Women’s Ministry Network (WMN) is a network of women and men throughout Australia who are interested in exploring ways in which women can contribute to the ministry and mission of the church, in particular the Lutheran Church of Australia.
We want to affirm the work and ministry of women in the past, encourage participation in the present and actively seek out the exciting possibilities for service in the future, including ordination.
Redevelopment:
We are currently redeveloping this website so that the resources available can be easily located. We hope it will be ready early in the new year.
Neal Nuske has written a thought provoking Open Letter to the Presidents of the LCA, the GCC and the CTICR. The letter develops the view that the work of the Holy Spirit through Word and Sacrament is neither conditional upon, nor limited by, nor made effectual by, nor validated by the gender of a pastor.
Dear Presidents, Members of the General Church Council and Commission on Theology and Inter-Church Relationships,
I support the ordination of men and women and I concur with that view expressed in CTICR Final Report 2000 which sees no scriptural or theological reason prohibiting the ordination of both men and women. For that reason I spoke at Time to Soar in Adelaide. I have also joined a Steering Committee formed in connection with All Saints, St Peters Congregation Indooroopilly. I mention this in order to be open and transparent about my personal perspective. I am an advocate for public debate on this issue Read more »
Sally Chandler delivered the keynote address at the All Saints conference in Indooroopilly, Queensland, 2/11/2012. It is reproduced here …
GREETINGS: thank you for the invitation- privilege to be invited back and an honor to give the keynote address. I congratulate Peter and those who had the courage to resist the censorship which has been invoked on this topic. It is hard to believe that our church would restrict our basic right to freedom of speech and the right to exchange ideas on what are essentially theological and human rights issues. Trying to silence the people and prohibition has never been a very successful strategy. Read more »
Today’s conversation between a four year old Princess and her dad (her mum is an ELCA pastor)
Brad: “Abbey, what do you want to be when you grow up?”
Abbey: “A pastor.”
Brad: “Why do you want to be a pastor?”
Abbey: “Because dad, I’m a GIRL.”
The hosts of reality series hosts “What Not to Wear” first got a whiff of Rev Emily Bloemker’s fashion disasters when a family member nominated her last year. Intrigued by fashion challenges for a 27-year-old single female priest, the hosts decided to give Bloemker a makeover. The program format includes secretly following and videotaping nominees for two weeks, then surprising them with a visit and offering them a $5,000 Visa debit card to buy a new wardrobe.
That was the “ambush” part of the show and Bloemker said she that, while initially clueless about what was happening, she was also conflicted about the choice.
“Part of me felt very conflicted in accepting that much money, especially when I believe in tithing, in giving of our excess to the poor,” she said. “I was really concerned about what sort of statement this might make to the world about how priests value clothing and money.”
Read more
This study guide was published in 2007, a year after the 50th Anniversary of the ordination of women in the United Methodist Church in the USA.
VATICAN CITY, JAN. 21, 2010JAN. 21, 2010
English: World English Bible - WEB
25 There are also many other things which Jesus did, which if they would all be written, I suppose that even the world itself wouldn’t have room for the books that would be written.
WP-Bible plugin (Zenit.org).- Flaminia Giovanelli, an official of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace, will be the first laywoman to serve as the department’s undersecretary.
The pontifical council announced today in a communiqué that Giovanelli, 61, will fill the post left vacant since 2006 when Bishop Frank Dewane was named to the Diocese of Venice, Florida.
“The appointment of Giovanelli,” the note said, “confirms the great trust the Church and Benedict XVI place in women. In his time, Pope John Paul II also underlined the need for a ‘fuller and meaningful participation of women in the development of society.’”
More …
.
We pray for God’s richest blessings on Heidi Smith as she prepares to take up a call as chaplain to the Immanuel Gardens Retirement Village in Buderim, Queensland. We know God has given you the skills and heart for this work, Heidi.
The Sixth General Assembly of the Fellowship of the Middle East Evangelical Churches, an association of evangelical (Anglican, Lutheran and Reformed) churches of the Middle East resolved: “The Sixth General Assembly supports the ordination of the women in our churches in the position of ordained pastor and her partnership with men as an equal partner in decision making. Therefore we call on member churches to take leading steps in this concern.” This statement followed a report by the fellowship’s theology committee, which found no biblical or theological reasons to oppose female ordination. Read more …
The Movement for the Ordination of Women in the Anglican Church in Australia (MOW) is holding an International Conference in Kincumber, NSW from 24th – 26th August 2010. Further details can be found here. “Every woman of faith is unique and will express the way in which she images God to the world in different roles and behaviours…”
In his address to the Parliament of World Religions in Melbourne, December 2009, Former US President Jimmy Carter spoke about the role of religion in discrimination and violence against women:
“It is ironic that women are now welcomed into all major professions and other positions of authority, but are branded as inferior and deprived of the equal right to serve God in positions of religious leadership. The plight of abused women is made more acceptable by the mandated subservience of women by religious leaders.
The truth is that male religious leaders have had – and still have – an option to interpret holy teachings either to exalt or subjugate women. They have, for their own selfish ends, overwhelmingly chosen the latter. Their continuing choice provides the foundation or justification for much of the pervasive persecution and abuse of women throughout the world. This is in clear violation not just of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights but also the teachings of Jesus Christ, the Apostle Paul, Moses and the prophets, Muhammad, and founders of other great religions – all of whom have called for proper and equitable treatment of all the children of God. It is time we had the courage to challenge these views and set a new course that demands equal rights for women and men, girls and boys.
At their most repugnant, the belief that women are inferior human beings in the eyes of God gives excuses to the brutal husband who beats his wife, the soldier who rapes a woman, the employer who has a lower pay scale for women employees, or parents who decide to abort a female embryo. It also costs many millions of girls and women control over their own bodies and lives, and continues to deny them fair and equal access to education, health care, employment, and influence within their own communities.”
To read the whole address, click here.
