Kilden
De følgende faktaene er hentet fra «SEVENTH-DAY AVENTISTS ON WOMEN’S ORDINATION. A BRIEF HISTORICAL OVERVIEW» (Desember, 2012), skrevet av Alberto Timm fra Ellen G. White Estate, Inc. Dokumentet var bestilt av Biblical Research Committee Inter-European Division of SDAs, Florence, Italy. Forfatteren gir en god oversikt over alle artiklene skrevet både av tilhengerne og motstanderne av kvinnelig ordinasjon. Det som er brukbar for oss, er at han presenterer faktaene og siterer dokumentene i sin helhet.
De aller siste hendelsene i tabellen er hentet fra adventist.no hjemmeside (linken til artikkelen ).
Hendelsestabellen
| År | Sted/ enhet | Sitatene fra den historiske oversikten. | Våre kommentarer. |
| 1881 | GC hovedforsamling | MOTION (proposal): “females possessing the necessary qualifications to fill that position, may, with perfect propriety, be set apart by ordination to the work of the
Christian ministry. This was discussed by J. O. Corliss, A. C. Bourdeau, E. R. Jones, D. H. Lamson, W. H. Littlejohn, A. S. Hutchins, D. M. Canright, and J. N. Loughborough, and referred to the General Conference Committee”. |
Ingen ACTION var tatt. Med andre ord, forslaget om å åpne for å ordinerte kvinner til pastortjeneste falt.
Ingen klare fakta om kvinnelig ordinasjon til forstandertjeneste, som er støttet av de offisielle SDA enhetene, frem til 1972. |
| 1972 | Brotherhood Church in Washington, DC; Sligo Church; Walla Walla College Church; Green Lake Church in Seattle, Washington. | Josephine Benton was ordained at the Brotherhood Church in Washington, DC, by the presidents of the Potomac Conference and the Columbia Union Conference, thereby becoming the first Adventist female local elder. In 1973 Benton became an associate pastor at the Sligo Church. Other women were soon ordained as local elders at the Walla Walla College Church and the Green Lake Church in Seattle, Washington. | Den første kvinnelige ordinasjonen til forstandertjenesten var gjort imot gjeldende policies, uten å bli framstilt for godkjenning for GC Annual Council eller GC hovedforsamling. Ingen støtte i Menighetshånbdoken. |
| 1984 | GC Annual Council | ACTION: VOTED,
1. To reaffirm the Spring Meeting action on the General Conference Committee of 1975 Role of Women in the Church (GCC 75-153). 2. To advise each division that it is free to make provision as it may deem necessary for the election and ordination of women as local church elders. 3. To suggest that the following guidelines be used in the selection and ordination of women as local church elders: … e. Whatever the decision of the church, it should result in unifying the members and not be the source of divisiveness or alienation. The body of Christ, the Church, must not be tarnished in any way. In this important issue, as in all things, the name of our Lord and Saviour must be exalted. |
ACTION, som har verdensomspennende innvirkning, tatt av en GC komité (Annual Council). Fordi endringen faller inn under områdene dekket av Menighetshånbdokens tekst, og representerer en kolliderende endring, må betraktes som MOTION IN PROCESS før GC hovedforsamlingen har debattert og godkjent den. Denne MOTION, per 2017, har ikke ennå blitt fremstilt for GC hovedforsamling.
Fra nå av tar NAD++ for gitt at begrepet «forstander» betyr «han eller hun» tross den ikke ferdigstilte «MOTION in progress». I flere land, blir kvinnene oppmuntret til å fylle nye stillinger og studere for pastortjeneste/lederroller. Derfor økte kampen rundt ordinasjon med ny intensitet, selv om den ikke skulle engang starte. |
| 1990 | GC hovedforsamling | (Støttet forslaget om å IKKE åpne for å ordinere kvinner til pastortjeneste) | |
| 1995 | GC hovedforsamling | (Nektet NAD forespørsel om å tillate å ordinere kvinner til pastortjeneste kun i NAD område) | Fulgte NAD denne avgjørelsen? Nei. Vi ser to nye steg foretatt i kampen etter 1995 forsamling:
1) Flere SDA menigheter i NAD ordinerer kvinnelige pastorer. |
| 1995 | NAD president | (NAD president sender åpent brev. Selv om formelt sett han påstår at divisjonen ikke skulle stilles imot GC, peker han samtidig på at ordinasjon begrep er mulig misbrukt. Er dette en ny åpenbaring? Ville vi hørt om argumentet fra offisielle ledere om GC hadde stemt for forslaget?
