wfn.org | LCMS Attempts to Make it Easier for Minority Women Deaconesses

[Worldwide Faith News <wfn@wfn.org>]

The Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod
Board for Communication Services
1333 S. Kirkwood Road St. Louis, MO 63122-7295

61st Regular Convention St. Louis, Mo. July 14-20, 2001

July 18, 2001 #31

Contact: Bruce Kueck (314) 342-5715

Convention attempts to make it easier for minority women to become deaconesses

ST. LOUIS -- It may be easier for Spanish-speaking women to become 
deaconesses of The Lutheran Church--Missouri Synod because of an action 
taken Wednesday, July 18, the fourth day of the Synod's 61st Regular 
Convention. By a 1003-56 vote, delegates let the church s committee that 
reviews potential candidates waive the requirement of a bachelor s degree 
for becoming a deaconess.

The Rev. James Kalthoff, president of the LCMS Missouri District, chairs 
the convention s floor committee on higher education. He presented the 
rationale, saying the decision "will provide the church with competent 
deaconesses who have met rigorous standards and who are fit for ministry, 
but for whom obtaining a bachelor s degree is prohibitive. The more common 
obstacle is a language barrier, usually Spanish."

"Some Lutheran women who desire to become deaconesses but are not fluent in 
academic English find that they cannot obtain collegiate general education 
in their own language," said Kalthoff. He said more than 30 
Spanish-speaking women "desire to pursue deaconess education," which is 
available in Spanish through university-level courses and an internship.

Kristin R. Wassilak, coordinator of the deaconess program, Concordia 
University, River Forest, Ill., addressed the convention in favor of the 
proposal. "This is a matter of mission, a matter of getting the Gospel 
out," she said.

"It is currently more difficult for a Spanish-speaking woman to become a 
deaconess than it is for a Spanish-speaking man to become a pastor because 
of this degree requirement," said Wassilak. She said the church s committee 
that reviews potential candidates for deaconess is able to assess their 
academic competence.

The LCMS convention passed another resolution to urge the church s 6,145 
congregations and 2.6 million members "to increase support for church work 
students by sending offerings to endowments for the training and education 
of church workers and by participating in adopt-a-student programs through 
our synodical schools."

Delegates rejected an amendment the Rev. Walter Otten, St. Paul Lutheran 
Church, Brookfield, Ill., offered that would have designated one fourth of 
all gifts to the "For the Sake of the Church" campaign to be given to the 
endowment funds of the church s two seminaries. A campaign goal is to raise 
$400 million by 2010 for the endowments of the church s 10 colleges and 
universities.

The LCMS convention continues through Friday, July 20.

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