Leadership talents/gifts given to females recognized by Church Leaders

[Stan]

For Immediate Release Sunday, November 7, 2010

(Silver Spring, MD, USA) At the 2009 North American Division Year-end Meeting, members voted to rescind “E 60 Conference/Mission President” for more consideration on its language and present it on the agenda for the 2010 Year- end Meeting.

At the 2010 North American Division Year-end Meeting on November 7, at the General Conference Headquarters, it was recommended to reinstate E 60:

E 60 Conference/Mission President

Inasmuch as the conference/mission president stands at the head of the ministry in the conference/mission and is the chief elder, or overseer of all the churches, a conference/mission president should be an ordained ordained/commissioned minister.

The members of the 2010 North American Division Year-end Meeting are not recommending the ordination of women. This, however, is an issue of equality and opportunity for all leaders who hold the commissioned minister credentials.

The members of the 2010 North American Division Year-end Meeting are requesting for the General Conference’s Administrative Committee (GC ADCOM) to grant a variance to the model constitution to accommodate the unique needs of the North American Division with the insertion of “conference/mission president should be an ordained/commissioned minister” in its policy language.

[Liz]

I'm sorry, but I can't get past your title and the very first line of your post.

[Stan]

I could have done better... the post was a "copy and paste" from a news release.

[John317]

Stan, to quote dgrimm, that's an interesting article. But could you summarize it in ordinary English? It seems to have been written with a lot of legalese. There's just got to be a better way of saying it. I bet that was written by lawyers at Silver Spring, Md.

[John317]

Yeah, the title is plain and easy to understand, but the rest... somehow misses it.

[SivartM]

I think it means that instead of requiring ordination to be a conference president, commissioned ministers are accepted now also. Which would allow women into those positions. Hence the title.

[John317]

Yeah, I understood that but why couldn't they say it straight? No good newspaper would accept it the way it is written. Thank you for translating it.

But in all due respect to Stan, there's more involved in the NT teaching about men and women's work in the church than the reproductive organs. That's just a tiny part of the issue.

[Stan]

I'm sorry, but I can't get past your title and the very first line of your post.

Liz, it took me about an hour but I finally got it :)

[olger]

The title is inappropriate.

og out

[Stan]

>>>>a conference/mission president should be an ordained ordained/commissioned minister.

I was under the impression that it was MUST BE not SHOULD BE

[olger]

"The unique needs of the NAD" is a return to the Word of God and a gift of the Holy Spirit.

praying for it,

gcw

[SivartM]

As far as I know the Bible never even mentions conference presidents. Or what their credentials should be, or what gender they should be. So I think this is a really good step in the right direction.

[Stan]

this not only includes females, but many males as well.

[Dr. Shane]

I think we need more women in church leadership. We have a female MD preaching a few weeks ago at our church and I think most of the women wished their husbands were not there. She really laid into the women about what they need to do to make a happy home. A man could never preach a sermon like that and get away with it.

[John317]

I agree with you about the need of having more women in positions of leadership roles in the church, but women can preach and teach that way without being the pastor or elder of the church. In other words, it isn't necessary to be an ordained pastor or leader to preach the truth.

[rudywoofs (Pam)]

I'm glad most of my friends and family don't come here. How crude.

[abelisle]

Some thoughts and questions:

1) Stan, I think you could've rephrased this topic for a more appropriate syntax (word choice) Ex. "Being a male" vs. "having a penis" :-)

2) Will the GC approve with our new President who is strongly against female ordination even though this move doesn't openly espouse such an action?

3) Will the commissioned people get the same salary as the ordained ones?

4) Is this and will it be the opening move for female ordination in the NAD and how will it affect Ted's power base in the third world countries?

5) Does this relatively bold action by our new NAD President point toward a possible organizational restructuring for more efficiency and better fiscal management? Right now we have too many layers of church government, I feel.

6) Lastly, are we going to merge our "black" conferences into the geographical areas they reside in here in the NAD? Example: NYC has both Greater NY Conference and Northeastern Conference. Both are essentially minority dominant and there was a publicly stated concern by the Atlantic Union President that the work for "whites" is sorely lacking and must be addressed.

Alex

[Stan]

I should and will rename this

I am a commissioned minister and get paid the same as my ordained minister colleagues. I am licensed to do marriages etc and have the same tax benefits etc,

Welcome others to comment on the other questions.

[Stan]

Commissioned ministers can lead North American conferences, leaders vote

Vote reaffirms older policy; request sent to General Conference for exemption

7 Nov 2010, Silver Spring, Maryland, United States

Mark A. Kellner, Adventist Review

Seventh-day Adventist conferences and missions in North America can be led by an ordained or a commissioned minister, members of the division Executive Committee voted overwhelmingly on November 7 during year-end business meetings.

The vote, church officials said, will "reinstate" the previous year's change to the North American church's working policy, stating: "Inasmuch as the conference/mission president stands at the head of the ministry in the conference/mission and is the chief elder, or overseer of all the churches, a conference/mission president should be an ordained/commissioned minister."

According to a statement from the North American Division (NAD), "the members of the 2010 North American Division Year-end Meeting are not recommending the ordination of women. This, however, is an issue of equality and opportunity for all leaders who hold the commissioned minister credentials."

At the same time, leaders said, committee members "are requesting for the General Conference's Administrative Committee to grant a variance to the model constitution to accommodate the unique needs of the North American Division with the insertion of 'conference/mission president should be an ordained/commissioned minister' in its policy language."

The question of the role of women in ministry, which was taken off the table for the 2010 General Conference Session in Atlanta is one which draws a variety of opinions. Daniel R. Jackson, president of the church in North America, said the topic was raised because a commitment was made at the 2009 NAD meeting, and, he said, "a promise is to keep."

Virtually every speaker supported the measure, and the vote was nearly unanimous, with only a handful of "no" votes. In 2008, the Adventist Church reported having 4,197 ordained and licensed ministers and 5,224 churches in the North American Division, which comprises the United States, Canada, Bermuda and the islands of Saint Pierre et Miquelon. Globally, the church had 23,040 ministers and 65,961 congregations in that same year.

For more details

http://news.adventist.org/2010/11/women-can-lead-north.html

[Stan]

Vote reaffirms older policy; request sent to General Conference for exemption

Interesting, that as not part of the news release I received last night

[Gail]

There! I did it!

[Stan]

??? it was already changed to "Leadership talents/gifts given to females recognized by Church Leaders"

[Gail]

It wasn't for me... must've happened at the same time!

:)

[doug yowell]

As far as I know the Bible never even mentions conference presidents. Or what their credentials should be, or what gender they should be. So I think this is a really good step in the right direction.

The conference/mission president has been defined by the request as being "the head elder".The Bible speaks very clearly regarding elders. Did ya miss that,SM?

[doug yowell]

"The unique needs of the NAD" is a return to the Word of God and a gift of the Holy Spirit.

praying for it,

gcw

Amen!