RNS photos of the week: Ordained Lutheran Women

Each week Religion News Service presents a gallery of photos of religious expression around the world. View the slideshow here.

Featured in this week’s photo is an archival photo of the 10th Anniversary Conference of Ordained Lutheran Women, April 13-16, 1980, in Rochester, Minnesota.

More than 180 people participated in the 10th Anniversary Conference of Ordained Lutheran Women, April 13-16, 1980, in Rochester, Minnesota. The conference, which attracted 105 women clergy and 28 women seminary students, marked the 10th anniversary of the ordination of women by North American Lutherans. In all there are 187 ordained women in The American Lutheran Church, Lutheran Church in America, and the Association of Evangelical Lutheran Churches. Among the participants were: (left to right) Rev. Elizabeth Bettenhausen, Associate Professor of Social Ethics and Theology, Boston University (LCA), Boston, MA., the Rev. Joan Martin, Staff Associate for Justice for Women, National Council of Churches, New York; and the Rev. Jean Bozeman, faculty and dean of students, Lutheran School of Theology (LCA), Chicago. RNS archive photo. Photo courtesy of the Presbyterian Historical Society.