On the ordination of women in the Seventh-day Adventist Church
A conversation with the secretary of the Seventh-day Adventist Baltic Union of Conferences, Pastor Guntis Bukalders.
Aļesja Lavrinoviča, 20. 07. 2015
Thank you for agreeing to this interview. The occasion for it is the discussion of amendments to the Constitution of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Latvia (ELCL). The Constitution is to enshrine the principle that ordination may be sought by any male member in accordance with ELCL procedure, thereby already providing in the Constitution that a woman is denied service in the office of pastor. I wanted to talk with you about the question of women’s ordination in the Seventh-day Adventist Church, particularly in the context of the recently held General Conference. First, I would like to talk about the situation in Latvia.
In Latvia’s Seventh-day Adventist congregations there are several women serving as associate pastors. How does the service of an associate pastor differ from that of a senior pastor in an Adventist congregation?
In essence there are five differences. Unlike an associate pastor, an ordained pastor may baptize, administer the Lord’s Supper, perform marriages, may establish a new congregation, and may be elected president of a union of congregations or a higher church organization.
There are also nuances: if an associate pastor has been elected elder of a local congregation, then he may baptize and administer the Lord’s Supper in that particular congregation.
What requirements are set for an associate pastor? Must this person have a theological education?
We hire people, but of course there is a requirement that one needs to obtain a master’s degree in theology. In Latvia we have several associate pastors who have already completed master’s studies at the University of Latvia. We are also considering additional education specifically in matters peculiar to Adventists. In England there is Newbold College, which is the Adventist institution of higher learning, with which we are cooperating to develop a special program for people who already have a master’s degree but who would need 3 – 4 additional subjects in order to grasp the Adventist theological understanding.
Have these women who serve as associate pastors in Latvia’s congregations been ordained or consecrated? Is there any woman in Latvia who is also an ordained pastor?
As pastors they have not been ordained. Four of the five associate pastors have been elected and consecrated as congregation elders, so they may administer the Lord’s Supper in their congregation and, with the permission of the union of congregations, also baptize. One associate pastor has to invite some ordained pastor to administer the Lord’s Supper. For now, as can be seen from these votes, we will not have the ordination of women pastors for some time yet.
As is known, on July 8 the vote of the Adventist General Conference took place, which drew the attention even of the secular press, because it touched on the women’s question. As far as is known, the question of women’s ordination was actively discussed in the Adventist Church for as long as five years. Could you briefly outline the main activities that took place during the study of this question?
This question was raised seriously already at the 1995 General Conference. Even then there was a vote, and they began to examine this question. In 2010 there was a renewed examination of this question – a committee for the study of the theology of ordination was established, consisting of approximately 100 theologians, who studied this question for two years, studying the Bible and the writings of Ellen White, as well as all the historical materials, praying to God, seeking the guidance of the Holy Spirit. After two years of work, the committee arrived at three different views, essentially even four, but in the end decided to keep three.
The Trans-European Division of the General Conference (hereinafter – TED), of which we are a part (Northern Europe), held a fourth view – that ordination is not mentioned in the Bible at all. In the Bible there is the laying on of hands. The origin of ordination is found rather in the tradition of pagan Rome, which was then taken over by the Church of Rome. A clerical class was formed, and ordination is the installation into this class. But the Bible does not speak of any separate class; the Bible speaks of the congregation’s faithfulness in service. And if we understand the laying on of hands as the congregation’s recognition of a particular individual’s use of their gifts in a particular service, and of faithfulness toward that person, and that the Spirit gives gifts as it wills, then who are we to place an obstacle to the working of God’s Spirit? And God can give various gifts of service and a calling to both men and women, as is mentioned in Acts 2:17–18. But since we have a 150-year tradition of ordination, the General Conference decided that we would not depart from this tradition, and then three positions remained:
1) God entrusts the office of leader, that is, service in the congregation, only to men;
2) God gives preference to men, but in exceptional cases, as we see in the history of Israel (there were Huldah and Miriam), some woman may be called, but predominantly men;
3) it is a question of culture, not a theological one. And in the New Testament, if we serve in accordance with the spiritual gifts that God grants as He wills, God can grant them to both men and women.
Since the committee for the study of the theology of ordination could not arrive at a single common denominator, the question remained open: if we cannot find a common denominator, can we agree to entrust the regional divisions of the General Conference to decide this question individually with respect to their own territory? The question to the delegates of the General Conference was as follows:
“After a prayerful study of the Bible and the writings of Ellen G. White, and the reports of the study committees on ordination, and after careful consideration of what would be best for the church and the fulfillment of its mission, is it acceptable for division executive committees to make provision for the ordination of women to the gospel ministry as they see fit in their territory? Yes or no?”
