LCMS Convention Workbook St. Louis, Missouri — 2001, Page 192

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192 THEOLOGY AND CHURCH RELATIONS

3-109

To Study Other Lutheran Church Materials
re Ordination of Women

WuHereaS, A resolution to begin calling and ordaining women
to the pastoral office received a majority of votes at the 2000 con-
vention of the Lutheran Church of Australia but failed to pass be-
cause it lacked the necessary two-thirds majority; and

WHEREAS, This action came after several years of careful
church-wide study of al] aspects of the question; and

WHEREAS, The Independent Lutheran Church of Germany
(SELK) has recently announced that it plans to undertake an inten-
sive church-wide study of the same question; and

WHEREAS, Many members of the LCMS have an interest both in
understanding the thinking of other confessional Lutheran church
bodies, as well as the various arguments on both sides of this major
contemporary issue; and

WHEREAS, It 1s customary for partner churches to share study
materials with each other; therefore be it

Resolved, That the President of the Synod and the CTCR re-
quest the officers of our Australian and German partner churches to
share with the LCMS their study materials and other pertinent in-
formation on their study process of this issue; and be it further

Resolved, That the LCMS President and CTCR make this in-
formation and material available at the earliest possible date to the
congregations and all other interested parties of the LCMS; and be
it finally

Resolved, That the LCMS encourage its congregations, pastors,
conferences, faculties, and others to give careful study to these ma-
terials and the issues they address and to share the results of their
studies with each other.

Concordia, Kirkwood, MO, Circuit 0, Atlantic District

3-110

To Advocate Lutheran Church of Australia
Approach re Ordination of Women
WuerEas, The Lutheran Church of Australia is seriously debat-

ing the theological question of ordaining women in a spirit of open
dialogue; and

WHEREAS, In so doing they demonstrate a model of church-
manship and Christian charity; and

WHEREAS, In spite of disagreement the discussion continues
without drawing battle lines; and

WHEREAS, Debate on the issue is conducted in a spirit of unity;
and

WHEREAS, Arguments that appeal to fear of change, fear of di-
vision of the church, or fear of an crosion of biblical authority are
being avoided; therefore be it

Resolved, That the President of The Lutheran Church—Mis-
souri Synod express regard for the example set by the Lutheran
Church of Australia; and be it further

Resolved, That a similar dialogue begin within The Lutheran
Church—Missouri Synod during the next triennium.

Faith
Seaside, OR

3-111

To Appoint Task Force to Prepare Study
on Ordination of Women

WHEREAS, The LCMS has never permitted women to be or-
dained to the office of pastor; and

WHEREAS, Many other Christian and even Lutheran denomina-
tions have for some years ordained women to the pastoral ministry;
and

2001 Convention Workbook

WHEREAS, The Synod has reacted to this practice of the ordina-
tion of women to the pastoral office by other Christian and even
Lutheran denominations by asserting that such a practice is con-
trary to the Scriptures; and

WhHerREAS, The Synod has relied heavily (though not exclu-
sively) on passages such as | Cor. 14:34-35 and | Tim. 2:11-12,
and on a theory of systematic theology known as “the order of cre-
ation,” derived from ] Cor. 11:1ff. and other passages of Scripture;
and

WHEREAS, Some of the same arguments and same passages used
today against the ordination of women were used in the history of
our Synod years ago against women’s suffrage, in which the Synod
concluded that women may not vote in the voters assembly; and

WHEREAS, The Synod reversed its earlier position and reinter-
preted these passages, concluding that it was not unscriptural for
women to vote in the voters assembly of the congregation; and

Wurereas, A growing number of theologians, pastors, and
laypeople within the Synod believe that we stil] have not inter-
preted these passages correctly, but that they should again be re-
visited and reconsidered; and

WHEREAS, The subject of “the ordination of women” is not ad-
dressed as a specific topic in the Lutheran confessional writings as
contained in the Book of Concord; and

Wrereas, Limiting the office of pastor to males only is not an
article of faith according to any of the ancient ecumenical creeds:
Apostles’, Nicene, or Athanasian; and

Wuereas, The last several synodical conventions of the Synod
have not seriously studied or discussed the issue, but have been
content to reaffirm our traditional interpretations; and

WHEREAS, There are a number of men and women in our Synod
who are theologically trained and who would be capable of pre-
senting the case for a reconsideration of the issue; and

Wuereas, At least some of the data, not all, that some faithful
Missouri Synod members claim should be included in the discus-
sion are the following:

|. The archaeological evidence that women were ordained in
the earliest centuries of the church (e.g., episcopal/bishop
Theodora, presbyter Leta, et al.).

2. The documentary evidence in the Vatican that some bishops
ordered that such ordinations be stopped, which presupposes that
women were being ordained in some parts of the church.

3. The interpretation that passages used by our Synod to sup-
port a biblical ban on women’s ordination do not really address the
issue of the pastoral office, but are addressed to other issues, such
as Paul’s concern for order, not chaos, in worship.

4. The fact that women could and did exercise authority over
men, such as Deborah, judge of Israel for 40 years, and that the
Greck term translated as “to have authority” in | Tim. 2:12 is not
exousia, legitimate authority, as exercised by Deborah, but is au-
thentein, a hapax (once used term) in the New Testament that has
nothing to do with legitimate authority.

5. The fact that Miriam is referred to as a leader of the Exodus
in Micah 6:4.

6. The opinion, expressed as early as the fifth century. by
Chrysostom, and endorsed by commentators on Romans such as
Cranfield and others, that the names in Rom. 16:7 should be “An-
dronicus and Junia (a female name, widely attested as common in
the Greco-Roman world)” and not “Andronicus and Junius (a male
name, unknown outside of the New Testament)” to the effect that a
woman, Junia, was an apostle.

7. The opinion that the term used to describe Phoebe in Rom.
16:3, prostatis, is the noun form of a verb used often in passages
describing “bishops,” and that the prostatis is leader, one who lit-
erally “stands in front,” and not merely a helper or benefactor.

8. The questioning of the concept “order of creation” as a ratio-
nal deduction, and not a clear Bible teaching.

9. That even if one accepts the concept of an “order of creation”
the Bible teaches an equality of genders in Gen. 1:26—28 and that