A recent conference in Liepaja “Women’s Ordination – for and against” discussed the matter, reports “Sieviesuordinacija.lv”. The church’s opposition to the ordination of women can be used to justify discrimination against women. When this is linked with other verses in the Bible, which express that women must obey men, that Eve is to blame for the fall, etc., then all ideological prerequisites are in place to defend, support or implement discrimination and violence against women. In Latvian society this is a dangerous signal.
The European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights study “Violence against women: EU-wide survey” show that every day in Latvia, more than 100 women suffer from domestic violence. The study data shows that during their lifetime, an average of 22 % of women in the EU member states experienced physical and/or sexual violence from a current or former partner, while for Latvian women this figure goes up to 32%, corresponding to 270,000 women aged 15 to 75.

Ieva Graufelde, a pastor with the responsibilities of a dean, serving in Sweden, speaks out in favour of the ordination of women: “I support people who have received God’s call, heard the voice of God and respond by saying “Here I am, send me!” We are called by God to acknowledge and support our fellow humans. The women perspective is important because it enriches our understanding of the scriptures. A woman’s voice is as important as a child’s or a man’s. Both genders are required to create a whole. I support women’s ordination, because from my own experience I have seen how women work. Their service is a unique contribution which enriches the working of the Church in all areas.”

Agrita Staško serves two parishes acting in her role as a pastor. “No, I am not ordained. From experience I can say that women serving in churches can bring great blessings. Women are able to both teach and preach the gospel. In pastoral care, they are more attentive, able to listen and comfort. Many people outside of the church acknowledge, that when they are experiencing the complexities of life, they prefer to choose a woman as spiritual caregiver,” Staško explains. “The question of service is a matter of being called, so let us remain in humility at the feet of Christ, hoping and waiting for him.”

Dr. Ilze Ķezbere-Härle is a full-time spiritual carer at a senior’s residence in Stuttgart, Munich, the pastor in charge of the Latvian congregation in Munich and a translator of theological literature. “I support the ordination of women,” says the pastor. “Because God’s Holy Spirit is like the wind, which blows wherever it pleases (John 3:8). He is not subject to restrictions on either gender or nationality, if he calls someone to preach and teach and to help manage the work of the church.”

Musician and theologian Una Stroda has carefully studied and analysed the topic of women in the priesthood. “The Pontifical Biblical Commission, which was given the task of investigating what the Scripture says on the matter, came to this conclusion: on the basis of the New Testament alone, it is impossible to safely and with confidence say that women should be denied the priesthood.
Therefore, I’m wondering why anyone still insists that there are articles prohibiting the ordination of women, since even the Catholic Church, which is one of the severest deniers of women’s ordination, does not believe that the ban can be justified by Scripture,” expresses Stroda with amazement.
“Many debaters continue to repeat that the scriptures “clearly state” that women should keep quiet in church and they are not allowed to teach. The statement that the scriptures are always “clear and unequivocal” or that the articles “say” something is quite an absurd assertion,” says the theologian. “If the scriptures “speak” using clear language, then everybody should understand them in the same way, but this is not the case. The scriptures themselves do not say anything at all and are physically unable to speak. We are the ones who open these writings, read them, try to understand and interpret them. We come to the scriptures with pre-existing beliefs, which we are looking for approval for, rather than the other way round.”

Full-time church pastor at the Autonomous Evangelical Lutheran Church Varis Bitenieks supports the ordination of women. “Refusing to ordinate women mean waiving Martin Luther’s theology of all believers being part of one body. The main duty of a Lutheran pastor, whether male or female. is to preach the word of God and distribute the sacraments. This follows from the Augsburg Confession and Luther’s “one body” theology. If any of the Lutheran Churches refuses to ordain women, it is rejecting its foundations- Lutheran theology, pastoral work and loving your fellow humans, on which all Evangelical Lutheran Churches in the world are based,” says the pastor.

“Then this “Church” comes along and says that there is something more important than Lutheran theology and service to your fellow human. It is alien to Lutheran theology. If I do not support women’s ordination, I oppose the evangelical church, and stand against its dogma and systematic theology, which I have studied at both Latvian and Heidelberg universities. Not to ordinate a woman means to discriminate against her, and it’s unconstitutional. It is against the Constitution of the Latvian Republic and European human rights,” says Bitenieks categorically.

