To Leave or to Stay: How Women Can Change the Church
Editor’s note:
This is a CBE 2021 Writing Contest Top 15 Winner!
For a long time, I
have wondered if a women’s church strike would be effective in changing men’s perception
of women. Such a notion would probably shock quite a few women as they would
see it almost as blasphemy to fight for justice and equality in a church
setting. After all, Christ is the head of the church. Some think that church
organization is divinely installed. I disagree. Even though it is God’s church,
it is managed by mere men. If churches followed the example of Christ, they
would be much more egalitarian, respecting the gifts and participation of women
like the early church did. The patriarchal structures are man-made, not dropped
from heaven in a divinely inspired book of rules.
The Strike at Putney: A Picture of
Unity
Some time ago I came across a
short story by L.M. Montgomery (1874–1942) called “The
Strike at Putney.”[1] The Women’s Foreign Mission Auxiliary of
the Putney Presbyterian congregation invited Mrs. Cotterell, a returned
missionary, to speak. They “made arrangements to hold the meeting in the church
itself, as the classroom was too small for the expected audience.” When the pastor
and the elders of the church heard of their plans, they “declared that no woman
should occupy the pulpit of the Putney church.” The women were indignant and
called an extraordinary meeting of the WFM Auxiliary. What should they do? They
realized that there was no point in trying to convince the men. After a long
discussion, one young woman finally came up with a solution. “I think,” she
said, “that we must strike.”
“On Sunday morning the men were conscious of a bare, deserted appearance in
the church. ... There were no flowers anywhere. … The floor was unswept. ...
Dust lay thick on the pulpit Bible.” The five men who were sitting in the choir
realized that there were no sopranos or altos. The organist sat in her pew.
When asked if she was going to play, she replied, “No. ... You know, if a woman
isn’t fit to speak in the church she can’t be fit to sing in it either.” Sunday
School was a failure without the women. The women canceled all their
activities.
“The men held out for two weeks.” Finally, the
pastor announced that Mrs. Cotterell could “occupy the pulpit on the evening
appointed for her address. The women all over the church smiled broadly.” The
organist “got up and went to the organ.” Together the singing sounded much better.
“The strike in the Putney church was over.”
I am particularly impressed by
how all the Putney women agreed on the course of action—and all of them
followed through. I have often thought about what would happen if women in my
church were to strike. I’m afraid we are not united enough to act. It is not
that the tasks usually done by women can’t be done by men. But conversely,
women could take on many of the tasks traditionally held by men. A church
should see itself as a unity in which all see themselves as children of God to
whom he has given gifts. If women did not volunteer as nurses, accountants,
secretaries, home educators, authors, teachers, Bible study leaders, children’s
Bible school leaders, and musicians, how long would the church continue to exist
as we know it today?
Woman’s Day Off in Iceland: A Picture of
Progress
Maybe I should not call
my idea a women’s strike but, adapted from the experience of the women in
Iceland, a “Women’s Day Off.” Maybe.
Although women in
Iceland got the right to vote in 1915—behind only the countries of New Zealand
and Finland—women’s participation in politics was scarce for another sixty
years. In 1975 there were only three female members of parliament, and
comparing this number to the other Nordic countries was very frustrating.
Something had to change. The idea of a strike came up, but many women felt it
was too drastic. When the strike was renamed “Women’s Day Off,” it received
great support from almost all women in Iceland.
On October 24, 1975,
90 percent of the women in the country decided to show how important they are
by refusing to do what they normally would be doing: going to their jobs,
caring for their children, and doing the housework. Instead, they went to the
women’s rally for equal rights with men. "What happened that day was the
first step for women's emancipation in Iceland," Vigdis Finnbogadottir, Iceland’s
first female president said. "It completely paralysed the country and
opened the eyes of many men."
Places of business,
schools, and nurseries had to close, and many fathers had to take their
children to work. Sausages sold out as they were easy to cook.
In a nation with
about 220,000 inhabitants, 25,000 women came together in Reykjavik. They heard
speeches, sang, and talked about how to make a change for women. There was a
feeling of strength and solidarity among those who were standing in the town
square.
Indeed, things
changed very rapidly when Vigdis Finnbogadottir was elected president of
Iceland in 1980, becoming the first woman in the world to be democratically
elected as a head of state. She held the position for sixteen years, and during
this time Iceland became the world’s most feminist country. Women’s Day Off
catapulted the nation to equality.[2]
There is power when
women unite. In Iceland, the overwhelming number of participants in Women’s Day
Off made an impact, showing the country’s men how important women are to their
families, jobs, and society in general. It was a watershed moment. The people
realized that they can only be successful when all join forces to promote the
common good.
