OWN Annual Meeting and New Vision Statement

The Board of Directors of Ordain Women Now recently met in Valparaiso, Indiana for its annual meeting.  Officers elected for the organization are:

Dr. Elizabeth Goodine, President
Rev. Sue Beadle, Vice President
P. Joan Trapp, Secretary
Carol Schmidt, Treasurer

Pictured in the photo are, left to right, Joanie, Carol, Sue, and Elizabeth.

In accord with our hopes and goals for the not too distant future is a new vision statement authored by Dr. Goodine.  It can now be found on the OWN website at https://www.ordainwomennow.com/about/ and is printed here for your immediate reading.  Please consider joining in the efforts of Ordain Women Now in the Lutheran Church – Missouri Synod.  We can be reached at OWN(at)ordainwomennow.com or through the Contact page on the website.

We envision a Church where the God-given gifts and talents of all people are nurtured; and where each and every person is enabled to serve God unhindered by constraints based on sex and prescribed gender roles. We dare to dream large of a Church where there is truly no Jew or Greek, slave or free, male or female. As such we are committed to the cause of furthering justice and equality for all, as exemplified in the life and teachings of Jesus Christ.

 Following in Jesus’ footsteps, we dedicate ourselves to the task of lifting oppression and proclaiming liberty for both women and men, with the goal that the Church might truly become a beacon of light and hope in the world. Specifically, we work within the Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod, calling on the Synod, as one part of the Body of Christ, to cooperate with us in this task of bringing about such liberty for all people. In the interest of justice, and in the spirit of Martin Luther, we seek reform and freedom from oppressive and narrow structures that have developed in, and continue to be perpetuated within, a climate of fear. To that end, we work to further open discussion within the Synod regarding the relationship between women and men under God, and related issues of authority and power within the Church. In addition, we are acutely aware that words without action, faith without works, is dead, and we therefore advocate in the Synod for full recognition and acceptance of women, including the right and obligation, when called by God, to serve as ordained clergy.

(Ordain Women Now was incorporated on January 1, 2013 and is a non-profit organization with 501(c)(3) Tax-Exempt Status.)