Every Spring in Vilnius there is a Universal Day of Christian Women's Prayer

It was Dalya Gudavichute, a journalist from "Lietovas Ritas" who led me to Kristina Ivanauskene, the assistant to the pastor. Along the way, my colleague was recounting how just recently she attended self-defense classes for women at a school organized under the auspices of the Vilnius Protestant Church ˆ experienced English and Lithuanian trainers instructed rather non-athletic matrons how to resist an aggressor when under attack. The classes were started on the initiative of the pastor‚s assistant and attracted a large number of people. Most intrigued, I prepared to ask the ringleader of such an unconventional church undertaking a question about the relationship of innovation and tradition in Protestant practice, and about the place of women in church as such ˆ but Kristina ˆ a kind, bespectacled woman resembling a school-teacher ˆ forestalled me, and decided before all else to explain to me the necessity of feminist theology. „Everyone knows that God is the Father, but they are few and far between who have pondered the maternal existence of God. You see, if He is a spirit, and not a guy with a beard, it means that He is both father and mother and that his mercy is both paternal and maternal. It is important to see and appreciate the maternal side of God, to painstakingly and critically reread the holy scriptures as written by men ˆ in them it speaks not only of Eve‚s creation from Adam‚s rib (for some reason, people always remember this passage well), but also of the fact that God created a human-man and a human-woman. It is important to explain to women the existence of the feminine side of God, it will help them become stronger in their faith and reveal their potential to a fuller extent. It seems to me that when women find themselves in theology, in liturgy ˆ a new, positive wave of the women‚s movement will begin. For that it is necessary to study diligently, for true faith comes not instinctively, but as a result of conscientious knowledge and effort of the conscience, only then will the grace of God be revealed in its fullness, of course, I am speaking as a Protestant.

In Orthodox and Catholic denominations a woman is not allowed to be the spiritual leader of believers ˆ but in Protestant countries for several decades already there have been pastors successfully working in skirts, and several women who, despite the opposition of male colleagues, have become bishops. At this time in Catholic Lithuania, where Protestants comprise less than 10% of believers, only one woman has received a higher education in theology. In 1995, Kristina Ivanauskene graduated from Oxford with flying colors, with a major in theology ˆ at that time she was the only representative of Eastern Europe in the college. By then she was already well known in her native country. Kristina was born in „Little Lithuania‰ not far from Klaipeda, into a Protestant family. The pastor came to the village only on holidays, and the rest of the time the peasants elected a respected person from the community to direct worship services. Kristina‚s grandmother, a midwife and healer, was once just such a person. On her deathbed, she gathered her loved ones around her to say that, not having left them material wealth, she would bequeath unto them the Holy Spirit. Kristina, who was then fourteen, remembers these words to this day. Although she did not contemplate any particular service for many years ˆ she enrolled in the philological faculty of Vilnius University, got married, worked as a teacher, and then as an official in Lithuania‚s Ministry of Education. She has participated in the Protestant movement of Lithuania since its inception in 1988 ˆ she herself wrote endless letters to Moscow requesting to open a parish, to return the nationalized church property, to assign a place for gatherings.

As far as physical circumstances went, she had to get started from scratch: in two rooms of the bell tower of a church demolished since the time of the war, Ivanauskene is opening a Sunday school for all who are interested and is simultaneously putting together a confirmation class. A bishop came from Taurega (250 km from Vilnius) to lead the worship services. An inter-confessional Bible Society of Lithuania began to take shape in the transition to the nineties ˆ Ivanauskene headed this project, delivered lectures, invited Bible Society activists from other countries. In this way an Ecumenical Christian society started to take shape, to which more and more young intellectuals adjoined. And an even greater part of this group was made up of educated women, not only Lutherans, but also Catholics. „Women in Lithuania grasp Ecumenism more actively than men, - Kristina considers. ˆ They sense injustice more keenly, perhaps that is why. They can‚t understand why one Christian branch is worse than another. In Catholic countries (and in Lithuania, the Catholic Church considers itself the predominant force; only in recent times have there been more open-minded priests) a sad paradox is observed: on the one hand the figure of Mary is elevated above the world and on the other ˆ the position of women in society and in church is lowered. A woman in church feels herself very constrained, she is directed only to submit herself, but not to participate in liturgy directly. She considers herself as if fundamentally abased before God. The Reformation freed up the interaction of the individual with God, pointed to the primacy of the conscience in these relations and this is attractive for women, particularly educated women. If you want to be Protestant ˆ at least a bit of intellect is necessary. Blind faith, ignorance have never brought anyone close to heaven. Unfortunately, many women are still unfamiliar even with the holy scriptures, the history of the Reformation, not to mention specialized literature.

The Lutheran Church in Vilnius ˆ a coeval of the Reformation ˆ is now open for parishioners and guests. Here the Sunday school classes are taught, lectures are given on a variety of topics such as religious history, the fundamentals of theology, the history of the Reformation in Europe ˆ doors are open to all. Any person who stops by who has fallen on hard times can obtain help here as well. „I struggle so that we will be open, always I say, that all of us have one belief ˆ love for one‚s neighbor‰ ˆ Ivanauskene stresses. As before, she leads those preparing for confirmation, delivers lectures, not long ago she created a dramatic studio under the auspices of the parish, which prepares shows for the big holidays along themes of religious history. Self-defense courses for women ˆ part of a larger social program „Life goes on"ˆ which includes aid to the elderly and the sick, support for the needy. Women, not only Lutherans, often come to speak with Kristina. After a divorce, a husband‚s infidelity, when there‚s a problem with children ˆ the former pedagogue Kristina works in the capacity of a cost-free psychotherapist. She spends all her free days in the church ˆ many people come to Vilnius to specially meet, speak and seek advice. Kristina continues to write theological articles, participates in many international conferences of theologians, in the work of the Ecumenical society she conducts scholarly discussions. She leads worship services. And not long ago, upon her initiative, the Universal Day of Christian Women‚s Prayer was initiated ˆ women of different denominations come together and participate in liturgy in the Vilnius Protestant church. As evidenced by the participants, the Day of women‚s prayer is becoming for many an opening to a deeper and fuller faith. „In our country the traditions of faith are deep; it is important to fill faith with pure contents,‰ a feminist from Vilnius told me. As a matter of fact, the church in which Kristina serves is the only one in Vilnius into which Lithuanian feminists may enter openly. They are for all intents and purposes banned from Catholic churches as bad Catholics. Ivanauskene‚s ecumenism is their hope for a continued connection with God. Many of Kristina‚s former classmates from Oxford have already been ordained and become pastors in their parishes. The Lithuanian Lutheran hierarchy has not made up its mind to allow women in its ranks, and for the time being she is only a pastor‚s helper. Colleagues have invited her to come work and become ordained in Norway but she has declined, believing that her place in church is in her native country, even though not in the capacity of a pastor („the ordinance is not simply a promotion, as some people believe; the clothes of a pastor are not always equivalent with pastoral work‰). The salary of a pastor‚s helper comes to 250 lit per month (about $60 USD), and as a rule she spends her weekends in the church. If there is some kind of free time she goes to the dacha, suspecting that if she weren't a feminist Lutheran, she would become a pantheist, bowing to the divinity of nature. Kristina's husband, a lawyer, comes from a Catholic family, and shares her views entirely. And Kristina‚s daughter, a university student has for a long time been spending her free time studying religious history and the basic works of daring researchers ˆ of feminist theologians.