MORALES-GUDMUNDSSON, Lourdes E. (1995) - Women and The Church, The Feminine Perspective. Berrien Springs, MI. Andrews University Press PDF

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The Feminine
Perspective
Edited by
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£m §i A, Andrews University Press

Berrien Springs, Michigan
Andrews University Press
Berrien Springs, MI 49104-1700
FAX: 616-471-6224
©1995 Andrews University Press
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be

reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in
any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical,
photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior
permission of the copyright owner.
ISBN 1-883925-08-8
Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: 95-77895
Year: 00 99 98 97 96 95 Printing: 4 3 2 1
Printed in the United States of America

‘V jable o f C ontents
Preface ix
The Authors xv
Part One: The Scriptural Dimension 1
Coming to Know God Through Women's Experience 3

Iris M. Yob
Relationships in the Godhead: A Model for Human Relations 22

Beatrice S. Neall
Part Two: The Ecclesiastical Dimension 33
Women, Music, and the Church: An Historical Approach 35

Estelle R. Jorgensen
Ordination of Women in the Church: Implications of a Forgotten

Document 56
Margo Pitrone
The Ordination of Women: Toward a Seventh-day Adventist

Ecclesiology 64
Viviane Haenni
A Black Woman in Pastoral Ministry 96

Hyveth Williams
Part Three: The Socal Dimension 110
Machismo, Marianismo, and the Seventh-day Adventist Church:

Toward a New Gender Paradigm 113
Lourdes Elena Morales-Gudmundsson and Caleb Rosado
v
The Feminization of Poverty 135
Ramona Perez Greek
Ellen White and the Women's Rights Movement of the Nineteenth

Century 147
Jeanne W. Jordan
African American Views Concerning the Roles of Women in the

Seventh-day Adventist Church 168
Frances Bliss and Jannith Lewis
Women, Abortion, and an Ethic of Advocacy: Toward a

Responsible Church Position 183
Ginger Hanks-Harwood
Part Four: The Devotional Dimension 200
That They May Be One 201

Donna J. Haerich
Conclusion 209
vi
‘C o m y husband, C K eynir,
m y partner equally in love a nd pain
a nd to our daughter, & arm en,
our song and poem
to the world,
to )od
/ / ’ 1 ^ ' he chapters in this book represent many years o f experience,
I j study, and meditation. Initially, the book grew out o f an
increasing need to know what Seventh-day Adventist women
were thinking about their church, their beliefs, and the evolving roles o f
women in contemporary society. In the turbulent years prior to the 1990
General Conference session in Indianapolis, much was published about what
church members and leaders thought about women's changing place in the
church and society; but the thought and voice o f Adventist women seemed
strangely silent, except as women were forced to sally forth onto the
battlefield o f ordination and its related issues. Now that the dust has
somewhat settled, the Adventist Church is just beginning to hear what its
women are thinking, and there is much here that merits the attention o f
Adventist men and women, laypersons and leaders, as we face the challenge
o f the church entering the twenty-first century.
The book, written by a multicultural group o f educators and
pastors, is divided into four segments that permit the reader to take in the
broad gamut o f issues that Adventist women are grappling with, both as
professionals and as members o f the Seventh-day Adventist Church. The
first two chapters are the result o f women's unique reading o f Scripture. Iris
Yob begins by taking us through biblical passages, broadening and
deepening our understanding o f them by allowing us to see them through
the metaphors o f women's experience, while Beatrice Neall's reading o f the
book o f John uncovers a useful model for male-female relations in the biblical
Trinity.
The perspective o f women on the ecclesiastical life o f their church
is approached variously. After laying out a compelling historical background
for the reader to consider, Estelle Jorgensen calls on the Christian conscience
IX
X Women and the Church: The Feminine Perspective
o f a church that long has denied women their rightful place in the music o f
the church, and by extension, in many other aspects o f church life.
Pastors Pitrone and Haenni shed further light on a topic that has
shaken the church to its foundations and called on the energies o f the
Adventist church's finest minds to grapple with its many implications. On
the one hand, we are introduced to a document showing that deaconesses
were formally ordained within the early post-apostolic church. On the other,
we are presented with the results o f several years o f important ground
breaking study on the practice o f ordination in the Adventist church.
Viviane Haenni concludes that the church must officially define its theory
and practice o f ordination before it can rightfully bestow it or withhold it
from those called into the gospel ministry, regardless o f gender. As a
practical and personal extension o f this discussion, Pastor Hyveth Williams
tells her story here for the first time in print, revealing the painful yet heroic
path o f a woman breaking into a male-dominated field with determination
and good will.
The segment on women and society takes the reader through
several critical issues at the heart o f the church's relationship to its women.
The relationship o f religion to society is at the core o f the joint study by
Lourdes Morales-Gudmundsson and Caleb Rosado who have analyzed, on
the one hand, the socio-religious phenomenon o f male domination within
Hispanic culture, demonstrating the powerful influence o f social attitudes
on religious belief and practice. On the other, the Sex Ratio theory as applied
to Latino/Latina culture is yet another stunning revelation: The ratio o f men
to women and vice versa in any given culture at any given time affects the
way men and women relate to one another. Social changes that have been
attributed to spiritual apostasy or social degeneration may more fairly be
placed at the feet o f gender demographics.
Taking the gender demographics issue further, Ramona Perez
Greek looks at the uneven distribution o f poverty worldwide and concludes
that the church can no longer ignore the gender-specific realities that make
women’s life harder than men's. The same inequities that contribute to
poverty contribute to women's silence on issues that relate directly to her
existence as a free moral agent.
Jeanne Jordan does a careful and rigorous study that debunks a
favorite Adventist myth, i.e., Ellen White's supposed rejection o f the
women's rights movement o f the nineteenth century. The study is
important in that it once again confirms the natural and legitimate
Preface xi
interchange between religion and the society in which it develops and is

practiced. The "scandals" surrounding the legitimacy o f Ellen White as a
prophet might have been avoided if the church had acknowledged this
necessary exchange right from the outset.
The survey o f African-American Adventist women developed and
studied by Drs. Lewis and Bliss gives eloquent testimony to the quandary
o f all Adventist women, and Black Adventist women in particular, as they
seek to find a viable balance between their commitment to church belief and
their disappointment with church practice. Ginger Hanks-Harwood appeals
fo r a more responsible church position with respect to women facing the
abortion decision. Even now that the Adventist Church has formally taken
a position on this issue, the church's voice must be heard in the general
debate even as it conscientiously contributes to correct the circumstances
that lead to the abortion dilemma.
The book ends on a theme o f unity that takes us to the core o f the
Adventist quest for justice and mercy in gender relations: Jesus' practice o f
both in His dealings with human beings whom He called to witness to the
Good News. Donna Haerich underscores the deeply spiritual lesson that
men and women together constituted the corpus o f the "called" to live out
the principles o f the kingdom o f God and share them with all humans.
The reader will find this to be a unique Adventist book, not only
because o f its dominantly feminine vieivpoint, but because o f the linguistic
arena in which discussion takes place. The term "discourse" is used in
linguistic circles to refer to the language associated with the social condition
out o f which a particular writing develops. There are discourses o f power
versus marginalization, discourses o f majority versus minority— that is to
say, social condition and particularly social hierarchy dictate their own
language. In any social organization, a given or received discourse
eventually emerges, reflecting what that body believes itself to be. More
accurately, that discourse tends to build on what that community wishes
itself to be. This "imagined" perception which becomes the acceptable
language o f the group renders any other linguisticformulation unacceptable
and even invalid.
Feminine discourse in this book is formulated in what Mary
Louise Pratt has called the "contact zone,"1 the area that lies between the
utopian community (what we wish we were as a church, in this case) and
the diverse discourse o f those on the periphery o f the "received" understand
ings o f the imagined community. The views on Adventist belief and practice
xii Women and the Church: The Feminine Perspective
here grow out o f a reality seen from a dual perspective: the received and the
lived. The language that is used to express this "heterogenous" experience
o f Adventism will necessarily differ from the "official language"; but it,
better than the latter reflects the dynamic diversity and change actually
occurring within the church both nationally and internationally.
Because language in the contact zone is unsolicited, it will
inevitably be viewed as oppositional or unnecessarily critical. However, to
ignore it is to lose an opportunity fo r growth, both personal and collective.
All social organizations, no matter how uniform they may seem to be, are as
manifold as the human beings that make them up. Wien the acceptable
language ceases to reflect that heterogeneity, it creates barriers to communi
cation that are a greater threat to church unity than the supposed danger o f
diversity.
It is useful to remember that the Adventist message was initially
couched in the linguistic contact zone o f nineteenth-century American
Christianity. It too was deemed subversive and even irresponsible as it
created a new language for the Christian church, recapturing the Protestant
"Sola Scriptura" in order to call attention to the imminence o f Christ's
return and the importance o f living a Christ-centered, law-abiding life. To
the extent the church denies its members the tolerance fo r diversity it
demands o f society fo r itself, the church will continue to be its own worst
enemy.
The Adventist Church, having officially moved in the direction of
opening more ways for its women to work for the fulfillment o f the church's
mission and objectives, will now see the greater need to deal with the deep,
underlying rifts that historically have separated its men and women. It is
our hope that this book will take Adventist women and men beyond the
superficial gender skirmishes on the battlefield o f theology into the more
significant region o f interpersonal relations between the sexes so heavily
colored, even today, by destructive myths and unfounded suspicions. These
readings dialogue with a number o f important socio-linguistic-religious
issues that impinge on Adventist faith and that have contributed to
crippling distortions in the structure and practice o f our belief system. It is
in the healing o f the historically embattled relations between its men and
women that the Adventist Church will find much o f the wholeness it so
sincerely seeks as well as a renewed spiritual vision with crucial socio
religious implications worldwide.
Preface XUl
The reader will note that rather than cultivating a tone o f self-pity
or anger, this book reveals the enormous spiritual strength, wisdom, and
good will o f Adventist women, even as they remind their church o f its past
neglect and its present opportunities and challenges. In sum, there is a
profound message o f reconciliation intended in the pages o f this book. On the
one hand, it is a call to take seriously the corrective o f understanding
Adventist belief and practice through the eyes o f both women and men. On
the other, it is an invitation to reconcile those two gender-influenced views
into one o f healing and cooperation rather than one o f conflict and competi
tion. Inner peace and a renewed energy will characterize a church whose
men and women have come to terms with one another not only on a cold,
theological plane, but at the personal and emotional level where it most
counts.
Lourdes E. Morales-Gudmundsson, editor
Notes
1 Mary Louise Pratt, "Arts of the Contact Zone." Professional '91 (Sept. 1991): 39.
rC h e Jb u th m
Iris M. Yob
Bom in Australia, Iris M. Yob began her professional work as
an elementary and secondary school teacher. Later, she taught more
than a decade at Avondale College and chaired the Education
Department for five years and has served as assistant director of
education for the South Pacific Division. In this capacity, she traveled
extensively throughout Australia, New Zealand, and the South
Pacific island groups, visiting schools and conducting in-service
courses and doing consultancy work.
Professor Yob, who holds an M.Ed. from Newcastle
University (Australia), an M.A. from Andrews University, and a
doctorate in the philosophy of education from Harvard University,
is president of Living Words: educating for spirituality iin the
contemporary world. Among her publications are The Church and
Feminism and In Our Own Words, edited collaboratively with Patti
Hansen Tompkins.
Her research interests and most of her scholarly publications
are in the areas of philosophy of religion and religious education.
Beatrice S. Neall
Beatrice S. Neall is a retired professor of religion. Dr. Neall
began her career as a pastor's wife in the New York Conference and
later served with her husband in Cambodia, Vietnam, and
Singapore. During her mission service, she taught Bible at Southeast
Asia Union College. She later taught Bible courses and biblical
languages at Union College where was a religion professor up until
her retirement. She took undergraduate studies in religion at La
Sierra College (now La Sierra University) and an M.A. and a
doctorate in religious education at Andrews University.
XV
xvi Women and the Church: The Feminine Perspective
Professor Neall's insightful understanding of Scripture has

earned her invitations to serve on a number of crucial committees,
including the Sanctuary Review, the Biblical Research Institute, the
Daniel and Revelation, the Study Commission on the Ordination of
Women, the Plural Marriage and the Christian View of Human Life
Committees. She developed the "Living Light" Voice of Prophecy
Bible correspondence course on the life of Christ which was
subsequently published in Asian countries as "The Light of the
World." She published Outside the Gate, a children's version of The
Great Controversy, and The Prince and the Rebel, a book about the
Christian message, currently used in many countries of Asia and
Africa. Her doctoral dissertation was published in 1983 by University
Press of America under the title of The Concept o f Character in the
Apocalypse. She occasionally contributes articles to such church
publications as Adventist Review, Spectrum, and Ministry. She is
married to Ralph E. Neall, Ph.D. and has two children, Cheryl Patten,
a stockbroker and financial manager, and Randolph Neall, a
computer programmer. As this book goes to press, she and her
husband are returning to Cambodia as retirees, to help train church
leaders.
Estelle R. Jorgensen
Estelle R. Jorgensen is professor of music, in the Music
Education Department in the School of Music at Indiana University,
Bloomington. She was chair of the Music Education Department
from 1991 to 1994. Before coming to Indiana University in 1985, she
taught in the faculty of music at McGill University, Montreal, and
chaired its Department of School Music for several years.
Her research and teaching interests are in the philosophical
and historical foundations of music education, sociology of music,
and women in music; and she has published numerous articles in
professional and scholarly journals in music and music education.
She was the founding national chair of the Philosophy of Music
Education Special Research Interest Group of the Music Educators'
National Conference, and edits the Philosophy o f Music Education
Review.
She has worked extensively with amateur musicians as a
choral conductor and church musician, within and without the
The Authors XVXl
Seventh-day Adventist Church, and performed as a concert pianist

in various centers throughout the United States and Canada.
Margo R. Pitrone
After taking a B.A. in social work with minors in psychology
and religion at Andrews University, Pastor Pitrone took up graduate
studies at Princeton Theological Seminary, graduating in 1988 with
a Master of Divinity degree. She began her pastoral career as an
intern at the Bucks County Church in Warminster, Pennsylvania,
where she was in charge of youth and young adults' programs and
involved in inactive member visitation, administration, and
counseling. Subsequently, after interning at the University Church
of Loma Linda, California, she went to the Paradise Valley Church
in the same state as associate pastor responsible for preaching,
teaching laity, outreach and nurture, visitation, and all Sabbath
School programs.
Pastor Pitrone has been active on conference and union
committees, such as the Southeastern California Conference Gender
Inclusiveness Task Force, Youth Ministries Committee, and the
Pacific Union Conference Executive Committee. She has been
coordinator for the Southeastern California Conference Women
Ministers Association, chairwoman of the Southeastern California
Conference Ministerial Advisory Committee, and both vice-president
and, currently, president of North Park Christian Service Agency.
She served as associate pastor of the Tierrasanta Seventh-day
Adventist Church (San Diego) from 1989 to 1993. Currently, she is
associate pastor of the Garden Grove Seventh-day Adventist Church.
Viviane F. Haenni
Bom in Switzerland, Ms. Haenni completed her
undergraduate and masters level theological studies at the Faculte
Adventiste de Theologie at Collonges-sous-Saleve, France. During
these years she was active as youth leader, fundraiser, and student
activities coordinator. After taking coursework in psychology at the
University of Geneva and an Advanced Diploma in Literature from
the Alliance Frangaise Superieure (Paris, France), she took up
doctoral studies in theology. She is a Ph.D. candidate at the Seventh-
day Adventist Theological Seminary at Andrews University where
she is currently finishing her dissertation that deals with Adventist
xviii______________ Women and the Church: The Feminine Perspective
worship. She was on the religion faculty at Walla Walla College for
two years.
Among her many activities, she worked three years for the
French Swiss Conference as codirector of summer youth camps,
speaker for youth meetings, and coordinator of various Adventist
women's organizations and publications.
Her publications include articles for various denominational
publications in France, Switzerland, and the United States. In 1989
the journal of the Adventist Women's Institute, Ponderings, published
two documents written by Ms. Haenni: a history of the ordination
question in the Adventist Church (with Kit Watts) and a document
listing over two hundred important ordination questions needing to
be addressed by the church.
Hyveth Williams
Pastor Hyveth Williams, the first Black female pastor in the
Seventh-day Adventist Church, is a native Jamaican raised in
London, England, and now a citizen of the United States. Pastor
Williams began her ministry as an ordained local elder and student
intern at the Pennsylvania Avenue Seventh-day Adventist Church.
After three years of service as associate pastor for evangelism at the
Sligo Church, Takoma Park, Maryland, where she was ordained as
local elder, she moved to the Boston Temple where she holds the
distinction of being the first female pastor in the Atlantic Union and
Southern New England Conference and the second female to be
appointed senior pastor of an Adventist church in North America.
Prior to taking up the gospel ministry, Ms. Williams was
women's editor for a Connecticut radio station, where she hosted her
own talk show in 1970. Less than two years later, she won the
prestigious position of Executive Assistant to the Mayor of Hartford,
Connecticut, where, for over nine years, she produced a local
television show and hosted a radio program in addition to her
administrative responsibilities. By 1980, Ms. Williams was personnel
director of a national quasi-govemmental organization with offices
in Texas, Mississippi, and Iowa. She entered the pastoral ministry in
1982. Throughout her multifaceted career, Pastor Williams earned
several local and national honors, including her designation as
Outstanding Young Woman of America and a 1974 Connecticut
The Authors xix
General Assembly resolution for her outstanding community

services in the city of Hartford.
After her dramatic conversion in 1977, Pastor Williams
earned a B.A. in theology at Columbia Union College in 1983, a
Master of Divinity degree from the Seventh-day Adventist
Theological Seminary at Andrews University in 1989, and is
currently a D.Min. candidate at Boston University. She is gaining
national and international recognition as a dynamic speaker as she
travels around North America, Europe, and the West Indies. Her
most recent achievement has been the revitalizing of the Boston
Temple, an inner city church with a dwindling congregation of
twenty-seven that now boasts a thriving membership of over 250, a
feat accomplished over eighteen months of intense prayer and hard
work and which Pastor Williams attributes to the "affirming grace of
God," together with powerful preaching of the Word, visitation of
members, and involvement in social activities and community
programs in the Greater Boston area.
Lourdes E. Morales-Gudmundsson
Lourdes E. Morales-Gudmundsson is an associate professor
of Spanish at the University of Connecticut at Stamford. After
completing her undergraduate work at La Sierra College, she took
graduate work at the Universidad de Valencia, Spain, and at Brown
University where she earned a doctorate in peninsular Spanish
literature with a concentration in Renaissance Spanish literature.
She taught and directed the Modem Language Department
as well as the English Language Institute (which she co-founded) at
Atlantic Union College from 1968-1979, after which she, her husband,
Reynir, and daughter, Carmen, spent five years in Puerto Rico at
Antillian College where she directed the Spanish Department. Since
1985, she has been with the University of Connecticut at Stamford,
where she recently received tenure. Professor Morales-
Gudmundsson has published articles in her field (literature and
religion) in scholarly journals both in this country and Spain, and she
has been featured in the New York Times for her activities as co
founder and director of the Connecticut-based Spanish-language
journal, El Taller Literario. She was a research fellow from 1988 to
1989 at Yale University's Divinity School.
XX Women and the Church: The Feminine Perspective
She holds professional membership in the Modem Language

Association, the New England Modem Language Association, the
Asociacion Intemacional de Hispanistas, and the Connecticut
Humanities Council (division of the National Endowment for the
Humanities).
Within the church, she is actively involved at various levels.
She served on the Atlantic Union Conference Executive Committee
from 1986-1991 and attended the last General Conference session as
a delegate. At the North American Division, she is currently serving
on the Hispanic Advisory Committee and the Board of Higher
Education. Most recently, she founded and is the speaker for the
Spanish-language television program, "Palabras de Vida," which can
be seen Sundays on Galaxy 7, Channel 10, satellite television. The
program can be seen all over the United States, Canada, Mexico, and
the Caribbean.
Caleb Rosado
Caleb Rosado is professor of sociology at Humboldt State
University, Areata, California. Bom in Puerto Rico, he received his
B.A. in theology from Pacific Union College (1966), a B.D. in New
Testament studies from Andrews University (1969), and a doctorate
in sociology from Northwestern University (1985). He served as
parish pastor for some twenty years before turning to teaching. His
last pastorate was the All Nations Church, which he founded, and
where women were ordained as local elders as early as 1979. He has
published three books: What is God Like? (1988), Broken Walls (1990),
and Women/Church/God: A Socio-Biblical Study (1990). His book, Broken
Walls, received the Editor's Choice Award. He is also published in
various scholarly journals.
His teaching interests are in race and ethnic relations,
sociology of religion, and education. He is in demand as a
consultant and conference speaker on issues of multiculturalism
and diversity. At present, he is involved with two national
studies of Latinos and religion: the PARAL (Program for the
Analysis of Religion Among Latinos), funded by the Lily
Foundation and the Pew Charitable Trust and "Avance," a
national study on Latino Adventist youth, funded by the Seventh-
day Adventist Church.
The Authors xxi
Ramona Perez Greek

As one of seven children bom to migrant farm workers in
California, Ramona Perez Greek overcame many obstacles to become
the first in her family to receive a doctoral degree. In her field of
nursing, she has been a university professor, teaching classes in
mental health nursing, nursing leadership and research, and family
dynamics.
In her role as a pastor's wife, she was active in the local
church, presenting seminars on family life. She went on to become
active in women's ministries at both the conference and division
levels. After serving as president of the Gulf States Conference
Shepherdess Association, she became Southern Union women's
commissioner, along with other duties that eventually led to her
appointment as assistant director of women's ministries for the
North American Division. Dr. P6rez Greek has served on a wide
variety of church committees and travels extensively within the
North American Division and throughout the world giving seminars
on women and leadership. In addition to the many honors conferred
on her by church organizations, she recently was awarded an
honorary doctorate by Andrews University, her alma mater. She
lives with her husband, Pastor James Greek, and their son in
Montgomery, Alabama.
Jeanne Wagner Jordan

