wfn.org | [PCUSANEWS] Lutheran bishop Margot Kaessmann resigns from WCC

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Lutheran bishop Margot Kaessmann resigns from WCC central committee  
02341
September 4, 2002
 
Lutheran bishop Margot Kaessmann resigns from WCC central committee  
  
By Stephen Brown  
Ecumenical News International

Geneva - Lutheran Bishop Margot Kaessmann from Germany - one of the most prominent women in the World Council of Churches - has resigned from the ecumenical body's central committee in protest at key proposals intended to help participation by Orthodox churches in the organization.  
	The proposals including far-reaching changes in future WCC worship and decision-making procedures were adopted by its central committee at a 10-day meeting in Geneva that ended Tuesday and were seen as a measure to ease tensions between the Protestant and Orthodox members of the ecumenical body.   "For me, however, it is a question of my own credibility with regards to how my church understands ministry and the church, including the ordination of women," Kaessmann said in a statement Wednesday explaining the reason for her resignation.  
	Kaessmann, who had been a member of the central committee since 1983, said she resigned in particular because under the proposals it would no longer be possible to celebrate ecumenical worship" at WCC events.  
	The proposals adopted by the WCC central committee were intended to respond to Orthodox church complaints that the ecumenical body was too dominated by Protestant views on theology, including the ordination of women and ethical issues.  
	Kaessmann said she wanted to see a "strong WCC" but its effectiveness was being affected by tensions between Protestantism and Orthodoxy.  
	If it was not possible to bridge these differences, she said Protestant and Orthodox churches should consider having separate world organizations.  
	Like the Roman Catholic Church, the Orthodox churches strongly oppose the ordination of women as bishops or priests.  
	The WCC has 342 member churches from all mainstream Christian traditions including Protestant, Anglican and Orthodox apart from the Roman Catholic Church which cooperates with the ecumenical body in a number of spheres.  
	The recommendations presented to the central committee called for the term "ecumenical worship" to be dropped because it could be misunderstood and this was seen by some central committee members like Kaessmann as giving in to Orthodox demands.   
	Instead, the recommendations said the WCC should distinguish in future between "confessional common prayer" (according to the rites of a particular tradition) and "interconfessional common prayer."  
	"Interconfessional" services should "avoid giving the impression of being the worship of a church," the recommendations stated.  
	In her statement, Kaessmann said: "For me personally over the past 20 years ecumenical worship services have been at the heart of the World Council."   
	She said: "If it is not even possible to celebrate a common worship service without the Eucharist ... when even the mutual recognition of baptism is being called into question, I do not see how we can cope with the controversial issues (that divide us)."  
	An indication of Kaessmann's discontent came during the central committee when she told the meeting: "If in the WCC we can't celebrate ecumenical worship, I don't think I want to be involved any more."   
	A WCC spokesperson confirmed to ENI that the ecumenical body had received Kaessmann's resignation.  
	WCC communication director Kristine Greenaway told ENI on Wednesday that the WCC responded to the news with "regret" and appreciated Kaessmann's contribution to its life.  
	Although Kaessmann would no longer be a member of the WCC central committee Kaessmann had expressed her continuing support for the WCC, Greenaway said.  
	Kaessmann, 44, who studied in Germany and Scotland before her ordination, leads the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Hanover which has more than 3 million members and is one of the biggest Lutheran churches in the world.   
	Kaessmann's election as the church's bishop in 1999 made her the first female bishop to sit on the WCC central committee.  
	At the time of her election as bishop, Kaessmann said Germany had a great need for "spiritual renewal" and could learn from other forms of Christian experience from around the world.  
	She singled out as one example the liturgy and prayers of the Orthodox churches.    
	In an address to the WCC central committee in 1997 she said the church needed to be "a safe space where women are encouraged to speak instead of being silenced."  
	In a sermon at her installation as bishop she said, "it has been difficult for Christians in the first two millenniums - and for some even today - to recognize women as church leaders."   
	Kaessmann has also been a member of the WCC executive committee and moderator of the ENI advisory board
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