Introduction

Ursel Rosenhäger

The title, "Walk, my sister," is taken from a poem by Osmundo Ponce, a Guatemalan pastor and teacher living in Colombia. He dedicated this poem to "his sisters," whom he had come to know during a consultation on the ordination of women held from April 30 through May 5, 1992 at the John Knox Center in Geneva. The consultation gathered twenty people, among them four men, from sixteen different countries.

The conversations during this consultation revealed again that, although the issue of women's ordination has different colours in every context, there are basic common factors which still hinder the full participation of women in churches. What women need most today is to be encouraged to "walk", to discover our own ways of living and working in the church!

As Bärbel von Wartenberg-Potter¹ points out, women have been wearing the small chinese shoes too long. Now we start unbinding our feet, which were bound for hundreds of years. Among sisters we loosen the binds - and walk!

In recent years more and more women from all over the world are discovering their potential to "walk". This is not an easy process and is often painful because our feet have been "bound" for many years. In China the feet of women were literally bound for hundreds of years, as the comment from Bärbel von Wartenberg-Potter reminds us. In most other societies women have been bound, repeatedly being told that they can't move and act independently. Slowly women have begun to question whether this is a God-given fact and are taking steps in order to free ourselves from this state of oppression. The powerful biblical story of Jesus healing the "crippled women" (Luke 13: 10-17) speaks to this experience. She had been unable to stand up straight for a long time but then Jesus healed her. This story speaks to women today saying: stand up straight - and walk! Women and other marginalized groups have discovered the gospel as a source of liberation and encouragement for their lives.

This booklet is intended to encourage steps towards women's ordination. It presents studies on the different aspects of women's ordination as discussion material. The papers were originally presented at the previously-mentioned consultation in Geneva. The consultation and this booklet are the fruit of the women's ordination project, created in response to the recommendation of the 22nd General Council of the WARC (Seoul, August 1989) "that all WARC member churches who do not yet ordain women seriously reconsider their position in the light of the scriptural declaration of the oneness of women and men in Jesus Christ" (Galatians 3:28).²

Affirmation

The experience of the men and women at the consultation reflected varied steps towards the full community of women and men in the church. Differences of culture, tradition and belief were apparent. Yet despite the variety of views and experiences, the consultation participants found much on which they agreed with regard to the significance of the ordination of women and the biblical basis for this act. These affirmations were articulated in a statement A New Community: Affirmations on the Ordination of Women which is found in the opening section of this book.

Biblical steps

The ordination of women is one aspect of the rising awareness of the community of women and men in the church. It is one step towards that end. Women and men, created in the image of God (Genesis 1:27) have the same responsibility and potential to be steward's of God's creation. The admission of women to the full ministry of word and sacrament is a recognition of the responsibility of both women and men for church and society.

The biblical affirmations and the Bible studies in the second section consider the biblical witness as a whole. Far too often, passages from the Bible are singled out to justify a certain conviction. Some passages of the Bible have been used repeatedly as weapons against the full participation of women in religious life. Furthermore there is an unfruitful debate whether ordination is biblically mandated or a later historical development. This booklet does not dwell on this debate. But it does affirm that throughout the Bible witness is found of women's active participation in God's mission on earth. In recent years women have rediscovered all the stories of women around Jesus and researched the biblical witness to women's participation in the early Christian church. It is clear that women and men are called by the Holy Spirit to all the ministries of the church mentioned in the Bible.

Theology, ecclesiology and vocation

The papers in the third section recognize that ordination is a community event. The vocation of an individual person is acknowledged by the community after she or he has completed theological training. Ordination is not a goal unto itself. Rather it opens a process of living and working in a community of believers according to Jesus' example. 1 Corinthians 12 speaks of the church as the body of Christ. In this image, all parts of the body are important and interdependent, no one can claim to be more important than another. If one part of the body suffers, the whole body suffers.

