From the Swede Files:
In the LCMS, we now have an officially sanctioned organization called the Women’s Leadership Insitute. In a newsletter about their spring/summer conference, held back in April, you’ll find the following:
Women are the very lifeblood of the church. Their leadership gifts in every aspect of the work of the church are needed today more than ever before, the Rev. Dr. Paul L. Maier emphasized in his two keynote addresses at the conference .
Speaking first on ¯Women Leaders in the New Testament and the Early Church, Maier, who is 2nd Vice President of the LCMS and professor of Ancient History at Western Michigan University, reviewed the ¯whole cavalcade of women leaders who ¯spill out from the pages of the Old and New Testaments.
Precedents set both in the New Testament and the first centuries of the church are enormously important for the subsequent history of women’s leadership in Christianity, he continued. Despite the examples of women like Huldah, Deborah, Mary, Blandina, Paula, Helena and dozens of others, Maier noted that "Christianity has had a checkered record when it comes to involving women in the life of the church. One reason for this, he said, is that the church is also set in society, a society that did not even give women a right to vote in America until the 1920s!
It’s been a long road, Maier admitted in his second talk, ¯How Women Can Use Their Leadership Gifts in the LCMS, but progress has been made. Today ¯women may vote and hold any office in the church except that of the ordained ministry.
You can find this article at: http://www.wlicuw.org/Portals/wli/docs/Public/WLI_E-Letter_Spring_2008[1].pdf
Worth noting also is one of the presentersthe WLI conference held in June, a woman named Dr. Marva Dawn. Dr. Dawn’s presentation was “Empowered through Scripture for Leadership. For those unconvinced that this has anything to do with women’s ordination, a quick visit to Dr. Dawn's official website is recommended The site says she is “a popular preacher and speaker for people of all ages.” She is also the co-author of the book, “The Unnecessary Pastor: Rediscovering the Call.”
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