Latvian Lutheran Church Forbids Ordination of Women

The Latvian Evangelical Lutheran Church (LELB/ELCL), member of both the Lutheran World Federation and the International Lutheran Council, has just altered its constitution to officially ban the ordination of women. This was accomplished despite media opposition in the run-up to the vote.

No women have been ordained in Latvia since Archbishop Janis Vanags banned their ordination shortly after his election in early 1994. Prior to his election, only nine women were ordained.

From the Baltic Times: Latvian Lutheran church officially bans women's ordination

The Synod, the highest governing body of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Latvia (ELCL) meeting every three years, on Friday amended the church rules, officially establishing that only men can seek ordination as priests.

According to BNS sources, the Synod approved amendments with 77 per cent of votes, only slightly above the 75 per cent threshold for such important decision.

The church rules used to say that "anyone who according to the regulations set by the ELCL is called by God and trained for ministry can seek ordination" but now they have been amended and state that "any male candidate, who according to the regulations set by the ELCL is called by God and trained for the ministry, can seek ordination."

The Evangelical Lutheran Church of Latvia, however, has not been ordaining women for years already, and the adoption of the amendments will not change the existing situation.

The Latvian Evangelical Lutheran Church Abroad, which functions outside Latvia, has been ordaining women as priests and criticised the proposed amendments to the ELCL rules that would exclude women from church offices.

As the last paragraph of the Baltic Times article notes, the Latvian Evangelical Lutheran Church Abroad (LELBĀL/LELCA) never ceased ordaining women. On November 3, 2014, Lauma Lagzdins Zušēvica, the denomination's first full-time American female pastor, was elected archbishop of the LELBĀL, to which position she was installed on April 19, 2015.

Updates, 6-6-16:

Update 1: According to the Rev. Ivo Pavlovics (via Twitter), the amendment passed with 201 votes for, 59 against, and 22 abstentions.

Update 2: Within two days of the vote, one congregation voted to leave the ELCL and join the Latvian Evangelical Lutheran Church Abroad.

From the Baltic Times: Congregation splits from Latvian Lutheran Church over ban on women's ordination

A congregation in the southwestern Latvian diocese of Liepaja has voted in a general meeting to split from the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Latvia (ELCL) and join the Latvian Evangelical Lutheran Church Abroad (LELCA) after the ELCL Sinod last week voted to ban the ordination of women for church ministry. 

The Rev. Martins Urdze had said already earlier that if the Sinod wrote the ban on women's ordination in the ELCL constitution he will tender resignation and join the LELCA. The Cross Congregation, led by Urdze, overwhelmingly voted to leave the ELCL and join the LELCA.

Urdze said he found the ban on women's ordination due to their gender unacceptable. Prior to this formal decision, more than 20 women theologians had to emigrate to foreign churches as Archbishop Janis Vanags, the leader of the ELCL, has been refusing ordination to women since 1993. Those women who have remained in Latvia could serve as evangelists at best, Urdze said.

The Control of Lutheran Theological Education in America (Part III)

Control of Seminary Students

The rules and regulations governing theological students while in school are not dissimilar to those of any other school. Students are expected to be diligent in study, attend classes and, in general, carry themselves with respectable deportment. The one important exception is to be found in the Students' Special Manual of Concordia Seminary. The rules cover nearly eight pages of fine print and go into every imaginable detail. For example: A student must not have his door locked when he is occupying the room, except when he has retired. The furniture of the room should be dusted every day. The bed should be covered with a white bed-spread. If a student enters the building after twelve o'clock at night without registering his name with the proctor he is at once suspended from the institution. Students are expected to rise at six o'clock in the morning on days when classes are in session. Students are not allowed to enter upon marriage engagements, and "any familiar relation with members of the other sex is prohibited." (p. 128-129)

The Control of Lutheran Theological Education in America (Part II)

The Recruiting of Students for the Seminaries:
In a very real sense every pastor of the Missouri Synod is a recruiting officer. It is considered part of his work to be on the alert for boys and young men who may become ministers.

