Firstly, I am not a theologian, nor a scholar, but one thing I know is that I am loved by God – warts and all.
I have a huge pile of documents from the Ordination We’re Listening (OWL) website, have read numerous versions of CTICR findings over the last couple of decades, and, in the last 2 years read even more theories on whether women should or should not be ordained. I’ve had interesting and long discussions with pastors who do not agree with the ordination of women and equally with those who do. From all these discussions I conclude that we are never going to agree totally on the interpretation of scripture regarding this matter, so let’s get on with sharing the Word of God as we are asked to. Romans 10. 12-16.
I have had 2 defining moments in my decision. One was at Synod at Rochedale Qld 2015. A full day was dedicated to discussing the issue and the next day the floor was opened to speakers who were permitted to speak for a few minutes. Up until that time I was still a little uncertain, however one speaker spoke so boldly and broke all the protocols that had been set for Synod by speaking more than once, and arguing when asked to refrain from speaking. He was opposed to ordaining women. We were asked to vote shortly after that.
The second time I decided to take a more pro-active stand to support women was when I saw a post on a Facebook page by a member of my congregation. It was very offensive and inferred that ordained women were devil worshippers. I was hurt and angry.
At this point I decided to get more serious in my efforts to educate my Congregation on the issue and generate some conversation. I began by sharing some data and information that was given to me by women who had given power point presentations in their congregations. It was a small mixed friendship group. As there had not been any conversations in or after church that I was aware of I had no idea what the reception would be. There were 12 people present and, all but one agreed with it (that was the father of my Facebook mate). They could see it being a way forward for our church. A small step, but I was surprised at the support.
The next challenging step I faced was as District Synod delegate in 2021 we were asked to discuss the St Stephens proposal with our congregations. As 2020 Synod had been cancelled the proposal was circulated well before 2021. When I asked the pastor if I could raise this motion for discussion after church his first reaction was that I had to show him proof that this was what I was being asked to do. Then he suggested that no-one would be interested and insisted that it be held on a weeknight, which, by now was one week before synod with no time to promote it in the weekly pew bulletin.
There were 8 in attendance including the pastor who felt the need to set it up as a formal debate regarding Women’s Ordination. It was difficult to make it clear that I was there to inform them of the content of the St Stephen’s proposal which was to do with changes on the Theses of Agreement. That was the topic I was there to discuss. The first speaker was invited to begin (Yep you guessed correct – it was my mate who had made those nasty comments on Facebook) It’s not hard to see how people get emotional!! I kept my cool. As soon as he started with his argument for male only ordination he got stuck, but our Pastor stepped in and helped him out. We worked our way around the table allowing everyone to speak, which meant I was last speaker. I was pleasantly surprised because there were 2 others in support and 2 who were there to represent the church and parish council and both were positive in supporting my position. The 8th person was the father of my Facebook mate. I actually felt daunted by the whole scenario. The motion was passed at district synod by the Bishop’s casting vote and is now an LCA SA/NT proposal on the General Convention of Synod Agenda in February 2023.
I am on the committee for our SE Ladies Zone Weekend Retreat held at Robe every year and this year we invited Maria Rudolph to be our guest speaker via Zoom from Perth; together with Pastor David Christian to lead our studies.
My pastor got wind of this and was aware that Pastor David supports Women’s Ordination. At Morning Prayer (I meet with him 4 mornings a week.) I was informed that some ladies from Mt Gambier had phoned him concerned that the weekend retreat would be all about Women’s Ordination. I was cautioned that it would be very hurtful to some women if it was raised. He gave the example of one particular person (yep, you guessed it – the mother of my Facebook mate) At that point the excitement of preparing the retreat turned into fear and confusion as to why I should be disciplined for something that had not happened. On the way home from retreat I was admonished by the Retreat Leader for sharing a joke – “10 reasons why men should not be pastors” (Google it). My role at retreat was to provide the Friday evening entertainment. No one came up to me to say they were offended. To this day we have not had anyone who attended the retreat give us any bad feedback. Everyone loved Maria’s talk and Pastor David’s studies on “The One Thing”.