Jeanne Wagner Jordan is a retired teacher who has taught at
all levels from grade one to college, where she taught French and
English.
She spent twelve years in overseas denominational work, one
year in Europe and eleven in Ghana and Rwanda, Africa. After
mission service, she taught French and English for nine years in the
public school system of Dowagiac, Michigan. Her travels include
Canada, Mexico, and several countries of Europe, Africa, and South
America.
Among her publications are two books published by the
Review and Herald Publishing Association: Lucky in Love and Marry
Me, Mary Beth. She has contributed numerous articles to
denominational publications over the years. She has been a member
of the Andrews Academy board, and currently resides with her
husband, Richard, near their two grown children in Roswell, New
xxii_______________ Women and the Church: The Feminine Perspective
Mexico, where she continues her work as head elder and freelance
writer.
Jannith Louise Lewis

Bom in Kansas City, Kansas, and currently residing in
Huntsville, Alabama, Jannith L. Lewis has been a member of the
Oakwood College faculty since 1953 and presently serves there as
library director and professor. After completing undergraduate
studies at the University of Kansas, she subsequently went on to
receive the M.A. and Ph.D. degrees from Indiana University.
She has been the recipient of the Message Magazine award for
distinguished service to church and community, and the Alabama
Association of College Administrators Exemplary Service Award for
outstanding leadership in higher education over a quarter century.
Dr. Lewis holds professional membership in the American Library
Association, the Association of Seventh-day Adventist Librarians, the
Alabama Library Association, and the American Association of
University Women. As an active church member, she is a local elder,
women's ministries coordinator, Sabbath School teacher, investment
director, personal ministries "Bible Study Band" director, and a
former Sabbath School superintendent.
Frances Hudson Bliss

Originally from Chicago, Illinois, Frances Hudson Bliss has
been on the Oakwood College faculty since 1974. Currently, she is an
associate professor of education as well as a reading specialist.
Having received her B.A. degree from Oakwood College in
1948, she pursued and completed the M.A. degree at North Carolina
A & T State University and the Ph.D. at Southern Illinois University.
She has taught in denominational schools at the elementary level for
twenty-three years and, during summers, she is study-skills
coordinator for the School of Veterinary Medicine at Tuskegee
University.
While pursuing doctoral studies, Professor Bliss was the
recipient of the United Negro College Fund award, and she has been
the Teacher of the Year at Oakwood College. She serves on the Board
of Directors for Boys and Girls Clubs of America, and her
professional memberships include Phi Delta Kappa, the International
Reading Association, and the American Association of University
The Authors XX lll
Women. At church she has been a local elder, associate treasurer, and
women's ministries officer. Her late husband, Elder Nelson Bliss, and
she have three children, Nelson, Darlene, and Shana.
Ginger Hanks-Harwood
Ginger Hanks-Harwood, to date the only Adventist woman
with a doctoral degree in ethics, took her undergraduate work at
Chico State College, an M.A. in sociology at California State
University, and a doctorate in religious and theological studies
jointly from Iliff School of Theology and the University of Denver.
The Iliff School of Theology awarded her the Oliver Reed Whitley
Award for Excellence in Sociology of Religion in 1986.
She has worked as a hospital chaplain and has taught courses
in anthropology, social problems, and pastoral care and theology at
a number of colleges, most recently at Pacific Union College, where
she taught classes dealing with women and the church, ethics, and
theology. She has published articles in several Adventist
publications, and most recently she published a response to the
Adventist guidelines on abortion in Adventist Today (May 1993).
Her scholarly work includes presentations at professional
organizations, and she has been an invited speaker at Adventist
churches and colleges in the United States, including Loma Linda
University's Center for Christian Bioethics. She has also been active
making presentations at women's retreats around the country.
Currently, she is working as a free-lance consultant in ethics,
worship, and religion. She lives with her husband and three children
in San Bernardino, California.
Donna J. Haerich
Donna Haerich began her career as a social worker in
Southern California. After working as a substitute teacher at the
secondary level, she took up work as a parole and probation officer
in 1978. Subsequently, she managed the Seminole County
Misdemeanant Unit (Florida) and currently is the regional training
manager for the Florida Department of Corrections in Orlando. Her
duties include new and in-house certification, designing lesson plans
and teaching modules for classes in use of force, self-defense,
handgun retention, and other subjects. She personally teaches
xxiv Women and the Church: The Feminine Perspective
courses in AIDS education, sexual harassment, CPR, and suicide

prevention.
In 1963 she received a B.A. in history from Southern College,
where she took thirty hours of undergraduate and thirty-five hours
of graduate theology courses. She and her husband teach a weekly
hour-long Sabbath School class, and they have taught a twelve-week
course on the History and Development of the Biblical Canon. She
has developed and presented a child-rearing course called
"Discipling Children," based on Holy Scripture and the writings of
Ellen G. White. She is an ordained local elder at Forest Lake SDA
Church.
PART ONE
rCfoe Q fbcriptural
/I Ithough there are various significant studies dealing with

feminine God images outside Adventist circles, within
■ ■ ' V Adventism the work o f Iris Yob is unique and groundbreaking.
The importance o f looking at God as feminine has yet to make any impact on
Adventist theological thinking, and we are the worse for our neglect. Not to
grant God's male as well as female nature is to fall into unfounded
dogmatism about one o f Christianity's most fundamental mysteries. That
God is not male as we understand male is an important concept to grasp
because it forces us to acknowledge that we do not know everything about
G od. Since what humans can know conceptually about God comes largely
through images and metaphors (Jesus Christ was God's most important
metaphor), Bible students would do well to take into account all the varied
comparisons that Bible writers use in their attempt to fill out our imperfect
picture o f the Trinity.
Not only is there much to be gained by a willingness to concede
God's male as well as femaleness, but there is much to learn about male-
female relations by observing how the Trinity relates to itself. Beatrice Neall
explores the various relationships between the members o f the Godhead, and
shows how they represent a harmony o f opposites, a tension between
changing modes o f doing and being. That is, there seems to be discreetness
as well as oneness in the Godhead even as there is a flexibility that goes so
fa r as to allow fo r the interchange o f roles. And it is precisely the primacy
o f function over position in the love relationship that sustains the vital
1
2 Women and the Church; The Feminine Perspective
tension between dependence and independence, leading and following,

domination and subjection that allows for the inherent freedom o f being that
characterizes the Trinity. Dr. Neall's study, based largely on inductive
studies in the book o f John, postulates that the Godhead can serve as a model
fo r human relations, since man as male and female is created in the image
o f God.
&omin'<f to
(W om en ’s
G L seperience
by Iris M. Yob
/| recurrent theme in the literatures of religion and

philosophy is the matter of how meaningful it may or
may not be to concern oneself with putative
realities—those entities, relationships, and states of
affairs that we cannot empirically observe or indisputably verify, but
which we nevertheless believe to exist, and on the basis of this belief,
make judgments, impose values, and order our lives. God is such a
putative reality. Theologians admit and believers concur that God is
invisible, and indeed that no one can see God and live. Yet they not
only continue to talk to God; they also persist in talking about God.
In language developed in and drawn from common,
ordinary, finite life, religious people presume to talk about the
Uncommon, the Extraordinary, the Infinite. With their relatively
small cognitive capacity and limited experience of the universe,
humans discuss Omnipotence. Confined in time, space, and matter,
3
4 Women and the Church: The Feminine Perspective
people dare speak of Spirit. Restricted by sin and falling short, they
attempt to articulate Holiness. Some skeptical modems have asked
how such talk can be responsible and meaningful. Yet, even in the
face of the most relentlessly skeptical asking, talk about God has
persisted, and the lives of believers have been enhanced with faith,
hope, and love.
How can talk about God be responsible and meaningful?
Only if its terms are employed somewhat oddly. When we call God
"loving" or "powerful" or "just" or "merciful," we implicitly
compare God with other things to which these predicates already
apply. The odd part is that we know all along these predicates apply
to God differently—ideally, infinitely, supremely. But even terms
and categories stretched to encompass the Divine appear inadequate,
for God is more than love, more than power, more than justice, and
more than mercy as we know these qualifiers even when raised to
the highest degree imaginable. God is Wholly Other in the sense that
the Holy One is not only better than anything else we know, but at
some level, God is different from everything else we know.
Because such comparisons between finite reality and
infinite reality are inadequate to express God, responsible and
meaningful talk of God is largely, if not completely, metaphorical. A
metaphor is not merely a linguistic ornament or an artistic device.
Rather, it is a way of entering the relatively unknown and
mysterious. In technical terms, the metaphoric process involves the
transfer of a system of concepts from a more familiar setting to a
novel one. Guided by the networks of understandings of its past
usage and the present context in which it is applied, we use this
system of concepts to organize the new realm along the same lines
as the old.1
When we speak of God as Father, for example, we apply to
the nature of God all that the term "father" suggests, to see what
insights such applications might contribute to the sum total of all that
we know of Him. The metaphor suggests that if God is Father, we
are His children. We bear a resemblance to Him. He not only gives
being to us, but He also sustains and protects us. We may approach
Him with confidence that we will find acceptance. He has authority
over us to which we may choose to submit or against which we may
rebel. He disciplines us. We love and respect Him. He also intends
for us to grow and gives us a measure of freedom to do so. And even
when we disappoint Him, He never rejects us. The possibilities
suggested by the metaphor are virtually limitless and have occupied
religious thinkers for centuries. And each metaphor that is added to

our lexicon of talk about God brings additional depth and breadth to
our theistic understanding.
But we do not say that God literally is our Father. There has
been no mother, no procreative act, no sins of the God-Father to be
passed down from generation to generation, no aging and death that
we associate with our literal fathers. Rather, the metaphor has given
us the words, structures, and relationships of a known domain
(fatherhood) with which to talk about an esoteric other (the
Godhead). That is to say, the metaphor does not merely make
comparisons, but it does give us a way of talking about the realm of
the divine by providing us with terms and categories familiar to us.
It suggests conceptual possibilities, each of which must be evaluated
for its. rightness of fit within our present understandings and its
relevance to our experience. It gives God a form familiar to us so that
we may know how to relate to Him.
Importantly, the use of metaphors does not make talk of
God untrustworthy or undependable. Rather, since literal language
cannot represent God accurately or adequately, non-literal language
may very well be our only means of cognitive and affective access to
One whom we long to know better. Unlike literal language,
metaphorical talk carries the implication that the knowledge it yields
is suggestive and approximate, and therefore not necessarily
infallible, exhaustive, or unrevisable. It is, however, sufficient for a
faith seeking understanding.
Over the course of time, numerous metaphors for God have
caught the human imagination, forming the basis for theological
development. In the Judeo-Christian tradition, God has been
recognized in terms of the good Shepherd, the High Priest, the
victorious Warrior, the righteous Judge, the powerful King, the
Fisher of Men, the faithful Bridegroom, and, of course, most
enduring of all, the loving Father. Since all these metaphors draw
from the experience of those who have used them, and since the
notable writers, preachers, and theologians, at least those that have
been preserved in our tradition, have been male, our collective
metaphors for God have been predominantly masculine. But in
exploring the nature of God, not only is any single metaphor
inadequate to the task, so also is a set of metaphors which is so
exclusively drawn. An inclusive theology, one which approaches
God through images drawn from the experiences of all believers,
both women and men, is a richer theology.
Fortunately, feminine metaphors provide more prevalent

and powerful interpretations of die nature of God and our
relationship to the Divine in the Scriptures than they do in our
present religious consciousness. But feminine metaphors are being
rediscovered and reclaimed in ways that promise to enrich and
complement our present understandings of God and those created
in God's image. We shall here explore briefly just four of these
images, drawn from what we have come to regard as the
typical—though, we must immediately add, neither necessary nor
the only—experiences of women.
God as Helper
In Genesis 1/ we discover the first role given to women. It
appears that God intended women and men to "rule over" the
natural world and implicitly to do so in a way consistent with their
creation in the image and likeness of God. In Genesis 2, the story tells
how the first human-creature was "formed from the dust of the
ground." "The breath of life" was breathed into this creature and it
was placed in the garden "to work it and take care of it."
But when God placed the human in the garden, the Lord
God said, "It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper
suitable (ezer neged) for him" (2:18). The first task was to name "all the
livestock, the birds of the air and all the beasts of the field." But in all
the parade of creatures, "no suitable helper was found" until Eve was
made "from the rib . . . taken out of the man" (2:22).+
Ezer, notes Virginia Ramey Mollenkott, is found twenty-one
times in the Hebrew Scriptures. Three times it refers to vital help in
*
Biblical texts quoted are from the New International Version, unless otherwise
indicated.
+ It has been a source of some amused reflection that man (Gen. 2:7) and beasts and birds
(2:19) were made of the coarse materials taken from the ground, but woman was made of
living, vital flesh and blood. In a satirical piece by Rosemary Radford Ruether, "Adam was
Only a Rough Draft," appearing in a Catholic Reporter a few years ago, she has some fun
proposing that since women were created from human flesh, they were more suited to the
finer, more spiritual tasks of society, including the ordained priesthood, and that since men
were created from dirt, their cruder and heavier physical frame marked them for the physical
tasks of society, such as digging ditches, mending roofs, and the like. Her intent, no doubt, is
to turn the tables on arguments that would exclude women from certain functions in our
corporate life simply on the grounds of origin and gender. However, the serious point to be
made here is that man's "suitable helper" was one like himself—not a distinct order of being,
but one who stood as his equal by the very side from which she was taken.
times of extreme need, twice it refers specifically to Eve's role, and

sixteen times it speaks directly of God's assistance to human beings.
Reflecting on this, Mollenkott makes two important points: First, a
word used sixteen times to describe divine action must be "an
exalting and glorious word that carries no connotations of
secondariness"; second, since only Eve and God are specifically
identified as ezer, there is a sense in which woman's role as the ezer
neged of mankind serves as a metaphor of God's relationship with
humankind.2 One way to understand and know God, then, comes
through the terms by which we understand and know woman: the
helping partner.
What kind of helper does ezer suggest? Moses named one
of his sons Eli-ezer, for he said: "My father's God was my helper, he
saved me from the sword of Pharaoh" (Exod. 18:4). Later, in his
parting blessing on the tribes of Israel, Moses reminded Asher:
"There is no one like the God of Jeshurun, who rides on the heavens
to help you and on the clouds in his majesty" (Deut. 33:26). David
picks up the same theme: "I am poor and needy; come quickly to me,
O God. You are my help and my deliverer; O Lord, do not delay" (Ps.
70:5). The same metaphor appears again in Paul's writing: "In the
same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness" (Rom. 8:26). Taken
together, these references suggest that the helper uses her power in
service, not as a slave or subordinate but from a position of strength
and willingness. To regard the helper as weak, exploitable, or
secondary is to misconstrue the role of women and the person of
God, for our understandings of the two are inseparably connected by
the metaphor.
God as Female Lover
In the first two chapters of Genesis, we learn God made a
world of relationships: animal and animal related in peace and
harmony, human and animal related in caretaking pleasure, human
and human related in mutuality and complementarity, human and
divine related in communion. But after chapter 2, the story of
humankind takes a turn for the worse. By the end of chapter 3, the
love story has gone awry. All the relationships are marred. From that
time, animals turn on each other. Humans exploit the natural world
and hide from the presence of God. The harmony that marked the
relationship between people is replaced by shame, blame, pain, and
the domination of one by the other. The rest of Scripture essentially
unfolds the story of how God reclaims the lost loves.
One book of the Bible—usually neglected, at times even

spumed—superbly reveals God's attempts to reclaim the beloved
human: the Song of Songs. Here the lovers make up. When the story
of the Fall is compared to the lyrical images of the Song, the
transition is clearly from condemnation and death to the celebration
of life in its fullness. At the Fall we observe the destructive powers
of the senses: The couple saw the fruit, heard the tempter's voice,
touched the fruit, smelled its fruity fragrance, and tasted the fruit. In the
Song, however, we find pleasurable and uplifting delight in the
senses. In chapter 2, for instance, image is piled on image of sensory
activity: sweet taste and banquets, raisins and apples, gazing,
peering, looking, cool shade and tender embraces, singing and
cooing, blossoming vines and fragrance. Between the Fall and the
Song, the movement flows from the separation of sin to the renewal
of closest intimacy: from the shame of nakedness to delight in
nakedness, from leaving father and mother to bringing the lover into
the mother's house, from the woman's desire being toward her
husband to their mutual desire for each other, from expulsion from
a garden to return to a garden. The description of the love affair
between the man and the woman of the poem figuratively carries the
theme of the restoration of all lost love relationships.3
In chapter 5, the woman (in this translation referred to as
the Beloved) describes how she feels about him (referred to as the
Lover)':
My lover is radiant and ruddy,

outstanding among ten thousand.
His head is purest gold;
his hair is wavy
and black as a raven.
His eyes are like doves
by the water streams,
washed in milk,
mounted like jewels.
His cheeks are like beds of spice
yielding perfume.
*
The headings "Beloved" and "Lover" are additions to the text made by the translators
of the New International Version to identify the respective speakers. Their choice of terms is
questionable in the sense that "beloved" suggests one who is a passive recipient of love and
"lover" suggests an active giver of love. It is clear from a reading of the whole book that being
passive recipient and active giver are roles shared by both the man and the woman.
His lips are like lilies

dripping with myrrh.
His arms are rods of gold
set with chrysolite.
His body is like polished ivory
decorated with sapphires.
His legs are pillars of marble
set on bases of pure gold.
His appearance is like Lebanon,
choice as its cedars.
His mouth is sweetness itself;
he is altogether lovely.
This is my lover, this my friend,
O daughters of Jerusalem (5:10-16).
This man not only appears strong and handsome; he has a strong
and good character, too. She finds in him sweetness and loveliness
and friendship.
Her appreciation of and attraction to his fine qualities are
increasingly apparent. In chapter 8, she speaks again:
Place me like a seal over your heart,

like a seal over your arm;
for love is as strong as death,
its jealousy unyielding as the grave.
It bums like blazing fire,
like a mighty flame.
Many waters cannot quench love;
rivers cannot wash it away.
If one were to give
all the wealth of his house for love,
it would be utterly scorned (8:6,7).
The richness and provocativeness of the imagery prompts the

metaphoric transfer of these descriptive networks from the human
lover to the divine. We know God's love is stronger than death and
his possessiveness unyielding. We have experienced this love as
more precious than all our worldly possessions. By means of the love
of the man to the woman we have given a form to the love of God to
humanity. In her overflowing response to his love, we may give
articulation to our response to God's love.
We have come to regard the Song of Songs, appropriately,
as a picture of God's love for the church, in which the man and his
actions metaphorically depict God and his actions, and the woman
and her responses metaphorically depict the welling-up and
overflowing responses and actions of the church. The strength,
passion and possessiveness of the man's love for the woman suggest
possible qualities in the love of God. The woman's reception of the
love as an irreplaceable and indispensable gift expresses the church's
reception of the boundless love of God. By itself, however, this
interpretation of the Song takes into account no more than half of the
total possibilities it affords. Without the other half, both our
knowledge of ourselves and our understanding of God are limited.
In the case of our self-knowledge, the temptation is to
regard man, the metaphor for God, as somehow a more worthy
being than the woman, the metaphor for the church. While it is
idolatrous to regard a symbol in the same way as that which it
symbolizes, nevertheless, the network of associations a symbol
possesses forms the metaphoric applications which have
characterized its past usages. As a metaphor for God, the symbol of
the male lover to some extent carries the connotations associated
with that usage. Typically, the man, and God, are described as
"famous," "chief," "coming . . . as a conqueror to be crowned,"
"victorious," "radiant, ruddy and the fairest of ten thousand."
Similarly, the woman, and the church, are described as "humbly
conscious of her defects," attempting "to flee from the grand king
whose glory makes her more aware of her imperfections," "a plain
field flower," "immature," one who "in time will develop into a
maturity worthy of marriage," and shy.4 As far as it goes, this
interpretation reflects some of the content of the Song. But by
overlooking a large part of its message, this interpretation alone casts
the man forever in the role of one superior and worthy and the
woman forever in the role of one needy and undeserving, with
concomitant destructive effects on their respective identities and
personal self-esteem.
When God is perceived only in terms of the man's
experience as lover, valuable insights into the love of God and its
impact on our lives are lost. We have less information by which to
understand God. When we look at the neglected half of the
metaphoric potential of the Song, it is apparent that the woman lover
can give us insights into the character of God, too. In fact, in the total
context of the Song, the woman is the more predominant figure. She
opens and closes the song and is the more active player
throughout—facts that theological exegesis should not overlook.
An early clue to the metaphoric potential of the woman is

offered in chapter 2, where she declares:
I am a rose of Sharon,
a lily of the valleys (2:1).
—images which have later been applied to Jesus. In chapter 6, the

man's words to the woman continue the description:
. . . my dove, my perfect one, is unique,

the only daughter of her mother,
the favorite of the one who bore her.
The maidens saw her and called her blessed;
the queens and the concubines praised her.
Who is this that appears like the dawn,
fair as the moon, bright as the sun,
majestic as the stars in procession?*5 (6:9,10).
Again, we find here expressions reminiscent of descriptions of God

Incarnate: perfect, unique, the only-begotten child, favored, blessed,
and praised. We also find statements that have been taken up in
prayer and worship:
Fair is the sunshine,

Fairer still the moonlight,
And all the twinkling starry host;
Jesus shines brighter
Jesus shines purer
Than all the angels heaven can boast.
The place the woman occupies in her lover's mind and heart
suggests the place of the Christ in the believer's thoughts and
affections.
The full power of the woman-lover metaphor, however, is
realized at the most poignant moment of the Song. In chapter 5, she
recounts this episode:
*
In the history of religions, the symbolism of the moon has often been associated with
the cyclic and regenerative powers of woman, while the sun has been linked with masculine
concepts of kingship and supremacy. But here in the Song of Songs, the Lover finds the
qualities of both sun and moon in the Beloved. With this as part of its associative network, the
metaphor suggests that God can be understood in terms of both male and female.
I opened for my lover,

but my lover had left; he was gone.
My heart had gone out to him when he spoke.
I looked for him but did not find him.
I called him but he did not answer.
The watchmen found me
as they made their rounds in the city.
They beat me, they bruised me;
they took away my cloak,
those watchmen of the walls!
O daughters of Jerusalem, I charge you—
if you find my lover,
what will you tell him?
Tell him I am faint with love (5:6-8).
The infidelity exhibited here by the man is consistent with

similar images representing the waywardness of God's chosen
people.6 Other "watchmen of the walls of Zion," acting in their
official capacities, would eventually see to it that the One called "the
Beloved" would be beaten and bruised and have lots cast over the
cloak taken away from Him. In the same way, the woman's deep
sense of loss, her driven seeking and the pain she suffered in that
search serve well as figures for the activity of a God who seeks and
saves the lost without counting the cost. Her concluding words in
this episode, "Tell him I am faint with love," are in the same spirit of
reconciliation as those of Jesus who said, "Father, forgive them for
they know not what they do.”
An interesting expression found three times in the Song and
always uttered by the woman provides a key to the kind of love she
models. She repeats:
Do not arouse or awaken love

until it so desires (2:7; 3:5; 8:4).
In her unique way, the woman's way of loving represents aspects of

