Friday 30 July 2010

Facts about Ordination

There seems to be increasing amounts of chatter about the role of women in the church in both the Adventist church as well as in the church of England, which recently held its general synod.

While at GC 2010, the Adventist Women's Centre distributed some very useful information and which I wanted to share here.
The term 'ordination' does not come from the Bible but from the word 'ordo' used in Roman law to define a special status, or to set in order.

In the Old Testament, the 'laying on of hands' refers to blessng (Gen 48:14), appointment or consecration (Numbers 27:23), sacrifice (Leviticus 1:4), or installation of priest, king or prophet (Numbers 8:11)

In the New Testament, laying on of hands never refers directly to pastoral ministry but is more commonly used in reference to an appointment to a certain function or job (Mark 3:14,16; Acts 14:23; 2 Timothy 1:11) or, most commonly, to vote one into office (Acts 14:28; 2 Cor 8:19). The actual combination of Greek words most often translated 'to ordain' could literally be read as 'to stretch out the hand,' such as in a democratic vote! it is also used in reference to 'becoming' a disciple (Acts 1:22), wich all people, men and women, are called to do.

In contrast to the Roman definition of ordination, Jesus clearly did not establish roles with special status. In fact, when one mother was asking for such a role for her sons, Jesus rebuked her (Matt 20:21-28).

Jesus took on the priestly role of mediation himself (Heb 6:20; 8:3; 9:7), then called for a priesthood of all believers to serve one another and to preach the gospel (1 Peter 2:5,9; Rev 1:6; 5:10): "Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptising them in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Ghost" (Matt 28:19).

She


She was gentle and kind, never speaking a harsh word to anyone or about anyone.
She was giving and loving, working as though there were no tomorrow, giving to her church and her community.
She was the sort of friend we all long for, the wife men desire and the daughter we could all be proud off.
She loved God and her church, she sang in the choir, taught music and gave as though she had endless stream from which to give.
She was tireless and fearless, running her own consultancy and starting her own catering business.
She was intelligent, articulate and the sort of person you'd always want on your team.
She opened you up and whole new world you never knew existed.
She wasn't arrogant.
She wasn't full of pride.
She didn't flaunt her abilities in the face of others.
She didn't make a show of her wealth.
She didn't even pander to stereotypes or let cultural barriers to get in her way.
She was a wonderful.
She was beautiful.
She was a fearless woman.
She loved God and God loved her.
She will be missed.

The image in the post was created by @billysu

Wednesday 28 July 2010

Remembering My Friend

Today I received a shocking call from my friend's husband. I knew it wasn't good news when he introduced himself. After all, it couldn't have been good if he was calling and not my friend.

I remember thinking that the only news could be bad news but as I wanted to put that thought out of my mind, I replaced it with the more welcome thoughts of her being ill in hospital.

The next few moments are a bit of a blur. I don't know if I screamed. I don't know if I was coherent. I don't really know what I said. But I do remember crying. I also remember my colleagues comforting me.

I won't write her name on this blog as I wouldn't want to betray the trust of her or that of her family or husband.

My friend was one of the most wonderful human beings that I have ever come across. She was warm, giving, kind, talent and intelligent. She was also pretty damned amazing. She wrote for a national newspaper, she baked professionally, had her own catering business, she was a consultant and she drafted much government legislation that now has an impact on all of our daily lives. And, I had the pleasure of knowing her.

She was a wife, a daughter, a friend, a chorister, an employee and a business woman.

She will also be greatly missed by all who had the pleasure of knowing her.

Sunday 25 July 2010

Tackling Pornography

A few weeks ago I was present for a short discussion on pornography. Unfortunately the conversation quickly turned to women's clothing with an association being made between the two. My protestations seemed to fall on deaf ears with talk of jeggings, bikinis and immodest clothing.

Pornography is a problem and there are increasing levels of addiction and, it is increasingly accepted that there are problems within the church as well as outside the church.