Ref. kapitlet om ordinasjon i denne artikkelen.) |
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| 1995 | Sligo Church, Takoma Park,
Maryland |
BE IT HERBY RESOLVED:
1.) plan, for September 23, 1995, a festival service in which eligible women working in pastoral ministry at Sligo, and related institutions, undergo the laying on of hands as a public affirmation of their call to pastoral ministry; and 2.) ask the Potomac Conference and Columbia Union Conference committees to offer their blessing and participation—including the granting of credentials for ordained ministry—in connection with this joyful and historical occasion |
As planned, on September 23, 1995, at 3:30 p.m., the Sligo Church
ordained three women (Kendra Haloviak, Penny Shell, and Norma Osborne) to the gospel ministry.83 The printed program for the event was titled “Ordination to the Gospel Ministry.” According to Beverly G. Beem, “it was the first time in the Adventist church that a local church conducted an ordination to the gospel ministry.” The ceremony was reported in The New York Times of September 23 as “An Adventist Church Breaks Ranks.” The Washington Times of September 24 referred to it as “Local Adventists rebel, ordain three women.” Wikipedia.org still states, “The Sligo Seventh-day Adventist Church in Takoma Park, Maryland ordained three women in violation of the denomination’s rules.” |
| 1995 | NAD | In response to these new developments, on October 13, 1995,
three endorsing decisions were made at the North American Division Year-end Meeting. Firstly, the division officially adopted a new “Christ-Centered Model of Diversity in Christian Unity” intended “to create a church body that transcends all social barriers of age, class, culture, disabilities, ethnicity, gender, race, etc.” Secondly, it was “VOTED, To authorize the appointment of a presidential Commission on Women in Ministry.” Thirdly, the North American Division Union presidents released the following statement: “…While we support the vote in Utrecht, we are also committed to the goal of women’s ordination” |
In this document the North American Division Union presidents
suggested not only that the church “grant women and men full equality in the practice of ministry,” but also allow them to “perform pastoral functions outside one’s own district.” This would enlarge the concept of a female pastor ordained just by and for a local church. Following the new trend, on December 2, 1995, the La Sierra University Church ordained two other women (Halcyon Wilson and Madelynn Haldeman) and the small Loma Linda Victoria Church ordained their female pastor (Sheryll Prinz McMillan) to the pastoral ministry. On July 6, 1996, the Garden Grove Church in California ordained a man and a woman (Jared Fulton and Margot Pitrone) to the pastoral ministry. Yet, the worldwide church did not recognize such local church ordinations to pastoral ministry. Furthermore, many church members expressed their concerns about this new ordination trend. |
| 2010 | NAD, TED | (forandrer sin lokale Working Policy, slik at distriktsleder stilling kan åpnes for både kvinner og menn, selv om vedkommende ikke er ordinert) | Endringen skapte en kolliderende konflikt med GC Wokring Policy. Saken ble tatt opp. NAD og Trans Europeiske Divisjon sendte offisielle forespørsler til GC å tillate kvinner å tjene som distrikts presidenter i NAD og som Union/Distrikt presidenter i Nord Europa.
Forespørselen ble nektet 11.oktober.2010. |
| 2011 | NAD, TED | (NAD 31.10.2011 og TED 16.11.2011 Executive Committees står fortsatt på sitt tross GC Annual Council avgjørelse og tross de kolliderende endringene i Working Policies de hadde innført) | |
| 2012 | NAD, TED | After requesting an independent review of Church governance documents and counsel in the matter, the North American Division President Dan Jackson wrote a letter on January 31, 2012, to the members of the North American Division Executive Committee apologizing for the former decision and explaining that “the North American Division Executive Committee does not have the right to establish policies which are out of harmony with the General Conference Model Constitution or General Conference Working Policy.” So, the NAD Working Policy 2011-2012 was issued with the former expression “should be an ordained minister” reinstated.