God's way of loving: wooing, searching, seeking, inviting. It does not
demand or force a reluctant response, but is patient and long-
suffering.
When a balanced interpretation of the Song is taken into
account, women and men discover something about themselves: All
are faulty and imperfect yet valued, favored, praiseworthy, and
needed. Moreover, they discover God as a lover like themselves: one
who loves strongly, passionately, and possessively as the man has

done, and who also loves patiently, perseveringly, and sacrificially
as the woman has done.7
God as Homemaker
The domain of housekeeping has largely fallen into the
hands of women as far back as we can discern. Before the production
of food became big business, the women in virtually every cultural
group have grown, gathered, prepared, and served the meals for the
family** and they have always washed, mopped, polished, scrubbed,
swept, and dusted most of the homes in the world. Such women's
work has aimed to serve others with attention and to make sure that
all are well fed and well cared for. Herein lies grounds for
theological reflection.* 8
In Psalm 123, the singers declare that they lift up their eyes
"to you whose throne is in heaven" (123:1). But how are we to
understand and approach One who so royally occupies the seat of
honor in a place beyond our scrutiny? The succeeding verse gives us
some figurative parallels to reassure us in this regard:
As the eyes of slaves look to the hand of their master,

as the eyes of a maid look to the hand of her mistress,
so our eyes look to the L O R D our God,
till he shows us his mercy [emphasis supplied].
We are accustomed to thinking of God in terms of "master," but the

Psalmist here encourages us to see God also in terms of "mistress,"
the female householder who governs her home in orderliness,
thoroughness, and mercy. In her preparations and efforts for the
members of the household she is a figure for God, who governs the
world with the same kind of loving care and attention to detail.
In extending the insights of this verse, Mollenkott suggests
that it "gives us permission to see in Proverbs 31 a full-scale
*
If the offering of Jesus' flesh and blood for our spiritual nurture can be understood in
the terms of the serving of food for our physical nurture, it is ironic to regard women's hands
as unworthy or inappropriate for handling the sacramental bread and wine in the Communion
service.
* Ellen G. White notes in The Ministry o f H ealing, "It takes thought and care to make good
bread; but there is more religion in a loaf of good bread than many think." Mary E. Hunt
suggests that such tasks do what theology talks about—among other things, they nurture,
nourish, and occasion celebration.
description of Yahweh as the perfect female homemaker, the perfect

wife to a humanity which is cast by this image into a masculine
role."9 The "wife of noble character" depicted in this Proverb is an
extraordinary person:
Her husband has full confidence in her

and lacks nothing of value.
She brings him good, not harm,
all the days of her life.
She selects wool and flax
and works with eager hands.
She is like the merchant ships,
bringing her food from afar.
She gets up while it is still dark;
she provides food for her family
and portions for her servant girls.
She considers a field and buys it;
out of her earnings she plants a vineyard.
She sets about her work vigorously;
her arms are strong for her tasks.
She sees that her trading is profitable,
and her lamp does not go out at night.
In her hand she holds the distaff
and grasps the spindle with her fingers.
She opens her arms to the poor
and extends her hands to the needy.
When it snows, she has no fear for her household;
for all of them are clothed in scarlet.
She makes coverings for her bed;
she is clothed in fine linen and purple.
Her husband is respected at the city gate,
where he takes his seat among the elders of the land.
She makes linen garments and sells them,
and supplies the merchants with sashes.
She is clothed with strength and dignity;
she can laugh at the days to come.
She speaks with wisdom,
and faithful instruction is on her tongue.
She watches over the affairs of her household
and does not eat the bread of idleness.
Her children arise and call her blessed;
her husband also, and he praises her:
"Many women do noble things,
but you surpass them all" (31:11-29).
This extraordinary woman can be no mere mortal. Only one

is so untiring, dependable, and perfect in the fulfillment of all her
duties and responsibilities. Like tire good shepherd in relation to his
flock as described in Psalm 23, so the noble wife in relation to her
family in this Proverb gives us access to an understanding of God in
relation to us. Hasidic Jews to this day, in the belief that God has
both masculine and feminine manifestations, traditionally recite on
the Sabbath day both Psalm 92, which recounts God's deeds in
masculine terms, and Proverbs 31 with its feminine imagery.
In the chapter of lost things, Luke 15, a sheep, a coin, and
a son are lost. In classical understanding, these lost things represent
lost humanity. The chapter's message, however, is filled with hope:
Each of the lost things is found—by the faithful shepherd, the
energized housewife, and the patient father, respectively.
Christianity has celebrated and immortalized in song, art, and
sermon the shepherd's and father's agony, effort, and reward as
parables of God. But traditional expressions have been strangely
silent—or even more strangely, cynical—about the parallel figure of
the housewife/ 10 However, as we can comprehend God in terms of
the shepherd with his rod and staff on the rugged mountainside
searching for one lost sheep and perceive God in the father with ring
and robe scanning the horizon, his eyes longing for his one lost son,
so we can also discover God in the woman who, with broom in hand,
desperately sweeps her home from top to bottom for one lost coin.
Some commentators, noting that a woman portrays one of the
searchers, have suggested that Jesus may merely have been trying to
catch the attention and interest of women in the audience.11 In
relation to this suggestion, Mollenkott comments, "That's true
enough, of course—but it overlooks the fact that Jesus was also
affirming and empowering human females by allowing them the
same privilege accorded to males: to see their own nature
represented in the godhead." 12 As we recall our own frantic search
for something precious that has been inadvertently lost, we can
envisage a searching God, focused, anxious, desperate, thorough,
and eventually so relieved she is tempted to cry for joy.
In the Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary, the argument is given that in the parable
of the lost coin, "the element of pity is lacking. The woman had only her own carelessness to
blame for the loss of the coin, and her desire to reclaim it was based exclusively on her
personal interest in it___ the coin could not be blamed for losing itself."
In the chapter of the workers who represent the work of

God in establishing the Kingdom of Heaven, Matthew 13, the writer
adopts as metaphors a number of common employments of first-
century Palestine: a sower who sows seeds and reaps a bountiful
harvest, a bakerwoman who mixes yeast into flour and produces a
loaf of nourishing bread; a man who discovers a great treasure in a
field, a merchant who searches for fine pearls, and a fisherman who
hauls in a great catch. Again the parallelism of these parables
compels the reader (or hearer) to find in the activity of the
bakerwoman a metaphor for the activity of God. As her leaven
permeates the whole mixture and gives it the texture and lightness
of a good loaf, so God's words and deeds permeate all parts of
society and all stages of life for salvation and righteousness. But
interpretations of the bakerwoman episode have been ambivalent, in
part because of her connection with leaven.* 13 However, in the
recipe of the bakerwoman, the leaven is a good thing, without which
the loaf (and metaphorically the church) would be spoiled.
Furthermore, in her cooking tasks, the woman recalls God's
provision of manna in the wilderness and Jesus, the bread of life
(John 6:35, 48). Woman's work of nurturing and sustaining the
family pictures God's work for the human family.
God as Mother
Just as our understanding of God is mediated by the
metaphor of "Father," so it can also be mediated by the metaphor of
"Mother." In the many instances where motherhood appears, a wide
range of associations is called upon to help us know God.
When Yahweh spoke to Job out of a storm of creative
energy, it was to pose a series of rhetorical questions to remind him
of divine mystery. In describing the abundance of majestic and
powerful natural phenomena, the Lord asks:
Does the rain have a father?

Who fathers the drops of dew?
From whose womb comes the ice?
»
Leaven, or yeast, has been symbolic of evil, and at Passover every trace was to be
removed from the homes of the Hebrews. Furthermore, Jesus had warned his listeners of the
"leaven of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees" (Matt. 16:6,12; cf. 1 Cor. 5:6-8). However, a
symbol may be used to refer to a number of different things on different occasions. For
instance the Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary notes that both Satan (1 Pet. 5:8) and Christ
(Rev. 5:5) are symbolized by a lion.
Who gives birth to the frost from the heavens . . . ?

Qob 38: 28,29)
One approach to understanding and appreciating the creative act of

God in giving form, energy and life to the world is to see it in terms
of procreation and birth which brings a new being into the world.
Furthermore, the relationship of human beings to God can
also be appreciated and understood in terms of the relationship of a
child to its parents. For instance, in his farewell song to the Hebrews,
Moses recounts how God "discovered" Israel in a "barren and
howling waste," "shielded him and cared for him" like an eagle
hovering over her young, and set him up in a land rich with all good
things. But Israel, "filled with food" and grown sleek and fat,
abandoned and rejected God, giving their allegiance instead to
foreign deities. Then addressing the people directly, he adds:
You deserted the Rock, who fathered you;

you forgot the God who gave you birth
(Deut 32:18).
God, like a father and a mother, had given them every

advantage only to be taken for granted and finally rejected. As a
parent would say: No one could have done more for them; no
response could have been more ungrateful!
The image of God as Mother pervades both the Old and
New Testaments. Job 38:8 speaks of the sea "bursting forth from the
womb." In Isaiah 42:14, God speaks of keeping silent for a long time
until now, "like a woman in childbirth," she cries out, gasps and
pants for she is about to deliver a new world. On an individual level,
in John 3:5,6, Jesus declares, "Unless a man is bom of water and the
Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. Flesh gives birth to flesh,
but the Spirit gives birth to spirit." Later, Jesus faces the prospect of
his imminent death and, endeavoring to explain to his followers the
shape of events to come, he offers them this same metaphor: "A
woman giving birth to a child has pain because her time has come;
but when her baby is bom she forgets the anguish because of her joy
that a child is bom into the world" Qohn 16:21). The coming into
being of a new world, a new being in Christ, or a new epoch is
understood as a "birthing" act in which God has conceived, waited
through the period of gestation, gone into intense labor, and
ultimately delivered with great joy.
God not only figuratively gives birth to us, but also

figuratively nurses that "aspect of ourselves that remains always in
infantlike dependency,"14 constantly, reliably, consistently:
Can a mother forget the baby at her breast

and have no compassion on the child she has borne?
Though she may forget,
I will not forget you! (Isa. 49:15)15
When Jacob calls his twelve sons to his side to give them his
final blessing, he tells them one by one of a God of power, turbulence
and might. But the tone of the old patriarch's blessing changes when
he comes to speak of Joseph and Joseph's God:
Joseph is a fruitful vine,

a fruitful vine near a spring,
whose branches climb over a wall.
With bitterness archers attacked him;
they shot at him with hostility.
But his bow remained steady,
his strong arms stayed limber,
because of the hand of the Mighty One of Jacob,
because of the Shepherd, the Rock of Israel,
because of your father's God, who helps you,
because of the Almighty, who blesses you
with blessings of the heavens above,
blessings of the deep that lies below,
blessings of the breast and womb. (Gen 49:22-25)
God, referred to here as God Almighty, is El Shaddai, drawing on the

root word, shad. Shad carries two meanings: one, "mountain," a
particularly destructive volcanic mountain; the other, "breast," a
woman's nurturing breast. While it is possible to read in this blessing
that Joseph would prevail because he had the hand of the Mighty
God of the Mountain to strengthen him, the other interpretation
cannot be ignored while being true to the context. The God of the
Mighty Breasts is the one who "blesses you with . . . blessings of the
breast and womb." In fact, the succeeding verse directs attention
away from the mountain imagery:
Your father's blessings are greater

than the blessings of the ancient mountains,
than the bounties of the age-old hills (49:26).
With the dual meaning of the imagery suggested in the

name El Shaddai, we can know God as the One who combines the
power of an unleashed volcano with the power of nurturing love for
our protection and maintenance.16
God's mother-activity towards us is not exhausted by the
images of birthing and nursing, but continues with child-minding
and child-raising. Interestingly, one of the most tender portrayals of
God's love for Israel is found in the same book that used a woman's
adultery as a metaphor for spiritual unfaithfulness. In terms drawn
from the experience of steadfast and unfailing mothering, Hosea
records God's attitude to Israel:
When Israel was a child, I loved him,

and out of Egypt I called my son.
But the more I called Israel,
the further they went from me___
It was I who taught Ephraim to walk,
taking them by the arms;
but they did not realize
it was I who healed them.
I led them with the cords of human kindness,
with ties of love;
I lifted the yoke from their neck
and bent down to feed them (Hos. 11:1-4).
In the closing chapter of Isaiah, the prophet gives us this

touching picture of God:
Rejoice with Jerusalem and be glad for her,

all you who love her;
rejoice greatly with her,
all you who mourn over her.
For you will nurse and be satisfied
at her comforting breasts;
you will drink deeply
and delight in her overflowing abundance.
For this is what the LORD says:
"I will extend peace to her like a river,
and the wealth of nations like a flooding stream;
you will nurse and be carried on her arm
and dandled on her knees.
As a mother comforts her child,
so will I comfort you;
and you will be comforted over Jerusalem"

(Isa. 66:10-13).
The Scriptures do not sentimentalize motherhood/ but

remain consistent with the declaration made to woman in Genesis
3:16: "I will greatly increase your pains in childbearing; with pain
you will give birth to children." The realities of a demythologized
motherhood—the authentic experience of giving birth and raising
children—can effectively picture God for us: not only by means of
the joy and dignity of its calling, but also by its pains and sacrifices,
by its burdens and heartaches and losses, and yet by its fundamental
long-suffering and constancy.
Summary
When we see God through the metaphors of our helping
partner, our committed lover, our dedicated homemaker and our caring,
comforting mother, neglected aspects of the divine nature become again
accessible to us. God is not only just, powerful, strong, destructive, and
judging, but also tender, merciful, caring, providing, supportive, self
giving, suffering, tireless, and nurturing. In die balance of attributes and
virtues, God appears to us as One not only fearsome and mighty, but also
approachable and approaching.
When the "feminine" aspects of God are present in our
theological and devotional understandings, the "feminine" virtues take
on new value. In the nature of God we discover the ideals of
womanhood as well as of manhood. Through knowing God in terms of
the characteristic traits, interpersonal relations and life's devotions of
women as well as men, we all may recognize that God understands and
appreciates who we are, as individual women and men, in being all that
we are meant to be. A theology which recognizes the fundamental truth
that "God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created
him; male and female he created them" (Gen. 1:27) will cherish, honor, and
promote equally the qualities inherent in both woman and man. Then the
life experiences of both woman and man can provide us with reflections
on the divine nature itself.*
*
The relatively modem phenomenon of sentimentalizing motherhood has not served
women well. Whatever psychological benefits it may have for husbands and children, for
women it has tended to limit their socially acceptable roles to child-bearer and child-minder
and to isolate them from the other affairs of life— the hierarchy of the church, the body politic
and economic, the academy, the arts, and much more.
Notes
1 Nelson Goodman, Languages o f Art: An Approach to a Theory o f Symbols (Indianapolis:
Hackett Publishing, 1976), 68-80; O f Mind and Other Matters (Cambridge, MA: Harvard
University Press, 1984), 71-77; Goodman and Catherine Elgin, Reconceptions in Philosophy and
Other Arts and Sciences (Indianapolis: Hackett Publishing, 1988), 16,17; Israel Scheffler, Beyond
the Letter: A Philosophical Inquiry into Ambiguity, Vagueness and Metaphor in Language (London:
Routledge and Kegan Paul, 1979), 118-30; Janet Martin Soskice, Metaphor and Religious Language
(Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1985), chap. 111.
2 Virginia Ramey Mollenkott, The Divine Feminine: The Biblical Imagery o f God as Female
(New York: Crossroad, 1984), 75.
3 See Phyllis Trible, God and the Rhetoric o f Sexuality (Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1978),
chap. 4.
4 These descriptors were taken from an article by Gordon Christo, "Here Comes the
Bridegroom!" Adventist Review 165 (July 28,1988): 9,10.
5 See Mircea Eliade, Patterns in Comparative Religion, trans. Rosemary Sheed (New York:
New American Library, 1958), chaps. 3 and 4.
6 See for example Jer. 3; Eze. 16 and 23; Hosea; Rev. 17.
7 For further elaboration of the imagery of the Song of Songs, see Phyllis Trible, God and
the Rhetoric o f Sexuality, and Mollenkott, The Divine Feminine, 69-73.
8 Ellen G. White, The Ministry o f Healing (Mountain View, CA: Pacific Press Publishing
Association, 1905), 302; Mary E. Hunt, "Food, Glorious Food," Waterwheel 2 (Fall 1989): 1,2.
9 Mollenkott, The Divine Feminine, 62.
10 Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary, vol. 5 (Washington, DC: Review and Herald
Publishing Assn., 1956), 816-17.
11 SDA Bible Commentary, vol. 5,816.
13 SDA Bible Commentary, vol. 5,409.
15 Cf. 1 Pet. 2:2-3; John 7:37-38; 1 Thess. 2:7-9; Ps. 34:9; 131:1,2; and Hos. 11:4.
16 For further discussion of El Shaddai, see Caleb Rosado, The Role o f Women and the Nature
o f God: A Socio-Biblical Study (Loma Linda: Loma Linda University Press, 1989), chap. 8.
by Beatrice S. Neall
"ow are men and women meant to relate to each

other? Since man as male and female is created in
the image of God (Gen. 1:26; 5:1-2), relationships
within the Godhead should express the ideal for
human relationships, especially those between man and woman.1
Several models are possible—the hierarchical "chain of command,"
a competitive model where each strives for dominance, or a
democratic-consensus model, to name a few. In John's gospel, Jesus
describes the unique relationship between the members of the
Godhead that suggests a model for ideal human relations.2
In general, a study of the book of John reveals that God is
not a monad, but rather a family of three who live together in a
relationship of warmth, love, and fellowship. The word one not only
22
Relationships in the Godhead 23
has numerical meaning, but also means "unity": "They shall be one
flesh" (Gen. 2:24).3 They are social, generous, and hospitable. They
are masters of communication, and they put themselves at each
other's disposal, achieving genuine fulfillment in doing the will of
each other. While affirming one another, they not only enjoy
intimacy, but they open up the circle of intimacy to all who wish to
enter.
Position in the Godhead
Of the four gospels, John's presents the highest view of the
deity of Christ. His first premise is that Jesus is God (John 1:1), and
his conclusion shows Jesus accepting worship as God (20:28-29).
Eight times Jesus calls himself the I AM, corresponding to Yahweh,
the I AM of the Old Testament (Exod. 3:14; John 4:26; 6:20; 8:24, 28,
58; 13:19; 18:5-6,8 in the Greek).4 His enemies accuse him of making
himself God or equal with God (5:18; 10:33).
Jesus identifies himself with the Father, so that to see him
is to see the Father (12:45; 14:9), to believe him is to believe the Father
(12:44), to know him is to know the Father (8:19; 14:9), to dishonor
him is to dishonor the Father (5:23), and to hate him is to hate the
Father (15:23-24). He is one with the Father (10:30; 7:11, 22). The
relationship between him and the Father is so close that he is in the
Father, and the Father in him (10:38; 14:10-11,20; 17:21).
Is Jesus Subordinate to the Father?
In light of this high view of Jesus' deity, it comes as a
surprise to see a counter theme in the book of John—the
subordination of Jesus to the Father. Though Jesus is God in the
highest sense, he states that "the Father is greater than I" 0ohn 14:28)
and that he can do nothing of himself (5:19,30) because all his powers
are derived from the Father: the power to have life in himself so that
he can give life to others (6:57) and raise the dead (5:25-26), to execute
judgment (5:22,27), and to lay down his life so he can take it again
(10:18). Jesus also stated that his teaching came from God
(7:16)—-what to say and what to speak (8:28; 12:49-50; 14:10)—because
he spoke only God's words (14:24). All his works were done at the
Father's command (14:31; cf. 5:19-20,36; 17:4) through the Father who
dwelt in him (14:10). His whole mode of life was to do not his own
will, but the will of the Father (4:34; 5:30; 6:38), because he loved the
Father (14:31) and the Father loved him (15:10). he came in his Father's
name (5:43) and lived and died to glorify the Father (12:28).
The Significance of Jesus' Subordination

An explanation for Jesus' subjection is that it was a
temporary state that existed only during the incarnation—while on
earth Jesus gave up the independent exercise of his will. This implies
that it was normal for him to act independently of the Father before
and after his incarnation. An examination of the data shows that
nothing could be further from the truth.
Jesus cited his submission to the Father as the strongest
evidence that he was God. Humans may think that God can do what
he wants, tout his own claims, make independent judgments, and
glorify himself; yet Jesus said that such posturings came from the
devil 0ohn 8:44). He said that if he insisted on his own will, he could
not be God (5:30). If he invented his own claims, he would be a liar
(5:31); and if he came on his own authority, he would be a false
teacher (7:18). Neither would he be God if he glorified himself or
made independent judgments (8:16,54).
It becomes evident here that Jesus' concept of the
leadership role is radically different from the commonly accepted
notion of leadership. It is generally assumed that to be a leader
means to exercise authority, act independently, make decisions,
impose them on others, promote the leader's own will, and bring
glory to his/her own name. Anything less than this suggests
inferiority. In Jesus' estimation all of these posturings are evidence
of the sinful human nature. He cites his dependence on the Father,
his submission and obedience to the Father, as the highest evidence
of his equality with the Father.
Christ's position under the Father was the surest evidence

that he was beside the Father. His subjection to the Father was
the greatest evidence of his equality with the Father. When the
Jews asked, "Who are you?", he answered by giving, not a
display of his power, but a display of his submission—all the
way to the cross (John 8:25,28). His excruciating humility was
not evidence of how low he could go as Son of man, but how
high he stood as Son of God.5
If Jesus put himself forward as an independent individual, he would

falsify the relational and social nature of the divine Community.6
The lifestyle of the Godhead, then, is mutual subjection.
The Role of the Holy Spirit

