Sự đấu tranh cho lãnh đạo hòa nhập nữ tại Giáo hội Toraja (Indonesia) và EVN

25 Theses Ethics Struggles for Women-Inclusive Leadership in Toraja Church in Indonesia and the Evangelical Church of Vietnam Agency and Structural Change Le Ngoc Bich Ly Patriarchy | Protestantism | Transformation | Culture Theology | Activism | Women’s Rights | Po Power | Gender Relations | Elitism | Manipulat Feminism | Leadership | Privilege | Do Christianity | Southeast Asia | subordination | Gender equality | Religion | Op Struggles for Women-Inclusive Leadership in Toraja Church in Indonesia and the Evangelical Church of Vietnam Agency and Structural Change Struggles for Women-Inclusive Leadership in Toraja Church in Indonesia and the Evangelical Church of Vietnam Agency and Structural Change Le Ngoc Bich Ly Globethics.net Theses No.net Theses Series Publications Director: Prof. Dr Obiora Ike, Executive Director of Globethics.net in Geneva and Professor of Ethics at the Godfrey Okoye University Enugu/Nigeria. Series editor: Dr Ignace Haaz, Globethics Publications Manager, Ph.net Theses 25 Le Ngoc Bich Ly, Struggles for Women-Inclusive Leadership in Toraja Church in Indonesia and the Evangelical Church of Vietnam: Agency and Structural Change Geneva: Globethics.net, 2017 ISBN 978-2-88931-210-8 (online version) ISBN 978-2-88931-211-5 (print version) © 2017 Globethics.net Assistant Editor: Samuel Davies Globethics.net International Secretariat 150 route de Ferney 1211 Geneva 2, Switzerland Website: www.net/publications Email: publications@globethics.net All web links in this text have been verified as of October 2017. This book can be downloaded for free from the Globethics.net Library, the leading global online library on ethics: www.

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Nothing in this license impairs or restricts the author’s moral rights.net can give permission to waive these conditions, especially for reprint and sale in other continents and languages. TABLE OF CONTENTS Acknowledgement. 9 List of Abbreviations .3 Significance of the Research.4 Demographics of Toraja Church and the ECVN .5 Methodological Reasons for Comparison .6 Research Design and Data Collection. 33 2 Agency, Structural Transformation, Structural Duration, and Structural Opportunities in the Struggle for Women-Inclusive Leadership in Religious Insitutions .2 Structural Transformation, Structural Duration, and Structural Opportunities .3 The Relationship between Agency and Structural Transformation and Structural Opportunities .4 Agency in the Struggle for Women-Inclusive Leadership in Religious Institutions .5 Toward a Comparative Approach of Agency and Structuration in Women’s Religious Leadership Studies.

65 3 Gender Structures and their Different Forms of Change: A Descriptive Comparison of Toraja Church and the ECVN .2 Gender Perspectives of Missionaries and Their Sending Institutions .3 The Transformation of Toraja Church from an All-Male- Dominated Structure to an Egalitarian Structure and the Reproduction of the ECVN’s Male-Dominated Structure. 116 4 Interconnection between Context and Gender Structure Contestation: Comparing Toraja Church and the ECVN .2 Gender Equality Opportunities from Cultural Contexts .3 Opportunities for the Empowerment of Agency from Political Contexts .4 Pressure to Change from Encounter with Other Progressive Christian Communities .5 Institutional Dynamics: Toraja Church’s Openness to Reform versus The ECVN’s Patriarchal Conservatism. 172 5 Interconnection between Agency and Gender Structure Change: Comparing Toraja Church and the ECVN .2 The Support and Identification with Gender Equality Struggles by Male Leaders .3 Women’s Feminist Projects, and Collective Effort in the Strugles. 261 References in Indonesian Language.

270 References in Vietnamese Language. 280 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT This dissertation is not only my very first academic thesis but also partial manifestation of my own academic journey and personal growth. Along this journey, I have experienced the so-called Ph. symptoms which include fascination of new knowledge but also stress and frustra- tion to finish the study on time.

People often say that Ph. studies is a lonely journey. This is true when I have come to learn that no one else but I myself own and passionately believe in this dissertation project. I have learned to do research independently, to handle my emotions, and to discipline myself in order to fulfill my study tasks in the mist of distractions.

This is really rewarding after all these years of academic struggle. However, I have also learned that this is not a lonely journey be- cause I have discovered wonderful people who kindly and whole- heartedly extended their hands to help me along the way. Without their help, this dissertation would not be in the final form as it is now. First of all, I am indebted to my two dissertation promoters, Dr.

Wening Udasmoro and Dr. Despite their busy schedules, they always spared time for me. There were times that one of my pro- moters even delayed her lunch just to help me go through my draft. I have learned much from both of them not only their knowledge but also their kindness, discipline, and responsibility.

I own the dissertation project but they are the ones who help me shape it as best as it can be. I would also like to thank ICRS faculty and all the staff for providing me 10 Struggles for Women-Inclusive Leadership a satisfactory academic environment, emotional support and hearty assistance during my doctoral studies. Beside my promoters, I also owe several people who helped me to collect my data in both Indonesia and Vietnam. I am especially grateful to Rev.

Tandirerung, and Rev. Esti Podang Sakkung who were very kind to arrange and assist me during my field research in Toraja, South Sulawesi, Indonesia. They made me feel welcomed and at home. I am also grateful to Rev.

Henriette Hutabarat Lebang, and Rev. Christian for their kindness to share with me their experiences and valuable resources. Similarly my data collection in Vietnam would not be completed without the help of several kind-hearted people in Vietnam and overseas. I know many of them prefer to be anonymous.