The delegates’ vote was as follows: yes – 977, no – 1381, 5 abstained.
Does this vote mean that women pastors will be forced to leave their service?
I want to emphasize once again that the vote was neither “for” nor “against” ordination. The question was whether this decision could be entrusted to be resolved regionally, differently in each part of the world. And the vote was that it cannot.
Many delegates expressed the view that this is one of those questions that must be resolved by the whole church as a whole, that there cannot be a difference between regions. Because if a pastor is transferred from one region of the world to another – for example, if a woman who could be ordained in America is sent as a missionary to Africa, where there is no ordination of women – this would create a complicated situation. That was one of the reasons that determined that [the decision would be made by] the whole Adventist Church. Because if a pastor is ordained, then he is ordained for service in any place in the world.
As for the second part of the question – can a woman be a pastor? Yes, she can continue to serve as an associate pastor; in that respect nothing changes. Already on the second day after this vote, alarming reports came that in some parts of the world women were being made to write resignations from their office in the congregation, because, you see, it had been voted “against” the ordination of women, and therefore apparently a woman cannot serve at all. Some people completely failed to understand what the vote was about. That is why the next day the president of the General Conference specifically emphasized that this vote changes nothing in the service of women – neither in the work of the diaconate, nor as congregation elders, nor as associate pastors. Everything remains as it has been until now. I emphasize this in order to prevent such misunderstandings that a woman may not serve in the congregation at all.
So it turns out that the divisions will not have the authority to ordain women, but at the union level it will be possible to do so?
There are some unions that, contrary to the position of the worldwide Church, have already begun to ordain women a couple of years ago. In North America there are a couple of unions of congregations in which women have been ordained, as well as in Germany and the Netherlands. And also, the day after this decision, the Netherlands announced that they would continue to ordain, despite this decision. So in some unions of congregations there is a differing position.
Tell us a little about the structure of the Seventh-day Adventist congregations and what the difference is between divisions and unions.
The foundation of the Adventist congregations is the local congregation. Local congregations join together into unions of congregations, such as, for example, the Latvian Union of Congregations, which includes all the Adventist congregations in Latvia. In turn, several unions of congregations can form unions [ūnijas]. We have the Baltic Union of Conferences, which unites the Latvian, Lithuanian and Estonian unions of congregations, or conferences (in English). The unions, in turn, are overseen by the General Conference, which at present has 13 regional divisions of the world; in English they are called divisions. A division is a part of the General Conference, only in a particular region of the world. And all division presidents are automatically vice presidents of the General Conference. The ordination of pastors takes place at the union level. Our church has a peculiar structure – on the one hand it is hierarchical, on the other hand this hierarchy is also strongly limited, or constrained. A division cannot directly interfere in the work of a union, and the unions in turn cannot interfere in the affairs of a union of congregations, and a union of congregations cannot interfere in the work of a local congregation. Each has its own statutes and its own governing structure. The only thing we can do is to see that a lower-standing organization operates in accordance with its statutes. If a union of congregations puts forward someone for pastoral ordination, then he is ordained at the union level.
We have arrived at this important question – even if our division were to adopt a decision that in our territory women may be ordained, that by no means means that it will happen. Because in essence everything depends on the local union of congregations – if they put forward a pastor for ordination and if the union ordains, then it happens. The division provides a kind of favorable gesture, that throughout this territory it will be recognized. Otherwise, if some union of congregations does it on its own initiative, then the person is recognized as an ordained pastor only in that particular region, but not elsewhere.
What force do decisions adopted in the votes of the General Conference have? Because soon after such a vote, in the independent magazine “Spectrum”, created by Adventist church members/enthusiasts, an announcement from the Dutch church appeared:
“The delegates of the Dutch congregations, at their congress in the autumn of 2012, voted for the ordination of women on equal terms with their male colleagues. The results of the vote took effect in June 2013 and will remain in effect. The decision of the General Conference session in San Antonio does not change this.
We will continue to ordain women pastors in the Netherlands Union of Conferences. We thank God that He calls men and women to serve Him. We wish to enthusiastically affirm this calling with the laying on of hands.”
How would you comment on such a view of the Dutch church, and are there other countries that plan to do the same as the Netherlands?
The day after the vote, that is, on the evening of July 9, the TED sent a letter of support and encouragement to all women pastors, expressing – we want all of you who are in service to know that we love you, that we value your service in our lands, and that we will continue to work to promote an increase in the number of women pastors, encouraging service, affirming that your authority has not diminished. The service of women is an essential component of the proclamation of the gospel.
In the letter, the president of the Trans-European Division indicated the work to be carried out going forward:[1]
In the coming months, an event will be organized to reflect together, express solidarity and offer healing.
We will continue to encourage and involve in preparation for gospel ministry women who feel such a calling.
