The Seventh-day Adventist Church has voted “no” to the motion that would have allowed each of its 13 administrative divisions to decide on whether to ordain women or not. Meeting in San Antonio, Texas at the ongoing General Conference session which takes place every five years, the 2556 delegates brought to an end years of debate on a question that has equally been hotly contested in other churches.
By a margin of 1,381 – 997 with five abstentions delegates by secret ballot ended a five-year process characterized by vigorous and sometimes acrimonious debate. “Now is the time to unify under the bloodstained banner of Jesus Christ and His power, not our power,” Ted Wilson, re-elected to another five-term as president of the global SDA Church a few days ago said after the ballots were counted on tables at the front of the Alamodome stadium.
Five years ago in 2010, the SDA Church whose global membership now stands at 18 million resolved that the subject of the ordination of women be studied carefully and findings brought to the 2015 session for a vote. Each of the church’s 13 administrative divisions set up ordination study committees whose findings were widely seculated for further consideration by church members.
At the ongoing session, the motion on the table read, ““After your prayerful study on ordination from the Bible, the writings of Ellen G. White (the co-founder of the SDA Church), 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.”
If the delegates had voted “yes”, it would have meant that some divisions (divisions represent regions of the world) might have been ordaining women while others would not have been. By voting “no”, delegates have decided on uniformity and unity in ordination practices.
The General Conference session, which began July 2 ends on the 12th of this month. Among the choirs invited to sing at the global meeting is the 12 Gates from Emmasdale SDA Church in Lusaka.
SDA Church Says Its Unbiblical For a Female To Be a Pastor added by on
View all posts by →
It depends on the way you interpret the BIBLE. As for PENTECOSTALS & PRESBYTERIANS, women clergy are a norm. Remember the first Evangelist, the Samaritan Woman. A woman is only subject in a home and to her husband.
There is no other interpretation. The bible was written by male chauvinists. Since in the time they lived women were opressed, they never ever thought women would in future be considered equal to men so the bible has no provision for liberalising such things as priesthoods. So much for prophets who couldn’t see what would happen in the future-NOW! If you want to have women preachers, just start your own church and write your own bible
@St Peter, to the contrary my dear, the bible was written by men but inspired by the holy spirit…no way can the holy spirit be male chauvinist. The only problem we have nowadays is that people read and interpret the bible to suit their situation.
THATS MY CHURCH,AMEN,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,CONGLATULATIONS TO ALL FAITHFUL DELEGATES WE SENT THERE,GOD ALMIGHTY BLESS YOU FOR DEFENDING HIS STANDARDS.
You can liberalize the world but do not liberalize the Bible. It remains conservative.
Christianity is bullshít, and I’m not apologizing for saying that
Who asked you to apologise? Are you any of our business? Have you ever asked me to apologise for not believing and belonging to your clique of atheists or bafoons?
Kakolwe the muzungu worshipper always posting rubbish!
Senseless rant!!!
@Czar, cilekefye ici cipuba. Imagine yourself having a stroll and you find two people enjoying amakole. Would you, because amakole are irksome to you, start an argument with those people on how amakole are slimy, badly coloured, inhygienic and cause diarrhea? Pantufye you polomyad for 1 month after eating rotten amakole? This goon doesn’t worship God but why is he busy attacking anyone who does? He is arguing with his conscience!
Are u a terrorist?
My brother or Sister whoever you are, Christianity is not and will never be bullshit as you think it to be. Christianity is our and your own salvation in Jesus Christ ‘THE ONLY SON OF GOD WHO DIED ON THE CROSS OF CALVARY”. No one will ever inherit eternal life without believing in Christ Jesus, whatever religion you are. Christ Jesus is the centre of every created life (human beings, animals, fish, land, sun, moon, stars, water, satan or devil who was once Lucifer, etc) as He is the CREATOR Himself and Saviour.
How we pray that God will send you His Holy Spirit to know God (not to know about God) that you know who you are as a human being and how you came into existence and why you are still alive. Many people have since died, and not because that they are more sinners than as, but that God is still waiting for you (my brother or sister) to repent of your sins and everyone else. GOD LOVES AND WILL STILL WAIT FOR YOU TO REPENT SO THAT YOU BELIEVE IN HIM AND BE SAVED. May GOD richly bless you, AMEN.
