1) The Assembly calls upon the LWF Communion Office to organize a process to study experiences of women in the ordained ministry in order to remove barriers and to affirm the way forward as adopted at the 2016 Council meeting in Wittenberg:
While also acknowledging that not all member churches are at the same point on the journey towards women in ordained ministry - that some member churches are still moving toward full inclusion and participation of women - we are convinced that the scriptural witness, in its breadth and scope, honors the equality of all created in God’s image and recognizes the gifts of all in the same Spirit to those baptized into the new creation.…
In the church the equality of women and men is expressed and lived out as a sign of God’s reign in this world. Therefore, no discrimination of women and men is conceivable in the life of the church. Any kind of discrimination in the way women participate in the ministry of the church (including ordination) harms the fulfillment of the mission of the church in the world, as it is contrary to the nature of God’s reign….
We recall the resolution at our last Assembly in Stuttgart for our member churches to commit “…to genuine, practical, and effective implementation of LWF policies and decisions regarding the full participation of women in the life of the church – and the LWF communion – as well as in society.”
2) The process for this study would follow this suggested timeline:
- An initial consultative group to meet and discuss this matter prior to the end of 2018;
- A working group to be appointed and functional by 2019; and
- The working group to release and publicize an initial report by 2020.