The 2023 retreat is currently looking like it may be cancelled because we don’t have a leader, however a lengthy discussion at the recent SE Ladies Zone Rally resulted in some options being put to the various Ladies Fellowship groups. I had a conversation with a prominent person of the Lutheran Women SA/NT which I thought was quite pleasant. Simply put – we are never going to agree on this theology so let’s get on with living with our differences. I went on to say that we have so many super qualified women who have so much to give and share with our male pastors, and why are we allowing men with so little knowledge and training to fill the holes that could be filled by these women? At this point she did say what a great speaker Maria was at the retreat. We spoke briefly about the 2023 synod proposals. She agrees that our church is hurting and then went on to say that the women are going about it the wrong way. My question was “How should they be informing the congregations?” The bell rang and we were called back into the room for the guest speaker so I did not hear her suggestions.
The next day at Morning Prayer my pastor was ready to have the Women’s Ordination conversation again. Yay, because if I happen to raise a parallel when we are discussing the weekly bible readings it seems to get brushed aside. All of a sudden we were discussing the meeting from the previous day and then the suggestion that he might be able to lead the bible studies for retreat and it would be good if he could see a copy of the minutes. I was a bit confused as to where all this information had come from because all the retreat discussions have to be decided by the various fellowship groups and the retreat committee.
Then his next line of gently requesting that any Women’s Ordination materials are to be passed by him first and not to be handed out. I could go door knocking if I wanted to outside the church, but not to hand out any material at church or put anything on the notice board. His argument is that he does not want anyone focusing on Women’s Ordination when they should be focusing on God. And I get that, but I don’t understand why we are trying to play ostrich and hope that the problem will go away. Our pastor seems to think it is important that we are aware that our Parish will possibly get expanded and there will be an even greater distance to travel with fewer pastors. There will be a slurry of partially and inadequately trained men fulfilling the role of pastor while one fully trained pastor is literally burned into the ground and self- destructs from exhaustion. He has spoken of this twice after church.
A couple of days later I received a phone call from the lady I had the conversation with at the Zone Rally with some suggestions of possible speakers for the weekend retreat and she ended her conversation with. “Don’t take this the wrong way and I mean it in the nicest possible way, but you must not talk about Women’s Ordination at retreat because some people will be hurt”.
I have had some concerns about our Women’s Retreat in the light that we always have to have a male pastor there for the church service. Many times there are ladies who attend who have, or, are going through very sensitive physical or emotional issues and there are times when only a woman can understand or offer the support required. This is not disrespectful of the male pastors, but a recognition of the gifts a female can bring.
If there are women who are hurt by the conversation of ordaining women then they need to be made aware of the hurt that has been poured out on the more than adequately trained women and the male pastors who support them in our church.
We already know what our church looks like under the headship of male pastors. We know that almost 90% of Lutherans World Wide ordain women. We also know that we have a fleet of fully qualified women who have been called by God and longing for the opportunity to be recognized and respected as pastors in our church. What an amazing church we could be if we allow them to work beside the men as brothers and sisters.
The task I now challenge everyone who support Women’s Ordination is to talk to people at every opportunity. I use the analogy that when people say they won’t make their children go to church because they want them to make up their own mind – my response to that is – How can someone make an informed choice if they don’t know both sides of the story? We should view the Women’s Ordination topic in the same way. It’s important for everyone to know the facts and I pray that by the time Synod comes around in 2023 the delegates will be totally familiar with the proposals and be prepared to discuss them with their congregations.
Post Script
I do get on well with my Pastor and regularly meet with him for Morning Prayer and studies. His scriptural knowledge is always enlightening. We have many robust discussions on various topics. I am grateful for his passion, dedication, generosity and genuine love for his parishioners. He is newly married and I fear for his physical and mental health if he continues on the road he is on.
My Facebook mate and his family are close relatives of mine, and, we too have robust conversations and agree to disagree. You can pick your friends, but not your relatives. I love them anyway. We can always share a joke.
Other ladies mentioned in this article are all good friends and while we may not agree on Women’s Ordination, we do agree that we are saved by Grace through Faith. How wonderful is that. That’s why I get out of bed in the morning.
