In this presentation Pastor Lambert further considers the Fall of Adam and Eve in Genesis three. In the garden did role-reversal play a part in the Fall from paradise? And when were Adam and Eve’s eyes opened according to Romans? Lambert follows by addressing the remarkable theory that Eve was a priestess in Eden.
Category: Gender
Pastor Mike Lambert continues with part 3 of his series, “A gender agenda.” In this message, Lambert addresses texts including Ephesians 5; 1 Timothy 2; 1 Corinthians 11, and Genesis 2, and discusses creation order.
A gender agenda, part 2
In this second of six presentations, Pr. Mike Lambert addresses important texts including Galatians 3:28, 1 Corinthians, and 1 Timothy, especially addressing unity and equality and role distinctions. Pastor Lambert also draws important connections between the home and the church. This sermon was preached at the Stateline Seventh-day Adventist Church in Milton-Freewater, OR.
A gender agenda, part 1
Mike Lambert, pastor of the Stateline, Oregon, Seventh-day Adventist Church, delivers the first of six presentations—all of which we shall post online over the next few weeks, from his series titled “A gender agenda.” In the series, Pr. Lambert addresses the cluster of texts and arguments favoring and opposing women’s ordination, with associated issues. In this first part, Elder Lambert begins to address Galatians 3:28 but also provides a quick but careful walk through the historic developments of the issue in the Seventh-day Adventist church from its beginning right up to the present. Stateline Church is located immediately south of Walla Walla/College Place, WA.
A new path?
Our pastors have given thought to an article recently published on the internet and offer this little response. The article in question proposes that the Seventh-day Adventist Church not follow the path of other churches by not splitting over the question of women’s ordination. We certainly desire that the church not split! But what is the truly pivotal question, the one which determines whether we are united or divided? And why does the author avoid it? We address this in “A New Path?” FIND IT HERE.
New NAD WO hermeneutic, pt. 2
This video continues the Council of Adventist Pastors (CAP) interview by Pr. Jim Brackett of Pr. Larry Kirkpatrick. Part 1 was posted separately yesterday. This is part 2, and immediately follows part 1 to complete the full segment. Part 1 had concluded with a restatement of the longstanding Seventh-day Adventist principle of not judging Scripture with independent human reason, but letting Scripture judge our reason. The above video compares this with the NAD’s “Majority Report” proposal. NAD asks that the church make its authority an imaginary future point after the New Testament where God’s ideal will for male and female roles would reach fruition. Comparisons continue to the end of the segment.
New NAD WO hermeneutic, pt. 1
On November 4, 2013, the North American Division’s biblical research committee brought its completed study on women’s ordination to its Year-end Meeting. The document was approved by 182 of 216 NAD delegates. Astonishingly, the study (we refer to the “Majority Report”) proposed a new method of biblical interpretation. They claimed it to be in harmony with longstanding Seventh-day Adventist use of the Historical-grammatical method. Most Seventh-day Adventists are unaware of this officially proposed NAD approach to the Bible. The Council of Adventist Pastors (CAP) has produced video interviews discussing the NAD’s “Principle-based Historical-cultural” method (PBHC). In three segments, Pr Jim Brackett interviews Pr Larry Kirkpatrick to unpack the implications.
CONTINUES IN PART 2 POSTED ABOVE…
The report that follows was made public today (November 12, 2013) by the Inter-European Division. While we do not concur with the decision of their study committee, we share their news release here as pertinent to the the chief topic we have been investigating.
Madrid, Spain [Corrado Cozzi]. The Inter-European Division will recommend to the Seventh-day Adventist world church’s Theology of Ordination Study Committee that there is room for the church to ordain women to pastoral ministry.
The recommendation follows study of the papers presented at the division’s Biblical Research Committee [BRC] as well as those prepared for the Theology of Ordination Study Committee this year from January 15 to 17 and July 22 to 24.
The process is part of the world church’s ongoing study of the theology of ordination, which was first established at the denomination’s General Conference Session in 2010. Each of the Adventist Church’s 13 world divisions is preparing its own report, and world church officials have promised to bring back a compiled report to the 2015 General Conference Session.
The Inter-European Division’s recommendation stems from several points:
- The Bible does not specifically define what ordination for
pastoral ministry is.- There are no direct statements in the Bible either commanding or
prohibiting women’s ordination.- As the church felt free to develop its organizational structure
to further its mission based on biblical principles, division BRC
members consider ordination not as a doctrinal or biblical issue, but something that must be handled at an administrative level.- There are no clear biblical principles that would require or
guide the application of the principle of headship in the family or the church.- The Old Testament priesthood has its fulfillment in the unique
priesthood of Christ, which is the basis for the priesthood of all
believers.- BRC members were unclear over why ordination requires a
differentiation between genders that doesn’t exist in other levels of ministry or service, such as teachers, deacons, prophets and leaders.
Based on the report of the Biblical Research Committee, the Executive Committee of the Inter-European Division recommends the ordination of women to pastoral ministry, taking into consideration the possibility of applying it according to the needs of the fields (http://eud.adventist.org/news/detail/date/2013/11/12/inter-european-division-will-recommend-that-there-is-room-for-womens-ordination/, accessed 2013-11-12).
The decision was made at the Division’s 2013 Year-end Meeting. The Inter-European Division is one of 13 Divisions which make up the world-wide Seventh-day Adventist Church. There are nearly 18 million members of the church. Inter-European Division has approximately 178,000 members. It is composed of the Austrian, Bulgarian, Czecho-Slovakian, Franco-Belgian, Italian, North German, Portuguese, Romanian, South German, Spanish, and Swiss Unions.
Church Policy, Church Unity, and Women's Ordination
Kevin D. Paulson takes a look at the authority of the General Conference. He responds to charges presently being published on other websites that the General Conference, in asking that Unions not ordain women, has exceeded its authority. Gary Patterson offers such ideas. Paulson checks them against the Working Policy. FIND IT HERE.
In May 2012, delegates of the United Methodist Church gathered for their General Conference Session in Tampa, Florida. A key item in the meeting was the question of whether or not to retain language in their Book of Discipline (their Church Manual) stating that homosexual practice is sin. When the main attempt to remove this language failed to pass final committee, the pro-homosexuality group turned to plan B, a compromise position. On that, the vote was… Well, you’ll know the answer if you watch this short video. The Methodist Church in General Conference voted to ordain women as pastors in 1956. Theology has consequences, and what paves the way for one practice also paves the way for future changes when cultural trends are ripe.