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- Task force members and staff rejoiced alongside assembly members over the adoption of the social statement “Faith, Sexism and Justice: A Call to Action.”
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- April Larson, the first woman bishop in the ELCA, spoke on the fiftieth, fortieth and tenth ordination anniversaries recognized at this assembly. “We are changing. We are being made new. God is busy with us,” she said. Credit: Janine Truppay
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- Worship on Friday at the 2019 Churchwide Assembly celebrated the 50th ordination of women. Pastor Tiffany Chaney preached (pictured) and Southeastern Pennsylvania Synod Bishop Patricia Davenport presided. Credit: Will Nunnally
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- Women pastors gather for a group photo after worship. Credit: Will Nunnally
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- Task force members celebrated alongside assembly members the adoption of a “Strategy Toward Authentic Diversity.” Credit: Will Nunnally
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- Sue E. Rothmeyer was elected ELCA secretary Aug. 9. She thanked the assembly for entrusting her “with this new sense of vocation,” adding that she will “covet your prayers and your support, and the ways in which we can work together in the days ahead in this role.” Credit: Janine Truppay
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- Elizabeth Platz, the first Lutheran woman pastor, shared her call story at the women’s ordination anniversaries banquet. Platz was ordained Nov. 22, 1970, by the Lutheran Church in America, one of the ELCA’s predecessor church bodies. Credit: Jason Brown
On day five of the 2019 ELCA Churchwide Assembly, voting members and guests reconvened Aug. 9 at the Wisconsin Center in Milwaukee.
The assembly adopted the social statement “Faith, Sexism and Justice: A Call to Action” and its implementing resolutions.
April Larson, the first woman bishop in the ELCA, called the assembly’s attention to the fiftieth anniversary of the ordination of women, the fortieth anniversary of women of color and the tenth anniversary of the 2009 ELCA Churchwide Assembly’s vote to remove barriers to ordination for people in same-gender marriages.
Assembly worship celebrated the gifts of women leaders, with Patricia Davenport, Southeastern Pennsylvania Synod bishop, presiding and Tiffany Chaney, pastor of Gathered by Grace, Montgomery, Ala., preaching.
The assembly adopted “A strategy toward authentic diversity within the ELCA.”
Sue Rothmeyer, a deacon who serves as executive for administration with the office of the secretary, was elected Secretary. Rothmeyer was elected on the fifth ballot with 509 votes to 402 votes for the Lamont Wells, pastor of Good Shepherd Lutheran Church, Roosevelt, N.Y.
Other assembly actions included: the adoption of an ordination rite for Ministers of Word and Service and the adoption of memorials concerning the church’s call to accompany migrants and the fiftieth anniversary of the ordination of women.
That evening assembly members and guests gathered for the women’s ordination anniversaries banquet, “We Are Church, We Are Called.”