“Discussions on the ordination of women certainly have their own psychological and socio-economic reasons, and the issue of the ordination of women is full of drama with a battle for biblical authority and a place of recognition in the church,” says Indulis Paičs, a pastor for Riga’s Lutheran church.
“If we believe that the Apostle Paul in his letters clearly and definitely does not allow the ordination of women, then practicing this means openly rebelling against the Bible and the Spirit who inspired it! Without the scriptures we have no secure access to Christ, if we lack faith in this most basic and unifying element! By way of derogation from the authority of the scriptures, we are losing the opportunity to build a real church of Christ, “says the pastor.
“Many feel that sacrificing written authority for women’s ordination is too expensive a price to pay for “going with the times”. In regards to such a perspective, I can understand the decisive events of 1993 when the Evangelical Lutheran Synod elected our current archbishop. It was a conscious choice, knowing his position on this issue,” concludes Indulis Paičs. “The archbishop had warned the Synod about his viewpoint and intention to establish a complete moratorium on the ordination of women. Reason: any practice of the church which is contrary to the Bible’s command, should not be allowed to be continued. This is a clear, understandable position, which was openly expressed.”
“The idea that the Bible should be the only benchmark for everything that is happening in the Church, is well-founded both in the scriptures themselves and the Lutheran confessional documents.”

World-wide there are churches that do not ordinate women, and out of respect for the church theologians, we must conclude that we really can attribute to the scriptures the fact that women’s ordination seems impossible, concludes Pastor Paičs. “On the other hand – there are also churches, which will ordain women, which have sought and found a justification for it in the scriptures.”
“First of all, it should be noted that nowhere in the holy scriptures does a direct text command:” Women should not be ordained!”,” says Pastor Paice. “This is completely understandable for historical reasons – during the creation of the New Testament understanding of spiritual positions had not yet been fully developed, and the same Latin word for “ordination” doesn’t appear in the Greek text.”
“At the same time, this fact signals that for the issue of women’s ordination, we use the biblical text’s interpreted form. Essentially, the text is interpreted as always, but in this case it is also recognized by those theologians that Paul’s letters express a clear prohibition of women from the vicarage – “talking” (1. Corinthians. 14) or “remaining quiet”(1.Timothy.2) should be understood in the context of the pastor’s office, rather than a universal ban for women to speak in any church or participate in social life,” explains the pastor.

More than 20 years ago Archbishop Janis Vanags took office, and since then no women have been ordained by the ELCL. “I believe and agree with the scriptural injunctions and the apostles’ doctrine, which is that the position of pastor in the church is not intended for women,” the archbishop acknowledged in a recent interview with “ir.lv”.
Article 133 of the ELCL’s Constitution stipulates that ordination can be sought by anyone who has prepared for the post of minister in accordance with the ELCL, and has been called by God. However, the proposal presented by the archbishop and the conference suggested a different wording, which the Synod will discuss at the beginning of June. The aim is to make adjustments to prevent the ordination of women, namely: “Ordination to a position in the clergy may be sought by a man who has received the call of God and the Church, and is prepared for the post in accordance with ELCL procedures.”

Tlaxcala’s note
Lutheranism is the leading faith in Latvia, with a quarter of the country’s 2.4 million population counted by the church as active members. There are two Lutheran churches, the LELB and the Latvian Evangelical Lutheran Church Abroad (LELCA, previously: Evangelical Lutheran Church of Latvia in Exile – LELBĀL) formed during and after Second World War as many Latvian Lutherans were forced to go into exile. Still now there are two parts of one Church and two archbishops for Latvian Lutherans. The fragile hope of reunification of LELB and LELCA (which has its own Archbishop, the Most Revd Lauma Zušēvica [Milwaukee]) was dealt a blow by this “no women” decision. LELBĀL does recognize women ordination. LELBĀL former archbishop Rozītis ordained women pastors who serve in the Latvian Lutherans churches abroad. In past 20 years many of them came from Latvia and were forced into exile to fulfil their calling as ministers, joining other women pastors born abroad In Kalamazoo (Michigan) for instance Rev. Aija Graham was elected by the congregation pastor of the Latvian Evangelical Lutheran United Church in 2014.

 

• APPEAL of the Association of Latvian Lutheran Women Theologians to the participants of the Pastors Conference of the Latvian Evangelical Lutheran Church on October 28, 2015
• A brief history of women ordination in Latvia (2015 conference material)
•  Evangelical Lutheran Church of Latvia takes its own course towards male-only ordination