Friday, January 15, 2010

Middle East Church Group Votes in Favor of Ordination of Women as Pastors

Representatives of Middle Eastern Anglican, Lutheran, and Reformed Churches -- meeting today in Harissa, Lebanon -- have voted unanimously in favor of the ordination of women as pastors, according to the Ecumenical News International (ENI) website.

"This is historic and allows us to move forward in a leading role," said Jerusalem Lutheran Bishop Munib Younan, after the decision at the general assembly of the Fellowship of Middle East Evangelical Churches.

Younan, the fellowship's outgoing president, said the decision meant its 16-member churches were urged to open the door to the ordination of women pastors.

In the fall of 2009, Pope Benedict XVI eased the process for Anglicans to convert to Catholicism, but the Roman Catholic Church -- like the Eastern Orthodox Church -- does not allow women to serve as pastors.

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