September to see ordination of first Evangelical Woman Pastor

43- year- old Wiera Jelinek from Zelów near Bełchatów will become the first woman pastor in Poland. In September she will take up her appointment in the Evangelical Reformed Church. After which, she will be entitled to give sacraments as well as run the parish. She will also be appointed assistant to her husband Mirosław who has managing the parish for 21 years. In reform churches appointing women pastors is common practice. In Poland this has been possible since 1991. Earlier, there were fears that ordination introduction will worsen ecumenical relations between the reformed church and the Roman Catholic Church. (Rzeczpospolita, p. A1) A.Z