From
Living Theology in the Metropolitan Chicago Synod
Evangelical Lutheran Church In America
Volume 1, Number 5
Advent 1996
Women in the Church
Voices
in the Wilderness:
Women
and the Gospel
Advent is
a good time to lift up some issues of women in the church. Our mothers in the faith,
Elizabeth and Mary, are spotlighted in this season of blue hope. It’s the only
time of the church year that the images of pregnancy, labor, and birth are
front and center without apology.
As issue
editors we had the difficult task of discerning the focus of such a broad
topic, deciding how to gather a variety of voices, and developing a brief
collection worthy of publication. We know that on the pages that follow are
just a sampling of issues, viewpoints, celebrations, and concerns among women and
men in the Metro Chicago Synod. The purpose of this journal is to open
discussion, not to try to say it all.
Our
greatest delight was the excitement our writers had for putting their ideas on
paper. Each one asked agreed to write for this issue enthusiastically and each
reported that they found themselves putting ideas together as soon as we talked
to them. This is a clear signal that there is much passion about issues of
gender and the church among our ordained and lay members. We hope that through
this sampling you will discover some resources around these issues that you can
use in the future.
We are
grateful to all our writers. We hope you enjoy Julie Ryan’s writing style. You
will probably want to read her article several times to glean all of the
insights it contains. Jan Wiersma-Halverson leads us a little more deeply into
the scriptures and women’s interpretation. Thanks to Bruce Pangborn for
agreeing to offer a male perspective and some personal reflections. Shirley
Wilson-Sigler was excited and challenged by the assignment to offer an
African-American woman’s perspective. Catherine McVey shares some of the
experiences of women in one congregation and extends a challenge to other
congregations.
One of the causes for fear and trembling in approaching this broad subject of women and the church is the lack of unity across races and cultures. What many men may not appreciate is the divergence among women on what the important issues are or should be. A small example is that of inclusive language. While gender-neutral language for persons and for God is often a burning passion for many white feminists, black women often consider it to be inconsequential. Understanding why this is so requires much dialogue.
ince 1992 a dialog group composed of women of
several cultures has met at the Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago. They
met together recently to talk about their experiences in engaging in this
dialogue across races and traditions. They graciously agreed to record and
transcribe for us over twelve pages of their conversations. We thank them for
their efforts and have excerpted several comments that we hope will contribute
to the dialogue among women and men.
We must
continue to talk in depth across gender and race lines. As we await the hope
that is in us, let us be bold enough to risk speaking the truth in love . . . let’s
talk!
Mary D. Pellauer
Theologian and Quilt Maker
Mary W. Anderson
Pastor, St. Paul, Evanston