@Elder Yuyi….very well put…couldn’t have put it in a better way myself..
As for my brother here who says Christianity is bullshit, I just feel sorry for him and I hope that soon he will know the truth and the truth will set him free. The bible says every knee shall bow and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord….even Moslems with their Mohammed know and acknowledge that Jesus Christ died and he will come again. Infact their Koran talks more of Jesus than it talks of Prophet Mohammed….I agree with @Kakolwe this gentleman is actually fighting with his conscience.
I just hope it is understood that the vote is against ordination and not preaching.
Even preaching is not permitted for women. The many churches you see allowing women preach are actually in breach of the Bible. In 1 Corinthians 14:34 (KJV) the Bible says: Let your women keep silence in the churches, for it is not permitted unto them to speak; but they are commanded to be under obedience as also saith the law.
AMEN TO ELDER YUYI. YOU HAVE SAID IT ALL. GOD BLESS YOU FOR PREACHING HIS WORD.
Thank u God.Thank u to the 1000+for your vote.
If religion is so great, why has it started so many wars? Why does it build huge churches, but fails to feed the poor?
Praise Yahweh. SDA Still defending biblical truths.
Jesus Sucks. So Does Religion
Even preaching is not permitted for women. The many churches you see allowing women preach are actually in breach of the Bible. In 1 Corinthians 14:34 the Bible says: Let your women keep silence in the churches, for it is not permitted unto them to speak; but they are commanded to be under obedience as also saith the law.
Lean on the truth
Forgive my ignorance. Was Ellen G. White a man? And what was her role in SDA?
Thank you for this question. Seems I’m also confused as to how a whole church sect that strongly believes a woman must not teach or preach can depend so much on a woman’s personal thoughts (or teachings)!
THEN THE TEACHINGS OF E.G. WHITE IS ALSO NULL AND VOID. WHAT A CONTRADICTION
Was E G white an ordained minister in the SDA church? Why show your stupidity over such a simple and straight forward issue. In the bible, no female levite was ever ordained to the office of a priest and the SDA church is right on this.
Hossana in the Highest. The devil is at work day & night. Follow the Bible not human teachings.
The “sky god” is the most useless of all man made gods!
“sky god” is the one you worship.
WAS THE HARLOT E.G WHITE A MAN OR WOMAN. WHO WAS SHE AND HOW DID SHE COME ABOUT OF THIS PATHETIC ORGNISATION MASQUARADING AS A CHURCH
May God deliver you…
THE SELF-DECLARED ‘LAST’ PROPHET AND FOUNDER OF THE SEVENTH DAY ADVENTIST CHURCH WAS A WOMAN. The whole church turns round and says NO MORE WOMEN preachers. Then @Forked Teeth says the Bible says women should NOT Preach in Church. Iwe brother iwe, Doesn’t Ellen G White preach every Saturday during Sabbath School as you read and quote her as an authority?
Mulangumfwisha Bwino ba 7 days naba Chutawala.
its pity dat de word of god z misinterpreted which bible are u guiz using whic syz women shuld not preach get back to yo senses mwayamba kuvichitilamo ala imwe
kangachepe ma bro u are on point atase aba
Read 1corinthians 14:33-37
in vs 34 it says ….as the law also says(in the book of law Genesis3:16)
1Timothy2:11-15)
1Timothy3:2,12 all talking about husbands of one wife)
MUST be and not MAY BE.A must is not an optional thing
Ready matthews 28:18-20, Jesus told his 11 desiples to into the whole world, to teacher, baptiz & make desiples in nations. Jesus didn’t said only men but all those who will accept Him as a King should also make others to know Him weather man or woman. The only truth is that SDA belives in the law & the saturday for salvetion not Jesus. Jesus is the center of all our living.
The SDA did not need to vote, all they were supposed to do was read the bible and seek guidance from there. you can not debate the word of God by way of voting, you need to read and understand the scriptures and the bible shall tell you the divine truth
I agree with you,honestly why subject the matter to voting,discuss the scriptures,interpret and conclude.Debating such a Biblical issue implies failure to understand the scripture hence doubting the logic
I agree with you
EW IS WAS NT THE FONDER OF SDA CHURCH,GOD IS THE FONDER,SHE WAS JUST INSPIRED BY GOD. TO WRITE PROPHIC BOOKS.GENESIS 2:1-3,MaY GOD BLES SDA CHURCh.TRUE IS INDEPENT OF ERRO
So, no other woman can be inspired since that female thing ushered in adventism?
