The Amazing Hao Ya Jie Story – Pastor Hao Ya Jie, a woman, is the pastor of the Beiguan Seventh-day Adventist Church in Shenyang, China. It started as a small group of 10 people in her living room in 1985. Now it has a membership of more than 7,000 and is considered the largest Adventist Church in the world. Pastor Hao oversees the day-to-day operation of the church, its lay-training program, a feeding program for the needy, and morning worship that starts each day at 5:00 a.m. with hundreds of members in attendance. The Beiguan church has prompted the growth of more than 120 church-plants. Continue reading

Would you be concerned, maybe shocked, to hear that a woman would be your new pastor? When that happened in 2008 in Chestnut Hill, Pennsylvania, many members were skeptical of the idea. They did not want Tara VinCross to come to their district. But they felt differently when they met her. What made the difference? Continue reading

Fascinating facts on Adventist women as spiritual leaders under the headship of Christ. In an attempt to cut through some of the confusing ideas surrounding the question of whether the Seventh-day Adventist Church should ordain women as pastors, here are some basic ideas and principles that should inform our Biblical understanding of the issue. From our friends at OrdinationFacts.com.

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

The ministerial staff of the La Sierra University Church shows the importance of rightly dividing the Word of God. The presentation from March 14, 2015, begins with a dramatic reading of Scripture, followed by cogent observations from lead pastor Christi Oberg. Should men and women be equal most of the time (except in ministry)? Or does God ordain men and women equally? Watch this video to find out as Chris Oberg explains.

Ellen White was a founder of the Adventist Church. She was a messenger of the Lord. And an influential leader. And yes, she was a woman. At the General Conference Session in 1887, “Ellen White’s name was among those voted to receive papers of the ordained ministers.” (Ellen G. White: The Lonely Years: 1876-1891, p. 377). Ellen White held ministerial credentials by 1871. (There were numerous female pastors in Mrs. White’s era, as early as 1872.)

Ellen White received the salary of an ordained minister starting in 1881. She received ordination certificates as an Ordained Minister in 1883 and other years such as 1887, 1899, 1909, 1913. She was listed as an ordained minister in the General Conference Yearbook starting in 1884. She made many positive statements affirming women in ministry. “There are women who should labor in the gospel ministry,” she said. (Manuscript 43a, 1898). In this video you will hear insights from Adventist leaders and scholars regarding EGW and women’s ordination. Her writings and her ministry undergird their support of women’s ordination.

Esther Knott’s father was a Hindu. When he became a Christian and a Seventh-day Adventist, his life was turned around; his whole focus became telling others about what Jesus had done for him. So it was natural that Esther would want to “be about her father’s business” of sharing the Good News. Pastor Knott, of the Pioneer Memorial Church and an Associate Ministerial Director of the NAD of Seventh-day Adventists, discusses her path to pastoral ministry.