Women leaders overcome the boundaries created by gender, culture and social status
The Lutheran World Information Centre
Churches must be braver and, alongside men, also elect women to leadership positions, because “we women also hold leadership roles – as sisters, wives and mothers”. This was one of the conclusions expressed by the participants of a summer academy devoted to gender issues. The summer academy took place in Hermannsburg and Hanover, Germany, and was organised by the Evangelical Lutheran Mission in Lower Saxony (ELM) on 20–25 August.
The event brought together ten women from seven countries (Brazil, Central African Republic, India, Malawi, Peru, the Russian Federation, South Africa) who serve in their congregations as theologians or non-ordained leaders. The theme of the conference was “Overcoming Boundaries”, based on Jesus’ conversation with the Samaritan woman in John chapter 4. The programme provided space for discussion in order to uncover “Her stories” – making women’s achievements visible and allowing for discussion of questions such as: what are our personal experiences as women in our different contexts? Do we have similar experiences with leadership? Are we a role model for others, especially for other women? What can we do in our churches to develop new opportunities and perspectives for everyone?
“We women also hold leadership roles – as sisters, wives and mothers,” Pastor Sibusiso Chetty, Evangelical Lutheran Church in Southern Africa.
During the public panel discussion, four women shared their experiences and answered questions from the audience.
Dr. Kristhija Poni is the general secretary of the Tamil Evangelical Lutheran Church (TELC) in Tamil Nadu, India. She holds this office alongside a professorship in the zoology department of the TELC college. She is the first woman to hold offices of this kind. Poni emphasises that education is an important step towards women gaining equal rights both in society and in the church. Although her church has ordained women since 2006, Poni says that, “compared with other subjects, it is more difficult for women to study theology”. She also says that “men still hold the majority of the decisive positions”.
Pastor Sibusiso Chetty of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Southern Africa (ELCSA) has served as a pastor for 21 years. She was the first woman to hold office in the Durban circuit of the South-Eastern Diocese after serving as a missionary. Chetty recalls that “the 15 male pastors who served in the circuit accepted me quite well, but in the congregation I came up against several challenges”. One of the changes that took place in South Africa after the first free and democratic elections in 1994 was that people could freely choose their place of residence.
On coming to serve in a congregation that consisted mainly of English-speaking people of Indian descent, Chetty discovered that a large part of the congregation’s members belonged to the Zulu language and culture. She recalls that “being accepted there was a great challenge, because I was not a man and I was not Zulu”. She also discovered that “it was often the women who resisted a woman pastor more than the men did.”
The task of bringing together different languages and cultures also fell to Dr. Zijanda Mgugudo-Selo of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Southern Africa (Cape Church). She has served as a non-ordained leader in the women’s ministry of her congregation for four years.
Mgugudo and her husband come from different backgrounds. Mgugudo comes from the former Transkei republic, while her husband is a member of the Tswana people. Their shared language of communication is English. Mgugudo recalls that “this meant we could not go to a congregation where services are held in a language one of us does not understand. So we decided to go to the formerly ‘white’ Strand Street congregation in central Cape Town – there the services were held in English.” There Mgugudo, a doctor by profession, discovered her calling to “mobilise women to take their place in the congregation”. She has managed to build a network of women in which the women have formed close relationships and who support one another. “We cannot always meet in person,” she says, “but we can still stay in touch.” Today there is an active WhatsApp group and the women fast once a week and share spiritual support.
Dr. Margot Käßmann was invited to the discussion at the Summer Academy as a special guest. In 1999 she was elected the first woman bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Hanover, and in 2009 the first woman chair of the Council of the Evangelical Church in Germany. Looking back on her career now, in retirement, Käßmann mentioned several obstacles she encountered during her ministry.
Coming from a non-academic background, she had to deal with social stereotypes when she decided to begin studying at university. There were also not many women in her life who served as an example by becoming pastors. Käßmann discovered that many reasons that were called “theological” did not withstand scrutiny. “Until 1977, ordained women in Germany lost their ordination upon marrying. In Zambia it was the opposite: women could not be ordained unless they were married.”
Asked about their visions, hopes and dreams for the next 20 years in the churches they represent, all the participants said that the future model should be one that includes both men and women. Both Mgugudo and Käßmann would like to see their churches embrace insights that come from outside: Mgugudo wants to welcome the many tourists who visit Cape Town, so that “the world is in the church”; Käßmann encourages migrants travelling to Germany, many of whom are Christian, to “dare to mix” with the existing churches instead of founding separate congregations. Chetty and Poni urge their churches to elect women alongside men to leadership positions, because “we women are entitled to it as sisters, wives and mothers”.
During a women’s meeting that took place in June in Geneva ahead of the LWF Council meeting, the LWF vice-presidents noted that, while Lutheran women in Europe and North America have reached the highest leadership positions in their churches, they still face challenges caused by patriarchal thinking.
The LWF has promoted women’s participation in ordained ministry and in leadership positions. The communion introduced a 40 percent gender quota in 1984, which applied to all of its committees and governing institutions. During the LWF’s 12th Assembly, a resolution was adopted urging LWF member churches to implement the actions set out in the LWF gender justice policy document.
The Evangelical Lutheran Mission in Lower Saxony (ELM) is an organisation that represents three German LWF member churches – the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Hanover, the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Brunswick and the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Schaumburg-Lippe. It is also a partner to other LWF member churches mentioned in this article: the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Southern Africa; the Tamil Evangelical Lutheran Church; the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Southern Africa (Cape Church).
Hanover, Germany / Geneva
29.08.2019.
Source: The Lutheran World Federation
Photo caption: “Sisters in faith” (from left) Pastor Sibusiso Chetty (South Africa), Dr. Kristhija Poni (India), retired Bishop Dr. Margot Käßmann (Germany), Dr. Zijanda Mgugudo-Selo (South Africa) and moderator Gabriele Debona (ELM). Photo: LWF/A. Weyermüller.