We Don't Want to Imitate Sweden

Vija Klive

Some fear that women’s ordination will lead to the demand for same-sex marriages

[1] A woman in the pulpit is a rare sight. The official statistics state that in the Latvian Evangelical Lutheran Church (LELC) only three women pastors are serving. For 17 years women’s ordination has been suspended with the argument that “the question has not been discussed enough”. Now the Lutherans want to take the next step and fortify the ban against [women’s] ordination through the LELC Constitution.

[2] The proposal to change the Constitution came from “two deans’ districts,” but the commission that reviewed the proposal was not unanimous, and discussions continued in the Pastors’ Conference — there with a majority of the votes it was decided to prepare the appropriate changes that the LELC Synod may approve in June 2010.

[3] The LELC archbishop Jānis Vanags points out that women are not looked down upon, but worries that allowing women’s ordination might lead to future demands for liberalization, even for same-sex marriages, which is already happening in Sweden.

Unable to fight
[4] “We are powerless — if a woman pastor wants to speak out, she is ignored”, says pastor Vaira Bitēna, who was ordained in 1975. Her view is that male pastors need to do the fighting so that discrimination is not allowed to take place. “Quite many male pastors are against the ban on women’s ordination. If this norm is not embodied in the LELC Constitution, then there remains at least hope that the attitude will change at some time,” says V. Bitēna. She admits that the already-ordained women pastors [those ordained before J. Vanags’ election in 1993] are not affected or looked down upon by the Church leadership.

[5] Respect for archbishop Jānis Vanags is also expressed by pastor Sarmīte Fišere, ordained in 1989, who however stresses that J. Vanags’ negative stance towards women pastors has been indoctrinated into other male pastors. She hopes that in the secret ballot [at the Synod] the attitude will be more positive towards women.

[6] “The opposition to women’s ordination is not based on individual texts in the Bible, but rather on the Holy Scriptures’ conception of the callings of men and women to serve in the Church” — that is the official viewpoint stated by LELC. According to Juris Cālītis, docent at the University of Latvia and Anglican priest [ordained a Lutheran pastor, but ousted from the LELC because of his “liberal” views], this can mean only one thing — in the New Testament there is no clear prohibition of women’s ordination. “The direction of the LELC is contrary to Protestant churches throughout the world where a completely different tendency is evident, and even in the Roman Catholic Church discussions have begun about women’s ordination. Nevertheless the growing involvement of the country in processes taking place in Europe means that the LELC will be forced to react to global movements and after 10 years will have to revise its position,” says J. Cālītis.

[7] Not all the women evangelists think that they have to become pastors. “The door that God has opened to me is not connected to some job title, the main thing is to preach the Kingdom and the Gospel, What God has willed for me to do, I will do it.”, says the pastor substitute of the Sesava congregation Valda Grīnvalde-Šakurova, who has not been ordained as a pastor and does not desire it.

Fear of a precedent
[8] “We want to strengthen the interpretation that God has wanted only men to fill the position of pastor,” is the frank view of one of the initiators of the constitutional change Kārlis Zikmanis, senior pastor of the St. Simon’s Church in Valmiera. According to him, it has been emphasized too long that you have to be a pastor to serve in the Church. There are many ways to serve. “This is not to judge another type of service as something lower.”

[9] Since being elected, LELC archbishop J. Vanags has not hidden his negative attitude towards the ordaining of women. He hasn’t changed his mind, but still thinks that a broad discussion is necessary, but there is little time, therefore he voted against putting a ban on women’s ordination in the LELC Constitution. “You must understand that the practice of women’s ordination did not begin as a theological idea. It started to happen in 1957-1958 in Sweden in subjection to government pressure, in order to obey the laws regarding equal rights for women and men. It is important to understand that my objections are not linked with the judgment of women’s abilities, but with the method used to support this practice. There are two approaches. The first, which we uphold, is the [belief] that the entire Bible is the will of God. The second, which is cultivated in the West, is that God’s will is found in the Bible, but every reader has to find this for himself [or herself]. Women’s ordination is an issue that seems very positive and where you cannot perceive anything bad, but the next steps are destructive and dangerous. And again it is Sweden which with the same arguments goes further and already permits church marriages for same-sex couples. Therefore, I view that this method is destructive and dangerous for the Church,” J. Vanags pointed out.

[10] During the recent meeting of Lutheran bishops from the Baltic States an announcement was made that expressed alarm that “the decisions to recognize marriages of same-sex partners and to put them on an equal footing with the marriage between a man and a woman, as well as to ordain as pastors or bishops persons who are openly living in homosexual relationships are the tendencies that are tearing apart Christian fellowship.” It was emphasized that today’s challenges call for a firm stance founded on eternal truths and values.

Atis Rozentāls reporting (translation by Vija Klive)