Malawi

The Rev. Bertha Godfrey Munkhondya recently became the first woman ordained to the ministry of Word and Sacrament in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Malawi (ELCM). Munkhondya is originally from Chisenga, in the Chitipa District of Malawi, and will serve as associate pastor of the ELCM cathedral in Lilongwe. She studied theology at the Tumaini University Makumira in Arusha, Tanzania, with the help of an ELCA International Leaders Program scholarship. Read more about the Rev. Munkhondya here.

Poland

On Oct. 16, the Evangelical Church of the Augsburg Confession in Poland (ECACP) voted to allow women to be ordained as pastors. The motion passed 45 to 13 with one abstention. Presiding Bishop Jerzy Samiec of the ECACP said: “I believe it’s a good decision and we will see good fruits come of it. It has been a long process for the church, and now we will find a way of walking together into the future.” Read more about the landmark decision here.