It seems from this video that the female pastors see themselves a lot differently than the administration of the church explains them to be, “Ordained simply to meet government policy.” They see themselves as Adventist leaders with a mission! I shed a few tears at the end of this video. Please watch it is only 8 mins 52 secs.
As I head into an important meeting August 19 I am in great prayer for the Spirit of God’s leading. Since I always believe in being honest on this blog and in life, I thought I would share the struggle I am having.
My position on the issues of the day are pretty clear, if you read this blog you know I am in support of Women’s Ordination. I believe the day our church took the position to allow women pastors, we should have also taken the position of ordaining. Otherwise it feels like saying “you get paid .75 cents on the dollar” or “here is the title with none of the authority.”
I am disappointed that the current movement is not being lead by our General Conference, and I am finding it hard to trust that things will be different in the future.
**Quick side note, the current administration is getting all the blame, but let us not forget that the previous administration spoke of moving forward on this issue and took a silent survey of the World Division Presidents and pulled back, the current admin is just vocal and so “He” and they get the brunt of our angst, but is an impediment any different whether vocal or silent?
So what is my struggle? My struggle is this: I still believe in the authority of Ellen White in my life as a Seventh-day Adventist, and since she is sleeping in the ground ’till Jesus comes, all I can go by in regards to her counsel are the words we have on the written page. Thus when my friend Pastor Shawn Brace posted two quotes on his Facebook page my struggle has been increased. I have seen the quotes before, but maybe as I am in a great season of prayer over this issue and our church I saw them with new eyes.
I will share those quotes below, but first I want to share one other thing that has increased my struggle. A conversation I had with a fellow pastor, a female pastor, and she said,
“Chad I very much want ordination without regard to gender to happen, but if it happens apart from the General Conference, then I am only recognized in one or two Unions as ordained & if I leave those Unions it has no value. Then all we have essentially done is release the tension a little, much like when certain conferences voted to change ordination policy a few years back, or certain churches voted to ordain their female pastors, it did not really change the issue, women still are not recognized on equal status in the EYES (GC) of the church. If we do this now, will it only release the pressure off the General Conference for a season and in actuality further delay what ultimately needs to happen, equal ordination for all?”
Twice Paul told us that, “Everything is permissible–but not everything is beneficial.” (1 Cor. 10:23 & 1 Cor. 6:12). So I am praying, not what is most permissible, but what will be most beneficial to the cause of God & to the cause of recognition for women by ALL the church?
May we all pray, and may God give us wisdom.
EGW Quotes Pastor Shawn posted that stirred my struggle:
“. . . I have been instructed that there is a great work to be done in America. . .
“The world is filled with strife for the supremacy. The spirit of pulling away from fellow laborers, the spirit of disorganization, is in the very air we breathe. By some, all efforts to establish order are regarded as dangerous–as a restriction of personal liberty, and hence to be feared as popery. These deceiv
So there seems to be the expectation within my praticular faith community, that if you support women’s ordination, believe drums are okay, and didn’t like the tone of the Presidential sermon at our General Conference Session back in June/July of 2010 then you are also against the General Conference Presidency of Ted Wilson.
Why?
What bothers me most about this expectation is that it so deeply reflects the politics of our culture! I’m pro-life, “Oh so you’re a Republican.” I’m anti-guns, anti-death penalty, “Oh so you’re a Democrat.” But wait, what if you’re all of those then what are you?
We have become a nation that tries to force people into boxes and against specific individuals based on a select few issues. And it seems the church is trying to do the same, which is unfortunate because when the church mimics the world it looks a lot less like Jesus and a lot more like the devil!
So yes, Elder Wilson and I disagree on women’s ordination, I haven’t agreed with several of his comments on music, I wasn’t particularly thrilled with his opening speech, and YES, I’m glad he is our General Conference President!
Why shouldn’t I be? Because of those issues?
I struggle with a certain wing of our church, many of whom are my friends, that are always sounding the cry for tolerance and yet the language used towards Ted Wilson and the open support and hope of his removal from office show absolute intolerance!
Y’all we are not Washington D.C. We are a church. A church that NO ONE is forced to be a part of! A church that if a person is a part of, hopefully it is because they believe Jesus is leading the church.
And if we are truly a church then should we not take the same position as David whom though Saul was pursuing him for his very life, David felt guilty about even harming the fabric of Saul’s robe. (That is not a comparison of Ted Wilson to Saul. Ted Wilson is a good & kind man!)
Shame on us if we have become so like the world and the world’s politics we fail to accept our leadership, which God has established, based on a few varying points of view.
I pray our Spectrum of tolerance grows us into acting more like a church and less like a political party!