Like Jonah in the Bible, Hyveth Williams was reluctant to answer God’s call to ministry. She used to denounce women’s ordination and proclaim that females must not be pastors — because she was trying to convince herself that God was not calling her. This background helps her to be understanding and forgiving of those who oppose women in ministry. We are fortunate, however, that she finally answered God’s call. Listen to her brief but powerful testimony.

Dr. Williams served as a senior pastor for 20 years, most recently as senior pastor of the Loma Linda Campus Hill Church, before accepting a call in 2009 to join the faculty of the Seventh-day Adventist Theological Seminary at Andrews University, where she trains pastors in Christian Ministry and Homiletics.

On July 8, 2015, Dr. Jan Paulsen, past president of the General Conference, made an eloquent and powerful appeal to the Church to recognize that God calls both men and women to ministry, and we should trust the leaders of our respective Divisions to make wise decisions about what works best in their territories regarding ordination. Reminiscent of another great presidential speech of history, a fitting title would be “The San Antonio Address.” Here is the full text:

I appeal to my brothers and sisters to vote “Yes” on the motion before us. A “No” vote will Continue reading

Dr. Angel Rodriguez, a theologian for the General Conference Biblical Research Institute from 1987 to 2011 and its director from 2002 to 2011, explains that the vote in San Antonio is not intended to be a majority vote about whether the Bible allows ordination of women to the ministry. The Adventist Church does not define truth by majority vote. This is not a theological issue. It is simply a question of what is best for the Church. Dr. Rodriguez explains that a Yes vote is a vote for unity and a vote for doing all we can to follow Christ’s command to go and tell the Good News. Continue reading

An open letter from Pastor Tom Hughes:

April 5, 2015

Dear Opponents of Women in Ministry:

As a pastor in the Seventh-day Adventist Church for over 35 years I have seen many controversial subjects discussed. However, as our GC president has taken a very negative stance on women’s ministry, and prominent television ministries and publishing houses have done the same, I must publicly and respectfully disagree with them, so I’m writing this open letter to draw attention to Ten Questions that concern me. Continue reading

Here is an interesting point-counterpoint argument about women’s ordination. The debate has been raging for 40 years, since 1975 (or actually since at least 1881). This article was published in the Adventist Review 30 years ago in 1985: “Should Women Be Ordained to the Gospel Ministry?” Read it at http://drc.WhiteEstate.org/files/63.pdf . We think the “Yes” argument on the left side is more scriptural, well-reasoned, and compelling. How about you? Pro-WO, or Anti-WO? You decide.

The General Conference Biblical Research Institute is concerned about the strident contentions, accusations, and ad hominem arguments seen in the discussion about women’s ordination (and it appears to us that these tactics are frequently used by the anti-WO camp). Their modus operandi is to attack the messenger. “The BRI is quite concerned about some fallouts of the current debate…. We have the impression that the discussion is no longer on a biblical-theological and factual level but that individuals and groups are being heavily criticized and condemned by others.” Continue reading