ing for assistance. Scholars today describe Katie
not just as a housewife but as the manager of a midsized business. To feed a household consisting of family, student boarders and frequent guests, she purchased land, raised crops and livestock, made beer and wine, and handled all the household finances. Te seminar participants are
inspired by Katie’s strength and accomplishments, but they don’t see her as unique. Julinda Sipayung, a pastor from Indonesia, said, “Tis is just like the women in our country. When the men don’t make enough money to provide for the family, the women go out to work too.” Darwita Purba, a pastor from
India, agreed, as do participants from Tanzania and Gambia. Despite tradi- tional beliefs that women belong in the home rather than the workplace, these women’s experiences confirm the reality that, in practice, the line between domestic and economic responsibilities is oſten blurred. Katie was such a good provider
that Luther chose to leave every- thing to her in his will, a move that was unheard of at a time when it was assumed that a widow needed a guardian to act on her behalf. While the authorities, including Luther’s friends, refused to honor his wishes, Luther’s desire to make his wife his heir is remarkable. We can also take inspiration from
Katharina Schütz Zell, another 16th- century woman. Even as a child she believed a woman could live a holy Christian life without joining a convent. At first Katharina opted to live as a single woman in her family home. Later she chose to marry her pastor, Matthias Zell, who was one of the first preachers of reform in Strasbourg, a city on the border between Germany and France. But Schütz Zell wasn’t the typical pastor’s wife since much of her min-
‘We as Christians should above all not be afraid of standing up for our beliefs.’
German Chancellor Angela Merkel was raised as a Lutheran pastor’s daughter in the former East Germany. Merkel has been ranked by Forbes as one of the most powerful women in the world for nine of the last 10 years.
istry took place outside the home. She was incredibly active in social ministry: visiting the sick and impris- oned and arranging for housing and support for hundreds of refugees. For her this wasn’t just a personal expres- sion of her faith but a public ministry of the church. Although a laywoman, her husband referred to her as his assistant minister. Schütz Zell also wrote exten-
sively, even corresponding with Luther. One of her earliest published
All Christians, including women, had the respon- sibility to stand up for
the truth and defend their neighbors from slander.
Keeping silence in the face of injustice, she wrote, wasn’t acceptable.
writings was a defense of the mar- riage of pastors. Zell’s marriage at a time when priests were required to remain celibate had prompted gos- sip and threatened to undermine the credibility of his preaching. Schütz Zell insisted that she wasn’t writing as a wife in defense of her husband but as a Christian in defense of another Christian. All Christians, including women, had the respon- sibility to stand up for the truth and defend their neighbors from slander. Keeping silence in the face of injus- tice, she wrote, wasn’t acceptable. By today’s standards, Schütz Zell’s
theology is classified as Reformed rather than Lutheran, but she resisted such labels. To her mind, all Protestants were working together for reform. A shared commitment to the gospel and the authority of the Scriptures was more important to her than doctrinal differences.
October 2015 19
PHOTO BY ALEPH
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