Standing On The Shoulders Of Those Who Went Before Us

 

Women have so often been overlooked in history. The North American Division of the Seventh-day Adventist Church organized a first conference on the History of Adventist Women and their significant contributions to their church from October 12 to 14, 2023, on the campus of Washington Adventist University. The purpose was to increase awareness of the roles of women in the past and increase scholarly research as papers were presented and keynote speakers showed the larger context of Adventist history.

Adventist women were involved in the fledgling church right from the start, even though the culture of the time restricted women’s participation. With Ellen G. White as one of the prominent founders of the church, the pioneers strongly supported and defended the role of women in the ministry of the church in all areas. One after the other, women were presented who devotedly served their church, often in difficult situations, even risking their lives and health to spread the gospel truth.

Well-researched presentations pointed out the great work and leadership done by women without which the church could not have thrived as it has. However, after the death of Ellen White, women were successively pushed out of leadership positions as more male pastors entered the stage and ordination became a requirement for department leadership. Many women had been employed in the leadership of church departments and almost all were replaced by ordained pastors. However, women toiled on, often underpaid, and disregarded, their work attributed to their superiors.

The conference did not only look to the past but also showed how things are finally changing. The number of women pastors and chaplains has considerably increased in the last decades. Women have been called to leadership positions in the Conferences and Unions, even in the General Conference. These women stand on the shoulders of the ones who worked for the church in the past. In her inspiring Sabbath sermon, retired General Conference Vicepresident Ella Simmons pointed out that the dividing wall between men and women was already torn down by Jesus and that we are called to unite in building God’s living temple, the church, utilizing all the gifts that the Holy Spirit gives, just as women participated in rebuilding the walls of Jerusalem at the time of Nehemiah.

The conference was packed with lectures and presentations that no one wanted to miss. The wonderful atmosphere of support for women was tangible and the participants were asked, “What are you going to do now with all this information as you leave the conference?” The closing meeting was a deeply spiritual challenge. The individual stories are history, but their impact is a legacy. We were challenged to speak up, take a stand, and become agents of change to improve conditions for other women who come after us.

The many presenters are too numerous to be named, and each presentation was riveting. Of particular interest were the lectures by renowned scholar and author Anneke Stasson who looked at Women in Mission through the ages and Laura Vance, who researches Adventism from her stance as a sociologist and anthropologist at Brevard College. She expressed how incongruent it is that in a church with such an important impact by women in the past, women today are not equally treated in the question of ordination.

Others expressed the conviction that change is coming. Jude Jeanville whose book Justice for Women has just been published, expressed an apology in the name of the church for all the injustice that women have experienced. Despite all the obstacles that women have experienced, they still serve because they believe in the redemptive Gospel of Christ who came to save all, male and female, for all are one in Christ Jesus (Galatians 3:28).