Southland Adventists Push for Change by Endorsing 3 Women

In a bid to apply more pressure for women’s ordination in the Seventh-day Adventist Church, a Southern California regional body of the denomination has endorsed three women for full ordination as pastors.

The Adventists have talked about opening the ordained ministry to women since 1973, and their 1985 World Conference called for a second major study of the question. But if the change is made, it will not occur until the next World Conference scheduled for July, 1990, in Indianapolis.

Meanwhile, relatively liberal enclaves in the generally conservative denomination have issued statements and held forums arguing for an end to an all-male ministry. Most mainline Protestant denominations ordain women, but Catholic, Eastern Orthodox and conservative Protestant churches resist, saying that the biblical warrant is lacking.

Forwarding of Names

At its triennial convention May 21, the Riverside-based Southeastern California Conference approved a resolution directing its officers to forward names of qualified women pastors to upper levels of the church for ordination “no earlier than August, 1990.”

The delay in ordination was recommended in deference to the current process that may lead to the denomination-wide approval of women pastors, according to Jocelyn Fay, communications director for the conference.

The conference embraces Adventist congregations in San Diego, Imperial, Orange, Riverside and San Bernardino counties.

The resolution, approved by a 278-179 vote, also called for a special Southeastern California constituency meeting in the fall of 1990 “to address forthrightly the status of women ministers. . . . This meeting need not be held if the upcoming General Conference votes an ordination policy of gender equality.”

In other words, the possibility was left open that the regional body might seek to ordain the women as pastors without the authority of the international assembly.

However, Fay said the resolution was not intended to be confrontational: “We are really trying to work within the system. We’re not saying if you don’t do it, we are going to do it anyway.”

The May 21 resolution instructed that approved names be sent to the Pacific Union Conference offices in Thousand Oaks for further action.

Fay said conference ministerial director Lynn Mallery will forward the names of three women already serving as “licensed ministers” but who are barred by church law from receiving full ordination.

2 Ready for Ordination

Two of the women are ready for ordination: Delores Robinson, associate pastor of the Celebration Center Seventh-day Adventist Church in Colton, and Halcyon Wilson, associate pastor of the La Sierra Collegiate Church in Riverside. A third woman pastor, Diane Forsyth, associate pastor of Loma Linda University Church at the Adventist campus in Loma Linda, will be ready for ordination in about six months, Fay said.

A fourth name might have been submitted--that of Margaret (Peg) Hempe--but she retired after 22 years of ministry at the Loma Linda University Church earlier this year, Fay said.

Fay, a member of a conference task force that wrote the resolution, said the panel was inspired to push the issue by the action May 4 of the Columbia Union Conference--which represents Adventist churches in Middle Eastern Seaboard states--to endorse a woman pastor for full ordination in 1990 on grounds that it is “morally right and theologically correct.”

It is unknown whether these local steps will have any effect on the Adventists’ study commission on women’s ordination.

The commission will prepare its recommendation during a July 12-18 meeting in Crandall, Ga. That report next will be considered in October by the denomination’s General Conference Annual Council meeting, which would make its own recommendation to the 1990 worldwide assembly.