Abstract:
The principle purpose of the study was to investigate the role of women in the mission and
ministry of The Lutheran Church in Southern Africa (LCSA). The researcher raised the question
of why women are viewed as inferior within the LCSA, and whether this is Biblically supported. I
investigated the distinction between men and women with regard to the church culture, tradition,
pastoral office, priesthood, and authority within the LCSA. As a general theoretical framework, I
used two theories in church mission: (1) The unity of the Church and apostolic practice as
propounded by Schenk in 1983. (2) Paradigm shifts in theology: mission as ministry by the
whole people of God as propounded by Bosch in 1991. These theories explain the mission of
proclaiming the Gospel of God as belonging to everyone (both male and female) as His
servants in the Church.
To obtain people’s views and interpretations of Scriptures, culture, church practice, and the
social reality of women’s roles in the LCSA, focus-group and individual interviews were used to
gather qualitative data from 525 respondents. The data was collected and analyzed using the
descriptive qualitative research approach. Based on the research findings in Chapter 2 (pages
37-42), Chapter 6 (page140) presents proposals for the involvement of women in the LCSA.
The findings show that participants were concerned about the topic and those women’s rights
and voices are not yet acknowledged in many societies in Southern Africa. However, the scope
of the study is limited to the LCSA, and its findings cannot be generalized. Valuable insights
were gained into the church’s traditional construction of women’s roles in the LCSA, not allowing
women to preach the Gospel and to administer the Sacraments in the Church mission work.
From a missiological study perspective, the researcher recommended that women should be
allowed to participate fully in the Church mission work. Therefore, the Involvement of Women in
Mission in LCSA was an important dissertation research topic, affecting women in Southern
Africa particularly, and potentially, in the African continent at large.