I don't think that anyone would challenge the opinion that pornography is in direct opposition to Christian principals but, what I want to know is should is pornography be addressed? What sanctions, if any, should be called on? What help should be offered and what is the best way for a church to support those with porn addictions? Finally, will the local church come to a place when they can disassociate women's clothing with pornography no matter how they might feel with changing modesty levels?


Tuesday 20 July 2010

A Prayer for Adventist Women

2010 was the year of the 59th Adventist General Conference Session. The Georgia International Convention Centre was the home of Adventism for nearly two weeks. There was representation from all over the world, North America, Canada, France, Spain, Italy, Guam, Thailand, Mauritius, Australia, Jamaica, India, Russia, you name a country and it was probably there.

For some, the 59th General Conference session will be remembered as the time that the church did not address the issue of women's ordination, leaving it off the agenda. It will also be remembered as a missed opportunity. However, it was also a session that will be remembered for the effort that the Adventist Women's Centre in raising the issue among delegates and visitors.

After it was announced that women's ordination would not be on the agenda, they spent the months running up to the session planning how to get their message out. They would design, make and distribute buttons (badges) to attendees.

There were two designs and I wish that I had one of each to share with you. Unfortunately I don't have one to show you. They were so very popular that the entire stock of one design was distributed on the very first day of the session. The second design quickly ran out too and they had to resort to printed paper versions to pin onto people's lapels.

The Adventist Women's Centre knew that this would be an issue that there would be great support for and, they weren't wrong.

In the absence of a badge, I want to leave you with a prayer that was printed on the back page of the spring 2010 addition of Spectrum Magazine;
Roll back the Stone

When we are all despairing;
When the world is full of grief;
When we see no way ahead;
And hope has gone away:

Roll back the stone

Although we fear change;
Although we are not ready for change;
Although we'd rather weep and run away

Roll back the stone

Because we're coming with the women;
Because we hope where hope seems vain;
Because you call us fro the grave
And show the way:

Roll back the stone

- Janet Morely, Methodist Church


Sunday 18 July 2010

Mixing Church and Politics

There are some who believe that the church and politics make for bad bed fellows. Well, in a quiet corner of England there have been individuals who have been convicted that they have been called by God to work in politics. They identify with Biblical characters such as Joseph, Esther, Nehemiah and Daniel and their work is their mission in the same way that pastors might see their role as their ministry.

This week is another programme of activity, not only for Christians currently in politics, but it will also be an opportunity to tell others why it's a Christian vocations.

Methodist Central Hall will host, Mixing Church and Politics, on Tuesday morning from 10.30 am to 2pm.

I hope that I can make it but work commitments might prevent me. If I am able to get there, I will post what I learned on this blog.

Reviving Ministry Sister

Ministry Sister was started in back in May 2007. I remember it well. Classmates had been speaking as a group of women and wanted a way of keeping in contact as well as addressing issues that affect women in ministry and women seminarians.

I wasn't at that initial discussion as I didn't live on campus and only spent scant time there (it took 2.5 hours to travel there and 2.5 hours to travel back home so those time was precious indeed).

I was, however, told about the plans and I embraced it because my travelling meant that I was really out of touch with classmates (not just women seminarians), I missed events on campus, and I really wanted to keep in touch and this offered a means of doing that. It even offered me a way of sharing resources that I used for studying, reading lists and conversation.

Three years later and some of my classmates have graduated. Others have travelled back to their home countries on the other side of the world and ministry sister has been sitting dormant behind password protection for the past two years.

In the interim, I have been blogging elsewhere. I have used my other site to say the things that I might not be able to say at church or even to family and friends. I have also used it as a way of making contact with other women in ministry from other denominations. I have enjoyed blogging there but, I think that the time has come to stop blogging anonymously and start addressing some of the issues that arise in this Seventh-day Adventist church that I am a part of.

This blog will therefore arise like phoenix out of the ashes. Instead of acting like some sort of notice board for fellow students, it will instead become a place where I publicly tell the story of my continuing journey of faith, where I address matters of theology and even a place where I share resources that I have found helpful. Over time, ministry sister might become even more than that.