First nine women ordained as Lutheran pastors in Poland 

The Evangelical Church of the Augsburg Confession in Poland took a historic step on May 7, as Presiding Bishop Jerzy Samiec ordained nine women to the priesthood at a service in Warsaw’s Holy Trinity Church. The event marked a concluding milestone in the discussion about women’s ordination which has been ongoing in Poland’s largest Protestant church for decades.

Last October, the synod of the Polish church voted to allow women’s ordination, opening the way for them to run parishes and stand for the ministry of bishop. Women have been serving as deacons, leading services, and administering baptism since 1999. They have been administering communion since 2016.

Addressing the newly ordained pastors, Estonian archbishop Urmas Viilma, the Lutheran World Federation’s vice president for Europe, thanked them “for not giving up your calling over the years in the midst of many challenges.” He also acknowledged the “many other women in Poland who have served the Lutheran Church throughout their lives as theologians, deacons, catechists, Sunday school teachers, youth workers, and in many other capacities.”