I write in response to the letters in the April edition of ‘The Lutheran’ regarding the ordination of women.
I quote from the second letter published: ‘We must not attempt to interpret Scripture to argue what we think, but rather humble ourselves before the majesty of Holy Scripture and let the Holy Spirit be our only guide’. Is it not interesting, reading from Paul’s letters, that 2000 years later we no longer follow all of Paul’s directions, eg 1 Corinthians 11:4,5? Do we live under that law?
At Victor Harbor, where I am a member, women participate in worship in many ways. Many have short hair. We do not have our heads covered. We attend meetings, and our chairperson is a woman. Our pastoral care team consists of three men and four women.
As a child I attended worship services at Mannum. The men sat on one side of the church while the women and children sat on the other side. Men communed first and later the adult women. Women did not contribute at church meetings and could not be delegates at Synod. Now it is acceptable.
I draw your attention to Acts 2:17,18, when Peter addressed the large gathering of Jews and Gentiles. He reiterated the prophecy from Joel 2: 28,29: ‘… in the last days, saith God, “I will pour out my Spirit upon all flesh; and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams: and on my servants and on my handmaidens I will pour out in those days of my Spirit and they shall prophesy”.’ And to 1 Thessalonians 5:19a: ‘Do not restrain the Holy Spirit; do not despise inspired messages’.
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Hello. I thank you for the phrase ‘restraining the Holy Spirit’. It’s a wisdom reference should we dare to plum the depths of our church life which may be so thwarted…..it will be helpful to me should I ponder for myself….’where might I do this?’ ‘Restrain the Holy Spirit?’ Could we all individually and collectively study this question seriously ?…Truly God would show us all kinds of things…..could unleash new beginnings all over the place..seriously that would be a delight!