There is so much misinformation floating around about women’s ordination. There is nothing like a dose of truth to clear up the malady of confusion. Here (also in Spanish) is a logical, succinct list of facts about ordination of women in ministry:

FACT: The SDA Church has had women pastors since at least 1872.

FACT: There were many more women pastors in Ellen White’s day, proportionately, than now. Continue reading

Bible Study: What Does the Bible Say About Women’s Ordination? How does the creation story of Genesis 1, view male and female in relation to each other? What practice do we see in the Old Testament regarding women leaders over men? How did Jesus treat women, and why? What does Paul mean about not permitting women “to teach” in 1 Timothy 2? In this succinct study, theologian Dr. Ron du Preez and Dr. Cindy Tutsch (a retired associate director of the Ellen G. White Estate), delve deeply into Scriptures to explain the context and culture involving some of the most misunderstood and misused biblical citations used to withhold women’s ordination. Continue reading

After the “No” vote on July 8, the unions still retain the authority to decide on women’s ordination. This article was originally published on AToday.org a few days before the vote. It also contains important information that will help to make sense of what the vote means and how the unions can move forward.

On Defining Rebellion: Unions and San Antonio

At this year’s long-anticipated General Conference session in San Antonio, delegates will vote on whether each Division may decide for themselves whether to ordain women. With all of the hype, the Internet war, and the mass mailings, it may help to step back and consider whether we are asking the right question. While all of the church is swept up in the argument over Divisions deciding for themselves, perhaps we need to ask, whose decision is it, really? Continue reading

Ty Gibson, co-director of Light Bearers, posted “A Closer Look at Women’s Ordination” (or printable PDF or Spanish) on June 5, 2015, as the result of an arduous 5-month study that began on January 14.

Ty says, that is when “I decided that it is time for me to knuckle down and study the subject of women’s ordination for myself” because “my church is engaged in a titanic conflict over the subject.” He came into the study with a mind set against WO. But he decided to study with an open mind, trying to lay aside his biases and preconceptions on the topic, and simply examine what the Bible and the writings of Ellen White have to say. 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

The Seventh-day Adventist Church has provided scriptural answers to common questions about ordination. The answers are faithfully based on the Bible and corroborated by the Spirit of Prophecy:

What is the purpose of ordination?

Ordination formally sanctions an individual for the purpose of fulfilling the Church’s global mission Continue reading

If you are interested in sincerely and deeply studying the issue of ordaining female pastors, you will want to read Questions and Answers About Women’s Ordination edited by Dr. Martin Hanna and Dr. Cindy Tutsch. This book of 160 pages was published by the SDA Pacific Press in September of 2014. Topics include hermeneutics, Old Testament and Testament precedents, and insights from the Spirit of Prophecy and church history. The first chapter is available as a free download on the ABC website. Continue reading

The General Conference Biblical Research Institute has noted that opponent of women’s ordination are claiming that “it opens the way to the acceptance of a homosexual lifestyle by the Adventist Church.” But the GC BRI explains: “The two issues are not related to each other and should be kept separate.” The BRI stays: While the Bible clearly forbids homosexual activity, it does not … forbid ordination of women. The BRI further explains that the “wrong reasons used by some should not prevent us to do the right thing for right reasons.” Continue reading