The Uneasy Calling
Ordained Women in the Lutheran Church
From 2 October 2025 to 9 January 2026, the exhibition An Uncomfortable Calling: Women Clergy in the Lutheran Church was presented at the Museum and Research Centre Latvians Abroad (LaPa).
The exhibition was developed by the Latvian Lutheran Women Theologians Association (LLSTA) in collaboration with the Latvians Abroad Museum and Research Centre (LaPa).
The exhibition was dedicated to Lutheran women serving in ordained ministry outside Latvia. It featured both women born into the Latvian diaspora who discerned their vocation and entered ministry in various parts of the world, and women who, following the 1993 decision of the Latvian Evangelical Lutheran Church to cease the ordination of women, were compelled to seek opportunities for ordained ministry elsewhere.
Latvian clergy ordinations - timeline
Explore the timeline below to learn about the most significant events and developments that have shaped our history.
Urzula Glīneke
Urzula’s journey of faith began in childhood – through nature came her first unconscious encounter with the Creator of all.
Ieva Graufelde
Baptized in the Lincoln church community, she received a gift of faith that still fills her soul with blessing and strengthens her in times of difficulty.
Aija Graham
During a pilgrimage as a teenager, she sat down at the organ in Zilupe Church to play and felt a clear call from God: “You will serve me.”
Jāna Jēruma-Grīnberga
From childhood, Jāna regularly attended Latvian worship services and accompanied her father, composer and musician Alberts Jērums, to other services, assisting at the organ.
Vija Klīve
Vija was only six weeks old when she and her parents fled Latvia. The family lived in displaced persons (DP) camps in Germany before emigrating to the United States.
Ilze Kuplēna-Juarte
As a Latvian growing up in the UK, she often felt different—braided hair, a foreign name, traditions, and language. Yet these very experiences shaped her into a person committed to equality and justice for all.
Gundega Puidza
At first, she hoped to become a Christian journalist and began her theology studies convinced she would not become a pastor.
Austra Reine
Due to her father’s work, her family moved frequently, which allowed her to experience different cultures and languages while maintaining a Latvian identity.
Lilija Tenhāgena
She was born into a devout Volga German family who had been repressed under the Soviet regime. The family moved from the Ural region to Latvia and, after receiving permission to emigrate, continued their life in West Germany in 1975.
Lauma Zušēvica
Faith and the Church were a natural part of her life—already as a child she spoke about God’s love while looking at her mother’s plants on the windowsill.
More about the exhibition and the exhibition's public program
2005
- 2. October – Exhibition Opening
- 5. October – LR2 raidījums „Latviešiem pasaulē” – saruna ar izstādes kuratori, mācītāju Artu Skuju.
- 6. October – LR1 raidījums „Kultūras rondo” (06.10.2025) – saruna ar bīskapi emerita Jānu Jērumu-Grīnbergu, dr. theol., mācītāju Austru Reini un izstādes kuratori, mācītāju Artu Skuju.
- 3. November – Diskusija „Kas bija pirms ordinācijām?”:
- 11. December – Sarunu vakars „Drosmīgā balss”:
