Adventists Vote to Uphold Ban on Women Clergy

Seventh-day Adventists in the large Southeastern California Conference have decided not to defy their denomination and authorize the ordination of women.

At a special meeting last Sunday in Riverside, delegates voted 440 to 274 against a task force recommendation to authorize women pastors.

Thomas Mostert Jr. of Thousand Oaks, who is president of the denomination’s regional body that includes the conference, warned delegates that authorizing ordinations would create “chaos” in the church. A spokesman said Mostert was relieved the motion was defeated.

“The debate was very orderly,” said Jocelyn Fay, spokeswoman for the conference. “There was a lot of talk about unity and not creating divisions.”

The Adventists’ international convention last July endorsed the relatively new practice of licensing women to perform most ministerial tasks, but rejected full ordination largely because of opposition to female clergy outside of North America. U.S. members number only 750,000 within the 6.2-million-member church.

Some leaders in the influential Southeastern California Conference have hinted for a year that it might act because of the “inequality” of a male-only clergy. The conference’s Gender Inclusiveness Task Force recommended Sunday that qualified women be ordained for service strictly within the five-county region.

The Riverside-based conference embraces more than 100 churches in Riverside, San Bernardino, Imperial, San Diego and Orange counties. Last June, the conference became the first in North America to surpass 50,000 members.

After rejecting the motion, delegates voted 370 to 128 to direct Southeastern California Conference administrators to request a new vote on women’s ordination in October, 1991, by the denomination’s Annual Council.