Maria 2.0: A Picture of Dedication
More recently, a women’s
reading circle at a Catholic parish in Germany decided to do more than just
talk about the changes they wanted in their church. During the annual May
devotions to the Blessed Virgin Mary, they called for a week-long women’s strike[3] during which they would not set
foot in church. They held their own services outside. Since that strike in
2019, the Maria 2.0
movement[4] has grown, with women all over
Germany and even in neighboring countries participating. After the strike, the
women wrote an open letter to Pope Francis that was signed by 42,349 persons. The
letter and signatures were presented to the Apostolic Nuntius in Berlin on
October 25, 2019. There was still no reaction from the church.
One of the founders
of Maria 2.0, the painter Lisa Kötter, remembers how as a child attending a
Catholic kindergarten, she was punished for speaking during a time of
obligatory silence by the nun in charge, who placed a band-aid across her
mouth. This experience led to the creation of the symbol of Maria 2.0: the
Madonna with her mouth shut up. Another founder, Andrea Voss-Frick, believes
that the church as a moral authority must renew itself after the many cases of
abuse and cover-ups. Maria 2.0 demands a new beginning of the Catholic Church,
including the complete clarification of all cases of abuse and absolute gender
justice, up to the opening of ordained ministries for women. They want women to
be allowed to preach instead of just cleaning the candlesticks.
More than 500 years
after Martin Luther, on February 21, 2021, Maria 2.0 fastened seven new theses[5] on church and cathedral doors
throughout Germany. Their demands included equal rights for men and women,
common responsibility, respectful treatment, and transparency. They wanted a
sustainable, diverse church without fear, where believers are treated as
brothers and sisters equally. The posting of the theses was well-timed before
the Spring Council of bishops and attracted great news coverage. Now even the
bishops had to take notice. Silence was no longer possible. The chair of the
Bishops’ Conference, Georg Bätzing, asked the women to wait and have patience
with the church. He said, “The Catholic church is a global church. The church
is not yet ready.”
The question arises, can the
reformation of a church happen from within? Even Martin Luther wanted to reform
the church instead of leaving it. Some of the women feel that the church is
waiting for them to leave so that it can get rid of these trouble-makers and
continue as usual. In Schweigen war gestern: Maria 2.0 – Der Aufstand der Frauen
in der katholischen Kirche[6] (Silence was Yesterday: Maria 2.0—the Women’s Rebellion in the Catholic
Church), Lisa Kötter explains why they are staying in the church while
rejecting the demonstration of male power. They want a church that is based on
love. Even though they are demanding change, they do not want to take anything
away from believers who adhere to the traditional church. They want to add
something good, to make Christ the center of the church again. Not long after
the book was published in March of 2021, some of the charter members, including
Lisa Kötter, left the organized church[7] because they saw no chance of change happening.
How Will We Act?
In many churches,
women want full equality but are not prepared to take up the fight. It is
easier to give up and leave. Am I willing to risk my comfort for my conviction?
Am I willing to raise my voice to advocate for women's equality in my church?
Can I do more than write and talk? Some, like our Catholic sisters, leave their
church because they see no prospect of reform and change. But in the Catholic church
in Germany, public outrage about the handling of the many cases of abuse within
the church is making an impact. I would like to think that the women’s voices that
were among the first to call for change are finally being heard.
Are you ready to stay
to fight for justice? In Iceland, not only the society changed, but the church
also changed. Rev. Auður Eir Vilhjálmsdóttir, became the first woman to be
ordained as a pastor in the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Iceland in 1974. At
first, there was still a lot of opposition. “Many young women study theology
and are ordained to serve as ministers today. In fact, there are so many
motivated women who are making lasting changes in the church. I am confident
that these women will continue positive change and influence the direction and
daily activities of the church,” she said in an interview[8] with the Lutheran World Foundation.
Maybe we should take
an example from these courageous women-strikers—in Putney, Iceland, Germany,
and beyond—and take action. Eyes need to be opened, and patriarchal attitudes
need to be challenged. God wants his children, men and women, to work together,
not against each other. Our challenge is clear: how can we exert our influence
toward achieving this understanding?
[1]
https://fullreads.com/literature/the-strike-at-putney/
[2] All facts and quotes about Women’s
Day Off from Kirstie Brewer, “The day Iceland's women went on strike,” BBC
News, 23 October 2015, https://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-34602822
[3]
https://www.katholisch.de/thema/673-maria-20
[4] https://www.mariazweipunktnull.de/
[5]
https://www.mariazweipunktnull-medien.de/thesenanschlag/
[6]
https://www.droemer-knaur.de/buch/lisa-koetter-schweigen-war-gestern-9783963401862
[7]https://www.lutheranworld.org/news/iceland-she-trailblazed-legacy-womens-ordination
[8] https://www.lutheranworld.org/news/iceland-she-trailblazed-legacy-womens-ordination
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