Each year the pastors receive application blanks from the nearest institute or college of the Missouri Synod. These blanks are to be handed to prospective students. One of the questions to be answered on this blank is: "Will the applicant enter ministerial course?" Upon invitation of the pastor of the local church a representative from the school may make a call in the parish, perhaps preach a sermon on the service to be rendered by entering the ministry, make personal contact with promising young men and in other suitable ways place the ministry before them as a possible life-work.

The parochial school offers ample opportunity for the accentuation of the ministry as a calling. Throughout the elementary years the children are under the constant care of the Church. The religious faith and church ideals of the Missouri Synod become their school environment. Everything else being equal, such an environment ought to cause more young men to choose the ministry than would one of a less churchly nature.

But the real recruiting agency of the Missouri Synod according to their own estimate is the denominational junior college. [footnote: In answer to the question: Do you have a definite recruiting agency? a representative from Concordia Seminary said: "Yes, our other schools." The next question, "About what per cent of your students are recruited through the following agencies: a, b, c, etc.," received  this reply: "All are recruited through our denominational junior colleges."]

In its catalog, one of these colleges suggests very definitely the manner in which such recruiting may operate:

As the courses interlock, the students in the different courses meet frequently also in the classrooms, and there are cemented ties of fellowship which may mean much for the Church in the later lives of these boys. Besides, it is found that some boys who cannot be induced to enter the Ministerial Course will enter one of the other courses, and later, with the seriousness of added years, do make the change and decide for the ministry.

How successful this recruiting system may be it is impossible to say, but the following statistics may be suggestive. According to the Lutheran World Almanac of 1927-1928 there were 1,960 students in Lutheran Theological Seminaries in America. Of these students 569 attended the two seminaries belonging to the Missouri Synod. At the same time the total communicant membership of all Lutheran bodies in America was 2,707,183, and of these, 675,956 belonged to the Missouri Synod. Translating this into percentages it is seen that the Missouri Synod had in its own seminaries 38 per cent of the total Lutheran theological students, while its percentage of the total communicant membership is only 25. Comparable data for all Lutheran seminaries are shown in the table on page 86. There may be several other factors operating, but the significant fact is that the Missouri Synod has proportionately more theological students in its seminaries than have the other Lutheran bodies. (p. 83-85)

Recruiting in the Missouri Synod is supposed to be accomplished by means of the parochial school, the local minister and the junior colleges. According to the figures in the table on page 86 this system is exceedingly successful from the point of view of numbers, for this Synod has one theological student for every 1,188 communicant members—the largest proportion among the seven great Synods. (p. 92)

The Control of Lutheran Theological Education in America (Part I)

The other day, I stumbled upon an interesting book in the library—The Control of Lutheran Theological Education in America, by Oscar Ahlenius Winfield (Augustana, 1933). While I found the entire book to be worth reading, I have decided to only pull out certain quotes which pertain to the Missouri Synod, as well as a few other interesting tidbits of information. This post is part one. Excerpts pertaining to the recruitment of students for the seminary and the control of seminary students can be found at their respective links.

Basic Lutheran Ideas Regarding the Ministry:
Educational Qualifications: The ministers are, as a rule, required to spend three years at a Lutheran Seminary, preferably the seminary belonging to and controlled by the Synod into which the candidate for ordination wishes to enter.... The customary educational requirement for entrance to the seminary is the B.A. degree with reading knowledge of Latin and Greek, and in some cases, as in the Missouri Synod seminary at St. Louis, Hebrew is required for entrance. Since much of Lutheran Church work is carried on among immigrants, a large share of the ministers must be able to speak at least one modern European language. (p. 50-51)

Preparatory Education of Theological Students:
Elementary Education: The only Lutheran body that seriously sponsors a program of parochial elementary education is the Missouri Synod. This Lutheran group constitutes about one fourth of the Lutherans in America. According to its Statistical Yearbook there were 77,837 children in the parochial schools of the Synod in 1928 [excluding the Argentine and Brazil districts]. Another table in the same yearbook shows that there are 18,534 "Lutheran children" not attending the parochial school. This means that nearly 81 per cent of the school children of the Missouri Synod are attending its parochial schools.