It is not surprising that the Holy Spirit follows the pattern
of mutual subjection described by Jesus. He demonstrates obedience
by submitting to be sent, and his sending is a joint activity of the
Father and the Son (John 14:26; 15:26). The evidence that the Spirit
speaks the truth is that he does not speak on his own authority
(16:13). The Spirit does not speak his own words, but brings to
remembrance Christ's words (14:26; 16:14). Thus, he also bears the
credentials of deity.
The Role of the Father
Since the Son and the Spirit do the Father's will, the
question arises as to the role of the Father. Does he act or make
decisions on his own? Jesus' statement, "He who has seen me has
seen the Father" (John 14:9), suggests that the Father's mode of
existence is like his. If this is so, the Father would not act by himself
or bear testimony to himself or glorify himself. According to Jesus,
the Father, though initiating all action, always works jointly with the
Son. Their mutual collaboration is evident in the statement, "My
Father is working still, and I am working" (5:17). The Father keeps
nothing from the Son, but takes him into all his counsels: "For the
Father loves the Son, and shows him all that he himself is doing"
(5:20). The Father and Son cooperate in the work of salvation: "For
as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, so also the Son
gives life to whom he will" (5:21), and, conversely, "No one comes
to the Father, but by me" (14:6).
The Father even refuses to make independent judgments:
"The Father judges no one, but has given all judgment to the Son"
(5:22); ". . . it is not I alone that judge, but I and he who sent me"
(8:16). The Father shares responsibility and authority: At the
beginning and end of Jesus' career it is stated that the Father had
given all things into his hands (3:35; 13:3). Jesus said, "All that the
Father has is mine" (16:15). The Father bears testimony to Jesus
(5:37) and glorifies him (8:54; 13:32; 17:1,5). The role of God as
Father, then, is to initiate action, cooperate in carrying it out, delegate
and share authority, while providing support and honor to his
Fellows.
Differentiation of Role in the Godhead

The Bible clearly indicates that there is differentiation of
role in the Godhead. The Father did not die on the cross, neither did
the Son descend at Pentecost, nor does the Holy Spirit reign from the
Throne. In the divine ordering of creation, salvation, and revelation,
the Father appears to be the administrator, and the Son and the Spirit
the executives in carrying out the divine mandates. Thus, the Father
created the world through the Son (Heb. 1:1; Col. 1:16), redeemed
and reconciled the world through the Son (2 Cor. 5:19) and revealed
himself to the world through Jesus (John 1:18).
Though each has a distinctive role, there is always close
cooperation between the members of the Godhead in all that they do.
The whole Trinity was involved in creation: God created the world
through the Son (Heb. 1:2), each consulting the other (Gen. 1:26), the
Spirit also being present (Gen. 1:2). In the work of salvation, Christ
was not alone, for "God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto
himself" (2 Cor. 5:19), and the Spirit descended and remained on him
during his career (John 1:32). The Trinity is involved in the
revelation-inspiration phenomenon, the Father initiating the
message, which is transmitted through the Son and Spirit to the
prophet (Rev. 1:1-2; 2 Pet. 1:20-21). Though it is the function of the
Spirit to indwell human hearts (John 14:17), the Spirit brings with
him the Father and the Son to make their home in the heart (14:23).
It appears that in each member of the Godhead dwells the fullness of
the others (cf. Col 1:19: 2:9), so that to have one is to have all three.
Whenever one member of the Trinity is working, the others are
supporting and cooperating; one never works in isolation from the
others.
Scripture even suggests that the Father and Son exchange
roles. During Christ's earthly ministry, the Father "gave all things
into his hand" (John 3:34; 13:3). The Father apparently turned over
the rule of this world to the Son until every enemy is destroyed; then
Christ will deliver the kingdom back to the Father and become
subject to him (1 Cor. 15: 24-28).
Decision-making Within a Support System
Scripture implies that the members of the Godhead meet
together on decisive occasions to make plans and map out strategies.*

Jesus was with God when plans were made to create the world (John
1:1-2). From his position "in the bosom of the Father" the decision
was made that he would be the one to reveal God to the world and
rescue the human race (1:18; 3:16). Paul seems to suggest that the
Son may even have volunteered to undertake the perilous mission
(Phil. 2:5-7).
The mutual affirmation that characterizes the Godhead is
the support context that engenders love between its members and
salvific action for the human race. In the beginning of Jesus' ministry,
the Spirit came down and remained with him (John 1:32), and the
Father publicly affirmed the Son on two occasions by declaring:
"This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased" (Matt. 3:17;
17:5).
While it is obvious that Jesus needed affirmation during his
life in a hostile world, few have realized the Father's need for
affirmation as he faced the appalling prospect of abandoning his Son
to torture and death (3:16). Jesus' willingness to bring glory to God
through each successive crisis was a constant encouragement to the
Father.
Hospitality of the Godhead
The Trinity as a kind of first family of heaven opens its door
to their circle of intimacy: "that they also may be in us" (John 17:21).
By contrast, "he came to his own home, and his own family did not
receive him" (1:11). Unwilling to harbor sentiments of resentment,
we find God waiting patiently for a response to him: "Behold, I stand
at the door and knock; if any one hears my voice and opens the door,
I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me" (Rev. 3:20).
God's ever-widening circle of inclusiveness—big enough to hold a
universe—contrasts sharply to human exclusiveness.
There was consultation over the work of creation in which Jesus was appointed the heir of all
things, the creator and upholder of the universe (Heb. 1:2-3). After rebellion entered the universe, Jesus
appeared at the right hand of the Father, who declared, “Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies
a stool for your feet” (Heb. 1:13; see Ps. 110:1-2). Before the foundation of the world, the Father and
Son planned the work of redemption through the blood of Jesus (Eph. 1:3-8). When Jesus completed
the work of purification of sins, he and the Father again sat down together (Heb. 1:3). In the last days
the Son appears before God to receive his kingdom (Dan. 7:13-14).
Love within the Godhead

The force that binds the Trinity together is love. This same
force is the gluon that binds the atoms together, making a universe
rather than a multiverse. A breakup in the Godhead would leave
three warring factions competing with each other for power and
territory. Fortunately, love is at the heart of the universe. The Son
loves the Father (John 5:20), and the Father loves the Son (14:31). The
love that unites the Trinity guarantees the security of the universe.
In summary, the Trinity is characterized by mutuality.7
Though they are equal as divinity, the Father is presented as a kind
of first among equals by Jesus. Statements of Jesus which to us
indicate a subordinate position are intended to demonstrate his
oneness with the Father. Mutual deference to the will of the others
is simply the modus operandi of three divine beings living in complete
unity with each other. Though they have different roles, they assist
each other in their work. Leadership is fluid, passing from one to the
other, and the three members make joint decisions and derive
fulfillment from carrying them out. Each affirms and glorifies the
others, the secret of their unity being love.
Implications for Human Relationships
Although only "implications" and not "applications" can
be drawn between the Trinity and the human couple, it can safely be
said that like the members of the Triune God, the relationship
between men and women, whether in the marriage, in the family, or
in the workplace, should optimally be characterized by mutual
decision-making, mutual empowerment, and leadership that reflects
the talents and gifts of the individual and the unique contribution
male and female can make to the prosperity of the family and
community in a variety of roles.
Historically, men have dominated by force and women by
manipulation.8 The lesson of the Godhead is that power is not, as
some would have us believe, in short supply, but, on the contrary,
abundant and thereby freely to be shared.9 The Godhead
demonstrates the satisfaction that comes from commitment to
carrying out mutual goals rather than feeding one on the other for
self-fulfillment and self-actualization. Founded on the principle of
love and giving, the human relationship, like the divine, finds its
highest fulfillment in doing what makes the other happy. However,

care needs to be observed in taking too literally Jesus' submission to
the Father's will. As long as it is clear that both male and female are
children of God, it will become evident that neither the man nor the
woman can entirely surrender his/her will to another human being.
The fact that Jesus never submitted his will to any human against his
conscience should be an example carefully followed by men and
women.
Leadership in the Trinity consists of initiating, delegating,
empowering, and supporting. A relationship by consensus at home
or at work sidesteps the damaging effects of authoritarianism and
falls more closely into line with the divine origins of human being
and doing. Specifically, within the marriage, leadership modeled on
the Trinity would imply the initiation of actions or the delegation of
duties by either the husband or the wife. It would suggest that
parenting or breadwinning would fall within the parameters of both
parents. Leadership would mean empowering of the spouse and of
the children, each member enhancing the other in the fulfillment of
their mutual goals, just as Jesus in his human weakness was
empowered by the Father and the Holy Spirit to succeed in his
mission.
Issues of decision-making are also subsumed to the
structure of mutual enabling. In a family or in an organization in
which decisions are shared, the question about who has the last word
is fluid and negotiable, and authoritarianism is obviated by
collaboration. The intelligence and ability with which God has
endowed women and men will be brought to bear on all decisions,
no matter how transcendent or simple the issue.
Role Differentiation
Just as there is role diffentiation within the Godhead, there
will be role distinctions among humans. Recent studies seem to
corroborate certain natural differences between male and female.10
Physical strength, aggressiveness, and ambition are traits that are
exemplified by men both by nature and socialization. Speaking of the
husband and father of the family, Ellen White underscored the
importance of channeling his natural traits for the protection of the
wife and family and in exercising diligence, integrity, and courage in
his participation in childrearing and breadwinning.
The woman as intuitive, nurturing, and person-oriented

makes a unique contribution to the cultivation and preservation of
harmonious relationships.*11 Although she will always have a
special role to play in the nurturing of children, childrearing occupies
only a segment of a modem woman's life, and raising children is a
task that is increasingly falling into the domain of both father and
mother in ways that traditionally were not required. How a male or
a female parents a child will inevitably differ according to these
innate characteristics, as well as to socialized behaviors. Each gender
makes a healthy contribution to the balanced formation of a child's
character when the parenting role is effectively shared.
Human beings were made to express their maleness and
femaleness in Christ through equality, unity, mutuality, and
complementarity.12 According to Scripture, woman was created to
stand by man's side as a fit and suitable "helper"(Gen. 2:18), the
word often applied to the role of God as the helper of Israel (see Ps.
46:1). In the context of human relations, the word suggests joint
participation with the man in the home and in society. The family
has been weakened by the abdication of men from their role of
fathering, and the workplace has been undermined when women
have been absent.
The joint participation of male and female in every phase
of life must be grounded, as it is in the Godhead, on communication.
As Gruenler13aptly points out, God's intention is that humans, made
in the image of God—the "Word" who speaks—should master the art
of communication. God is the original Community, the supreme
Society. The Author of creation is a speaking and conversing God,
who generously brings his creatures into conversation with himself
and each other. The human family as subcreators are gifted to speak
variations on the fundamental theme of inexhaustible love, and to
draw their children into the circle of the social family where
language, conversation, and song abound.
»
The socialization theory of the ’70s emphasized the role of nurture in the development of
masculine as well as feminine traits. According to this theory, from the time children are bom, they are
taught specifically how to act: boys—toughness, competitiveness, dominance, and aggressiveness;
girls— gentleness, expressiveness, sensitivity, and compliance. Sociobiology explains the same male-
female differences on the basis of genetic determinism. Probably both nature and nurture contribute to
gender differences. But the characteristics cited above for both male and female are typical in any
listing.
Conclusion
In summary, Jesus demonstrated the principles by which
the members of the Godhead relate to each other—mutual
consultation, cooperation, delegation of powers, and empowerment.
He also went a step further to state that the love and unity within the
Godhead was the model for successful human relationships: " . . . that
they may be one, even as we are one" 0ohn 17:11). As Jesus draws
his followers into that intimate circle with the command, "Abide in
me and I in you" (15:4), humans are allowed to affirm one another in
love and mutual support in the home as husband and wife, as
parents and children, and as members and leaders of the church.
Though contrary to human nature, this unity is achievable through
the indwelling of the triune God.
In the marriage, the most intimate relational context
between male and female, a husband and wife can experience the
heights and depths of God's love. God has given them a unique way
to express "inness" through the sexual embrace. A couple who are
one with God and one with each other experience a level of ecstasy
unknown to those who indulge in casual sex. This oneness of mind,
soul, and body that climaxes in the act of love symbolizes the unity
that must of necessity pervade all the activities of their life together,
bringing vitality and warmth into the home. Such love between
parents not only is the greatest gift they can give to their children; it
is the guarantee of stability in the home and in society.
When men and women follow the divine principles of
relating to others, their unity becomes a striking witness of the
effectual power of the indwelling Godhead: "The glory which thou
hast given me I have given to them, that they may be one even as we
are one, I in them and thou in me, that they may become perfectly
one, so that the world may know that thou hast sent me and hast
loved them even as thou hast loved me" (17:22-23).
Notes
From the Genesis texts, Karl Barth concludes that man as male and female is a
being-in-fellowship, living in an "I-thou" relationship very much like the triune God
(Kirchliche Dogmatick in
1,207-20; see also C. G. Berkouwer, Man: The Image o f God [Grand
Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1962], 72; Paul K. Jewett, Man as Male and Female [Grand Rapids,
MI: Eerdmans, 1975], 33-40). See also Jesus' wish that his people might be one as he and
the Father are one (John 17:11,22).
2
See Royce Gordon Gruenler's book, The Trinity in the Gospel o f John: A Thematic
Commentary on the Fourth Gospel (Grand Rapids: Baker, 1986), for an excellent study of this
subject.
3
The Hebrew echad, "one," comes from the verb yachad, meaning "unite." It has the
idea of unity.
4
Compare Ex. 3:14 with Jesus' use of I AM (Greek ego eim i) in John 4:26; 6:20; 8:24,
28,58; 13:19; 18:5-6,8.
5
From an unpublished paper by Randolph E. Neall.
g
Gruenler, Trinity, 39.
7
Gruenler, Trinity, 23.
g
Rollo May, Power and Innocence: A Search fo r the Sources o f Violence (New York: Dell
Publishing, 1976), 105-7.
g
I am indebted to S. Scott Bartuchy's unpublished paper, "Issues of Power and a
Theology of the Family" (prepared for the Consultation on a Theology of the Family, held
at Fuller Theological Seminary, 1984), for these concepts. Rollo May, in his book Love and
Will (New York: Norton, 1969), identifies five kinds of power, one of which is
beneficial—the kind that empowers others.
The reader may find the following books useful: Mary Anne Baker, ed., Sex
Differences in Human Performance: Studies in Human Performance (Chichester: John Wiley and
Sons, 1987) and Roberta L. Hall, et al, Male-Female Differences: A Bio-Cultural Perspective
(New York: Praeger, 1985). See also W. Peter Blitchington, Sex Roles and the Christian Family
(Wheaton: Tyndale House, 1981).
11 See Jack Balswick, Men at the Crossroads (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press,
1992), 24-30.
12
V. Norskov Olsen, The New Relatedness fo r Man and Woman in Christ: A Mirror o f the
Divine (Loma Linda, CA: Loma Linda University Center for Christian Bioethics, 1993), 20.
13 Gruenler, Trinity, 12,39.
PART TWO
rC he G Lcchsiastical
ithin the Protestant tradition o f Christian belief, the

“called" are necessarily ministers. That far-reaching
Christian doctrine which was taken up by the pioneers
o f the Advent movement is in need o f rediscovery. With
the loss o f the early Advent vision o f ministry as a calling to all believers,
regardless o f gender, race, or social station, the formally organized church
has witnessed a hardening o f "place" for men and women. The rigidity o f
role-by-gender is only now beginning to break up like stubbornly hard,
fallow ground. The garden o f the church has everything to gain by letting
every seed planted, every member-as-minister, grow and give his or her
unique fruit.
Estelle Jorgensen sets the stage by taking us through a fascinating
and rigorous history o f women and music outside and inside the Christian
church. This large setting allows the reader to contextualize the whole
matter o f women's role in the Christian church, and it contributes to an
understanding o f current and historical resistance to women actively
engaging in all church life. It is this backdrop that will illuminate the
discussions on ordination and the personal story o f a woman o f color whose
call to pastoral ministry placed her outside the limits o f acceptable ministry
for women.
Focusing on the process o f "officializing" women's function in the
church, Margo Pitrone discusses a document that points to the practice o f
33
ordination o f women in the early centuries o f the Catholic church. Her

study suggests that the early church continued to follow the practice o f the
apostolic church in ordaining the diaconate across gender lines.
Viviane Haenni launches the reader onto the larger arena o f
ordination as a theological doctrine and practice that must be discussed in
the context o f ecclesiology, if it will ever be practiced justly within the
church. The issue is not whether women should be ordained, but rather
where ordination as a church practice fits into the whole scheme o f church
organization and function. It becomes immediately evident that biblical
treatment o f ordination has less to do with men and women than with the
nature o f the church as the outreaching/inreaching body o f Christ, serving
the world in order to win it to Christ, and the role o f its members as
receivers o f the gifts o f the Holy Spirit distributed irrespective o f race, social
status, or gender fo r the various ministries o f the church.
Finally, Hyveth Williams, one o f only two Black women involved
in pastoral ministry, places the issue o f women and their ministry in the
church on a personal plane. As she takes us on an intimate odyssey through
the agonies and ecstasies o f responding to her call as a pastor o f the Advent
gospel, the reader will find an unmistakable replaying o f ancient fears and
prejudgments that even in our century are dying a hard death. But there
is also a generosity o f spirit and a singular vision here that cannot help but
inspire and confirm the divine source o f her calling.
Gftdbmen, cM 'usic,
and the (ddhureh
A>n OdGisterieal
by Estelle R. Jorgensen
here do women stand in relation to the music of

the church? What have been their past roles in,
and contributions to, the music of the Christian
church, and more specifically Adventism? How
have they been constrained and enabled as music-makers within the
church? In coming to terms with these questions, three points should
be made at the outset.
First, the role and contributions of women to church music
must be seen in the context of a mutually reinforcing inter
relationship between music, society, and religion. It is important to
recognize that religious belief not only shapes sacred music but is
shaped by it, society both impacts on music and is impacted by it,
and religious belief and practice influence society and are also
influenced by it.1 Not only is music an important element of
religious ritual and a central vehicle for it, without which ritual
35
might lose its power,2 but the nature of musical symbolism

demonstrates a close affinity to religious symbolism.** Thus, music
remains "a highly theological concern" and a "profoundly religious"
art.3
Second, the world, as males have constituted it, is visually
construed. Male metaphors are primarily of sight rather than sound.
In the Western classical tradition in music, devised largely by males,
music has become primarily visual. The musical score has attained
a primacy that it has never been accorded in oral musical traditions
that comprise the vast majority of the world's music and in which
women's contributions have been, and remain, especially important.
That the female world is aurally rather than visually
construed constitutes a major challenge to the supremacy of male
hegemony.4 Notice that Paul's interdiction against women—the
keynote for nearly two millennia of Christian belief and practice with
respect to women's participation in the church—is spelled out in
aural terms: "Let women keep silence in the churches." Likewise,
music as an aural art constitutes a potentially subversive element to
male power structures. In particular, those music that are primarily
oral rather than literate traditions require the most control because
they pose the greatest threat to male supremacy and undermine
patriarchy. As a result, many churchmen have sought to control
music strictly.* 5
Third, the story of women in the music of the church needs
to be understood in its historical and global context, not only within
the Christian church, but beyond, in the music of the ancient world
and those comprising the plethora of sacred musical traditions today.
Despite the efforts by churchmen to impede, suppress, and control
»
Some, like Philip Phenix, see art as so much like God as to be described as the "work
of G od." This is not to suggest that music is the same as religion. In her study of religious
symbolism, Iris Yob describes important similarities and differences between religious and
artistic ways of knowing. When students of religion and the arts approach aesthetic works, she
says, they want to know different things: "Religion wants to know . . . what meaning this work
has for us. Art wants to know . . . how this work gains whatever meaning it has for us."
* An ambivalence to music by Christian churchmen is expressed, for example, in the

writings of Augustine. In his Confessions (notably, bk. 10, XXVII, XXXHI), Augustine articulates
his reservations to music which moves him sensually rather than through reason, and yet also
inspires him to religious devotion. As he listens to music, he senses a loss of intellectual control
and fears he has sinned as a result. He becomes preoccupied with music's beauty rather than
with its spiritual significance. For him music seems to be in tension with religious belief: it
wants both to enhance and subvert it.
Women, Music, and the Church 37
their work, and thereby marginalize them within the church, we see
illustrative examples of important contributions women have made
to sacred music. Specifically, within Adventism, the present state of
affairs with respect to women in sacred music can be understood in
the context of the wider Christian community.
From ancient times, in various pre-industrial societies based
in subsistence hunting, gathering, and agriculture, women have been
active participants in religious music linked to the worship of
mother-goddesses symbolized by the moon. In the words of an
Orphic hymn they sing:
Here, Queen Goddess, light-bringer, divine Moon,

