors? The first time I remember even being aware that some people were considering the option of ordaining women was about ten years ago, maybe less. It was when the Anglicans were facing the issue. ...