There is nothing so simple that it can’t be made complicated by rebellion.
The simple truth is that the Seventh-day Adventist Church has voted on three separate occasions (1990, 1995, 2015) to not permit the ordination of women. It has done so on the basis of Scriptural guidance regarding the distinct complementary roles of males & females.
Since the last vote, several European subsections of the Seventh-day Church have sought to undermine the will of the world Church while claiming to be in harmony with it. Two American Unions have openly violated the Church’s biblical position on ordaining females as pastors/shepherds of the flock. Their position is “We are going to do as we please. If you don’t like it, too bad.” Instead of confronting this cancerous attitude, the NAD has encouraged/enabled them.
The rebellious European Unions (North German, Swedish, Danish, and Norwegian) found what they believe is a loophole in church policy, and began exploiting that. Complicating the issue, they stopped ordaining men — in a passive-aggressive protest against the world Church. This is not fair to the men, who have the support of the Bible for being ordained. For this defiant action, they were issued a warning from the 2019 GC Executive Committee.
On December 2, 2019, the North German Union objected to the warning issued by the Executive Committee of the World Church Leadership (GC-ExCom) and forwarded a statement to the world church leadership.
Our Response
At the end of the first paragraph, the NGU changes the common term ‘men and women’ to “women and men.” It’s subtle, yes.
The NGU is appealing the warning. They are wasting the church’s time. They have had decades to understand the accordant decisions of the Church. After receiving a warning, the only question remaining is “Will you fix your problem?” If a traffic cop gives you a warning for driving too fast, will you argue with him? Or slow down?
They are arguing that there is no stipulation in the Working Policy that male ministers have to be ordained. This is essentially a lawyer trick, saying that what isn’t spelled out precisely is permissible. They are looking for loopholes, instead of coming into harmony with the world Church on this threefold significant decision. The Working Policy also doesn’t state that you should not staple your upper lip to your forehead, so I guess that’s permissible too.
They boast about how they are in harmony with the world Church in the first paragraph, and then they invent a loophole to fight against the world Church.
After causing the problem, they blame the GC for it, by saying they haven’t had enough time, and the process isn’t fair. They try to complicate the issue—again. The problem isn’t time or lack thereof, the problem is unsanctified pride on the part of these culturally-influenced Unions. They can’t admit they were wrong, and their pride is more important than harmony with the world Church.
To further complicate a simple problem, they now claim that it wasn’t fair for the GCExCom to vote on the four European as one chunk. Curiously, they boast how they are standing together in their solidarity of AdFeminism, then when they are warned together they complain “We should have been voted on separately.” Furthermore, it was the president of a rebellious Union (Norway) who moved/motioned at Annual Council that the American Unions should receive the same warning as the European Unions. These guys are all over the map (pun intended) in their excuses and strategies. And they reject the simple (biblical) solution of humbling themselves.
They close their Statement with these words: “The NGU strongly objects to the warning and lodges an appeal against it at the GC.” Sure they do. Pride demands that they make it complicated instead of simply humbling themselves and yielding their pride (Psalm 18:27).
Their final words “We will not change our practice of ‘commissioning’ (segnung)…”
A man who is willing to humble himself before God and his family and say: "I was wrong" will find that his family (or Church) has all the confidence in the world in him and will much more readily follow him. If he stubbornly refuses to repent or admit he was wrong, their confidence in him and in his leadership erodes.
Bottom line? These six Union leaders listen to nothing and misconstrue everything.
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“But they did not obey nor incline their ear, but made their neck stiff, that they might not hear nor receive instruction” (Jeremiah 17:23).
“And they were not mindful of Your wonders that You did among them. But they hardened their necks, and in their rebellion they appointed a leader to return to their bondage. But You are God, ready to pardon, gracious and merciful” (Nehemiah 9:17).