wfn.org | LWI 2008-056 Women's Ordination a Highlight of Bolivian Lutheran Church Anniversary

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Women’s Ordination a Highlight of Bolivian Lutheran Church
Anniversary
Noko: Strong Expression of Men and Women's Participation in
Church Life

LA PAZ, Bolivia/GENEVA, 7 September 2008 (LWI) - The Bolivian
Evangelical Lutheran Church (Iglesia Evangélica Luterana
Boliviana - IELB) celebrates 70 years of existence today, 7
September. At a special liturgy marking the event, several women
will be ordained pastors while others will receive the
authorization to administer sacraments and proclaim the Word.

During the celebration, the Lutheran World Federation (LWF)
General Secretary Rev. Dr Ishmael Noko and Bishop Jessica R.
Crist, Montana Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in
America, will ordain two women and five men, and authorize three
women and ten men to carry out church functions. 

"It is an encouraging sign and strong signal that 15 out of the
16 LWF member churches in the Latin American and Caribbean region
now ordain women. The LWF has accompanied the discernment of the
Lutheran church in Bolivia in a respectful way over the last
decades. The values of inclusion and participation of men and
women in the full life and ministry of the Church are thus given
strong expressions," noted Noko in view of the first women's
ordination in the IELB. 

For IELB president Rev. Luis Cristobal Alejo Fernandez, women
and men stand on equal ground. There is a balance between them
and neither is subordinated to the other, he emphasized. "Based
on the principle of duality, it is only that after 70 years, we
open our eyes and accept that we are all part of this inclusive
church and that we can thrive together in harmony," said Alejo in
an interview with Lutheran World Information (LWI).

Berta Uturunco, one of the three women who will receive
authority to carry out church functions, pointed out that the
fact that women were being admitted to ordained ministry and
allowed to share their experiences, constituted "an historical
moment" in the building of an inclusive communion. "Many women in
leadership positions in rural areas, too, find this to be
important," said Uturunco, who, since February 2007 has been IELB
vice-president and the church's national coordinator for women
between 2003 and 2006.

Theologian Erlini Tola, who will be ordained at the service,
sees a new age dawning for the Bolivian church in terms of its
own history and the personal destinies of its members. While both
Bolivia and the church face great challenges, the changes that
are needed will only be possible if each and every individual
experiences an inner transformation and all members become aware
that they are the ones who make up the church. "This is an
opportunity to set ourselves goals for the future toward the
attainment of a church which is a reflection of the Kingdom of
God on earth," Tola stressed.

The Bolivian church ordination of women reaffirms the LWF's
steadfast commitment "to continue working on this specific issue
of women's ordination and in a more broader sense on the
questions of gender equity in the church," said Rev. Dr Elaine
Gleci Neuenfeldt, executive secretary for the Women in Church and
Society desk of the LWF Department for Mission and Development. A
future task will be to further the discussion on women in
ministry so that their full inclusion and participation can be
sustained in an ongoing way. 

>70th Anniversary

The beginnings of the Bolivian Evangelical Lutheran Church date
back to missionary activities in the area inhabited by the
indigenous Aymara people and in the Andean highlands in 1938. The
IELB was established as an autonomous church in 1972, the same
year missionaries from the United States of America left Bolivia.
It joined the LWF in 1975, and currently has around 22,000
members comprising mainly indigenous people. The church has 130
congregations and 35 preaching posts served by five ordained
pastors and 90 preachers. (636 words)

>More about the IELB at, www.ielbbolivia.org 

>*        *          *

(The LWF is a global communion of Christian churches in the
Lutheran tradition. Founded in 1947 in Lund, Sweden, the LWF
currently has 141 member churches in 79 countries all over the
world, with a total membership of over 68.3 million. The LWF acts
on behalf of its member churches in areas of common interest such
as ecumenical and interfaith relations, theology, humanitarian
assistance, human rights, communication, and the various aspects
of mission and development work. Its secretariat is located in
Geneva, Switzerland.)

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