wfn.org | Russian Women Urge Lutheran Church to Affirm Inclusive

["Frank Imhoff" <Frank_Imhoff@elca.org>]

Russian Women Urge Lutheran Church to Affirm Inclusive Participation at All
Levels
Russian Version of LWF Document on Violence against Women Launched 

ST PETERSBURG, Russia/GENEVA, 17 August 2004 (LWI) *Participants in the
Second Women's Conference of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Russia and
Other States (ELCROS) called upon ELCROS to defend women's rights in the
pastoral service, and to prevent "a gain in influence by foreign Lutheran
churches that reject the ordination of women." 

Forty-five participants from the ELCROS regional churches attended the July
12-18 conference in Petrodvorets, near St Petersburg, Russia. In a
declaration at the end of the meeting, they emphasized their desire to have a
church "in which their gifts and abilities can be integrated at all levels." 

The participants pointed out that equality in church life, although
guaranteed by the ELCROS Constitution, is not implemented everywhere, and
that women do not have equal opportunity to take a stand on all theological
issues, particularly those that concern them. 

"Thanks to the World Day of Prayer (WDP) regional women's seminars and other
joint events over the past few years, the large network of ELCROS women has
grown into a strong community that enriches, empowers and encourages.
Therefore, the women want ELCROS to maintain its status as a united church
and to be further developed. In this church, all women hold positions of
leadership that entail significant responsibility at various levels. They
demonstrate a great deal of commitment in their work and would like to
continue to do so in the future," they said in their statement. 

The women hoped that "the dynamism of the conference would affect the life of
their church and that the congregations would approach their responsibility
to select and assist future ministers - both men and women - with sincerity
and love," according to the women delegates from cities such as Kaliningrad
and Grodno in the West, Magadan and Khabarovsk in the Far East, St Petersburg
in the North, and Dushanbe, Samarkand, Tbilisi and Baku in the South. 

A major focus of the conference was the issue of violence against women in
society, in the family, and also in the church. This topic was examined in
various Bible studies and discussion groups based on the ancestral mothers of
Jesus (Matthew 1). The participants reflected also on Tamar, Bathsheba, Rahab
and Ruth, and used creative meditations. The result was a colorful "Tree of
Our Faith" made of embroidered material.
 
Another highlight of the ELCROS meeting was the presentation of the Russian
translation of the Lutheran World Federation (LWF) document "Churches Say
'No' to Violence against Women," published by the Department for Mission for
and Development. Ms Priscilla Singh, LWF Executive Secretary for Women in
Church and Society presented the publication which relates not only to
individual violence, but also to structural violence as experienced
particularly by women. It has been translated so far in 21 languages,
including the Russian edition. 

Participants in the ELCROS gathering also discussed WDP 2005 which will be
organized by women from Poland. Ewa Walter, Evangelical Church of the
Augsburg Confession in Poland, a member of the WDP International Committee,
reported on the preparations underway. 
(522 words)

(This contribution is based on a report by Dr Tamara Tatsenko, ELCROS women's
representative.)

[The LWF is a global communion of Christian churches in the Lutheran
tradition. Founded in 1947 in Lund (Sweden), the LWF now has 136 member
churches in 76 countries representing 62.3 million of the almost 66 million
Lutherans worldwide. The LWF acts on behalf of its member churches in areas
of common interest such as ecumenical and inter-faith relations, theology,
humanitarian assistance, human rights, communication, and the various aspects
of mission and development work. Its secretariat is located in Geneva,
Switzerland.)

[Lutheran World Information (LWI) is the LWF's information service. Unless
specifically noted, material presented does not represent positions or
opinions of the LWF or of its various units. Where the dateline of an article
contains the notation (LWI), the material may be freely reproduced with
acknowledgment.]

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