Who move in a path of night, wandering in the darkness.
Torch-bearer of the mysteries, Moon-maiden, rich in stars.
You who gave and diminish, who are both female and male,
All-seeing, enlightener, fruit-bearer, Mother of Time,
Splendor of amber, soulful, illuminator, you who are Birth.
Lover of all-night wakefulness, fountain of beautiful stars!
Whose joy is the tranquil silence of the blissful spirit of night,
The lustrous one, giver of charms, votive statue of night,
You who bring fruit to perfection, visions and sacred rites!
Queen of stars, in flowing veils, who move on a curving path,
All-wise maiden, blessed one, keeper of the treasury of stars,
May you come in beautiful gladness, shining in all your
brilliance;
And saving the youthful suppliants who turn to you, Maiden
Moon!6
From time immemorial, in religions in which music is

believed to take on magical and mystical significance, women, as life-
givers and nurturers, have participated actively in the music of life
rituals associated with birth, initiation, marriage, and death.7 For
example, at times of death-related sorrow, Kaluli women of New
Guinea engage in "tuneful weeping," and their Greek sisters in
Kalohori sing laments.8 Moroccan Jewish women, while barred from
participation in the liturgical music of the synagogue, sing the
traditional romances and wedding songs at home.9 Venda women
preserve the tradition of women's songs by teaching them to the
young women during their initiation into adult life.10
A panoply of goddesses in the ancient world—for example,
Hathor (later Isis), Ishtar, Bharati, Sarasvati, and Artemis—
symbolized feminine qualities of God as mother with a
corresponding acceptance of women as full participants in religious

ritual as queens and priestesses.11 In ancient Egypt, for example,
there is rich evidence of women's musical participation in temple
ritual. Indeed, the symbol of their power is represented by the
sistrum, an instrument generally associated with high-born
priestesses and dedicated to Hathor and Isis.12 Musical instruments,
wall paintings, papyri, figurines, shabti boxes, hypocephali, coffins,
painted stellae, pottery vases, and other artifacts in the holdings of
Egyptian antiquities in the British Museum, for example, depict the
participation of goddesses and women in religious and musical life.
In the nomadic and early Palestine period of the ancient
Jews, women played an important role in sacred music. We have, for
example, the record of the great songs and war shouts of Miriam,
Deborah, and Judith.13 Jahweh was, in the tradition of other deities
at the time, both male and female; and this theology is reflected in
the participation of both men and women in early Jewish religious
rituals and festivals.
But Jahweh becomes Jehovah, the male deity, the fierce
warrior-God. With the establishment of the temple in Jerusalem and
the formalization of religious ritual, an increasingly patriarchal
theology was expressed in the progressive exclusion of women from
participation in sacred music in the temple. Even the women's rites
such as those surrounding childbirth were taken over by men, while
women now required a male priest to "purify" them.14
Present-day Lubavitcher Hasidim, an ultraconservative
orthodox Jewish community in New York City, continue this
tradition of gender-exclusiveness, believing that a woman's voice "is
a serious distraction to the real purpose of a man's life, namely, the
study of Jewish law and the fulfillment of a deep relationship to
God." As a result, in orthodox Judaism, women and men do not sing
and play music together, and women are physically excluded from
males in a separate space in the synagogue and, as a result, exercise
limited liturgical function. Interestingly, since many rabbinical
prescriptions regarding time and place for worship apply only to
men, Lubavitcher women regard this as an indication of their natural
superiority over men in that they do not require such moral disci
pline.15
Christianity offered a diametrically opposed view of
humankind to that of Judaism, one in which women and men were
equal before God and might approach God directly. During his life,
Jesus was surrounded by women whom he treated in a manner
consistent with the inclusiveness of his words. His view of the

equality of women and men is expressed in one account of his
statement on the subject:
Jesus saw some infants at the breast. He said to his disciples:

These little ones at the breast are like those who enter into the
kingdom. They said to him: If we then be children, shall we enter
the kingdom? Jesus said to them: When you make the two one,
and when you make the inside as the outside, and the outside as
the inside, and the upper side as the lower; and when you make
the male and the female into a single one, that the male be not
male and the female female; . . . then shall you enter [the
kingdom].16
This radically egalitarian vision is reflected in early

Christian ritual, especially in music. From the first century, we have
Philo's description of a vigil conducted by the Therapeutae, a Jewish
community in Alexandria who had come under the influence of
Christianity:
The vigil is conducted on this wise. They all stand up in a

crowd, and in the midst of the symposium first of all two choirs
are formed, one of men, and one of women, and for each, one
most honoured and skilled in song is chosen as a leader and
director. Then they sing hymns composed to the praise of God,
in many metres, and to various melodies, in one singing together
in unison, and in another antiphonal harmonies, moving their
hands in time and dancing; and being transported with divine
enthusiasm, they perform one while lyric measures, and at
another tragic plainsong, strophes and antistrophes, as need
requires. Then when each chorus, the men separately, and the
women separately, had partaken of food by itself, as in the feasts
of Bacchus, and quaffed the pure God-loving wine, they mingle
together and become one choir out of two—the mimetic
representation of that of yore standing on the shore of the Red
Sea on account of the miracles wrought there. To this (the singing
of the Song of Moses) the chorus of the male and female
Therapeutae afforded a most perfect resemblance with its variant
and concordant melodies; and the sharp searching tone of the
women together with the baritone sound of the men effected a
harmony both symphonious and altogether musical. Perfectly
beautiful are their motions, perfectly beautiful their discourse;
grave and solemn are these carollers; and the final aim of their
motions, their discourse, and their choral dances is piety.17
By the fourth century, however, women were largely

excluded from equal participation in the religious ritual and music
of the Christian church. Congregational singing was abandoned, and
by the latter part of the fourth century, music was performed by
professional choirs of men and boys. How did this come about? In
essence, Christian theology retreated from its radical view of women
as equal with men. As one of Christianity's principal doctrinal
architects, Paul apparently returned to Jewish rabbinical traditions
as a solution to relationships between men and women within the
church, and in so doing, opened the door to undermining the earlier
vision of equality.18 This theological retreat was accompanied by a
growing institutionalization of Christianity, an increasing
formalization of liturgy, and a progressive elitism in musical
expression, all of which conspired to exclude women, many of whom
were not in the social or economic position to challenge their
exclusion. Prohibitions were issued by church fathers to suppress
secular as well as sacred music-making by women, ostensibly
because of its association with eroticism, licentiousness, and
prostitution. The growth of asceticism and monasticism effectively
separated sacred music-making by men and women together,
resulting in the banishment of women to convents out of the
liturgical and musical mainstream. It was a short theological step to
the assertion that women are inferior to men, the cause of evil,
associated with things of the flesh, and that they should therefore be
precluded from full liturgical participation in die church.19
Forbidden to sing in the church, the women found that the
convent provided a refuge, a measure of independence, and a place
for learning. Despite the repression of, and hostility to, women by
the clergy, who sometimes mocked women in their songs, even
glorifying rape,20 recent musicological scholarship has unearthed a
growing body of evidence of the contributions of cloistered women
to sacred musical composition and performance. Indeed, the convent
remained of central importance in the musical education of women
from the middle ages until the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries.
During the Middle Ages, nuns were trained by cantrices to
sing the various offices—matins, lauds, prime, tierce, sext, nones,
vespers, compline—and they received an education sufficient for
them to read theological and devotional books, often in the
vernacular. In some houses they received advanced instruction from
the monks.21 Various convents became centers of musical
performance and composition; and notable composers emerged,
including Kassia, in the Byzantine tradition, and Hildegard von

Bingen, in the Roman tradition.22 Hildegard left a substantial body
of plainchant in a collection entitled Symphonia harmoniae caelestium
revelationum (The Symphony of tike Harmony of Heavenly
Revelations) and an important and musically innovative morality
play, Ordo virtutum (The Play of the Virtues).
During the Renaissance and afterwards, convents fostered
musical composition and performance.23 For example, the Ferrarese
convent of St. Vito was foremost among the Italian convents in the
late sixteenth century and featured an instrumental and vocal
ensemble led by the composer Raffeala Aleotti. Other composers,
such as Caterina Assandra from the convent of St. Agata in Lomello
near Milan, and Lucrezia Orsina from the Bolognese convent of St.
Christina, published significant sacred works.24
This tradition of convent support for women's musical
composition and performance continued in the seventeenth and
eighteenth centuries. One of the prominent composers of this period
was Isabella Leonarda from the convent of St. Orsola in Novara, who
published over 200 sacred works, mostly settings of nonliturgical
texts, but also including mass settings and instrumental music.25
Four Venetian conservatories—L'Ospedale dei Mendicanti,
L'Ospedale degli Incurabili, L'Ospedaletto, and L'Ospedale della
Pieta—achieved prominence for the high quality of their musical
performances and as places where girls and young women received
an outstanding musical education from a staff of professional
musicians. Large crowds attended their performances on feast days.
Indeed, by the early eighteenth century, the Pieta, notable for
Vivaldi's presence as a music master and for the performance of
much of his music, was known as one of the finest music schools in
Europe.26
Yet even in the convents, churchmen sought to control
women's lives and worship. They accomplished this by edict and
control of principal aspects of the liturgy. Importantly, they assumed
functions that had previously been performed by women, especially
liturgical plays and funeral laments.
In the early Christian church, women had reenacted in
plays the experiences of Mary, the mother of Jesus, the women who
were his friends, the visit to tire sepulchre by the women, and other
gospel stories in which women featured prominently. Now, monks,
replete with falsetto voices, appropriated these plays for themselves,
even to assuming the roles of the pregnant Mary, the pregnant

Elizabeth, the wise and foolish virgins, and the participants in the
Christmas story.* Moreover, rather than officiating at the death of
one of their sisters as they had earlier done, nuns now had to send
for priests to lead in the funeral services for one of their own.27
Controlling cloistered musicians was not always easy.
Sometimes the attempts of the churchmen were successful. During
the fourth century, Gregory of Nyssa tells how he repressed the
lamenting of the nuns over his sister Macrina's death:
But when I recalled my soul from the depths, gazing intently

at the holy head, and, as if I were rebuked for the disorderly
conduct of the women, I said: "Look at her," shouting at the
maidens in a loud voice, "and be mindful of the instructions she
gave you for order and graciousness in everything. Her divine
soul sanctioned one moment of tears for us, commanding us to
weep at the moment of prayer. This command we can obey by
changing the wailing of our lamentation into a united singing of
psalms." I said this in a loud voice to drown out the noise of the
wailing. Then I bade them withdraw to their quarters nearby and
to leave behind a few of those whose services she accepted
during her lifetime.28
Others were not so easy to control. In the twelfth century,

Hildegard von Bingen defied the prelates of Mainz by refusing their
order to exhume the body of an excommunicated youth who lay
buried in her convent grounds.29 In response, they imposed an
interdict on the community and banned the celebration of the Office
Hours. This, of course, was a powerful weapon. Feeling her authority
questioned, the nearly eighty-year-old abbess reprimanded the
prelates of Mainz in a letter written c. 1178 with the following
warning:
Therefore, those of the Church who have imposed silence on

the singing of the chants for the praise of God without well-
»
While the performance of medieval liturgical plays did occur at some convents, the
priests attached to these convents sang the male roles. Such was the emphasis on males singing
female roles that the church, while officially threatening to excommunicate offenders, turned
a blind eye while boys were castrated to preserve the beauty of the unchanged voices so that
they might take the musical parts that would naturally be sung by women and girls. During
the eighteenth century, castrati were to be widely found on the musical staffs of Italian
churches, including the Pope's private chapel.
considered weight of reason so that they have unjustly stripped

God of the grace and comeliness of his own praise, unless they
will have freed themselves from their errors here on earth, will be
without the company of the angelic songs of praise in heaven.30
Moreover, Hildegard's attitude to the male church

hierarchy, with whom she conversed, is exemplified in her morality
play, Ordo Virtutum (The Play of the Virtues). In this play, she
represents the plight of a soul who, when tempted by the devil,
appeals to sixteen virtues to help her resist him and, due to their
help, is eventually triumphant. Hildegard assigns the roles of anima
and the virtues to her nuns, and that of the devil to the monk
assigned to her convent. Interestingly, the roles of anima and the
virtues are all sung with instrumental accompaniment, while that of
the devil is spoken. She refuses to allow him to sing.
Not only did the church impose controls on cloistered
women, but it also hindered women outside the convents from
participating in secular music. It did this directly, by the issuance of
edicts, and indirectly, through its moral authority, by impugning the
motives and reputations of those women who chose to compose and
perform. One such edict in Bologna, Italy, while unsuccessful in
achieving its purpose, illustrates the attitude of some churchmen
toward musical education for women:
In May 1686 the Cardinal Legate obtained from Rome an

edict which was to put an end to the "offences due to the
immoderate application of women to the study of music." Music,
it said, was inconsistent with the modesty becoming to the female
sex, distracting them from their appropriate occupations and
duties, besides exposing to grave danger both themselves, those
who teach them, and those who listen to them. It was therefore
ordered that no woman, be she virgin, wife, or widow, of
whatsoever rank or station, not even those who were living in
convents or orphanages for their education or for any other
reason, notably that of learning music in order to practice it in the
said convents, should learn to sing or play upon any musical
instrument from any man, whether layman, ecclesiastic, or
member of a religious order, even if he were in any degree
related to her. Severe penalties were threatened to any heads of
families who dared to admit into their houses any music-masters
or musicians to teach their daughters or any of their
womenkind.31
Notwithstanding an increasing secularization and disregard

of clerical edicts, the church's moral authority and persuasive power
were considerable. Its suggestion that women involved in
composition and performance, especially theatrical singers, were of
doubtful reputation, or were not fulfilling their God-appointed roles
in life, was sufficient to keep most women from participating in
Italian opera until well into the eighteenth century. Vittoria Archilei
(1550-C.1618), who served in the Medici court, is one of the earliest
opera singers we know of.32 While women were admitted to opera
quite early (in Mantua in 1608), Italian opera remained almost
synonymous with castrati until the late eighteenth century.33
Protestants were equally guilty of the suppression of
women in the music of the church. Luther's principle of
congregational singing embodied in the chorale notwithstanding, the
Lutheran church continued the tradition of all-male choirs educated
in choir schools such as the Leipzig Thomasschule, in which Bach
served as cantor.34 Also, the Church of England provided for the
education of boy choristers in King's College School, St. John's
College School, York Minster Song School, Wells Cathedral School,
and other prominent English choir schools. As recently as 1981, while
girls could attend Church of England choir schools, they were still
excluded from elite membership in ecclesiastical choirs.33
This exclusion is explained when we remember that the
participation of women in musical performance within religious
ritual reflects underlying theological positions about their place in
the church. Where they are excluded from ordination as priestesses,
they must also perforce be excluded from liturgical music. Writing
in the mid-twentieth century Sophie Drinker observes:
Women did not sing in the liturgical choir from the fourth
century on, and they do not do so to this day, either in Catholic
churches or in Protestant churches that have real liturgical singers,
who are properly speaking the attendants of the priest and priestess.36
It is tempting to see the Puritan tradition as an homogenous

or unified strand of Protestant Christianity. We sometimes speak of
the Puritans en masse rather than as the variety of distinct groups and
separate traditions which they eventually comprised. Theologically,
they can be described as "members of the Church of England who
wanted a purer life and stricter Church discipline," were "influenced
by Calvinistic theology and principles of life," and were "moving in
those directions which were soon to lead to separation from the

Church of England, and to an eventual sub-classification as
Presbyterians, Independents, and Baptists."37 Musically, they are
characterized as a group who rejected liturgical music proper in
favor of congregational singing and responses which served a social
or functional rather than mystical purpose. Within the Roman
Catholic Mass, for example, the Kyrie serves as part of a mystical act
of worship of which the elevation of the host constitutes the climax.
By contrast, in Calvinist theology and practice, the Roman Mass is
rejected, and the singing of psalms and, later, hymns serves a
didactic, spiritual, and even social function, in exhorting the
congregation to certain beliefs and actions, and in binding them
together in corporate worship.* 38
Contrary to popular myth,39 many Puritans were lovers of
music and especially devoted to the composition and performance
of secular music. Within the church, however, Puritans believed that
the Psalms constituted the only appropriate worship songs. English
metrical settings of the Psalms, such as the Stemhold and Hopkins
(or "Old Version" in distinction to the subsequent Tate and Brady,
or "New Version") and Ainsworth psalters, were followed in the
Massachusetts colony by a psalter generally known as the Bay Psalm
Book, and subsequent psalters. The singing of these psalters was
generally unaccompanied, with tunes handed down by oral
tradition.
There was considerable theological dispute among the
Puritans and their successors about whether women should be
allowed to participate in Psalm singing.40 Conservatives believed
that women should not participate because of Paul's admonition that
they keep silent in the churches. Like other liberally-minded people,
John Cotton opposed this view, suggesting, rather, that women
should sing the Psalms. In his treatise, Singing o f Psalmes, a Gospel-
Ordinance,41 Cotton rebuts two interrelated arguments: If women are
not permitted to speak in the church, they should not be permitted
to sing either; as the singing of psalms is a form of prophesying from
which women are precluded, they cannot be permitted to sing the
Psalms. Central to his rebuttal is Cotton's distinction between what
he sees as biblical prohibitions against women speaking in church as
Their approach to sacred music seems typical of what Tillich describes as “prophetic-protesting”
religious experience.
teachers or propounders of questions (because in asking questions

they may teach their teachers), and scriptural support for their
singing and speaking when called to account for their actions. He
cites Miriam's song at the Red Sea, Saphyra's defense before Peter,
and early Christian church practice as evidence to support the
participation of women in congregational singing.
Interestingly, Sophie Drinker attributes Cotton's support of
women's right to participate in congregational singing in the Boston
Congregational Church in 1637, and his subsequent published
defense of women's participation in psalm singing in 1647, to a
woman's persuasion. She reminds us that it was Anne Hutchinson
who persuaded John Cotton to include women in congregational
singing, and before other colonies took the same bold step, she was
"expelled from her community for her theological and political
dissent."42
This debate continued into the eighteenth century, with a
gradual theological acceptance of women's participation in
congregational singing. For example, as Stephen Marini notes, in
their Cases o f Conscience, Peter Thacher, John Danforth, and Samuel
Danforth posited that the Pauline injunction applied only to women
assuming leadership over men, and that women can and should
participate in congregational singing.43
Throughout the eighteenth century, various social and
musical developments brought mounting pressure on the church to
open up congregational singing to women. One such development
was an important musical change in the tradition of psalm singing.
The old method of "customary" or "usual" singing usually involved
the "lining-out" of psalms, whereby the deacon intoned each line,
followed, in turn, by the congregation singing in unison. As a result
of the efforts of clergy and musicians, this method was gradually
replaced by a new method of "regular" singing by "rule," in which
the entire psalm was sung at sight and in parts without the
intervention of the deacon.' 44
As a result of their attendance at singing schools conducted
by musicians and itinerant singing masters (run both independently
and under the auspices of churches), women became more
The introduction of this change was strongly resisted by more conservative

churchpeople, illustrated by the controversy at South Braintree, Massachusetts over "regular"
singing.
knowledgeable about singing and reading music, capable of

"regular" singing, and therefore eager to participate musically in
their churches. The singing schools eventually flowered into choral
societies in which women came to participate, some of the earliest
being the St. Cecilia Society of Charleston, South Carolina (1762), and
the Stoughton (Massachusetts) Musical Society (1786), both of which
admitted women as singers, if not as full members.45
There were also significant changes in part singing. At first,
women did not carry the melody, it being thought inappropriate for
them to lead men. Instead, the tenor carried the melody and the
sopranos sang a descant. This gave the choral sound an open, almost
hollow quality.46 Gradually, women began to take over the soprano
lead melody and assume the inner alto voice (previously sung by
men and boys), and the tenor (sung by men) assumed its present
inner-voice role. This change was later accompanied, during the
nineteenth century and on both sides of the Atlantic, by a dramatic
change in the ratio of men and women in choirs (both church choirs
and choral societies) from a majority of men and few women to a
majority of women.47
Moreover, instrumental keyboard instruction became a
popular aspect of female education. Charing the seventeenth century,
Puritan women were encouraged to study music. Percy Scholes cites
the case of an English woman, Susanna Perwich, who had a veritable
staff of music instructors, including her personal lyra viol, viol, lute,
harpsichord, singing, and dancing instructors.48 Later, during the
eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, women were especially
encouraged to take up the piano as "an accomplishment" in order to
show off their prowess.49 Even though we know that the numbers of
such keyboard players were comparatively small in New England (if
John S. Dwight is correct, in 1800 fewer than fifty of Boston's six
thousand families owned a piano), it was only natural that women
privileged to learn a keyboard or other instrument, and by virtue of
their ability to read music, should not only wish to participate in
congregational singing and church choirs, but would be called upon
to perform as organists and pianists. Indeed, one of the first
American women to serve as a prominent organist was Sophia
Hewitt, organist to the Boston Handel and Haydn Choral Society,
and organist at two prominent churches in Boston—Chauncy Place
Church and Catholic Cathedral.50
During the nineteenth century, women began to exert an
important influence on the music of the church. Their newly-found
voices were especially important in fostering higher standards of

musical education. In England, Maria Hackett urged Bishop Porteus
of London to improve standards in the education of cathedral
choristers, and Sarah Glover established a school in Norwich with
the objective of improving the quality of church music by teaching
children sightsinging and voice production. Her work was later
popularized in an amended form by a Congregational minister, John
Curwen, whose efforts led to an enormous growth in choral singing
in England.51 In the United States, women entered musical
conservatories in increasing numbers and became private teachers
(particularly of children) performers and composers.52 Their
growing prominence in secular music along with their participation
in church music, provided a wealth of talent and put pressure on the
church to include them on an equal basis with men in the music of
the church.
More than any other factor, the First and Second Great
Awakenings in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, respectively,
were responsible for opening up participation in church music to
women, especially among those churches that inherited the Puritan
tradition. The First Great Awakening that swept the American
colonies from 1734-1745, under the influence of itinerant preachers
such as George Whitefield, Gilbert Tennant, and James Davenport
(also singing evangelists), brought an evangelical fervor to religious
worship and led to the abandonment of psalm singing in favor of
hymns and spiritual songs and a new emphasis on emotionalism in
religious experience expressed in musical terms.53 Hymn texts by
Isaac Watts predominated, exemplified by such hymns as "When I
Survey the Wondrous Cross."
These changes brought about bitter inter- and intira-
denominational conflicts, including those over attitudes toward
music. Some of the Evangelical Calvinists, such as the New Light
Congregationalists and the New Side Presbyterians, wholeheartedly
endorsed Watts' hymnody, especially suited to "regular" singing,
while other anti-revival Presbyterians and Baptists stuck to their
traditional psalm texts and times sung in "customary" or "usual"
fashion, and most churches adopted a position between these two
extremes.54
The First Great Awakening led to a redefinition of the
theology of church song. In his articulation of the doctrine of
"religious affections," Samuel Blair posited an intimate connection
between sound and feeling, which in sacred music becomes a "real,
effective, and profitable sentiment" enabling the individual to

