On 23 August 1975, the first ordination of women in the ELCL takes place. Archbishop Jānis Matulis ordains Vaira Bitēna, Berta Stroža, and Helēna Valpētere.
On 31 August 1976, the ordination of Aleksandra Dombure follows.
On 15 July 1981, the ordinations of Irma Kalēja and Milda Vainovska take place. (1)
On 14 April 1983, seven ELCL pastors (including the recently ordained Modris Plāte (1982) and Juris Rubenis (1982) and the as yet unordained adjunct pastor Erberts Bikše) draw up and circulate a statement asking their fellow brethren to express their attitude on several questions, including the proposal: “To include in the agenda of the forthcoming General Synod the question of the current practice of ordaining women clergy and its expediency in our Church.” Discussions begin in the Church. (2)
On 17 May 1983, the ELCL Consistory sends pastors a letter in which it expresses its attitude towards the statement and activities of the 7 pastors: “The Consistory recalls that the ordained clergy of the ELCL are brethren and sisters of the office, who in this way constitute a single pastoral association, whose inner strength is the resolve to serve in faith the Holy Triune God and their Church, together with a moral and ethical responsibility that must be based on one for all and all for one.” (3)
On 6 December 1983, the Synod of the Kuldīga district convened that day asks the Consistory to include in the agenda of the next General Synod the question of the expediency of further women’s ordination in the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Latvia” (the decision adopted unanimously). (9)
On 25 February 1984, the regular 13th General Synod of the ELCL takes place. At the Synod, the provost of the Kuldīga district M. Plāte recalls the request of the Kuldīga district Synod to include in the agenda of the General Synod the question of the expediency of the practice of women’s ordination in the Church, which Archbishop J. Matulis acknowledges to be “very delicate, difficult to decide and resolve in advance, since the Synod has not prepared for it”. Archbishop J. Matulis proposes at the Synod to set up a special Consistory commission to address this question, and as the head of the commission he proposes pastor M. Plāte, and as members Prof. R. Feldmanis, provost J. Gustiņš, pastors B. Stroža and H. Valpētere, pastors J. Rubenis and K. Gailītis, and he also charges this commission with preparing materials for the 1985 Pastors’ Conference. (9)
In 1985, Valda Krūmāja is ordained. (1)
On 19 August 1985, Archbishop J. Matulis dies; until the extraordinary Synod, the Church is led by the presidium of the Consistory.
In 1986, an extraordinary Synod is convened. Ēriks Mesters is elected archbishop, and pastor Kārlis Gailītis as one of the councillors of the Consistory. According to Ē. Mesters’s recollections: “At the 1986 extraordinary General Synod, the question arose of whether it might be possible to review how the Gospel and the New Testament regard women’s ordination and activity in the life of the Church. The young pastors Modris Plāte and Juris Rubenis were the ones who raised this question, of on what basis women had been ordained.” (7) It was proposed to set up a commission “On the Future Expediency of Women’s Ordination”.
In August 1986 Pastor Berta Stroža was one of those who prepared and submitted arguments to the said commission.
On 24 November 1986, on the instruction of the ELCL Consistory, a letter is written in which pastors are informed that, since August 1986, a commission “On the Future Expediency of Women’s Ordination” has been operating. Its head is pastor Juris Rubenis. The letter is also signed by the commission member K. Gailītis. (4)
The letter states that in its work the commission has found that the theological arguments “for” and “against” women’s ordination are equally strong for both sides. Pastors are asked to express their view according to their conscience, without arguments, by sending to the head of the commission a survey sheet on which there are two options “I AGREE I DO NOT AGREE with women’s ordination in the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Latvia”. (4)
At the 14th General Synod of 1989, it was reported on the results of the work of the commission “On the Future Expediency of Women’s Ordination”. At the Synod, women’s ordination was decided upon. “46 spoke in favour of women’s ordination, 21 against. This question has a very long history in our Church; a special commission was set up to study it, but it never gave an unambiguous answer. The question was decided by a vote,” writes the provost of the Jelgava district Alfons Vecmanis in the 1990 calendar of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Latvia. At this Synod, Kārlis Gailītis was elected archbishop.
