From 13 to 16 November, the global-level consultation on the role of theology in promoting gender justice, run by the Lutheran World Federation’s “Women in Church and Society” department program (in English – Women in Church and Society; abbreviated as WICAS), took place in Warsaw.
Latvia was represented in these consultation talks by the dean of the Faculty of Theology of the University of Latvia, Professor Dace Balode, who is also a member of the Association of Latvian Lutheran Women Theologians and, since the summer of 2018, also a LELBĀL pastor.
The consultations were attended by women from North America, South America, the Baltic states, India, Taiwan, Sweden, Iceland and elsewhere.
There was discussion about the ways in which Lutheran churches in the respective countries implement the Lutheran World Federation document “Gender Justice Policy”, which was adopted in 2013 by the LWF Council. The aforementioned document is available in Latvian here.
The analysis of the situation in Latvia, along with the 2016 ban on women being ordained to the office of pastor, aroused deep interest, even outrage, among the participants of the LWF consultation. The 10 minutes allotted to Dace Balode for her presentation turned into an hour-long discussion, with other elements of the program being cancelled.
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Photo: LWF/ Agnieszka Godfrejów-Tarnogórska