Those are defensive arguments. God founded the SDA! OK!
Keep up the good work. Probably, she must have been the last prophet as you believe? Abashala nibangwele?
I pray you meet Jesus.
Yeah come and suck my dîck!!
There is one fool with so much hadred on Jesus.how can u say ‘Jesus sucks’?
I hate that bastard called Jesus!!
In democracy it is the majority’s view that reigns. And that is expressed through a ballot.
The holy book is very clear on minority and majority. It has categotically stated that the wider is the way and many pass through it. The narrower is the way and very that leads to eternal few pass it.
It goes therefore that democracy is ungodly. Whether the voting against women clergy was free and fair, but the fact remains that the very process of going to the polls is detested by God.
Let them use scripture to convince each other that a woman should not be a pastor or preacher.
In UK & RSA women preach what’s it in other countries? Some women are more spiritual than men fornicators.
God will never allow satan to plant false teachings in His church and let it grow,never. You have to be very extra careful when you are dealing with spiritual issues, the devil was once an angel of God. He (satan) knows very much how to confuse people & lead them astray. e.g God said to Adam & Eve, the day you will eat from that tree you will surely die, and what did satan said to them when he came? you will not surely die. Today the whole world is in misary,cry ect just because of that word satan tricked our first parents. Even today satan is using the same language with sweet talks thru peole.
You and many others that believe in that silly fairy tale, are simply victims of brainwash!!
Moslems around the world are fasting and believe in their god too.
Millions of Hindus have Krishna.
Japanese have more than 500 GODS.
The Bushongo, from the Congo River and surrounding areas believe in Bumba.
The god Bumba was said to appear like a gigantic man in form and white in color. AND THAT.. the creation took place when he vomited forth the sun, moon, earth, plants and animals, and then humanity. Bomazi is the ancestor-god of the Bushongo.
Pygmies of Congo. Believe in the BAMBUTI a god of the hunt who wields a bow made from two snakes that together appear to humans as a rainbow.
thru people.
Lesa nipalobe but there is one God & one truth. Icishinka cishinka forever.
For genda equality God is all knowing read Gen.5 vs 2 & the word Adam means MAN; so we are one & the same in the eyes of God, read also Revelation 5 vs 10 this also stands on genda equality, read again Ephesians 4 vs 29; this also is not biased on genda. Please do not mis~interpret the scripture of 1Timothy 2 vs 11 – 15 this was opinions of apostle Paul & not of God, have the spirit of understanding the word of God. Get reverations not as direct as u do like Gen. 2 vs 2-3, does your God rest on your life to say this is my declared day i should rest to look after my children? the day he does that it means u are dead. Am praying for the redemptions of ur lives. Amen
She can preach but not to be a pastor
Understand the story before you start confusing yourselves. Women can preach but can never be ordained to be pastors because there is no biblical record which says women were being ordained but there is a record of women being preachers.
@lesa Palobe, whatever or whoever you obsess about is your god whether alcohol or dope but know one thing there is a master builder for any invention or creation.
Amen !
Ellen. G. White is not a founder of the seventh-day adventis church, a careful and prayerful study of the book of Genesis indicates that the church was founded by God himself…on the other hand Ellen is still preaching in the numerous spiritual books she wrote but she was not ordained, from Genesis to Revelation the bible has never recorded any woman being ordained…this is what the church voted against and not women preaching.
christian means follower of chrst. So the SDA church is correct. Women r not supporse stand and preach when men r present. Look jesus is the standard of christianity. And he never choose any female desciple
Christians are always going on about how Jesus died for our sins, but if he came back 3 days later then he did n’t die at all; more like being in a brief coma, which is a drag, but not exactly the ultimate sacrifice that the crucifixion is cracked up to be.
TO ORDAIN AND TO PREACH, THERE ARE TWO DIFFERENT WORDS. THE WHOLE ISSUE IS ABOUT ORDAINING THE WOMAN, ITS NOT FORBIDING THE WOMEN TO PREACH.
