Global Lutheran leader challenges churches on women’s ordination

            “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 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

July 22-27.

            Pressed by Engines 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, is due to address the gathering today (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 1000 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, Canada, 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 pointed out, however, “In most cases, even assembly or council decisions that

received strong support at the time may not enjoy much subsequent follow-up

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 percent whilst

women made up 48 percent.

            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.”