Church in America, ordained the fi rst women to be pastors in the U.S. T e LCA struggled with this deci- sion and worked to approach it from many angles, both theological and social. But not everyone was pleased. As one writer to the
editor of the denominational magazine wrote in 1970: “How many women would vote for a woman pastor and how many women would have the time to devote to being pastors? Very few. We’re too busy being women.” Women, it seemed, were not fi t to be pastors. Others in 1970 challenged such thinking: “Only a woman can know the feeling of having been born into a household where sons were desired above all. In many households daughters are still second class, not to be treated seriously.” In 2013 similarly confl icting ideas about
what it means to be human and to be a man or a woman remain within the ELCA and within the U.S. Church and society are intertwined. Ida Bierwin died in 2006, yet the opportunities to contribute to kairos moments remain strong. T roughout the history of the ELCA
MICHAEL D. WATSON
and its predeccesors, this church has made social statements as a way of participating in national conversations and hastening such moments. Social statements are formed aſt er years of study and discussion. Considering the grave problems women and girls experience worldwide, we have no time to lose to contribute
to this kairos moment.
“suffi cient” number of beatings. It took until 1994 for the Violence Against Women
Act to pass. T e act includes measures to strengthen prosecutions of abusers and protection for survivors. It was another kairos moment in history. More than 130 years aſt er Mill published his argument, the act passed. Ida Bierwin was 86. But this kairos moment had problems. T e bill was
marked by racism and heterosexism. It originally con- tained provisions to account for racial, ethnic and other disparities in the protection of women from violence. New protective provisions based on immigration status, sexual identity and tribal status were introduced in 2013. T ere was resistance. Not all lawmakers wanted to safeguard all women. Some women, it seemed, didn’t deserve to be safe. T e ELCA also has a history of kairos moments. When Ida Bierwin was 62, its predecessor, the Lutheran
18
www.thelutheran.org
What it means to be human Clearly, there is pain in the body. Bodies of fl esh and blood, bodies of life and breath are in pain. As the body of Christ, God calls us to tend to the body. We are called to tend to what causes pain among so many people. Each of the kairos moments described here had a thought-system guiding it. Sometimes it’s hard work to think about our thought-systems. But theol- ogy and society might be more intertwined than we usually think. How we think about what it means to be human and how we act are connected. By having the 2019 Churchwide Assembly consider
a social statement on women and justice, the ELCA holds an opportunity to address the inadequacies of too-easily accepted ways of thinking about humanity that contribute to global gender-based problems. For example, according to published reports: • Women possess about 1 percent of worldwide wealth.
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52
