Neither Male nor Female; The Bible, Women and the Ministry of the Church - Book by Noel C. SchultzThere is no longer Jew or Greek, there is no longer slave or free, there is no longer male or female; for all of you are one in Christ Jesus. Galatians 3:28
![]() In the 1950s Rev Dr Noel Schultz heard the distress of women (and men) after an ELCA official had taught that women were subordinate to men. After a lifetime of commitment to equality within the church (including completing a doctorate on the issue), in December 2020 his book was published by Coventry Press to help further the conversation that is still not resolved; this book is his encouragement to the LCA to recognise that both women and men are called to serve ordained ministry. Available through Coventry Press "Since women have continued to be discriminated against in the LCA, I wrote the book "Neither Male nor Female - the Bible, Women and the Ministry in the Church" which was published by Coventry Press in December 2020. It exposes the misuse of the Creation and Fall narratives, 1 Cor. 14:34-35 and 1 Tim. 2:8-15, since the final paragraph of Article VI of Thesis of Agreement was written in 1950. But it does more - it highlights the powerful declaration of Paul in Gal.3:26-29 and the social and religious implications for Jew and Greek, slave and free, male and female, since they are baptised in Christ. 'One's sexuality is not the basis on which a person can claim a position of superiority or advantage to which another is not entitled - neither in that person's relationship with God, nor in respect to another human being' (p.31). It is my hope and prayer that this publication will be a factor in moving the LCA in 2021(after decades of debate and divisision) to grant women equality with men in the church by inviting qualified and trained women to share with men in the ministry of word and sacraments." Rev Dr Noel C Schultz |
The final report of the LCA Commission on Theology and Inter-Church Relations on the ordination of womenThe 1997 General Convention of the LCA gave the Commission on Theology and Inter-Church Relations (CTICR) the task of studying the issue of the ordination of women, reporting to pastors conferences and congregations, and presenting a Final Report with recommendations to the 2000 synod. This involved the CTICR working through four stages.
Historical document on women's ordination, from ArgentinaThe December 2009 edition of the Journal of Lutheran Ethics includes an article on the Ordination of Women and the Confessions, written in 1980 as part of the deliberations of the United Evangelical Lutheran Church of Argentine, which voted to ordain women in 1981.
Mark W. Worthing:
The Concept of the Development of Doctrine and its Implications for the Debate on the Ordination of Women Roger W. Whittall:
Authority and Leadership in the Early Western Church Victor C. Pfitzner:
Paul, the Mission to Jews, and Women in the Churches |