On the evening of October 2, in Riga, at Berga Bazārs, the museum and research center “Latvians Abroad” (LaPa) opened the exhibition “An Inconvenient Calling: Women Clergy in the Lutheran Church.”
The exhibition was created by the Latvian Lutheran Women Theologians’ Association (LLSTA) in cooperation with the LaPa museum.
Exhibition curator: Arta Skuja
Artist: Jeremy Smeeds
The exhibition will be open until January 9.
Public events will take place on November 3 (starting at 6:00 p.m.) and December 11 (starting at 5:00 p.m.).
The exhibition is dedicated to Lutheran women who serve outside Latvia – both those born in exile who found their calling in various places around the world, and those who, following the 1993 decision of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Latvia to no longer ordain women, were forced to seek opportunities for ministry elsewhere. These stories reveal a broad field of experience – from coming to recognize a personal calling and theological conviction, to life in congregational communities and church life that took shape outside Latvia, while preserving faith, language, and a living connection to Latvia.
To learn more about the exhibition project, we invite you to listen to these radio programs:
A conversation with exhibition curator Rev. Arta Skuja on the LR2 program “Latvians Abroad”:
On the LR1 program “Kultūras rondo,” the guests are Bishop emerita Jāna Jēruma-Grīnberga, former pastor of the Piltene and Užava congregations, Dr. theol. Austra Reine, and exhibition curator Arta Skuja:
