Women at Andrews

[Gregory Matthews]

John Wesley Taylor V is the new President of Andrews University.  The following link takes you to an article in which he states in the last paragraph that women         should not be ordained to pastoral ministry.

https://www.andrews.edu/president/fromtheheart/womeninministry.html?fbclid=IwAR0juuJcNTgAnJP2UOMgl_utdn6N6YmnKLaybT__yU-MgrGrWjAWWXi9QwQ

[Hanseng]

"At Andrews University, we share in a commitment to equipping and mentoring women for ministry, including pastoral ministry, within the Church and in the world at large. At the same time, in the spirit of unity and as an integral part of the Seventh-day Adventist Church, we respect the decision of the world church at the 2015 General Conference session which does not provide for the ordination of women to the gospel ministry. We acknowledge that there are different views on the matter of the ordination of women to gospel ministry, and as an academic and scholarly institution we will encourage thought and reflection in this area, and seek to provide scholarly insight to these continuing conversations within the Church on this topic, as we pursue a united focus on mission."

 

[Gregory Matthews]

The statement Hansing has cited above is carefully worked.  I will comment on it:

*  The proposal voted on was to give the Divisions the authority to ordain women.  That proposal failed.  It should be noted that it did not prohibit the ordination of women.  It only authorized Division to make that decision in their area.

*  At the time that proposal was presented, the authority to ordain males did not rest with the Divisions.  The Unions had that authority and in many cases that authority has not been taken away from the Unions.  It should be noted that the authority that the Unions had was not limited to males.   It was simply an authority to ordain with no gender specified.

*  So, it is on that basis the various Unions allow for women to be ordained. They consider that they have the authority which has not been taken away from them.

+  It might be argued that in a few cases the authority of a Union to ordain women has been taken away from the Union?  If that is true, it is not true for all Unions.  In the United States, women are being ordained on  basis of the Unions having the authority to do so.

*  It should  be noted that in some other nations, other than the  U.S., women are being ordained.  The U.S. is not the only place where this is happening. 

 

 

 

 

[phkrause]

Very interesting GM, very interesting!!