On 9 September 1989, Archbishop Kārlis Gailītis ordains Sarmīte Fišere to the pastoral office, assisted by pastor Juris Rubenis and provost Juris Cālītis.
On 13 December 1989, Railvija Rozīte is ordained to the rank of assistant pastor.
On 17 March 1991, Aida Prēdele is ordained to the pastoral office.
On 21 July 1991, Dace Rubļevska is ordained to the pastoral office. (1)
At the 15th General Synod of the ELCL in 1992, in response to the reproaches of the opponents of women’s ordination, K. Gailītis answered unequivocally – briefly referring to the biblical text that was the basis of his conviction, namely the first Creation account, where it is written: “And God created man in His own image and likeness, in His own image He created him, male and female He created them. And God examined all that He had done, and behold, it was all very good.” (Gen. 1:27 and 31). At the same Synod he declared that he would continue to ordain women. As provost Ieva Graufelde writes: “He did not speak of how greatly he admired women, but affirmed it by entrusting them with the duties of service.” (8) From 1990 to 1993, on the archbishop’s assignment, just like the male students, the theology students Gija Brokāne (in the Zaube congregation), Ivanda Ceijere (in the Augstroze congregation), Māra Dzērve (at the disposal of provost A. Ālers in the Tukums congregation), Zilgme Eglīte (in the Penkule congregation), Anita Tukiša (in the Valdemārpils congregation), Marika Vidiņa (in the Bolderāja congregation), and Aija Zvirbule (in the Straupe congregation) serve in congregations. (6) Archbishop K. Gailītis’s attitude towards women’s ordination and his reasoning can be sensed in some publications. During his time, the ELCL joined the World Council of Churches’ Lima Document, in which the threefold understanding of office is defined, which was established as held in common with the ELCL Abroad. The women pastors during this time enjoy the trust and respect of the Church and the archbishop; they are included in various delegations, representing the ELCL at major Church forums.
Archbishop K. Gailītis, provost M. Plāte, pastor J. Rubenis, and the ordained women V. Bitēna, A. Prēdele, and D. Rubļevska are during this time a source of encouragement and support for many young women with a calling to service, who at that time began their studies at the Faculty of Theology. In service and mission activities under the supervision of pastors and provosts, many later became pastors, doctors of theology, and evangelists.
On 22 November 1992, Archbishop Kārlis Gailītis dies a mysterious and tragic death. His last Holy Communion he possibly receives while visiting the Straupe congregation, from a woman – the serving student Aija Zvirbule. A significant period in the history of the ELCL comes to a close, in which thoughtful and responsible foundations were laid in the ELCL’s attitude towards women’s ordination.
Sources:
1. Eglīte Z., Graufelde I., Skuja-Grīslis I., Strautmale M. “Mary’s Songs and Stories; Writings of Latvian Women Clergy”, (Klints, 2005), p. 190.
2. The personal archive of pastor E. Krūmiņš, statement-appeal, 14 April 1983.
3. The personal archive of pastor E. Krūmiņš, Consistory letter 17 May 1983, no. 173
4. The personal archive of pastor E. Krūmiņš, ELCL Consistory, Survey, 24 November 1986;
5. ed. Bērziņš I. “A Tribute to the Twentieth Anniversary of Women’s Ordination in Latvia: Go and Tell!” (Ogre Evangelical Lutheran congregation, 1995), pp. 28-37.
6. The Calendar of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Latvia for 1990, pp. 86-90; The Calendar of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Latvia for 1993, pp. 291-292.
7. Ē. Mesters’s recollections in a personal interview, 18 May 2007, recollections recorded by Ž. Priede, bachelor’s thesis “Women’s Ordination in Latvia in the Time of Archbishop Jānis Matulis”, University of Latvia Faculty of Theology, 2007
8. Kamergrauzis, N. “A Gain in My Life” (SvR, 1996)
9. Minutes of the ELCL Kuldīga district Synod and the General Synod, 1982-1984
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