inwardly sense "the moral operations of external harmony."55 This
feeling is not conveyed through sound alone, but primarily through
text. Religious texts enable a reborn person to grasp their meaning
and to be moved to religious ardor, devotion, and duty—an idea
expressed, for example, in the religious song and dance of the
Shakers, led by their founding mother and visionary Ann Lee.56
The Second Great Awakening was associated with the
advent of the gospel song. This movement, during the first three
decades of the nineteenth century, was a primarily rural revival that
began in the large campmeetings of Kentucky and Tennessee.
Charles Finney was among the early revivalists. Later, from the
1870s, evangelists such as Dwight L. Moody in Chicago continued
the movement's spread into urban centers. Along with the central
ideas of God's love for humankind, and salvation as a free gift,
revivalists stressed emotional spontaneity in religious worship, the
involvement of laypersons in church life, and issues of social
concern.57
In particular, the movement enlisted women as active
participants and sparked such hymn writers as Fanny Crosby (with
whom Pheobe Knapp collaborated as a composer and who
contributed more than five hundred gospel hymns), Eliza Hewitt,
Clara Scott, and many others who composed hymn texts and tunes.*
The concerns of this evangelical revival, focused as they were on the
individual's religious experience, the needs of humankind, the
importance of education and self-improvement, and the necessity of
individual and collective actions towards redressing evils within
society, touched the hearts and minds of women and released a flood
of creative contributions to gospel hymnody and sacred music more
generally.
Gospel music, as it developed during the twentieth century,
also drew from the music of Americans whose roots lay in Africa,
and was emblematic of a "rediscovered 'matriarchy'" in apposition
to a predominantly white and patriarchal world. In composing and
performing gospel music, women were unconsciously combating
*
This is not to suggest that women were inactive as hymn writers and composers before the
nineteenth century. Gene Claghom’s Women Composers and Hymnists: A Concise Biographical
Dictionary includes 155 women composers and 600 hymnists from the twelfth to twentieth centuries.
Nevertheless, from the nineteenth century, the number of women hymnists and composers dramatically
increased.
patriarchy, bringing a maternal view to bear on, and softening the

paternal emphasis of, the church.58
Indeed, the extraordinarily large output of gospel songs
composed by women during the nineteenth and earlier part of the
twentieth century demonstrates the special affinity women had with
gospel music. Doubtless, their lives as homemakers (particularly in
the case of women hymnists and composers in the nineteenth
century) and their musical and literary training affected the quality
of their writing and their choice of texts. One sees in these texts a
preoccupation with personal religious experience; practical responses
to the world's challenges; care for children, the suffering, the needy;
and home relationships. While they clearly predominated as
composers of gospel songs in the early days of gospel music, their
numbers declined as commercialism in gospel music spread during
the middle and latter part of the twentieth century; and an
international industry developed around gospel music, spearheaded
mainly by men.
The Seventh-day Adventist Church is heir to the American
Puritan tradition and to the First and Second Great Awakenings.
Indeed, bom as it was out of the Second Great Awakening, and
initially a primarily rural movement, Adventism borrowed the
revivalist songs of the Methodists, in particular, and an implicit
theology of "religious affections." Music was believed to engender
emotional response in the participants and listeners, and arouse them
to action. Also, like their Puritan forbearers, Adventists centered on
the "word." Music provided a functional, social, spiritual, and
didactic role as secondary to, and supportive of, the preaching of the
Word.*
As music does not play a strictly liturgical role in Adventist
church services, and because it is secondary to such functions as
preaching, baptizing, and conducting communion services, women
have been organists, pianists, instrumentalists, singers, choristers,
conductors, and composers, from the church's inception. While
ordination to the ministry has been denied them, it is still considered
appropriate for women to be active in the music of the church.
Notwithstanding that all the other participants in the church service
(the primary weekly worship service) may be men—the preacher,
Even today, presentations of sacred music within Adventist religious services are often described
as “messages in song.”
elders, and deacons—a sole woman can with perfect propriety walk
onto the rostrum and, for the duration of her solo, hold the full
attention of congregation and clergy alike. Likewise, a woman
organist may set the atmosphere for a worship service, lead the
congregation in hymn singing, perform the various responses, lead
the choir, and generally impact on almost every facet of that service.
If these women are fine musicians, they may command the respect
and admiration of women and men alike, and do what Paul
seemingly wished them not to do: exercise control and leadership
within the church.
This incongruity between the church's official position on
the role of women in the church and the participation of women as
leaders in church music may be explained as follows: Many
Adventist church leaders do not understand the power and
leadership exerted by the musician within the religious service. They
see music in a supporting role in the service and think that as the
female musician is not ordained she is not threatening the doctrine
of male "headship" over women or violating the spirit of the Pauline
injunction that women should accept a subordinate status in the
Christian community. Moreover, music is not fully accepted as a
form of ministry. Had it been so, in order to be theologically
consistent, the church fathers should either have ordained women as
ministers of music or barred them from leading roles in the music of
the church.
The prevailing patriarchy within Adventism is reinforced
by the hymn texts used; and these contribute, in turn, to the
alienation of women within its community. In the latest (1985)
edition of the Seventh-day Adventist Hymnal, rather than adopt a
consistent policy of inclusive language usage as the Methodists and
Presbyterians have done in their recent and ongoing revisions,
respectively, even at the risk of opposition from conservatives within
their communities, the compilers have retained sexist language in
some of the hymns.59 Relatively few women composers of hymn
tunes are included (fewer than a tenth of attributable times), and
while women hymn writers are better represented (but still by fewer
than a quarter of the attributable hymn texts), women's experiences
and voices are largely omitted. Adventist congregations are
socialized into the prevailingly patriarchal world view these texts
and times exemplify. As a result, the church is in danger of becoming
progressively more irrelevant to its women.
Adventist women continue to make important

contributions to the music of the Adventist Church. They are
outstanding composers, performers of instrumental and vocal music,
conductors, and music teachers. Some Adventist women have found
their way into nontraditional careers in performance, onto the opera
stage, and into the concert hall as choral and symphonic conductors
and soloists. Others teach at leading universities, colleges, and music
schools internationally. Still others teach at Adventist schools and
colleges. Many of these women are unrecognized by the Adventist
Church for their contributions to music and the church. I think, for
example, of Adventist composer Blythe Owen, with numerous
compositions and honors spanning over a half-century, and yet
largely ignored by the church.60 Her one hymn included in the
Seventh-day Adventist Hymnal, "For Your Holy Book We Thank You,"
contrasts with numerous settings by her male contemporaries
(including four hymn settings by James Bingham, eighteen settings
by Wayne Hooper, and thirty-one settings by Melvin West), despite
the fact that in die world of music outside the Adventist Church, she
is probably one of Adventism's leading twentieth-century
composers. Indeed, the number of settings by these three men total
more than all the settings attributed to women across all times in the
hymnal.
Notwithstanding these inequities, and their marginalization
within the church, Adventist women, along with women from other
religious communities, are finding their voice. They are reclaiming
their heritage and their church. Like other Christian women, they are
revisiting the roots of their faith, writing their own theology, and
composing and performing their own music. They are arising with
their sisters from other faiths and times to give musical voice to their
vision of God.
Notes
1 The interface of religion and music is noted in Sophie Drinker, Music and Women: The
Story o f Women in their Relation to Music (New York: Coward-McCann, 1949); Wilfrid Dunwell,
Music and the European Mind (London: Herbert Jenkins, 1962); Joyce Irwin, ed., "Sacred Sound:
Music in Religious Thought and Practice," Journal o f the American Academy o f Religion Thematic
Studies 50 (1) (Chico, CA: Scholars Press, 1983), and that between religion and the arts
generally is seen in Pie-Raymond Regamey, Religious Art in the Twentieth Century (New York:
Herder and Herder, 1963); David Baily Hamed, Theology and the Arts (Philadelphia:
Westminster Press, 1966); Roger Hazelton, A Theological Approach to Art (Nashville, TN:
Abingdon Press, 1967); Jacques Attali, Noise: The Political Economy o f Music trans. Brian
Massumi (Minneapolis, MN: University of Minnesota Press, 1984); Margaret R. Miles, Image
as Insight: Visual Understanding in VJestem Christianity and Culture (Boston: Beacon Press, 1985);
Langdon B. Gilkey, "Can Art Fill the Vacuum?" and Paul Tillich, "Art and Ultimate Reality,"
in Art, Creativity, and the Sacred: An Anthology in Religion and Art, Diane Apostolos-Cappadona,
ed. (New York: Crossroad, 1986); Mircea Eliade, Symbolism, the Sacred, and the Arts, Diane
Apostolos-Cappadona, ed. (New York: Crossroad, 1988); Frank Burda Brown, "Religious
Aesthetics: A Theological Study o f Making and Meaning (Princeton: Princeton University Press,
1984); James Alfred Markin, Jr., Beauty and Holiness: The Dialogue Between Aesthetics and Religion
(Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1990). The connection between society and music is
discussed in John Blacking, How Musical Is Man? (London: Faber and Faber, 1976); and the
intersection of gender in music and society is explored in Ellen Koskoff, ed., Women and Music
in Cross-Cultural Perspective (New York: Westport, 1987). The interrelationship between
religion and society is exemplified, for instance, in Harvey Cox, The Secular City (New York:
Macmillan, 1966), and The Feast o f Fools: A Theological Essay on Festivity and Fantasy (New York:
Harper and Row, 1969).
2 See Edward Foley, Music and Ritual: A Pre-Theological Investigation (Washington, DC:
Pastoral Press, 1984).
3 Oskar Sohngen, "Music and Theology: A Systematic Approach," in Irwin, Sacred Sound,
1; Drinker, Music and Women, 265. The latter claims it is the most profoundly religious of the
arts.
4 See John Shepherd, "Music and Male Hegemony," in Music and Society: The Politics o f
Composition, Performance, and Reception, Richard Leppert and Susan McClary, eds. (Cambridge:
Cambridge University Press, 1987), 151-72.
5 Augustine, The Confessions o f St. Augustine, trans. F. J. Sheed (New York: Sheed and
Ward, 1943), 236,242-44.
6 Drinker, Music and Women, 298.
7 See Ibid., chap. 2.
8 See Steven Feld, Sound and Sentiment: Birds, Weeping, Poetics, and Song in Kaluli
Expression (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2nd ed., 1990); Susan Auerbach,
"From Singing to Lamenting: Women's Musical Role in a Greek Village," in Koskoff, Women
and Music, 25-43.
9 See Judith R. Cohen, "'Ya Sali6 de la Mar': Judeo-Spanish Wedding Songs Among
Moroccan Jews in Canada," in Koskoff, Women and Music, 55-67.
10 See Blacking, How Musical is Man, 40-41.
11 See Drinker, Music and Women, chaps. 5 ,6 ,8 .
12 See R. D. Anderson, "Musical Instruments," vol. 3 of Catalogue o f Egyptian Antiquities
in the British Museum (London: British Museum Publications, 1976); Henry George Farmer,
"The Music of Ancient Egypt," in Ancient and Oriental Music, vol. 1 of The New Oxford History
o f Music, ed., Egon Wellecz (London: Oxford University Press, 1957), 255-82.
13 See Exod. 15:21; Judg. 5:3,12,27; Judith 15:12,13; 16:1,2.
14 See Drinker, Music and Women, 134.
15 Ellen Koskoff, "The Sound of a Woman's Voice: Gender and Music in a New York
Hasidic Community," in Koskoff, Women and Music, 218,216.
16 Edgar Hennecke, New Testament Apocrypha, Wilhelm Schneemelcher, ed. (English
trans., R. McL. Wilson, ed.), vol. 1 (Philadelphia: Westminster Press, 1963), Appendix 1, "The
Gospel of Thomas" (22), 513-14.
17 See Carol Neuls-Bates, ed., Women and Music: An Anthology o f Source Readings from the
Middle Ages to the Present (New York: Harper and Row, 1982), 3 ,4 .
18 See Elizabeth Schtlssler-Fiorenza, In Memory o f Her: A Feminist Reconstruction o f Christian

Origins, (New York: Crossroad, 1984), chap. 6.
19 See Drinker, Music and Women, 178-79, chap. 10.
20 See Anne Howland Schotter, "Woman's Song in Medieval Latin" in Vox Feminae:
Studies in Medieval Woman's Song, John F. Plummer, ed. Studies in Medieval Culture, no. 15
(Kalamazoo, MI: Medieval Institute Publications, Western Michigan University, 1981), 19-33.
21 See Anne Bagnall Yardley, '"Ful weel she soong the service dyvyne': The Cloistered
Musician in the Middle Ages," in Women Making Music: The Western Art Tradition, 1150-1950,
Jane Bowers and Judith Tick, eds. (Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1986), 15-38.
22 For example, see James R. Briscoe, ed., Historical Anthology o f Music by Women
(Bloomington, IN: Indiana University Press, 1987).
23 Jane Bowers ("The Emergence of Women Composers in Italy, 1566-1700," in Bowers
and Tick, Women Making Music, 126) suggests that over half of the women whose works were
published over the period 1566-1700 were nuns.
24 See Bowers and Tick, Women Making Music, 125-26; Susan Cook and Thomasin K. La
May, Virtuose in Italy, 1600-1640: A Reference Guide (New York: Garland, 1984), 18-25.
25 See Briscoe, Historical Anthology.
26 See Denis Arnold, "Orphans and Ladies: The Venetian Conservatories (1680-1790),"
Proceedings o f the Royal Musical Association 89 (1962/63): 31-47, and "Instruments and
Instrumental Teaching in the Early Italian Conservatories," Galpin Society Journal 18 (1965): 72-
81.
27 See Drinker, Music and Women, 194-98.
28 Neuls-Bates, Women in Music, 8-9.
29 Ibid., 17.
30 Ibid., 20.
31 Eduard J. Dent, Historical Introduction to the Violin-makers o f the Guarneri Family (1626-
1762): Their Life and Work, William Henry Hill, Arthur F. Hill, and Alfred Ebsworth Hill, eds.
(London: W. E. Hill and Sons, 1931), xx, xxi.
32 See Rupert Christiansen, Prima Donna: A History (New York: Viking, 1985), 16.
33 See Heriot, The Castrati, 35.
34 See Christoph Wolff, Walter Emery, Richard Jones, Eugene Helm, Ernest Warburton,
Ellwood S. Derr, eds., The New Grove, Bach Family (New York: W. W. Norton, 1983).
35 See Cynthia Hawkins, "Aspects of the Musical Education of Choristers in Church of
England Choir Schools," M.A. thesis, McGill University, 1985,165.
36 Drinker, Music and Women, 267.
37 Percy A. Scholes, The Puritans and Music in England and New England: A Contribution
to the Cultural History o f Two Nations (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1934), 4.
38 Tillich, "Art and Ultimate Reality," 228-29.
39 See Scholes, The Puritans and Music, passim.
40 See Stephen Marini, "Rehearsal for Revival: Sacred Singing and the Great Awakening
in America," in Irwin, Sacred Sound, 76.
41 John Cotton, Singing ofPsalmes, A Gospel-Ordinance Or A Treatise Wherein Are Handled
These Foure Particulars: 1. Touching the duty it selfe. 2. Touching the matter to be sung. 3. Touching
the singers. 4. Touching the manner o f singing (London: Printed for M. S. for Hannah Allen at the
Crowne in Popes-Head-Alley, and John Rothwell at the Sunne and Fountaine in Pauls-Church-
Yard, 1647), 42-43.
42 Drinker, Music and Women, 268. Also, see Dorothy Oslin, "The Risk of Dissent: The
Story of Anne Hutchinson," Daughters o f Sarah 14 (2) (1988), 16-18.
43 See Marini, 75-77; Peter Thacher, Samuel Danforth, and John Danforth, An Essay
Preached by Several Ministers o f the Gospel fo r the Satisfaction o f their Pious and Conscientious
Brethren, as to Sundry Questions and Cases o f Conscience, Concerning the Singing o f Psalms, in the
Publick Worship o f G o d . . . (Boston: Printed by S. Kneeland for S. Gerrish, 1723).
44 See Henry Wilder Foote, Three Centuries o f American Hymnody (Cambridge, MA:
Harvard University Press, 1940), Appendix B, 383-86.
45 See Christine Ammer, Unsung: A History o f Women in American Music (Westport, CT:
Greenwood Press, 1980), 6; James A Keene, A History o f Music Education in the United States
(Hanover, NH: University of New England Press, 1982), chap. 2.
46 This tradition still persists. See B. F. White and E. J. King, Sacred Harp: A Collection o f
Psalm and Hymn Tunes, Odes, and Anthems . . . (Philadelphia: T. K. and P. G. Collins, 1844).
47 See Estelle R. Jorgensen, "Developmental Phases in Selected British Choirs," Canadian
University Music Review, no. 7 (1986), 139-56.
48 See Scholes, The Puritans and Music, 160-61.
49 Arthur Loesser, Men, Women, and Pianos: A Social History (New York: Simon and Schuster,
1954), 268.
50 See Ammer, Unsung, 7.
51 See Derek Hyde, New-Found Voices: Women in Nineteenth-Century English Music
(Liskeard, Cornwall: Belvedere Press, 1984).
52 See Ammer, Unsung, chap. 11.
53 Tillich ("Art and Ultimate Reality," 231-32) describes this as the ecstatic-spiritual
religious experience.
54 See Marini, "Rehearsal for Revival," 84.
55 Samuel Blair, A Discourse on Psalmody (Philadelphia: John McCulloch, 1789), quoted in
ibid., 86.
56 See Daniel W. Patterson, The Shaker Spiritual (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press,
1979).
57 See Esther Rothenbusch, "The Joyful Sound: Women in the Nineteenth-Century
United States Hymnody Tradition," in Koskoff, Women and Music, 178.
58 See Wilfrid Mellers, Angels o f the Night: Popular Female Singers o f our Time (Oxford: Basil
Blackwell, 1986), 95.
59 Iris M. Yob (The Church and Feminism [Denver, CO: Winsen Publications, 1988], 36-38)
has noted the prevailing masculine emphasis in texts in the Seventh-day Adventist Hymnal
(Washington, DC: Review and Herald Publishing Association, 1985).
60 See Owen's listing in Aaron Cohen, International Encyclopedia o f Women Composers
(New York: R. R. Bowker, 1981), 347-48.
(S>,rdination o f
Gnomon in the
at a
by Margo Pitrone
/ ^ ' he word "ordination" is less a "new" word than a

| j "forgotten" one. Early on in the development of the
church, ordination became a means to set aside certain
church leaders who would minister in the sacred rites
and coordinate the ministry to the membership and to potential
56
Ordination of Women in the Church 57
believers. There is evidence that in postapostolic times, ordination

continued to be practiced without regard to gender.
This chapter is a review of the practice of ordination set
against the backdrop of Jesus' ministry and the practice of this rite in
the early Christian church. With this review, it will be possible to
better understand the implications of a recorded prayer of ordination
for female clergy contained in an important postapostolic document
called the Apostolic Constitutions.
Ordination in the New Testament
Whatever "laying on of hands" may have meant in the Old
Testament, the New Testament puts forth a meaning that is
inextricably linked to the "priesthood of all believers" and its implicit
call to Christian service by those endowed with the gifts of the Holy
Spirit. The ordination of Joshua to the leadership of Israel (Num.
27:18-23) is the closest the Old Testament comes to the New
Testament understanding of this rite.1 God had first given the
calling, the ordination ceremony served as a public
acknowledgement of that divine call and as Israel's formal
acceptance of Joshua's ministry on their behalf.
It is Jesus Christ's ministry that sets the tone for ordination
or the laying on of hands in the Christian era. Mark documents Jesus'
theory and practice of ordination: "And he goeth up into a mountain,
and calleth unto him whom he would; and they came unto him. And
he ordained twelve, that they should be with him, and that he might
send them forth to preach" (3:13-14). Ellen White expands on this
scene: "When Jesus had ended his instruction to the disciples, he
gathered the little band close about him, and kneeling in the midst
of them, and laying his hands upon their heads, he offered a prayer
dedicating them to his sacred work. Thus the Lord's disciples were
ordained to the gospel ministry."2 There is a parallel here between
the laying on of hands as a symbol of the outpouring of God's
blessing on those already called to service and the divine voice that
gave its approval to the Messiah (Matt. 3:16-17).
This service model of ordination did not end with Jesus'
death and resurrection. It continued into the practice of the early
Christian church, beginning with the ordination of Paul and
Barnabas to foreign mission service (Acts 13:1-3). Once again, Ellen
White's commentary is illuminating:
When the ministers of the church of believers in Antioch laid

their hands upon Paul and Barnabas, they, by that action, asked
God to bestow his blessing upon the chosen apostles in their
devotion to the specific work to which they had been appointed.
At a later date the rite of ordination by tire laying on of hands
was greatly abused; unwarranted importance was attached to the
act, as if a power came at once upon those who received such
ordination, which immediately qualified them for any and all
ministerial work. But in the setting apart of these two apostles,
there is no record indicating that any virtue was imparted by the
mere act of laying on of hands. There is only the simple record of
the ordination and of the bearing it had on their future work.3
Both Jesus' practice of ordination and that of the apostles reveal that
the rite was a simple, public act, accompanied by prayer and fasting,
that constituted the recognition, and not the dispensing, of a divine
calling.
As to the ordained person's assuming any titles, we have no
record of titulary investitures. The Greek word that is commonly
used to characterize the ministry of Jesus and the apostles is diakonos,
meaning "servant." Far from establishing hierarchies, ordination is
seen as creating servanthood. The titles "priest" or "reverend" are
foreign to the language of Jesus in referring to his work. He never
referred to himself as a priest nor authorized his disciples to take on
such a title. Since Christ's priestly title is assigned to him in Hebrews
(5:5-6) in the context of the priesthood of Melchizidek, whose order
had neither beginning nor end, neither can such an order have
successors.
The New Testament clearly shows that the original church
pattern was eminently simple in both worship and governmental
structure. Paul himself spoke of apostles, prophets, evangelists,
teachers who were called elders, and deacons who were ministers or
"servants." He pointed out that the purpose of these ministries was
for the building up of the entire church and for equipping the Body
of Christ for the work of service or ministry (Eph. 4:8,11-13). In his
first letter to the Corinthians, Paul paints a revealing picture of the
apostolic church at worship: "When you come together, each one has
a hymn, has a lesson, has a revelation, has a tongue or an
interpretation. . . " (1 Cor. 14:26, RSV). The service was to be orderly
but free-flowing, unstructured and nonliturgical. Paul's main
concern was that these functions be orderly, since everyone
participated, including the women (1 Cor. 11:5).
The Postapostolic Church

