Hamburg, Germany/Geneva – 12.04.2017.
Maria Jepsen was elected bishop in Hamburg 25 years ago. She was the first woman to be elected bishop in Germany, and the first woman Lutheran bishop in the whole world. Jepsen first served as bishop in the Hamburg region of the Nordelbian Church, and later in the Hamburg and Lübeck region.
“Liturgically and according to church law, the election of Maria Jepsen fulfilled what has by now become a theologically grounded conviction for us as Lutherans: the full participation of women in the ordained ministry and thus also in the episcopal ministry,” said Gerhard Ulrich, the presiding bishop of the United Evangelical Lutheran Church of Germany (VELKD), on the silver anniversary. “This election encouraged women throughout the world to take on leadership responsibility in the Church.”
On 4 April 1992, Jepsen was elected bishop following her predecessor Peter Krusche, and was installed in office on 30 August of the same year.
Great achievements in the field of ecumenism in Germany and the world
Bishop Ulrich paid tribute to Maria Jepsen’s outstanding work in the North German Evangelical Lutheran Church, in the VELKD and in the worldwide ecumenical movement. He underlined her clear theological position, which at times gave rise to conflicts, her advocacy for the vulnerable, her sharp and unwavering preaching, and her deep rootedness in Scripture – more precisely, in the Hebrew Bible – as the foundation and guiding principle for life and faith.
Ulrich noted that Maria Jepsen has always firmly supported the cooperation of women and men in the Church, standing on an equal footing.
“For us as Lutherans there can be no distinction between man and woman in the spiritual sense. After all, every Christian shares in the same way, through Baptism, in the priesthood of Christ. Thus the participation of women across a broad spectrum of ordained ministry, as supported by the Lutheran World Federation, is an expression of a deep understanding of Martin Luther’s theology. It is still our mandate as Lutherans to work so that women and men share the ministry of proclamation on an equal footing.”
From 2003 to 2010, Bishop Jepsen also served as a member of the LWF Council.
The road to full equality is still long
Kirsten Fehrs, the current bishop of the Hamburg and Lübeck church district, also praised her predecessor Maria Jepsen as a courageous pioneer for equal rights for women and men in the Church. “In her ministry, Maria Jepsen was welcoming to many people who until then had not been seen, or who had even been actively excluded,” said Fehrs. She added that Bishop Jepsen had taken up the question of social change and promoted it with all her heart and in clear words. “In everything, her work as bishop was always grounded in her firm faith.” It was remarkable how unerringly Maria Jepsen followed her path, Fehrs noted. “There is always someone who is first, and it is very hard for that first one. She had to fight battles and endure things that turned out greatly to the benefit of the second and of all the others who would follow.”
Fehrs, who congratulated the 72-year-old Jepsen on behalf of the whole ELCNG, also underlined the significance of that election which took place 25 years ago.
“It was – and I use this word deliberately – epochal.” It is still not taken for granted that a woman can be a bishop, she said. “But it gives me great joy to experience that today it no longer makes much difference whether a man or a woman serves as pastor in a congregation.”
Source: Lutheran World Federation news
Photo: Lutheran World Federation