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| Q: | Women are prohibited to be voting members in our congregation. I am assuming this is true for all WELS churches. Many women now are the single head of household. Also, many women are the reason they and their children attend church where the husband is not active spiritually. Shouldn't women have an active voice in the direction of their church? | ||||||
| A: | The Scriptures say women should not exercise authority over men in the church. In our system of church government the voters assembly is the authoritative body of the church. For this reason, we have the practice that only adult men are members of the voters assembly. Congregations can take many steps to insure that the voices of all of the congregation are heard. In Christian decision making which aims at best meeting the needs of all of the members of the congregation, including the minority, gathering and assessing the needs and desires of the members should be done prior to the decision-making. The responsible governing body should make decisions on the basis of an informed concern for all of the members of the congregation, not merely on the basis of personal preference. The congregation may use mechanisms such as questionnaires, family discussions, home visitations, or informative meetings to obtain input about the needs and desires of all the members. If the men of the congregation are to carry out their headship in a god-pleasing way, they will make sure that they hear and consider the needs of all of the members of the congregation. If part of the problem is insufficient participation by the men, they should be admonished to carry out their duty more faithfully. Our only desire in this matter is to obey the directions God's Word gives us in this matter, not to make any judgments concerning the worth of any member of the congregation. It is God's Word that must determine the way that we as men and women should work together in the family and in the church. We cannot let the world's ideas of citizenship and worth set our standards and practices. | ||||||
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