We will affirm our conviction regarding the service and gifts of women in all offices of the local congregation, the union of congregations and pastoral work. This will be expressed in words, in writing and in our actions.
We will defend you against those who will seek to belittle your gifts.
We will continue to promote the biblical conviction that we are all one in Christ, believing that this is important.
We will encourage and train you, striving for excellence, in order to show the world an unmistakable testimony of your worth. In the name of the gospel we commit ourselves to be united with our sisters and brothers, serving as rays of freedom, independence, unity and hope in this pain-stricken world. We thank you for your friendship, professionalism, fervor and loyalty to the One who has promised in this end time to pour out His Spirit upon His daughters and sons.
The letter was signed by the president of the Trans-European Division, Raafat Kamal, and the leaders of all the unions of conferences within the TED.
In this context the question concerns those unions of congregations in which women pastors are ordained. Of course, their ordination is recognized only in the respective union of congregations; outside of it, it is not in force. So, as long as this pastor serves, say, in the Netherlands, her ordination is recognized; outside of it she has the status of an associate pastor.
Following the debates before and after the vote, one gets the impression that the delegates were called to say “no” in the name of the unity of the church. What do you think – will the Adventist Church be more united or less? Perhaps the question is not about unity at all?
There are very different interpretations of how we assess what we were called to do. The whole of Wednesday was set aside for this one question. The debates began at 10 o’clock; the chair of the meeting asked everyone who signed up for them to state in advance whether they would be “for” or “against” examining this question regionally by divisions. And he gave the floor alternately to a proponent of one position and then the other. In this way, representatives of both views could speak on equal terms. Of course, some held the view that by voting “yes” the church could split, and just as many held the view that the opposite vote could cause a split. I think that when emotions run high, people sometimes hastily make very radical decisions. Immediately after the vote, some people asked to be struck from the church register: “I do not want to be in such a church!” In my opinion, all of this will subside, and after some time it will be possible to talk about it again with a cool head.
Looking at the statistics, I believe that this question is gradually moving forward; one cannot say that it is not. If we look historically – that in 1990 24% voted “for”, in 1995 already 31%, and this year 41% voted “for” – then we see that the number of supporters of the idea of women’s ordination has grown by 17% over 25 years. The fact that this year 41% voted “yes” was a great surprise to me. Seeing how many delegates there were from Africa and Latin America, I expected only 10–15%. In Africa the local culture is not the most favorable toward women, and in South America there is a distinctly Catholic culture; there too women are not pastors, so 41% is a surprisingly large number. If it continues like this, then in 10–15 years this question will be positively resolved.
And then I will not have to ask the question about the future…
Of course, there is also the other side. People who cannot accept this other view. And in this case too I very much liked the fact that the leadership of the meeting asked people not to applaud and, after the results were announced, not to celebrate victory, whichever side it might be for, because we all remain together anyway. And whatever the outcome may be, some people will be devastated by it.
And it seems to me – this is where Christianity actually begins – what will we do with people who think differently? How will we accept them? In any case. This time it turned out that the people who are “for” examining ordination regionally remained in the minority, but it could also have been the other way around. How then would we accept the other side? This is the tension of Christian growth, which demands to be resolved in a Christian way.
When the results were announced, a strange silence fell over the hall. At first I thought: “Wait, was there a result or not?” One could sense that the people in the spectators’ rows had been waiting since morning for the moment when they could greet with ovations a decision that would be just as they had imagined it. But then, when the result of the vote was announced, there was silence, and afterward we joined together in a common hymn. One can only commend the leadership for conducting the meeting in such a way, which somewhat lessened the disappointment for one part. Because everyone, of course, wished that their view would be adopted. In any case, one side had to be disappointed. And the fact that the disappointment was lessened is truly commendable.
At present, an informal but sizable correspondence group has formed within the Trans-European Division, which is discussing how we will live on, what we will do. For now it is a kind of exploratory question, a discussion.[2]
In closing, I would like to ask you – what fate awaits women associate pastors in Latvia, and will new associate pastors be consecrated for service in the future?
That is a difficult question. In Latvia we have five women associate pastors. It is hard for me to say whether there will be more; for now, hardly. One thing is clear – for now, women will not be ordained as pastors. But as associate pastors, I think, they will continue to serve. Right now it is important that they truly feel the support of their male colleagues. Jesus Christ taught – do unto others as you would have others do unto you. How would it look if we were in reversed roles? – if the question were about the ordination of men? That is how Christ calls us to look and to act. May God help us!
[1] http://spectrummagazine.org/article/2015/07/12/trans-european-division-president-sends-letter-women-ministry
[2] http://reinderbruinsma.com/2015/07/after-san-antonio-what-now/