While churches lament the injustice against women, some of them promote gender inequality by forbidding the ordination of women.
“Violence that occurs on the basis of gender is one of the greatest challenges in the world,” said Dr. Dorcas Gordon, director of Knox College in Toronto, Canada, at the General Council of the World Communion of Reformed Churches, in a session devoted to gender justice.
Although the majority of the member churches of the World Communion of Reformed Churches support the ordination of women, around 40 of them (7 in Europe, 18 in Africa, 3 in the Middle East, 9 in Latin America) deny ordination.
Such statistics are provided by a 2009 survey, which also shows that the majority of churches that do not ordain women cited culture, rather than theology, as the reason for not ordaining. Some live in places where society does not recognise women’s leadership. Others find themselves in a minority situation in countries with a Roman Catholic or Orthodox majority; they feel an ecumenical pressure that deters them from doing things that are regarded as shocking.
Between justice and inequality
A situation arises where churches, on the one hand, condemn injustice against women, but at the same time, on the other hand, continue to preserve gender injustice within themselves. Confronted with this paradox, the community of Reformed congregations, which comprises 233 Protestant churches in more than 100 countries, has called on its General Council to urge its member churches not only to support the ordination of women, but also to ensure that representatives of both sexes receive fair remuneration for their work. In this connection, several sessions were held in Leipzig on 1 July this year, the aim of which was to listen to women’s testimonies of gender-based violence and to analyse the passages of Scripture that point to the equality of women and men before God.
The Mexican feminist theologian Elsa Tamez offered an exegesis of the beginning of the 12th chapter of Paul’s Letter to the Romans. In this passage the apostle Paul calls for a lasting and profound transformation of the Christian community. “Christians must be an example. We must understand that there is a way to be different from those who are driven by envy, rivalry and personal greed. The discrimination and killing of women is equivalent to self-discrimination and suicide,” Tamez explains.
On 3 July, the delegates were invited to vote on the adoption of the declaration document “Declaration of Faith on Women’s Ordination”. In the vote, the “Declaration of Faith on Women’s Ordination” was duly adopted.
“We have achieved a concrete consensus,” joyfully announced Jerry Pillay, President of the World Communion of Reformed Churches. The declaration was adopted in the session on justice in matters of gender. Prior to that, significant group discussions took place in the Council’s deliberation process. “The proposals on the ordination of women and on the creation of a gender policy, and its implementation, received very strong support from the delegates,” said Stephen Kendall of the Presbyterian Church in Canada. Despite this, some delegates in the auditorium raised blue cards, indicating that they did not fully support this proposal. “We take note of your differing position,” the president said at that moment, adding that those delegates who did not support the declaration could express their dissent in the Council’s minutes.
The adoption of this declaration is a further step towards establishing equality between women and men in the World Communion of Reformed Churches. But “gender justice is not limited to the ordination of women”, emphasised Chris Ferguson, the communion’s general secretary, during his report. The way is open to work further on questions of gender equality, with the World Communion of Reformed Churches committing itself to help its member churches in this process.
The Declaration of Faith can be downloaded in English here.Sources: The WCRC considers a call for its members to accept the ordination of women (01.07.2017.) Laurence Villoz
http://wcrc.ch/news/the-wcrc-considers-a-call-for-its-members-to-accept-the-ordination-of-women
General Council approves statement on ordination of women (07.07.2017.) Laurence Villoz http://wcrc.ch/news/general-council-approves-statement-on-ordination-of-women
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The World Communion of Reformed Churches is a communion comprising more than 225 member churches throughout the world, bringing together around 80 million faithful from the Congregationalist, Presbyterian, Reformed, United (Evangelical) and Waldensian churches. The World Communion of Reformed Churches (World Communion of Reformed Churches – WCRC) actively supports theology, justice, the unity of congregations and mission in more than 100 countries of the world.
United in Christ and rooted in the historical traditions of the Reformation, the WCRC and its member churches believe that the Christian faith means responding to God’s call in order to meet spiritual needs and to promote justice for all, transforming the world through the love of Jesus Christ.
Representatives — men and women, lay and ordained — come from the member churches to meet at the General Council, which is held once every seven years. Gathered together, they seek to understand God’s will through the Scriptures, in order to determine the WCRC’s future direction. The Council elects the leadership, which oversees its policy and work. These representatives, together with the members of the executive committee, elect the general secretary. The WCRC is financed by the financial contributions of its member churches and church agencies. Donations and grants also come from individual people, individual congregations, foundations and other sources. Supporters of the WCRC help to address situations in the world by also donating to specific funds and scholarships, as well as to the organisation itself as such.
Source: http://wcrc.ch/about-us
