"Women, Come!" Transforming the Difficult but Indispensable Church

Abstract

This article describes the ongoing need for more women in ministerial leadership positions to visually embody the continuing transformation the Holy Spirit is working in the church for the sake of the gospel and the world. The Holy Spirit is at work today in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), inviting the church—the body of Christ in the world—to grow, and to be transformed. In each congregation, this invitation takes a different shape, depending on the context and what is needed for the most faithful proclamation and embodiment of the gospel in its place and time. In all places and spaces where the church finds itself, the Spirit is both calling for and creating fresh instantiations of the body of Christ that are diverse, welcoming, and inclusive, and that include the “bodies” of all God’s children. More and diverse “bodies” are needed in the church—both in the pews and in leadership. Having more women in leadership is one way to exemplify the larger call for more diversity in the ELCA.