The Ukraine war is leading to a fundamental shift in the way Ukrainian churches and society view women’s capacity for leadership and service, writes Olga Kondyuk (Ukrainian Evangelical Theological Seminary in Kyiv) in the journal Religion und Gesellschaft in Ost und West (May). While traditional roles for women are still emphasized in some sectors of Ukrainian society, an increasing number of women are being placed in leadership positions, partly due to legal women’s quotas, but more and more as an answer to acute needs in wartime. With more than one million people possibly mobilized in the armed forces and dozens of thousands of dead soldiers (figures are not disclosed), women are stepping into roles traditionally held by men. The percentage of women in top executive positions in the private sector has risen to 31 percent. The trend can also be observed in churches, especially evangelical ones, although only a few of them allow women to minister.
However, the war has opened access to some pastoral duties for women in some churches, which may later lead to new discussions about the opening of pastoral roles for women. There are also three women who serve as military chaplains in the Ukrainian armed forces. Especially strong is the increasing leadership role of women in the social work being conducted by churches for people who have been impacted by the war, including military families, displaced persons, elderly people, and those with disabilities. The number of religious NGOs has increased in recent years, and they have often been launched or are being led by women. The Russian invasion has dramatically changed social dynamics. Kondyuk argues that these changes might signal not just a temporary wartime adaptation, but a lasting shift in how Ukrainian churches and society understand gender roles and view women’s capacity for leadership and service.
(Religion & Gesellschaft in Ost und West, https://www.rgow.eu)