No figures are available showing what percentage of the ministers of this Synod come from the parochial schools, but the proportion of 81 and 19 will probably hold its own. In other words, it seems safe to conclude that 81 per cent of the ministers come from the parochial schools. This seems more likely in view of the recruiting value that may lie in parochial education. (p. 68-69)

In the case of the Concordia Seminary at St. Louis, Missouri, owned and controlled by the Missouri Synod, 99 per cent [footnote: From statement by Dean Fritz in a personal letter to the writer] of the students have been educated in either the high schools of the Synod, or in one of its junior colleges. The junior colleges of this Synod are administered on a six-year plan, receiving students from the eighth grade of the parochial school. Ordinarily, one who has decided for the ministry will attend such a junior college, from which he may directly enter Concordia Seminary. The chart on page 71 (below) shows college and seminary enrollment, suggesting a very close coordination throughout. (p. 70-72)

What has been said of the Concordia Seminary and its relation to secondary education is equally true in its relation to college education. The Missouri Synod sponsors a system of junior colleges and in nearly every case the seminary at St. Louis receives its students from these colleges. (p. 73)

Fire at St. Paul's Lutheran Church, Fort Wayne

On December 2, 1903, a fire began in the basement of St. Paul's Evangelical Lutheran Church, Fort Wayne, IN, following its Wednesday Advent service. The fire started in the coal furnace and quickly spread throughout the rest of the church. Despite the early detection and the fire department's best efforts, the entire edifice was destroyed. The church was reconstructed using the same walls and rededicated a year and a half later, this reconstructed church being the one which is still in use today. The photos below are taken from the Allen County Community Album.

Prayer at Beginning of a New Church Year

O THOU Eternal God and faithful Father, upon entering a new church year we render Thee humble thanks above all for all the spiritual benefits received at Thy hands during the past year. Thou hast suffered us to retain Thy holy word and the public preaching thereof, together with the Holy Sacraments, while we by our ingratitude have fully deserved that we should be deprived of such blessings; for we are no better and have sinned no less against Thee than many of our brethren at other places, from whom, in Thy just judgment, Thou hast either wholly withdrawn the word and preaching of Thy gospel or greatly curtailed it. And it appears that also at many other places Thou art about to remove the light of Thy word in pursuance of Thy judgment. O Lord, we are not at all worthy of all the mercies Thou hast shown unto us, Thine unprofitable servants, treating us, to this day, with such longsuffering. We now pray Thee, forgive all our sins wherewith in the past church year we have transgressed against Thee, either by doing what was wrong, or by failing to do what was right. As the first mark of Thy grace, cancel, we pray Thee, our sins of the past church year with the blood of Thy dear Son, and in order to render us worthy of this grace, engender in our hearts true repentance, so that we do not carry any unforgiven sins over into the new church year, sins that we are not by Thy power willing entirely to abandon. Preserve unto us, also in the future, Thy holy Word and Sacraments, and thus the kingdom of Thy Son, and do not suffer the enemy to deprive us of this great blessing and to extend his kingdom of darkness among us. And in this do not look upon any worthiness of ours, but rather upon this that the honor of Thy Son be not blasphemed by the enemies, who fancy to have wrecked Thy kingdom among us. Preserve all our faithful teachers and preachers, whom Thou hast given us and bestow upon them in this church year new light and the power of Thy Holy Spirit, that they may in Thy presence and power proclaim to us Thy word in its truth and purity, without the adulteration of anything human. Grant also to them at all times wisdom and insight rightly to determine what is most necessary to be discussed in public discourse.