By contrast, the Trans-European Division kept its reaffirmation action of November 16, 2011. |
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| 2012 | TED | President Ted Wilson invited the retired former President Jan Paulsen to present a devotional on April 17, 2012, during the 2012 Spring Council. Paulsen took advantage of the opportunity to address the issue of women’s ordination as a missiological concern to be decided regionally based on the values and challenges of each local culture. He even stated that in settling such issues, “Our leaders in California cannot make that decision for their colleagues in Africa; and our very accomplished mission church in South America cannot speak for struggling Europe.” | The influence of Paulsen’s speech is difficult to know. Even so, shortly after it was given some unions felt they should decide for themselves. whether to ordain women to the gospel ministry. So on April 23, 2012, the North German Union Conference Constituency voted to ordain “female pastors [Pastorinnen] like their male colleagues [männlichen Kollegen]” in its territory. It was reported that “the most recent support for this pioneering process was given by the former president of the World Church Council, Dr Jan Paulsen, when he addressed the audience of the Spring Session of the General Conference in [sic] April 17, 2012 (available in ANN). |
| 2012 June |
GC Presidential Office Appeal approved by GC officers, including the presidents of the 13 divisions of the GC | AN APPEAL FOR UNITY IN RESPECT TO MINISTERIAL
ORDINATION PRACTICES: … In the light of this current study and the actions of several unions, General Conference officers, including presidents of the 13 world divisions, have unanimously communicated an appeal for unity in respect to ministerial ordination practices. The appeal calls: 1) for unity in respecting a global church action (i.e. the 1990 and 1995 General Conference Session decisions on ministerial ordination); 2) for each union executive committee to carefully review the far-reaching effects of pursuing a course of action that is contrary to the decisions of the General Conference in session …. |
Andre deler av APPEAL: This creates widespread confusion, misunderstanding as well as erosion oftrust and also nurtures doubt about these unions acting in good faith as members of theworld-wide family.Being a part of the global Seventh-dayAdventist Church obliges every organization to think and act for the good of the wholeand to shun a spirit of autonomy and self-determinationAny organization contemplating a course of action contrary to a global Church decision must ask itself, “Is this the pattern of participation in Church life that we wish to establish and recommend for other entities to follow?” “How will we deal with the situation if an organization in our territory should decide to discontinue its participation in one or more matters under which it disagrees with the larger family of organizations?” |
| 2012 July |
Columbia Union Conference held its “special constituency meeting” on July 29,
2012 |
Despite the written “Appeal” from the General Conference, the
Columbia Union Conference held its “special constituency meeting” on July 29, 2012. Voted, “That the Columbia Union Conference authorize ordination to the gospel ministry without regard to gender.” |
In response to this
action, the General Conference issued, on August 7, the document “An Appeal for Oneness in Christ”: “…. It was thus very disappointing to the senior leaders of the worldwide church to learn of the unilateral action taken by the delegates of the Columbia Union Conference at a special constituency meeting on July 29, 2012. That action is not in harmony with General Conference Working Policy—the collective decisions of world leadership that define the operating procedures and relationships applicable to all organizations. Further, the action sets aside the 1990 and 1995 decisions of the General Conference in Session respecting the practice of ordination ….” |
| 2012 October |
