Let’s Include Women in the Pastoral Office

Karl Wyneken Editorial Note: Can we talk? Can we talk about how the Bible is to be interpreted with regard to women’s ordination? In Germany the Selbständige Evangelisch-Lutherische Kirche (SELK) has had a vigorous open discussion of the issue, as has the Lutheran Church of Australia (LCA). Karl Wyneken sought to raise the issue in…
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“…because it is a woman….”

Arnold Voigt The order of creation is the keystone argument used in The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod (LCMS) for understanding the relationship of men and women as well as denying women opportunity for ordination to the pastoral ministry. The seeds of this argument and its application go back in the history of Missouri, coming out of…
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For the Record

Matthew Becker Back in the spring of 2011 an LCMS pastor forwarded to me an email that he had sent to his district president (English) and the President of the Synod (Pr. Matthew Harrison), but not to my district president (Northwest). In this email the pastor accused me of publicly teaching false doctrine. This individual,…
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Theses on Women in the Church – Part One

Arnold J. Voigt (Revised October 1999) The following contains resources and commentary in dialogue with Women in the Church: Scriptural Principles and Ecclesial Practice, A Report of the Commission on Theology and Church Relations of the Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod (St. Louis: CTCR, September 1985). Introduction The question of women’s participation in the life, structure, and…
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The Priesthood of ALL the Baptized

The Priesthood of ALL the Baptized1 By Luther Engelbrecht2             As the Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod struggles with proposals with regard to its corporate structure, there is a bigger challenge confronting the church body. This is the need for a deeper understanding and more effective response to God’s will and way regarding “who” we are and…
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Rites and Wrongs in God’s Lifetime

By Mary Todd I have a number of friends who were quite sure that I would leave the Missouri Synod as soon as I finished my dissertation a decade ago. My work examined the synod’s identity over its 150-plus-year history through the lenses of authority and gender and used the issue of the service of…
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God’s Gifting

By Carol Schmidt The following is a sermon by LCMS pastor, Stephanie Zimmerman. She is perhaps your great-granddaughter, or a young woman who is presently studying at one of the Concordias. She is an ordained LCMS pastor who is preaching on some future Pentecost Sunday. And this is one of many such sermons being preached…
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Informal Reflections on Women Pastors and Theologians

By Matthew Becker Those few Christians from previous centuries who appealed to Scripture to argue against the institution of slavery in Britain and the United States, and who opposed racial inequality, faced a difficult challenge. After all, there are few biblical texts that oppose slavery or that support liberal, egalitarian principles, and there are many…
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An Argument for Women Pastors and Theologians

By Matthew Becker For many Christian church communities today, the practice of women teaching theology in a university or seminary is not an issue.  The largest Christian denomination in the world, the Roman Catholic Church, has allowed this practice for many years.  The number of female teachers of theology in Roman Catholic and Protestant universities and seminaries…
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