Toward a More Inclusive Communion 

Inclusion and acceptance, rather than exclusion and discrimination, is the hallmark of communion in Christ. The vision of an inclusive communion of women and men still lies before us unfulfilled. While acknowledging that policies have been put in place at the level of the LWF governing bodies and LWF Secretariat; for various reasons, these policies are far from being actualized in some of the member churches. 

 More than two thirds of the LWF member churches by now have adopted procedures that allow for the ordination of men and women. Churches that have taken this decision have found their witness enhanced by new gifts brought into the ordained ministry. This is an experience that the LWF continues to commend to its members. Through scholarship programs and other means, women have increasingly qualified themselves for leadership and positions of responsibility in church and society. However, there is a pressing need for many member churches to take further measures allowing and encouraging women to assume roles of leadership. Synods and other decision-making bodies should take bold steps, where still required, to move out of inherited patterns of male dominance. We should actively seek, through our theology, to overcome traditional and cultural mechanisms whereby women are denied such positions on the grounds they are women. Violence against women is a radical form of exclusion that denigrates the image of God in the victim as well as the perpetrator. It represents a fundamental challenge, having an impact on the inner life of the church and that of the wider community in which it witnesses. The LWF has taken a strong stand against this social evil through the widespread distribution of its publication Churches Say “NO” to Violence against Women, 3  produced by the desk for Women in Church and Society of the Department for Mission and Development (DMD). We must commit together as a communion to apply the document to our local contexts as we observe the World Council of Churches (WCC) ecumenical “Decade to Overcome Violence (2001–2010) Churches Seeking Reconciliation and Peace.” We have committed ourselves to an inclusive communion, in which younger generations will be more and more included in the life of the churches. Young people, who represent both the future of the church and an important part of its present life, provide significant contributions to the under  standing of the gospel and its proclamation. Increased participation of young people is happening in some churches, but not in others. The Bible is full of stories of young people who influence the life of the church. Let us not be afraid of the creativity of young people in our midst. The LWF has established policies to ensure youth participation and contribution. In particular, we have committed ourselves to achieving 20 percent youth participation in our major decision-making bodies. As we prepared for this Assembly, we were informed by several churches that they were not able to include youth representatives as asked for by our guidelines. I appeal to the LWF member churches to reflect on the importance of this commitment, and to honor it.