03.06.2005
Zambian Lutheran Church Ordains its First Female Pastors
The Evangelical Lutheran Church in Zambia (ELCZA) has ordained its first female pastors. At a colorful ceremony attended by church leaders from neighboring South African countries, Lutheran Communion in Southern Africa (LUCSA) Executive Director, Rev. Dr Ambrose Moyo, presided over the ordination of three candidates who included two women, Matilda Banda and Doreen Mwanza.The issue of women's ordination had been on the ELCZA agenda for years. Banda and Mwanza had waited several years after completing their theological studies in Tanzania, before the Church Council called them at its January 2005 meeting. "It was a joyful experience for both the men and women who attended the service, and for the women it was a dream [come] true," ELCZA acting administrative secretary, Rev. Collins Chinsembu said of the 20 March 2005 ordination at the Lutheran Church in Matero, Lusaka. Chinsembu, who had graduated from the Lutheran Theological Seminary at Umpumulo, South Africa, more than two years ago was the other candidate, and all three have been assigned parishes.
The presence of church representatives from the neighboring sister churches, including two female pastors from Zimbabwe was intended to affirm the significance of the historic action taken by the Zambian church to ordain women, Chinsembu said.
The ordination ceremony was preceded by a LUCSA women and youth leaders' workshop on HIV/AIDS. LUCSA brings together 13 Lutheran World Federation (LWF) member churches in eight Southern Africa countries. The ELCZA has around 5,300 members, and joined the LWF in 2002. (253 words)
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