After the apostolic era, the church began to lose sight of the
"priesthood-of-all-believers" concept. As early as the second, and
certainly by the third century, the church had become a formal
structure with an increasingly ritualistic service. One of the results of
this formalistic trend was the declining role of laity in church
leadership. Together with this tendency came the rapid spread of
Gnosticism. This philosophy taught that God revealed himself
secretly only to a select few and these few were those who purified
themselves from all that was earthly. Celibacy was seen as the
purifying power that would release men and women from their
fallen state. With the new disdain for sexual relations, the woman
became the mainstream Gnostic symbol for sin and sexuality.
Origen, a third-century church father, took up this Gnostic
strain to the extent that he was able to declare that "God would
never stoop to look on anything feminine" and that "it is not proper
for a woman to speak in church, however admirable or holy what
she says may be, merely because it comes from female lips."4 his
Gnostic leanings were evident in his teaching that the spirit was pure
and divine, but that the flesh was evil, earthly, and sensual. Since
woman was linked with the latter, she was a perpetual and insidious
danger to the spiritual man.
Tertullian, Ambrose, and Clement of Alexandria were only
a few of the many Church Fathers influenced by Gnosticism during
the third and fourth centuries. Later, Augustine would come under
Gnostic influence as well. Even after his conversion to Christianity
from his formerly-repudiated Manichaeanism (a philosophy that
taught strict asceticism, celibacy, and austere living), he taught, in
direct contradiction to Scripture (Gen. 1:26, 27; 1 Cor. 11:1-12), that
woman was not created in God's image. He labeled man the superior
spirit, while the woman was identified with the inferior flesh. "Flesh
stands for the woman, and the spirit for the husband . . . because the
latter rules, the former is ruled. Woman stands under the lordship of
man and possesses no authority; she can neither teach, nor be a
witness."5 Augustine seemed unimpressed with biblical precedent
for women as teachers and witnesses. Likewise, he seemed out of
touch even with his own church, which, despite Gnostic influence,
continued to ordain women to church ministry well into the late
fourth century, as we shall see.
The Forgotten Document

There is little known about the ordination of women to the
ministry by the early Christian church. The first clue we have is
found in Rom. 16:1, where Paul commends Phoebe, a deacon. She is
not a deaconess as the King James Version incorrectly translates, but
a diakonos, the same word that is used for Paul and Stephen. In Rom.
16:1, the Greek word occurs in the genitive rather than the dative
tense, suggesting that Phoebe is seen as a dispenser (and not a
receiver) of service to the church. This little-known fact, reclaimed
only in recent church history, is not the only hint that women were
ordained as ministers to the church from its outset. As far into the
church's history as the fourth century, Syrian bishops still followed
Apostolic Constitutions, which called for the ordination of women:
"Ordain also a woman deacon who is faithful and holy."6
That women were ordained to ministry, both as assistants
and leaders, is evident in the ordination prayer from the eighth book
of Apostolic Constitutions:
Eternal God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Creator
of man and woman, who didst replenish with the Spirit Miriam,
and Deborah, and Anna, and Huldah; who didst not disdain that
Thy only begotten Son should be bom of a woman; who also in
the tabernacle of the testimony, and in the temple didst ordain
women to be keepers of Thy holy gates, so Thou now also look
down upon this Thy servant, who is to be ordained to the office
of a woman deacon (diakonos in the Greek original), and grant her
Thy Holy Spirit, and 'cleanse her from all filthiness of flesh and
spirit,' that she may worthily discharge the work which is
committed to her to Thy glory, and the praise of Thy Christ, with
whom glory and adoration be to Thee and the Holy Spirit forever.
Amen.7
Constitutions is a compilation of regulations which claim to have been

delivered to the early church by the apostles and which was published
by Clement of Rome. As a manual of ecclesiastical life, it contains
instruction and examples for proper Christian living, as well as one of
the oldest examples of Christian liturgy.8 Generally believed to have
been composed in its final form in the early to middle second century,
Book Eight, out of which this prayer arises, is part of the Didache, the
earliest manuscript of Apostolic Constitutions.
This prayer, in an often-overlooked book, is vitally

important for an understanding of women in ministry during the
first centuries. Fortunately, it is not the only indication that women
were being ordained to church ministry in the postapostolic era. The
Council of Nicaea referred to women deacons as clerics9 and the
Greek word for "ordain," chierotonia, was used indistinctly to refer to
the duties of the male and female cleric.10 The ordination of women
continued from the early church into the third century in the West
and into the twelfth century in the East. The transition away from
this practice can already be seen in the Western church by the Second
Council of Orleans (A.D. 533), which declared: "No longer shall the
blessing of women deacons be given, because of the weakness of the
sex."11 It seems clear that, though a deacon was considered the
clergy of the early church, the later move toward monasticism
dominated the church's view of women to the extreme that it
declared the ministry of such women void.
The removal of women from church leadership in the
Catholic Church was complete in both the Eastern and Western
segments of the church by A.D. 1200. With the Reformation, the
Christian church began to reevaluate many dimensions of biblical
belief, but even the Protestant movement was not to vindicate the
woman in church ministry until well into the 1800s. Certainly, a case
in point is that of Ellen White, whose seminal role in the formation
and survival of the Advent movement can hardly be ignored. Her
spiritual leadership as prophet, preacher, and author is conceivable
only within the context of the changing view of women that
characterized nineteenth-century America.
Implications
The "forgotten document" gives evidence that the
postapostolic church held women in higher esteem than the
medieval and modem ones. That esteem was biblically based in that
it finds antecedents for woman's calling in the Old Testament
(Miriam, Deborah, Anna, Huldah), as well as in the New (Mary,
women keepers of the temple gates). The biblical justification
included in this prayer makes this document particularly valuable to
Bible-based Adventism. Moreover, the equal treatment of men and
women in the postapostolic diaconate—as revealed in this prayer—
suggests a carryover from the practice in the early church by which
no gender distinction was made in the duties and responsibilities of
those called to diakonos. There is no textual evidence here that would
suggest a departure from previous practice. The invocation of the

Holy Spirit and the call to cleansing are in keeping with biblical
ordination, since it is the Holy Spirit who calls and enables. Because
the postapostolic church understands that diakonos refers to an office
and not to a gender, women's services to the church in the role of
deacons could merit them rank with the clergy through ordination.
It is only later, when the Augustinian argument demoting women to
an inferior creation arises, that it will be easier to argue for the
incapacity and even the indignity of women serving the church as
ordained clergy.* 12
The Adventist Church has always seen itself in the role of
"repairer of the breach," very much in the purest of Protestant
traditions, by offering correctives to any variants on biblical truths of
human origin. Our strong tradition of "sola scriptura" should make
us take a closer look at this revealing document that would suggest
yet another departure based not on Scripture nor on the writings of
Ellen White, but on what seem to be the prerogatives of the Catholic
Church. In other words, it is being suggested that the Adventist
Church be consistent in its stand against biblical manipulations in the
name of tradition or preconceived ideas, no matter what their source.
The existence of this important document certainly suggests that here
is an area of study that may be pursued further in order to illuminate
our understanding of the practice of ordination in the apostolic
church.
Notes
1 Alton H. McEachem, Set Apart fo r Service (Nashville: Broadman Press, 1980), 15.
2 Ellen G. White, The Desire o f Ages (Mountain View, CA: Pacific Press Pub. Assn., 1911),
296.
3 Ellen G. White, The Acts o f the Apostles (Mountain View, CA.: Pacific Press Pub. Assn.,
1898), 162.
4 Charles Trombley, Who Said Women Can't Teach (South Plainfield, NJ: Bridge Publishing,
1985), 202.
5 Trombley, 206.
*
Variations on such creation-based arguments have not surprisingly resurfaced in
Adventist arguments against the ordination of women. See Samuele Bacchiocchi, Women in the
Church, and, more recently, C. Raymond Holmes, The Tip o f the Iceburg: Biblical Authority,
Biblical Interpretation, and the Ordination o f Women in Ministry.
6 Apostolic Constitutions IH.16.1.

7 Alexander Roberts and James Donaldson, eds., The Anti-Nicene Fathers, vol. 7 (Grand
Rapids: Eerdmans, 1951), 431.
8 David Fiensy, Prayers Alleged to be Jewish: An Examination o f Apostolic Constitutions
(Chico, CA: Scholars Press, 1985), 19.
9 J. D. Mansi, Sacrorum Conciliorum Nova et Amplissima Collectio vol. 2 (Florence 1757-
1798), 676ff.
10 Migne, Patrologia Graeca vol. 8, col. 31:2.
11 Corpus Christianorum Latinorum 148A, 29:163-65.
12 Samuele Bacchiocchi, Women in the Church (Berrien Springs, MI: Biblical Perspectives,
1987); C. Raymond Holmes, The Tip o f the Iceburg: biblical Authority. Biblical Interpretation, and
the Ordination o f Women in Ministry (Wakefield, MI: Pointer Publications, 1994).
dA he (5>rdination o f
A \dventi
by Viviane Haenni
/ ^ ' he issue of ordaining women to the ministry within the

/ j Seventh-day Adventist Church dates back to 1881, when
a motion to ordain women was proposed at the General
Conference session. Apparently the motion, referred to
committee, was never given any further consideration. Surprisingly,
the issue remained unresolved until July of 1990 when the motion "not
to ordain women to the Gospel ministry" was accepted at the fifty-
64
The Ordination of Women: Toward an SPA Ecclesiology 65
fifth General Conference session at Indianapolis.* 1

Prior to the General Conference decision, however, the
issue was reopened at Camp Mohaven (Ohio) on September 1973
with the presentation of twenty-nine papers on the role of women in
the church. At the request of the Association of Adventist Women,
these papers were finally released to the public in 1984. Since then,
many key events, articles, and books have fostered the endless and,
often, passionate debate within the church, polarizing the so-called
liberals and conservatives around the world, but especially those in
the United States and Western Europe.2
If the Seventh-day Adventist Church has hesitated to make
a decision about the ordination of women to the ministries of deacon,
elder, and pastor, it is because it has neglected to see the issue as a
theological one that can only be understood against the twin
backdrop of Seventh-day Adventist hermeneutics and ecclesiology.
First, it is important to recognize that the word
"ordination" does not occur in the Bible with the same meaning it
has today.+ The contemporary Christian church generally expresses
the setting apart of a person for an ordained ministry—an
appointment or consecration—by the ritual laying on of hands
during a prayer of consecration. This ritual referred to in Heb. 6:2 is
listed among the fundamental teachings and practices of the
Christian faith, suggesting just how seriously it should be taken.
In more recent history, Adventist scholars who have dealt
with the subject have rarely considered the significance or meaning
of ordination apart from its application to women. What seems more
unfortunate is that attempts to solve the issue have been made from
marginal perspectives, such as the role of women in the Old
Testament, the New Testament, and the Graeco-Roman world. Some
have written on the ontological or functional equality of women and
on male headship. Others have broadened the focus by examining
the subject in relation to hermeneutics, sociology, or history, or by
*
The motion was to accept the report and recommendations of the Role of Women
Commission as recommended by the Annual Council. The motion passed 1,173 to 377.
+ There is no single word in Greek for "ordain." The English noun "ordination" does not
appear in the King James Version, although the verb "to ordain" is used to translate fewer
than a dozen different Greek words in the New Testament: Mark 3:14 (poiev); John 15:16
(tithemi); Acts 1:22 (ginomai); 10:41 (procheirotoneo); 13:48 (tasso); 14:23 (cheirotoneo); 16:4 (krino);
17:31 (horizo); Rom. 13:1 (tasso); 1 Cor. 2:7 (proorizo); 9:14 (diatasso); Gal. 3:19 (diatasso); 1 Tim.
2:7 (tithemi); Titus 1:5 (kathistemi); Heb. 5:1 (kathistemi); 8:3 (kathistemi); 9:6 (kataskemazo).
studying the ordination precedents set by other churches. But few

have set the ordination issue in its ecclesiological context where it
can best be understood.
There have been some efforts to address the topic of
ordination apart from the women's issue. In 1978, T. H. Blincoe was
the first to underscore the absence in the Seventh-day Adventist
Church of a clearly-defined theology of ordination.3 In the same
year, Raoul Dederen began to fill that void by placing the issue in the
context of ecclesiology.4 While Miroslav KiS continued to build on
some of Dederen's conclusions in 1988,5 by the next year, the
research source from which this chapter is taken addressed the
hermeneutical, ecclesiological, textual, and historical framework and
critical aspects of the ordination issue through more than 200
rhetorical questions. V. Norskov Olsen's recently published land
mark contribution to the discussion has carefully inquired into the
meaning of priesthood, ministry, and ordination. Largely from an
historical point of view (rather than a theological one), he con
vincingly unveils the myths and truths about ordination as they
relate to the ecclesiological and ministerial dimensions of the issue/
6 This chapter sets ordination in the larger theological context while
addressing the relationship of ordination to the role of women in the
ministry and leadership of the church.7
The Basic Nature and Function of the Church
The church is the body of men and women reconciled to
God and humanity in Jesus Christ (1 Cor. 12:12-26; Col. 2:9,10; Eph.
1:22-23). They have answered God's call and have accepted his gift
of reconciliation (2 Thess. 2:13-14; Eph. 1:18; 1 Pet. 2; 2 Tim 2:9-10; 1
Cor. 1:26; 2 Tim. 2:26; Acts 11:18; 5:31; Ps. 34:5-9; Rom. 2:4; 2 Cor. 5:9-
11). They have experienced repentance and confession (Acts 2:38),
exercised faith in Jesus Christ (Eph. 2:8-10), been baptized in Him
(Rom. 6:3-11; 1 Cor. 12:13), and received the gift of the Holy Spirit
(Acts 2:38; John 3:24; 4:13; 1 John 2:20, 27; Rom. 5:5; 1 Thess. 4:8).
They have died to the natural human life and risen in Christ to live
a new life according to the Spirit (Gal. 2:20; Col. 3:4; John 3:4-8).
Christians do not then belong to themselves anymore, but to Christ
who restores them in their personal and relational lives. More than
»
A brief discussion of C. Raymond Holmes' recently published book may be found in
the appendix that accompanies this chapter.
ninety metaphors in the New Testament (Cf. Minnear Images)

attempt to describe the assembly of believers in images that convey
either ontological or functional characteristics. The large number of
these images reveals the mystery that lies at the core of the concept
of church (Eph. 5:32-33).8
The Ekklesia as a Gathering Community
In the New Testament, the word translated "church" is
ekklesia.* The term must not be understood so much in its profane
Greek meaning—i.e., a political assembly—as in its use in the
Septuagint. The Septuagint translated the Hebrew qahal Yahweh' 9
as "to be called, invited together," in order to convey not only the
idea of assembly, but of a convocation. It is for this reason that Hans
Kiing defines the word ekklesia as referring to both the act of
gathering together and the gathered community itself.10
Thus the basic meaning of ekklesia does not refer to
something that is instituted once and for all, but to something that
exists only because it comes back again and again to the act of
coming together through divine calling. "L'Eglise, n'existe jamais
uniquement comme une institution statique, mais par l'evenement
sans cesse renouvele de la reunion concrete" ["The Church never
exists exclusively as a static institution, but as the unceasingly
renovating event of the actual, concrete gathering"].11
Interestingly, in the Old Testament, the qahal Yahweh first
appears concretely in the context of the Exodus with the shedding of
the blood of the Passover Lamb (Ex. 12:6; 2 Chron. 30:23) and in the
receiving of the manna (Lev. 16:3)—both strong Eucharistic motifs.
The day of the qahal, or assembly, is specifically related to the Lord's
speaking on Mount Horeb, revealing the ten words, and giving the
tables of the covenant. It is therefore not surprising to later see the
qahal Yahweh appear consistently together with the renewal of the
covenant (1 Kings. 8:14, 22, 55, 65; 1 Chron. 29:1,10, 20; 2 Chron. 6:
3,12-13; 28:14; 29:23,28,31-32; 30: 2,4 ,1 3 ,1 7 ,2 4 -2 5 ; Eze. 10:1,8,12;
Neh. 8:2,17; Joel 2:16). In the rest of the Old Testament, the term is
related most often to expiation (Lev. 4:13-14, 21), the day of
Ekklesia from "ek kaleo," to call out (cf. 1 Pet. 2:9).
1 Qahal—the called gathering—differs from eda in the Old Testament. The latter is
typically used for the juridical and cultic assemblies of Israel and is usually translated into
Greek as synagogue.
atonement (Lev. 16:3,17,33,47), praises and thanksgiving (Pss. 22:22,

25; 35:18; 107:31-32; 149:1) as well as with salvation (1 Sam. 17:47),
and preaching righteousness (Ps. 40:9).
This close relation between the New Testament ekklesia and
the Old Testament qahal Yahweh makes the basic components of the
gathered and gathering church more easily discemable. It is indeed
a liturgical gathering,12 the liturgical assembly of the children of God
who live and celebrate the sacraments/13 the believers who enter the
assembly through baptism (1 Cor. 12:13)—an Exodus liberation
motif—who celebrate together the Eucharist (1 Cor. 11:20, 33; Acts
2:42; Luke 22:20), and the renewal of the New Covenant. The
gathered church is this assembly praising God's salvation,
witnessing the day of atonement,14 listening to God's words, and
proclaiming righteousness.
The E kklesia as a "Scattered" Community
But the church is not only a gathering assembly, witnessing
and celebrating God's covenant with humanity. It is also a scattered
community. It obeys the mandate to go into all the world and make
disciples (Matt. 28:18-19), to be the salt (Matt. 5:13), the yeast of the
earth (Matt. 15:33), and the ambassadors (2 Cor. 5:20) or letters of
Christ (2 Cor. 3:2-3). But before going into the world as a scattered
community, the church always has to learn to die first and be
resurrected, as taught through the basic practices and metaphors of
the gathered community: the sacraments of baptism and the Lord's
communion.15 In celebrating the sacraments together, the church
learns fundamentally that it is only through cooperation with the
divine that one can proclaim the lordship of Christ.16
We can now come to some important conclusions. First of*
*
Many other images and concepts in the New Testament convey this essential nature of
the church: the body of Christ, God's building, the people of God, the fellowship of faith. But
among all these, the church as a bride is certainly one of the most pertinent metaphors for
presenting the liturgical dimensions of the assembly. In it, the church is described specifically
in the context of a wedding ceremony (Eph. 5:25-29; Matt. 9:15; 22:1-14; 25:1-13; John 3:29; Acts
19:7-9; 21:2-9; 22:17). We might miss the point of the metaphor by forgetting what this implied
in biblical times. First of all, it conveyed the idea of a large gathering (Matt. 25:1-37), but
secondly, the celebration of covenant rites (Prov. 2:17; Mai. 2:14; Hos. 2:18-20; Ezek. 16:8). In
Old Testament practices, this celebration might imply an oath (Ezek. 16:8,59; 17:13; Gen. 31:45-
48; Exod. 24:30c), a monument (Gen. 31:45-48; Exod. 24:4), a sacrifice (Gen. 15; Gen. 31:54; Jer.
34:18; Exod. 24:5), a meal (Gen. 26:30; 31:46, 54; Exod. 24:11; 2 Sam. 5:3; 2 Kings 23:3). The
church as bride is a powerful metaphor that describes a festive gathering with specific visible
covenant practices shared in a specific space and at a particular time.
all, as the New Testament church is fundamentally in line with the

Old Testament qahal Yahxveh, the former is not primarily related to
the temple, its priesthood, and its services, but to the assembly of the
children of Israel covenanting (or recovenanting) with God, a
concept reiterated by Isaiah through the image of the servant (41:8-
10; 61:1). A link with the Old Testament priesthood, temple, and
services is, however, kept through some concepts describing the
church as the Temple of God (1 Cor. 3:16-17; 2 Cor. 6:16; 1 Tim. 3:15),
and the royal priesthood (1 Pet. 2:5,9), and through some liturgical
terms that are very closely related to the priestly cultic practices. It
is important to note that these terms, though seldom used, are
describing not only the church at worship (Acts 13:2), but also the life
of its leaders and members in their ministry, be it charity or
missionary work (Rom. 15:16,27; 12:1; 2 Cor. 2:15; 9:12; Phil. 2:17,25,
30; Col. 1:28). These associations with the Old Testament sacerdotal
or priestly system are now applied both inside and outside the
church to describe daily and ethical conduct, thereby stressing that
the sacred and profane are henceforth merged and that all personal
and corporate Christian activities now have their origin and
orientation in God, and fulfill all the typological temple services and
offices. We can assume that the Old Testament sacerdotal allusions
which describe the New Testament church were a help to the first-
century Christians, especially those rooted in Judaism, as they
gradually entered into the radical new world of the Christian church.
In summary, the essence of the church alternates between
two forms: 1) the gathered community, in which Christians assemble
to witness God's salvation history, through refreshment in Word and
sacraments, performing the "work" of the people of God by reading,
preaching, praying, singing, baptizing, confessing faith, and
partaking in the Lord's communion table, and 2) the scattered
community, in which Christians mingle with society and engage in
Christian service, witness, preaching, and teaching. The scattered
and gathered forms of the church are helpful concepts in our
understanding of all aspects of ecclesiastical life in terms of mission
and worship.**
*
Interestingly, this unity between mission and worship reflects Jesus' ministry: John 6:57
("sent m e" and "eat m e"); Heb. 3:1 (Jesus is the apostle and High Priest). In some other
passages, Christ's work is exclusively described in terms of mission (John 12:49), and in others,
in terms of worship (cultic language in John 6:51 and Eph. 5:2).
In the exploration of the profound links between these two

communities lies the clue to bridge the gulf between the church
cultus (the church at worship) and the lives its members live in the
world,17 the pastoral and lay roles, the ordained and unordained
ministries.
Basic Nature and Function of the Ministry:
Modeling Jesus' Ministry
There is no mention of a Christian priesthood that would
be the authorized depository of the gospel commission either during
the lifetime of Jesus or in the New Testament church. From the New
Testament perspective, every believer is a follower of Christ and
models his ministry (Matt. 10:24-39; 16:24-25; 20:17-28; Mark 8:34-38),
one that far transcends the functions of rabbis and priests.
Interestingly, although Jesus' ministry is rarely labeled in the New
Testament, it is referred to in terms of Jesus being an "Apostle" and
an "High Priest. . . after the order of Melchizedek" (Heb. 3:1).
The primary Old Testament image through which New
Testament writers understand Jesus' ministry is that of the suffering
servant of Isaiah.* Even when He is depicted in his more
"traditional" roles, it is always from a radically new perspective. For
example, when Jesus is described as a priest, his priesthood follows
a different model from that of the Levitical priests. Consequently, his
once-for-all sacrifice abolished any continuation of the priesthood or
cult of the Levitical model (Heb. 7-10). Even as a rabbi, Jesus is not
depicted as a traditional one, bound by rabbinic legal interpretations,
but one who taught with authority (Matt. 7:29) about God's reign
and the supremacy of love over legalistic requirements. Thus, Jesus
not only united and transcended all the great ministerial Jewish
traditions18 of judge, priest, king, prophet, and rabbi; he also broke
with all the contemporary misconceptions about his Messiahship
through the unprecedented model of the Isaiahic servant.
*
This is especially evident in the gospels of Mark and Matthew. In Matthew, Jesus
personifies Israel, the suffering Israel delivered from slavery and exile (cf. Exodus and exile
motifs in Isa. 2). Jesus will also incarnate Israel's sonship and thus the Suffering Servant (Matt.
3:15; 17:1-13; Isa. 11:2; 42:1; 6:1; Ps. 2:7; Isa. 53). Jesus, through the Son of Man motif (Matt.
17:12) is the Lord's Servant (Ezek. 34:23), always related to suffering (Matt. 10:23; 16:21-28;
17:22-23; 20:18-19,28) or to a suffering precursor (John the Baptist). In Mark, Jesus incarnates
the Isaiahic Servant, principally through the blending of the Ezekiel and Daniel suffering Son
of Man motif (Mark 8:27-31; 9:12-13,30-37; 10:33-45; Isa. 4 2 ,4 9 ,5 0 ,5 3 , 61).
Because Jesus calls men and women to follow Him, in the

