First woman pastor ordained in Jerusalem

The Lutheran Church ordained a woman pastor in Jerusalem on Sunday, the first time a woman has led a Christian church in the territory of prime importance to Christians, Jews and Muslims.

Sally Azar, a Palestinian from Jerusalem, was installed to lead the Church of the Redeemer’s English-speaking congregation, said the Holy Land and the Evangelical Lutheran Church.

She will be one of five women who’ve been ordained in the Middle East, including one in Syria and three in Lebanon.

The ceremony in the heart of the Old City was packed with hundreds of well wishers from all over the world as Azar was ordained by her father, Bishop Sani Azar.

“I got more excited seeing the excitement of other people,” Azar told BBC News. “It’s an indescribable feeling to take this step with the support of the church.

Of the 47,000 Christians who lived in the West Bank and Gaza Strip as of 2017, most belong to denominations that don’t permit women as clergy. Azar belongs to a small minority of Protestant congregations that ordain women ministers.

There are 3,000 adherents of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Jerusalem, the West Bank and Jordan, running schools and hospitals in the Holy Land, according to BBC News.

“I hope that many girls and women will know this is possible and that other women in other churches will join us,” Azar said. “I know it will take a long time, but I think it could be exciting if this changes in Palestine.”

With News Wire Services