What are General Conference Delegates Voting on Today?
Mike Ryan, retired General Conference Vice President chairs the discussion of Women's Ordination. Photo taken by Rohann Wellington/NAD
Today's entire agenda at the General Conference Session will be discussion on the question of whether to allow each of the Church's 13 world divisions to decide for themselves whether or not to allow women to be ordained to the gospel ministry in their own territory. Here's the full text of the statement, followed by the question itself:
REQUEST TO THE 2015 GENERAL CONFERENCE SESSION
WHEREAS, The unity for which Jesus prayed is vitally important to the witness of the Seventh-day Adventist Church, and;
WHEREAS, The Seventh-day Adventist Church seeks to engage every member in its worldwide mission to make disciples of Jesus Christ among people from every nation, culture and ethnicity, and;
WHEREAS, Various groups appointed by the General Conference and its divisions have carefully studied the Bible and Ellen G White writings with respect to the ordination of women and have not arrived at consensus as to whether ministerial ordination for women is unilaterally affirmed or denied, and;
WHEREAS, The Seventh-day Adventist Church affirms that “God has ordained that the representatives of His Church from all parts of the earth, when assembled in a General Conference Session, shall have authority”
THEREFORE, The General Conference Executive Committee requests delegates in their sacred responsibility to God at the 2015 General Conference Session to respond to the following question:
After your prayerful study on ordination from the Bible, the writings of Ellen G White, and the reports of the study commissions, and;
After your careful consideration of what is best for the Church and the fulfillment of its mission,
Is it acceptable for division executive committees, as they may deem it appropriate in their territories, to make provision for the ordination of women to the gospel ministry?
Yes or No?
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Feature image: Will Comley, a delegate from the New York Conference, and Ray Hartwell, president of the Pennsylvania Conference, listen intently to the discussion on women’s ordination during the Wednesday morning business session. 60th General Conference Session of the Seventh-day Adventist Church, in San Antonio, Texas. ©2015 North American Division of Seventh-day Adventists. Photo by James Bokovoy/NAD
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