GC Annual Council | STATEMENT ON CHURCH POLITY, PROCEDURES, AND THE RESOLUTION OF DISAGREEMENTS IN THE LIGHT OF RECENT UNION ACTIONS ON MINISTERIAL ORDINATION: “ … Decisions to pursue a course of action not in harmony with the 1990 and 1995 General Conference Session decisions (with respect to ministerial ordination) represent not only an expression of dissent but also a demonstration of self-determination in a matter previously decided by the collective Church. The General Conference Executive Committee regards these actions as serious mistakes. They directly challenge two world Church decisions on the matter of ordination. They create doubts about the importance of collective decision-making as a basic feature of denominational life. They weaken the fabric of Church life and operations by giving opportunity for other entities to follow this example in order to justify independence and autonomy in other matters rather than maintaining a mutual commitment to collective decision-making.The world Church cannot legitimize practices that clearly contradict the intent of General Conference Session actions. … ” | |
| 2012 November |
Columbia Union Conference, Pacific Union | Even so, in November 2012 it was reported, “16 Female Pastors Approved for Ordination” by the Columbia Union Conference; and “Seven More Women Approved for Ordination by Pacific Union Conference.”145 By adding “seven more” to the 14 approved two months earlier, the Pacific Union total came to 21 female pastors. | |
| 2015 July San-Antonio |
GC hovedforsamling | Det ble kun stemt over om divisjonene skulle gis fullmakt til å avgjøre spørsmålet om ordinasjon av kvinner innen sitt område. Delegatene ble bedt om å ta stilling til følgende spørsmål:
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. (GC Session Document s. 69 [3]). Resultat av avstemningen onsdag 8.7.2015 ble som følger: 977 (41 %) stemte ja og 1.381 (59 %) stemte nei. TOSC (Theology of Ordination Study Committee) hadde jobbet med den teologiske siden av saken i flere år i forkant av forsamlingen; innspill fra alle divisjoner hadde vært tatt til betraktning. |
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| 2015 September |
Syvendedags Adventistkirken – Den norske union – Vedtak styremøte 20.9.2015 | Vedtak:
1. SDA-DNU ber menighetens verdensledelse om å hente fram anbefalingene fra TED Biblical Research Committee’s rapport til TOSC [8] og finne en praksis for hvordan gudgitte nådegaver i menn og kvinner anerkjennes i tråd med at menigheten har kalt menn og kvinner til forkynnergjerningen. Praksisen bør fremheve misjon og tjeneste framfor person og makt. Dette må skje i harmoni med SDAs grunnleggende trospunkt 14: «Særpreg i rase, kultur, utdanning og nasjonalitet, eller ulikheter mellom høy og lav, rik og fattig, mann og kvinne må ikke få splitte oss. Vi er alle likeverdige i Kristus…». 2. Med basis i bibelsk sannhet framfor tradisjon og SDA-policy, vil SDA-DNU slutte med å videreføre den adventistiske tradisjonen med å ordinere/commission menn og kvinner til pastoroppgaven. 3. SDA-DNU vil for kvinner og menn gjennomføre en forbønnshandling for pastorer i praktikumstjeneste (interns) når de begynner sin oppgave. Denne forbønnshandlingen skal ikke sette til side Menighetshåndbokens retningslinjer for å kunne lede ut i nattverd etc. 4. Når praktikumtiden er over vil SDA-DNU gjennomføre en forbønnshandling for de kvinner og menn som går inn i misjonsoppgaven som regulær pastor. Slik bekrefter menigheten hans/hennes nådegave og personlige kall. Videre markerer det at menigheten utpeker ham/henne som regulær pastor med fullmakt til fullt ut å utføre pastoroppgaven han/hun blir kalt til. 5. SDA-DNU vil slutte å føre opp pastorene i kategoriene ordinert og commissioned på bevillingslistene. I stedet vil det opereres med følgende grupperinger: pastor i praktikum (intern) og pastorer i regulær tjeneste. 6. Inntil det blir etablert en klassifisering av pastorer uten et skille som bygger på en grunnleggende diskriminering av kvinnelige pastorer, vil ikke SDA-DNU rapportere inn ansatte pastorer som tjenestegjør i vårt område, til SDA Yearbook. Med bakgrunn i framsatt informasjon fra godt informert hold, bes GC om å sette ned en uhildet kommisjon som undersøker påstandene om at en del delegater ved GCs hovedforsamling i San Antonio i 2015 hadde bundet mandat til å stemme nei, og at delegatene ville bli stilt til ansvar for sin stemmegivning når de returnerte til sitt hjemmeområde. Dersom det ligger realiteter bak disse påstandene, er dette både et brudd på det demokratiske grunnsynet som gjelder i SDA og en trussel mot de demokratiske prosessene SDA fungerer etter i alle ledd. Det stiller alvorlige spørsmål ved verdien av hele avstemningen som ble foretatt i San Antonio. Med utgangspunkt i de avgitte stemmene ville 203 nei-stemmer endret til ja-stemmer ha ført til at det var et ja-flertall. 12 stemmer for 2 stemmer mot |
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