I have no other choice than respect it. I am deeply grateful to them. I would also like to send my appreciation to all my informants in both countries. Finally my Ph.

journey would not be successfully completed without the care and support from my beloved family members and close friends from inside and outside Vietnam. I would like to extend my gratitude and love to them. Yogyakarta, 20 December 2016 Le Ngoc Bich Ly LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS BTI : Biblical and Theological Institute CCA : Christian Conference of Asia CCT : Church of Christ in Thailand C&MA : Christian and Missionary Alliance DGI : Dewan Gereja-gereja di Indonesia (Council of Churches in Indonesia) EACC : East Asia Christian Conference ECVN : The Evangelical Church of Vietnam GKJ : Gereja Kristen Jawa GMIM : Gereja Masehi Injili Minahasa GMIT : Gereja Masehi Injili di Timor GZB : Gereformeerde Zendingsbond HKBP : Huria Kristen Batak Protestan MTI : Missionary Training Institute PAK : Pendidikan Guru Agama Kristen (Christian Religion Teacher Training Program) Pdt. : Pendeta, an Indonesian title for ordained clergy PERUATI : Persekutuan Perempuan Berpendidikan Teologi di Indo- nesia (Association of Theologically Educated Women in Indonesia) PGI : Persekutuan Gereja-Gereja di Indonesia (Communion of Churches in Indonesia) PWGT : Persekutuan Wanita Gereja Toraja (Women Fellowship of Toraja Church) Rev.

: Reverend, an honorable title for ordained clergy STT : Sekolah Teologi Tinggi (Higher Theological School) UCC: : Union University of California WARC : World Alliance of Reformed Churches WCC : World Council of Churches 1 INTRODUCTION 1.1 Introduction The second half of the twentieth century marks the development of feminist scholarships on women’s struggles for leadership in religions (Gross 1996, 29). Leadership here refers to the decision-making level which includes access to theological education, ordination, and hierar- chical positions. Feminist scholarships have generally focused on sepa- rate aspects of the issue. Several feminist scholars approach this struggle through exposing patriarchal structures, namely doctrine, sacred texts, culture, institutional practices that limit leadership for women (Adams 2007; Antone 2013; Fiorenza 1994; Kang 2013; Wadud 1999).

Others focus on the enabling aspects of the structure that create opportunities for women’s leadership (Ecklund 2006; Tremper 2013). Recently femi- nist scholarships have taken interest in how women actively use resources and strategies to transform their religious communities or achieve extra-religious ends even within highly conservative religious systems (Adeney 2003; Mahmood 2005; Noriko 2003). As feminist scholars reflect on the overall process of women’s movement for inclu- sive leadership in religious institutions around the world, they start to realize that women’s advancement in leadership depends on both wom- en’s agency and the openness of the religious institution to reform. This realization is best articulated by Georgie Ann Weatherby (2010) in her 14 Struggles for Women-Inclusive Leadership article “Overview: Women as Leaders in Religion and Religious Organ- izations” as follows: “[W]omen have nonetheless sensed oppression via restricted, even marginalized roles and have, to varying degrees, fought back for change.

Those most successful have made in-roads, but that widely depended on their particular church’s overall open- ness to reform. Without the consistent push of women, however, the male-dominated, hierarchical status quo would have re- mained firmly entrenched much longer, in more domains.” (Weatherby 2010, 475) The openness of the church can also be understood as structural op- portunities that facilitate women’s advancement in leadership. Though the roles of agency and structural opportunities or context are recog- nized as determinants of church transformation toward women-inclusive leadership, this new direction has not been sufficiently and empirically studied. There seems a lack of feminist scholarships that comparatively looks at this struggle as a whole process and from an outcome perspec- tive.

In other words, why have women’s struggles for leadership in reli- gious institutions achieved different levels of advancement? While fem- inist scholarships in political field have well developed this approach to study women’s movements in politics (Banaszak 1996; Disney 2002; McCammon et al. 2001), there is generally a lack of this approach in women’s studies in the religious field. Hence this dissertation argues for a comparative approach of this issue. The dissertation explores the relationship of agency, context includ- ing structural opportunities, and the different forms of gender structure change between Toraja Church in Indonesia and the Evangelical Church of Vietnam (ECVN) in Vietnam toward women-inclusive leadership through a comparative qualitative sociological approach.

It explores this relationship by examining how the gender structure of each religious Introduction 15 institution has been shaped and reshaped in different forms now by its own contextual forces and the internal politics of the agency. The disser- tation also expands feminist analysis of women’s struggle for leadership in religion to include men’s agency. Feminist studies in this field have primarily focused on women’s agency while leaving men’s agency un- touched, perhaps because men have been part of the domination struc- ture. There are voices from men scholars and feminists who try to en- gage men in feminist theories (hooks 1992; Ndlazi 2004; Pease 2000; Schacht and Ewing 2004); however, it has been under-studied in wom- en’s leadership studies in religious field.

This study, among other pur- poses, explores the men’s agency and their contribution in women’s leadership struggle in both churches. My findings show that men play a significant role in the contestation process of the two religious institu- tions. These two Christian institutions provide a good opportunity for comparison. Both churches were products of Western colonialism dur- ing the early twentieth century.

The Dutch missionaries brought Protestant Christianity to Toraja in 1913 and Toraja Church was estab- lished in 1947; whereas the Christian and Missionary Alliance (CMA) missionaries from North America successfully planted Protestant Chris- tianity in Vietnam in 1911 and the ECVN was established in 1927. Both churches were influenced by Calvinism (Theodorus Kobong 2008, 130; Nguyễn 2002, 335) and very conservative about local tradition and women’s roles.