Ecumenism at a Cost: Women, Ordination, and Sexuality: “Disagree with the Umpire—Take the Ball, and go Home”

In May, 1997, prior to the Harare Assembly, a translated document on antiecumenism in Russia was distributed to interested staff persons at the World Council of Churches (W.C.C) at the behest of Metropolitan Kirill of Smolensk, who deemed it vital for Council staff to be aware of the tone and strength of a minority stance that was both loud and disturbing in contemporary Russian life. Discussions about the ordination of women to the sacramental priesthood and the complexities of human sexuality and relationships have been part of the churches' agendas in the ecumenical movement for many decades. The "umpires" and managers of the recommendations from the Special Commission will be, in the end, each member church in the W.C.C. For Bishop Margot Kässmann of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Hanover, Germany, it was too much to bear after her many years of commitment and significant contributions to the ecumenical movement, especially for women and social justice.