Does any one know if Ellen G. White was ever ordained as a minister. I hear some conflicting story. If she was ordained, where is the proof?

Won

However - while you are asking this question - you might want to ask the same question for our other founder - James White

Only fair - right?

The General Conference recognized her and treated as an ordained minister from 1883 until the day she died. It listed her among the ordained minsters of the General Conference in the SDA Yearbook each year.

It is my understanding that The ordained minister credential for husband and wife ministry teams were routinely issued jointly in those days and that is the joint credential that James and Ellen White were given until he died. The General Conference continued to issue the same credential in her name alone after he died.

Yes Tom - yet I find it interesting that no one is clamoring to have proof of James White's ordination.

That is because a man is self-authenticating...

I think, it is because so many SDAs oppose ordination of women!

Won

Ellen White's prophetic ministry had nothing to do with whether the church ordained her or not. She worked for God as His prophet long before she received any license from the church.

Ellen White was not a minister or pastor in the sense of doing the ordinary work of a minister of the gospel. Jesus Christ directly ordained her to be His special messenger and she did not need to have the hands of any man laid upon her.

Ministers and elders must be ordained by the church in order to serve in their capacities in the church. Otherwise they wouldn't have a job. This is not the case of a genuine prophet, because they are called directly by God.

Even if a genuine prophet of God is not accepted by a single soul on earth, they are still a prophet of God. If, on the other hand, a pastor/minister/elder is not accepted by a church, they are not a pastor/minister. These are voted into their positions; a prophet of God is not selected by man but is appointed by God Himself.

You are right, however, how many of us go by this principal.
Many who prefer women's ordination quote "Ellen White was ordained". So the debate of women's ordination keeps going on.

Won

I wouldn't say "no one". In fact I went further than that asking about all the earliest pioneers.
http://clubadventist.com/forum/ubbthreads.php/topics/552178/Speaking_of_Ordination.html#Post552178


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I ask all to respect that this is "holy ground" so to speak...whenever we attempt to open the word of God we are treading on holy ground...and I ask a sincere effort to not misrepresent those you oppose.

Did James White ever say that he was not ordained by men? Ellen White did. She also said that Christ Himself commissioned her as His messenger and gave her visions which He instructed her to write in books that would continue to speak until Christ returns.

There's no reason to doubt that James White was ordained by man, is there? Can we say the same about Ellen White?

Actually, according to James White's autobiography, he was called of God and went forth without ordination, after a Jonah experience.

Later he was ordained by his church. It is quite possible that our early pioneers viewed ordination quite differently than the current generation.

Which would have been impossible since she,as Mrs. James White, was co-founder of the church which later recognized her contributions (39 years later?)to their existence.


This is because their roles in ministry are different. In today's church culture the ordination most often given is that which "frees up" or authorizes {i.e. "recognizes")a person to minister in it's name.One can be granted credentials merely by passing church funded courses on ministering while adding the assertion that "God has called me to..." Strangely, the church today offers no courses in training for the prophetic ministry.

I'm thinking that that is quite possible.

Interesting wording, "as Mrs. James White". Wasn't she working for the church before she became "Mrs. James White"?

edit: Do you see only the two of them as founders of the SDA church? Or is that just how it happened to come out?

Yes, she was working for the church before there was a church and they knew that she was working for them.

James White did most of the heavy lifting which eventually lead to the formation of the organization.Ellen White seems to have provided the accompanying Inspiration and support essential to the spiritual prosperity of the movement. Others were obviously contributers but without the work of the White's the success of the future SDA denomination would have turned out considerably different. It is no coincidence that when organization actually became a necessity that James White was selected to be the first president.

A whole lot of minimizing I do see. I suggest there were a few more, but just a few who worked as hard as James White...I also suggest, having read the autobiography, that Ellen White did much, much, more than "support". Her husband did not minimize her work, which was at least equal to his own....As was the work of other wives according to Ellen White, not as assistants but as full partners.

No minimizing here. I didn't imply that one's contributions were more important than the other's.I clearly noted that their roles were different. Is the medic less important than the machine gunner? Even EGW noted that James was so given to the work that he unnecessarily worked himself to death. Can you give examples of others who gave as much as the Whites? All outside sources I know note the Whites as co-founders of SDAdventism.

And many leaders in the church have been ordained even though they never were 'a minister or pastor in the sense of doing the work of a minister of the gospel" either. Many conference treasurers, educational administrators, and departmental directors have been ordained as ministers of the gospel that never pastored a church. They continue to hold the credential of an ordained minister.

Really?"Support" is a term used of one who "assists" another, not of a co-equal, co-partner. Perhaps "different" is in the mind of the beholder - and sources that one reads - than in reality? Try reading the pioneers for yourself. :) I certainly never got that impression by reading them. From EGW,



I suggest you read their writings. Those writings are on the pioneer side of the Ellen White cd and on the Ellen White writings site.