Norwegian Lutherans Lean Toward Women Bishops
Episcopal News Service. November 29, 1990 [90312M]
The General Synod of the [Lutheran] Church of Norway, following a spirited debate about the church's participation in the World Council of Churches (WCC) Ecumenical Decade of Churches in Solidarity with Women, declared that women bishops would "enrich" the denomination. Although women were ordained as priests in the state Church of Norway as early as 1961, no woman has yet become a bishop. The synod urged "a more equal representation of the sexes...at all levels" in the church, and specifically recommended that neither sex account for more than 60 percent of the membership in any of the church's councils or committees. In presenting its list of decade priorities, the synod included leadership training for women, assistance to battered women, inclusive language, and liturgies for days of special importance to women.