A woman has got a lot of responsibilities, as a mother she has got to look after the entire family including the pastor / preacher himself, God gave Adam Eva as helper. Think of a woman leaving a baby at home to go and preach or may be a pregnant woman etc. In reality a woman is a pillar of any house hold, remember behind a successful man there is a woman. There is a lot of charity work for women to do all that is work of God not necessarily to stand at the pulpit. Even in Jesus’s time women were only helpers. God saw it fit to let it be like this so please do not start changing / twisting the Bible. By the way is writing a book and preaching the same?
After brain washing them ati vote….uh huh
Jesus said iam the last sabbarth.You are not under law from the time of JESUS CHRIST.
Which bible?
I believe in the Bible and the Bible alone, God is God who does not change, He is the same yesterday, today and forever. God is the head of Christ,Christ is the head of man and man is the head of a woman, just the way a body has different parts and each part has its own role to play so is a woman and man, as women we have our own roles to play, a man can never fall pregnant neither can a woman make a man pregnant, saints let us not go against what is written in the Bible,Had God wanted He would have appointed a woman to be the high priest in the sanctuary but he put a man, He would have included women when He told Moses to appoint the 70 levites, He would have included even one woman among the twelve disciples,Titus 1 verse 1 to 9, 1st Corinthians 11 verse 1 to 10, 1st Timothy 3 verse 1 to 13, many are the texts in the Bible that are not in support of a woman becoming a pastor. Bravo to the General Conference for the decision made, surely God is control,May the Almighty God bless you and your families
Friends, as you debate consider the following verses:
Genesis 1:27- God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.
Galatians 3:28- There is no longer Jew or Gentile, slave or free, male and female. For you are all one in Christ Jesus.
Joel 2:29
Even on my servants, both men and women, I will pour out my Spirit in those days.
Thanks to the almighty god the vote was no the coming of Christ depends on the remmanat church once distroyed then the coming of king foreign elements will not scussed the holy spirite was with the delegates the devile has been shamed god bless the conference
Eh! Kwaliko na holy SPRITE? Fanta?
Eh! Kwaliko na “the devile”
YES Ellen Gould White along with other Sabbatarian Adventist leaders such as Joseph Bates and her husband James White formed what is known as the Seventh-day Adventist Church.
On the contrary Christ Jesus formed the Church- Matthew 16:16-18- I will build my church.
So please do not try to confuse people by denying that Ellen G.White did not form the SDA (denomination)church.
E G WHITE FORMED HER SECT SDA BUT JESUS FORMED HIS CHURCH MATTHEW 16:13-20. SO SDA IS PATHETICALLY WRONG
When u look at the followers of Jesus` christ ,was there a woman in that group?And what does it teach about women’s role in the church?Answer please.
Forked T, lets understand the ‘women keeping silent’ , the comision is given to all. For there’s no jew,gentile,female nor male. We’re all one in Christ Jesus.
can someone educate me,da difference btwn its & it’s & is it correct in ths headline
men & women are da same & women are pushing 4 their rights(gender equality) ths tym women hv more rights than men,in da bible da book of genesis says God made ‘man’ in his own image(man means male or female)
I wud like these atheist chaps to tell me hw we can get the immensity and complexity of the universal simply 4rm nothing…..and hw we had the transition 4rm inanimate matter 2 livin matter???…….all u want u guyz is jst an excuse 2 sin!!!!
*universe
Brethren I truly appreciate your reactive comments both positive n negative to the results on women ordination.as a church member I have my opinion which I feel shld b reserved for now.my prayer n advice is that we shldnt allow satan to succed in dividing us.the other thing we must be thinking of is that can this issue on the table affect our salvation?me I v vowed to not b troubled by things not affecting my salvation.believe me you a lot more disturbing issues are still come.
How many Christian Denominations do we have on God’s good earth? I ask so because when I was a Jehovah’s Witness, all others said I was lost. I became an Adventist, the rest said I was totally lost. I went Katolika they said elyo nalubilila. Mutima, Pente, CMML! Apostolic, anything! Someone always shook their heads in disapproval.
How many Islamic congregations do we have: May be I try yo become Moslem until you barking Christians sort yourselves out?
ba cimpempe apa they are right according to the bible
Kakolwe they were not judging you because of the denomination but because of yr deeds / behavior what you should do is to go back to where you started from JEHOVAH’S WITNESS and you will be safe.