When I speak of the barriers to the ordination of women, some men ask me why as an ordained woman, I complain. It is true that I am privileged to come from a context in which I could receive a good education and theological training which allowed me to pursue my vocation. So why do I "complain"?. I cannot keep silent as long as I see sisters in the world suffering because the church denies them their right to follow their vocation. The ordination of women goes to the heart of ecclesiology and challenges prevailing church structures. This applies not only to churches which do not yet ordain women, but to all of our churches.

When I started to work with the World Alliance in 1989 it never occurred to me that there was any problem with the ordination of women in Reformed, Presbyterian, Congregational and United Churches. I assumed that in these churches the concept of the "priesthood of all believers" plays a very important role and that most of their synodical structures allow and encourage the participation of all people. I soon discovered that 25% of the WARC member churches do not yet admit women to the full ministry of word and sacrament. The explanations are manifold, but it is striking that many of the answers refer to the structure of the church. Although we have synodical structures and pretend in our teaching and preaching that everyone is important, our churches are hierarchial, and men often unconsciously consider themselves to be at the top. If churches are serious about including women and other marginalized groups, their structures must incorporate more mutuality and partnership. Again, this statement applies to all churches. Even women in churches which ordain women say there is still a long way to go before we realize a true community of women and men in the church.

One theological question, not explicitly addressed in this booklet is that of God image and inclusive language. Language and images reflect reality and have the power to change it. Patricia Remy, pastor in Aesch-Pfeffingen, Switzerland, tells a story of how perception of God can change. During a religion class of eight graders, an age notoriously resistant to religious discussions, she was delighted when Erich experienced a moment of veritable illumination: "Pastor", he exclaimed, "if you as a woman can be a minister, well... then ... God could be a woman." This is but one demonstration that the issue of God image and inclusive language is deeply bound to the consultation issue of women's ordination.³ Many references were made to this during the consultation in Geneva, but we never went into a deeper discussion. Obviously this topic raises a lot of resistance and anxieties because it touches the roots of our religious experiences and convictions.

Historical research

One argument often used to oppose the ordination of women is that "never in the history of our churches, have women been in leadership roles." Historical research, such as that offered by Jane Dempsey Douglass in the fourth section, indicates the contrary. Women like Phoebe (Romans 16:2), Junia (Romans 16:7) and Prisca (Acts 21:9) have played important roles as leaders in early Christian churches. As the church became institutionalized and established patriarchal structures, the stories of these women were forgotten until one no longer could imagine they played important roles. This lack of memory or imagination even influenced the transcription of the Bible. That is why the apostle Junia in Romans 16:7 appears in most of our Bibles as Junias, a man.⁴ Similarly the deacon Phoebe, who was clearly a leading figure in the church of Cenchreae is portrayed in commentaries as a deaconess.⁵ Jane Dempsey Douglass' paper points to other examples of leading women in the later history of our churches. These too are stories of women who have been forgotten. This contribution challenges us to discover the history of women in our own context and church.

Culture and tradition

The fifth section offers reflections from specific contexts, including the Cameroon, Senegal, Taiwan, Colombia, Egypt and Lebanon. As a whole they pay respect to the fact that specific cultures and traditions support or hinder women's participation in different ways. But as Jana and Milan Opocensky remind us in the concluding section on the partnership of women and men, our final loyalty as Christians is to Jesus Christ who clearly gave his message of liberation to all people, beyond the barriers of culture, race, gender or nationality.

Moving on

The work on this project has been exciting. It was a special delight to discover sisters and bothers who are walking on the same road,sharing similar dreams and visions.

This study booklet is a common venture. It reflects the thoughts of people who, although all of the Reformed family, come from different background and cultures. Consequently it reflects different approaches to the ordination of women. Each small road leads in the same direction toward the vision for a more inclusive community in the church. We hope the papers will stimulate discussion and motivate many more people to join us in the journey. There is still a long way to go in realizing a new community in the church!

Geneva, October 1992

Notes