Do Thou, therefore, not suffer them to speak what they please, but do Thou guide their tongues and hearts to speak at all times, what is pleasing unto Thee. Give efficacy to Thy word and to Thy holy Sacraments that also in this church year we may behold in them the blessed means of our salvation, which saves our souls. Confirm anew the good Thou didst already in the past year effect in the hearts of Thy people, quickening Thy Word in them, and let this word continue to show its efficacy in instructing the simple, in converting the unregenerate, in convincing the malicious, in strengthening the souls that already know Thee, the number of which Thou wouldst, we pray Thee, increase also this year, according to Thy good pleasure. Grant also to all hearers of Thy word, that they receive it from the mouths of their ministers with attention and meekness not only, but that they, when hearing the word at all times submit their hearts to you in such quietness and meekness as will permit the Holy Spirit to accomplish the work of faith in them, to the end that all live a life before Thee in this church year more holy than formerly. Especially do Thou grant grace, that a firm foundation of the knowledge of the truth be laid among us, so that it may become a living knowledge, which praises Thee by its fruits, and we come to know in very deed that this is life eternal, that Thou, Father, art the only true God and whom Thou hast sent is Jesus Christ, life everlasting. Amen.

 From the Abridged Treasury of Prayers, p. 111-114.

A Game for Seminarians

Here's One for Seminarians 

While we are on the subject of games, here is one for seminarians. It is called "Incorrect Ideas or Actions." In each of the following sentences is something that was done in violation of approved liturgical practice or good taste. See how many incorrect ideas or actions you can underline.

1. The missal-stand stood in the center of the altar as the pastor began the service.

2. With a full Diapason chorus and tremolo, the organist launched into the festival hymn.

3. The pastor read the solemn Marriage Service, accompanied by luscious soft music on the organ.

4. Having sung the Vesper Service, Holy Communion followed.

5. The open casket, banked with flowers, stood at the head of the center aisle.

6. In the Lutheran Church, the last Sunday after the Epiphany is always observed as Transfiguration Sunday.

7. Gazing over the bowed heads of the congregation, the pastor repeated with them the words of the prayer.

8. There will be services this evening at 7 :45.

9. The confirmation class noted the palms and the white altar paraments, reminding them that it was Palm Sunday.

10. The choir proceeded up the aisle, led by the pastor.

11. The bell tolled solemnly for the Good Friday service.

12. The pastor chanted the Communion liturgy, accompanied by the melodious music of the great organ.

13. At the close of the service, the pastor hurried to the door to greet the people.

14. Potted Easter lilies stood on the altar, and a great spray of white roses filled the font.

15. After the Apostles' Creed and the sermon, there will be a celebration of Holy Communion.

This is but a small part of the list we had in mind. First of all, underline all that you consider bad form. Do this before reading the next paragraph. Then read the following corrections:

1. The missal stand is at the pastor's right at the beginning of the service. 2. The tremolo is never used with Diapasons, nor for hymn playing. 3. Organ accompaniment, while one is reading, is a silly affectation. 4. The Vesper Service is never used when there is Communion. 5. Nowadays it is considered bad form to open a casket in church. 6. In many parts of the Lutheran Church, August 6 is still the date. 7. The pastor should have faced the altar. 8. A service is a service, not a "services." 9. Violet is the proper color for Palm Sunday, regardless of confirmation. 10. If the pastor must come in with the choir, he follows it. 11. Bells are not tolled during Holy Week. 12. If the pastor chants, he should do it without accompaniment. 13. Pastors of humility of spirit rarely rush to the door. It reminds us of an old German woman who said sharply, "What are you doing here'? Fishing for compliments'?" 14. Potted plants are never placed on the altar, and flowers are never put in the font. 16. The Nicene Creed is always used at Communion.

Quoted from F. R. Webber in The American Lutheran, Vol. 22, No. 5 (May, 1939), p. 15