Global
Lutheran leader challenges churches on women's ordination
By
Peter Kenny
STUTTGART, Germany (ENI) — The 70-million strong Lutheran World
Federation has struggled to live up to its own vision of inclusiveness
regarding the role of women, the general secretary of the church grouping,
Rev. Ishmael Noko, has told LWF members.
"Equitable participation
in God's mission is the hallmark of an inclusive communion. Member churches
are therefore urged to take appropriate steps towards the ordination
of women, and, where it is not the case, to put in place policies of
equality," Noko said in his address to the LWF's highest governing
body on July 21 in Stuttgart, Germany.
Noko, who is set to retire
from his position in November after 16 years, was delivering his report
to the Lutheran grouping's 11th assembly, taking place from July 20
to 27.
Pressed by ENInews during
a press conference on which regions are ordaining women and which are
not, Noko would only say that in different continents some churches
ordain women and some do not. There is most resistance to ordaining
women in the Africa, Asia and Latin America regions, he said.
"We are called to be
an inclusive communion," said Noko, a Zimbabwean educated in South
Africa and Canada. "Without living that calling, we cannot be effective
witnesses for justice and inclusiveness in our societies."
Hundreds of Lutherans from
around the world are in Stuttgart for the LWF assembly, where Rowan
Williams, the Archbishop of Canterbury and leader of the worldwide Anglican
Communion, was due to address the gathering on July 22. This is the
second LWF assembly to take place in Germany. The first was in Hanover
in 1952.
The Geneva-based Lutheran
grouping is made up of 140 member churches in 79 countries, representing
more than 70 million Protestants. It is expected an estimated 1,000
people, including 418 delegates from member churches, will participate
in the Stuttgart assembly.
In his speech, Noko noted
that, "More than 60 years after its foundation, the LWF still struggles
to live up to its own vision of inclusiveness. We continue to be challenged
to work toward becoming a communion that truly reflects the Body of
Christ — complete in all its parts and representative of its full
diversity."
LWF assemblies take place
normally once every six years. The last assembly was in Winnipeg, Man.
in 2003.
Noko noted that in Winnipeg
there was a call to LWF churches to, "undertake theological studies
on overcoming the remaining barriers that prevent gender mainstreaming
and women's ordination".
He rued, however, "In
most cases, even assembly or council decisions that received strong
support at the time may not enjoy much subsequent followup by churches."
Noko added that the seventh
LWF assembly in 1984 called for a balance of men and women delegates,
and he had hoped to achieve that parity in 2010. He regretted that in
Stuttgart male delegates accounted for 52 per cent whilst women made
up 48 per cent.
On the matter of involvement by young people, Noko said, "The absence of young people in many churches today, and the fact that many are finding meaning in more charismatic worship services, is a sign the mainline churches need to renew their liturgies and practices."
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