New Testament each follower is "called" (kletos), one who by
modeling Jesus' ministry becomes a member of the chosen race and
royal priesthood of service within the new "idealized" Israel.* The
believers are to live and serve as the servant Jesus did, meeting the
deepest needs of the people—healing their brokenness, satisfying
their hunger and thirst for God, and restoring them to wholeness.
The church as the incarnation of the Isaiahic idealized servant is
modeled not on male leadership, a Levitical system, a kingly
hierarchy or rabbinic caste, but on the servanthood of the Messiah.
The Royal Priesthood
As Steveny (10-12) has pointed out, the priesthood* of all
believers is first a collective concept. Because it applies without
distinction to all the members of God's new people, it stresses the
continuity between the old and new people of Israel. But the
collective concept of priesthood does not negate, as Steveny sees it,
an individual application, since the servant motif of Isaiah (41:1-53;
12; 61:1-2) also evolves from collective to individual. It is therefore
not going beyond the biblical text to apply the collective notion of
priesthood to the individual. Indeed, this is how we can speak of the
"priesthood of all believers" at all. This royal and priestly imprint on
each individual can even be verified in the New Testament
symbolism of baptism which includes at least one Old Testament
image used in the setting apart of kings and priests: the oil unction
(Exod. 30:30; Lev. 8:1-12, 30; 10:7; 21:10-12); 1 Sam. 9:16; 10:1;
16:13)—a symbol of the gift of the Holy Spirit given to all believers
(1 John 2:20,26-27; 2 Cor. 1:21-22; Acts 2:38; Rom. 5:5). The Christian
life lived as a royal priest or king implies that everyone 1) has direct
access to God, since there is no mediator between God and the
believer (Heb. 4:16; 10:19-22); 2) has to wear a special garment—the
white robe of the Day of Atonement (Matt. 22:1-14; Luke 24:49; 2 Cor.
5:2-5; Eph. 4:24), that is, Christ's righteousness and his gift of the
#
1 Pet. 2:9 and Acts 1:6 draw on the idealized priesthood in the Old Testament (Exod.
19:6; Mic. 6:6-8; Pss. 40:6; 50:14; 60:17; 132;16; Isa. 61:6).
* 1 Pet. 2:9 is the only case where the New Testament uses hierateuma. For all the other
ministries within the church, the words used are of secular origin (apostolos, idaskalos,
evangelistes, episocos, diakonos, presbuteros).
Spirit; 3) has to offer sacrifices to God—spiritual sacrifices of love,

prayers, praises, justice, and thanksgiving (Rom. 12:1; Heb. 13:15;
Rev. 7:15); 4) has a function of mediation and reconciliation to offer
to the world or to exercise in the church (2 Cor. 5:18-20; 1 Pet. 4:10-11;
Eph. 6:20; 1 Cor. 12:7-11; Eph. 4:4-12; Rom. 12: 7-8); 5) has access to
"reign" with Christ (Rev. 5:10; 2 Tim. 2:12); and 6) to be a
"descendant" of David, an heir by adoption into the Messianic
family. As such, the believer is invited to model the suffering servant
Messiah (Ps. 2:6-7; Matt. 17:5,12; 10:24-25; 20:17-28; Rom. 4:6; 8:15;
Eph. 1:5).
In summary, we can say that the concept of royal
priesthood underscores primarily the relationship between the Old
Israel led by priests and kings, and the New Israel or the church. The
combination of the priestly and kingly ministries defines the
collective nature of the church while also permitting the transcen
dence of these very ministries in the figure of the servant Messiah.
Additionally, the corporate and individual dimensions of the Isaiahic
servant allow us to apply the royal priesthood not only to the
corporate nature of God's people, but also to each of its members in
order for them to fulfill the divine mission.
The Charismatic Ministries
In the New Testament, diakonia and the spiritual gifts of the
Holy Spirit (charismata)' are two correlative notions. Diakoneo and its
derivatives were "secular terms" with no precedent in the
Septuagint. The New Testament writers generally preferred the term
diakonia to leitourgidf 19 or latreia to render the concept of ministry in
and outside the church, since the latter terms had too many cultic
connotations of hierarchical privilege. As the etymology of diakoneo
suggests, the term referred mainly to personal help to others. Its
primary meaning in secular Greek was to wait on tables and was
used only later in reference to cultic meals.20 This primary meaning
can also be found in the New Testament (Matt. 8:15; Mark 1:31; Luke*
*
"Spiritual gifts," "charismatic gifts" or "ministries," and "charismata" are terms that
will be used without differentiation to refer to the ministries given by the Holy Spirit as they
are listed in 1 Cor. 12:8-10,28; Rom. 12:7-8; Eph. 4:11.
+ In the Septuagint, the word denoted the service of the priests and Levites in the
tabernacle and in the temple (Num. 8:22,25; 18:41; 2 Chron. 8:14). In a non-biblical setting the
word covered all kinds of compulsory services, official tasks, and service to the deity.
4:39; 10:40; John 12:2; Luke 17:8; Acts 6:2). It can also mean "caring
of" (Matt. 27:55; Mark 15:41; Luke 8:3; Matt. 4:11; 25:44; 2 Tim. 1:18;
Heb. 6:10; 1 Pet. 4:10), to express Jesus' humiliation and giving up of
himself for others through suffering and death (Matt. 20:28; Mark
10:45; Luke 18:26),* and to proclaim the gospel (2 Cor. 3:3; 1 Pet. 1:12;
Rom. 11:13; 2 Cor. 4:1; cf. 2 Tim. 4:5). In relation to these meanings,
diakoneo can also describe the voluntary self-humiliation of the
disciples (Luke 22:26) and their following of Christ (John 12:26).
The point to grasp in the use of the term is that the activity
of serving stands in contrast to ruling. It also stresses that faithful
service presupposes humility in those who serve (Matt. 20:26; 23:11).
The persons serving are in a position of dependence, and thus their
freedom is limited.
The fellowship of the common meal which involved serving
at table (Acts 6:1) remains basic to an understanding of diakonia in the
New Testament. This service in which strength and possessions were
used for others and not for self can be seen as the principal element
of fellowship in the apostolic church (2 Cor. 9:13; cf. Acts 5:4; 2 Cor.
9:7). "Service" or ministry was not only shared within the church, but
also extended from the local church to others in need of help (Acts
11:29; 12:25; 2 Cor. 8:3ff; 9:1-5). Thus unity within the church and
between the churches was not fundamentally maintained through
administrative structures or policies, but through diakonia. This
spiritual and physical diakonia of giving and receiving acknowledged
the sacrifice of Christ (2 Cor. 8:9; 9:12-15) and responded to his
command to follow the suffering servant. It involved body and life
(2 Cor. 8:5), as well as money and possessions, and it was the means
for edifying the whole body of Christ (Eph. 4:12). This explains why
Paul calls the charismatic gifts diakoniai (1 Cor. 12:5), or services.
The charismata, then, are intrinsically related to the diakonia
in that the former is grounded in the latter. The charismata exist only
where there is a conscious and responsible diakonia that edifies the
whole community (1 Cor. 12:7). Consequently, the diversity of the
spiritual gifts in the church is unlimited and as diverse as each*
*
Paul expands the concept of diakonia by understanding the whole of salvation as God's
diakonia in Christ on behalf of humanity and expressed through the diakonia of the disciples.
There was already a divine diakonia in the Old Testament (2 Cor. 3:8ff), and now this service
has been entrusted to Christ's apostle (i.e., Paul) who, as Christ's ambassador, proclaims
reconciliation (2 Cor. 5:12). For this reason, diakonia can also be used as a technical term for the
work of proclaiming the Gospel and channeling reconciliation.
diakonia exercised by each believer. Secondly, the charismata are not

only grounded in, but also fulfilled in diakonia, as each spiritual gift
is fulfilled in service (1 Pet. 4:10). The whole church itself becomes a
body of and for service in both the gathered and scattered
communities (Eph. 4:1-16).
The Charismata Lists
In four different passages, Paul lists the charismatic
ministries exercised in the early church.* For the apostle, the gifts of
the Holy Spirit and the diversity of ministries in the church are
comparable to many members of one body all working together. No
one gift of ministry is sufficient by itself. What is important is that all
be present, working together for the building up of the Christian
community in faith and love.
As we consider the four lists of charismata, it is important to
emphasize that some appear to be virtues given by God and used
from time to time to serve others (wisdom, knowledge, discernment,
exhorting); others are community functions, permanently and
regularly needed (apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, teachers).
For the first category, the name of the gift is given; for the second, the
persons are designated. In the latter category it seems that the list is
not arbitrary, but connected with a certain continuity and with
certain persons (first, the apostles; second, the prophets; third, the
teachers [1 Cor. 12:28]).
By so doing, Paul most probably wants to underscore "the
primacy of the apostles," since they are at the foundation of the
charismatic structure of the church (particularly important for the
Corinthians to know, since they had erroneously given precedence
to "tongues" and "interpretations"). Later, we will deal with the
meaning of the ordering and Paul's reasons for making the
The biblical lists are as follows:

1 Cor. 12:8-10 1 Cor. 12:28 Rom. 12:7-8 Eph. 4:11
wisdom apostles prophesying apostles
knowledge prophets serving prophets
faith teachers teaching evangelists
gift of healing miracles exhorting pastors
miracles gift of healing contributing (shepherds)
prophecy helpers leadership teachers
discernment administrative showing mercy
tongues tongues
interpretation interpretation
"apostles" the basis (and not the "top") of the church charismata. For
the moment, we may safely conclude that the nature of church
through ministry is essentially diaconal and not hierarchical.
Nature and Function of the Leadership:
The Diaconal/Apostolic Model
Since the charismata are grounded in the diakonia, no
charismatic ministry will ever express itself through a leadership
caste exercising any authority or power. Each spiritual gift may carry
a certain authority of competence, but it will always model the
servant and, thereby, be dependent on divine empowerment. No
ministry can bear connotations of sovereignty, rank, dignity, or
power. However, in one list of charismata, some ministries seem
subordinate to the apostles, the prophets, the teachers, since Paul
ranked them as first, second, and third (1 Cor. 12:28).
In this particular ordering, Paul seems to suggest that all
ministries are "subordinate to," meaning "grounded on," the
apostles' ministry. Paul is not here establishing a hierarchy within
the church, even a functional one, but rather he is setting the tone of
diakonia for all the other ministries of the church. As the first to be
sent forth by the suffering servant and as the first human models of
Jesus' ministry, the apostles set definite precedents for all human
ministry from that time on. The question now arises about
apostleship and how it relates to leadership in the church.
The Primacy of Apostles over Prophets
Jesus' first twelve disciples were named "apostles" (Matt.
10:2; Mark 6:7; Luke 6:13; 9:2) which means "sent forth." In Mark's
and Matthew's reports of Jesus' commission to all the world/ they
were indeed the first ones obeying Jesus' order to go. Interestingly,
Christ did not call his disciples "prophets," even though they were
commissioned to ministry.
For Weatherspoon,21 Jesus preferred the term "apostles" to
"prophets" because the latter was too heavily charged with religious
meanings found in Jewish literature and in the pagan world. The
term "apostle" had at least two advantages: 1) It modeled Jesus, the*
*
Mark 10:15; 28:19-20. Interestingly, the reformed tradition of the church has always
understood this commissioning as addressed to all Christians and not just to the eleven
disciples.
one "sent" par excellence (John 1:11; 3:17,34; 4:34; 5:37-38; 6:29; 7:16-
18, 28-29, 33, etc.), and 2) the term was free to be filled with the
fullness of truth, equality, universality, and complexity of purpose
into which the Spirit would lead both men and women. The Gospels
suggest in various ways that Jesus, during his lifetime, already
shared his apostolic vocation with some of his followers other than
the twelve. Participation in Jesus' apostolate was not limited to
twelve men, either during or after his life on earth.
Certainly, the twelve disciples played a special role. They
symbolically represented salvation sent forth to all Israel. According
to the Judaic tradition, Israel was legally constituted by its twelve
tribal male members. This explains why the twelve disciples had to
be Jewish men and why the twelfth apostle had to be a Matthias and
not a Mary Magdalene. This choice has to do with theological
symbolism and not with "functional" male authoritative ministries
within the church (cf. Tetlow 61-62).22 After the church had
expanded far beyond Judaism, such symbolism had increasingly less
importance. Nor does the New Testament indicate any handing
down of the symbolic roles of the twelve to the diakonos, presbyteros,
or episcopos who emerged as leaders of local churches in the first
century. Therefore, no role or ministry in the church was limited
anymore to Jewish males.
There is also no evidence that other offices or ministries in
the time of Jesus and the earliest decades of the church were limited
to men. In fact, women appear to have been quite extensively
involved, despite the strong cultural barriers of that time.23 The
greeting list of Romans 16 suggests quite an egalitarian perspective
of the early church: Among 36 names, 16 are women and 18 are men.
The New Testament speaks about women prophets (Acts 2:17; 21:9),
coworkers (Rom. 16:6,12; Phil. 4:2-3), house-church founders (1 Cor.
16:19; Rom. 16:7), a woman diakonos (Rom. 16:1)/ in addition to the
many women, such as Lydia, who certainly played important
diaconal leadership roles in the house churches (Acts 2:46; 20:7; 5:42;
17:4, 12; 16:14; Phil. 2; Col. 4:15; 1 Cor. 16:19; Rom. 16:3-5;1 Cor.
1:11).24 In this way, the symbolic authority of the twelve disappeared
altogether in the church after their death, and, we could even say, as
early as after Pentecost. After that event, the twelve original
»
The term here is masculine, even in describing a woman's role, as if to underscore that
it was not different from the man's.
members were not, and theologically could not be, replaced, since
salvation had been "sent" to all Israel and had now expanded
beyond the twelve tribes into the Gentile world. Although the
concept of the "apostle" seems to have persisted, it now was freed
from any ethnic or gender dimensions. As Schneiders25 points out,
this expanded concept of apostleship was already contained in the
Gospels where we are told of many people participating in
apostleship through being sent out to preach by word and work,
even before Jesus' death. We also find that the Lord validated the
ministry of many more than the original twelve in various direct and
indirect ways. For example he tacitly sent the Samaritan woman to
announce him to her townspeople, and he brings her preaching to a
successful conclusion (John 4:4-42).
C. K. Barrett26 has shown in his research that the
postresurrection picture of apostleship is extremely complex. In
general, we need to recognize that Paul's hotly contested claim to
apostleship (Gal. 1:16-20) was based on three theological criteria*27
and not on personal-historical qualifications or institutional
approval:
First, he was chosen and appointed by the glorified Christ

who appeared to him on the road to Damascus (Gal. 1:11-12).
Second, he had assimilated the mystery he preached by
participating in the suffering and dying of Jesus (2 Cor. 1:3-5;
Phil. 3:8-11) in such a way that he can validly exhort his hearers
to be imitators of him as he is of Christ (1 Cor. 11:1). Third, his
preaching is effective, both positively in evoking faith in those
whom he converts and negatively in exposing the evil of those
who resist the Word (see 1 Cor. 1:18; 9:2; 2 Cor. 2:14-17; 3:1-3).
Apostleship is not validated by office, eloquence, intellectual
sophistication, or recommendation by others (see 1 Cor. 1:10-2:5).
It is validated intrinsically by its source in divine vocation, its
realistic rootedness in the paschal experience of the apostle, and
its effectiveness as Word of God.28
In other words, apostleship can be defined as 1) a call received by
In his Gospel, John also favors these theological criteria for apostleship, even though the
term is avoided and rendered in a more generic and symbolic one, i.e., "the beloved disciple"
(most likely John) who represents the disciple who has seen and heard and borne witness to
what he knows to be true (John 19:35; 21:20-24), thereby establishing an authentic tradition
about Jesus and the meaning of Christian discipleship as a response to the indwelling Word.
Christ to preach the good news, 2) participation in Jesus' crucifixion

and resurrection through a life of service and suffering, and 3)
reception of the charismatic effectiveness in evoking faith through
the Word.
With this broader definition of apostleship, we can now
discern some points of likeness between the apostles and the Old
Testament prophets in terms of character and mission. Both were
persons of God, called and sent by God, speaking for him, and
proclaiming his revealed Word under the guidance of the Holy
Spirit. However, prophets differ from the theological concept of
apostleship in the sense that they come under the phenomenon of
revelation/inspiration/ a specific gift of the Spirit. When we consider
some apostles, such as John, Peter, and Paul, it is undeniable that
they received the gift of prophecy in addition to their apostleship.
However, the prophetic gift is not tied to the lives of the apostles;
neither is it a prerequisite to their vocation. This is very clear in the
case of Barnabas (Acts 14:14), Andronicus, and Junia (Rom. 16:7)/29
who experienced a "sent ministry," but with no prophetic gift
recorded. It is important to note that in the new era of the Spirit, the
prophetic gift lost not its place, but its pre-eminence. Jesus did
indeed prophesy when saying that the least in the kingdom of
heaven would be greater than John the Baptist, the greatest of all
prophets (Matt. 11:11). Paul also stressed the same idea in the order
of functions in the Christian body (1 Cor 12:18; Eph. 4:11) and by
constantly insisting on presenting himself on the basis of his
apostolic commission and not on his prophetic gift or visions (Rom.
1:1; 1 Cor. 1:1; Gal. 1:1). The surprising precedence of apostleship
over prophecy in the New Testament is rooted in the fact that
absolute revelation had taken place in Jesus Christ and that all new
»
Revelation is to be understood here as the divine act by which God enables the prophets
to come to the understanding of someone, something, or some event—past, present, or
future— that they would not have discovered on their own (Dan. 2:47; Amos 3:7; Deut. 29:29;
1 Sam. 3:21). Inspiration is another divine act whereby God enables the prophets to grasp and
communicate that which has been revealed in a trustworthy manner (2 Tim 3:16-17; 2 Pet. 1:19;
1 Pet 1:1-12).
There are no women clearly called apostles in the New Testament, but the Gospels do
clearly show that women met all the criteria established by the early church to determine who
should be officially considered an apostle. Note the exception of the problematic case of
Junias/Junia in Rom. 16:7. If we agree with the commentators who up to the thirteenth century
understood Junia to be the name of a woman, we may have a woman apostle here.
revelation could only look back at the Christ event as intrinsically

and correlatively related also to his second coming.30
By way of synthesis, we can say that apostleship, going
beyond all the known ministries of the Old Testament, is modeled on
Christ's sacrificial life of service and sufferings and gifted with
charismatic effectiveness. Because apostleship is based on the fact
that the ministry to live and the message to preach have already been
revealed in and lived by Christ, the compulsion to share orally and
personally in apostleship is rooted not in human beings, but in
divine will revealed in salvation history through the cross and
through the gift of the Spirit. While apostleship is a unique
witnessing ministry in line with the Old Testament prophetic
tradition, it transcends that tradition by leaving Christ free, as it
were, to send whom He chooses (John 15:16,19). By placing the
apostles first, Paul unfolds the basic nature of any ecclesiastical
leadership in terms of a "sent" ministry of service, specifically
guided by the Lord Himself through his Spirit. By the same token,
any leadership is thereby Christ-centered, diaconal, charismatic, and
in no way tied to any sex, race, social class, status, or rank.
The Administrative/Office Model
We have seen that the spiritual gifts are functions or
spheres of ministry belonging to a fundamental diakonal/apostolic
model that serves as the basis for all church leadership. The question
remains whether or not there is any biblical teaching that would
suggest replacing the service model with a purely administrative
one.
Generally speaking, the administrative/office model has
been recognized and implemented throughout the centuries in
Christian churches. The three officially recognized ministries have
been the episcopate, the presbyterate, and the diaconate.31 In the
Protestant evangelical tradition, these ministries are commonly the
pastorate, the presbyterate, and the diaconate. This tripartite order,
generally closely related to ordination, has been set in a framework
of hierarchy that is the assumed backdrop for any ecclesiastical
administrative/office model for leadership. As we will see, this
practice has little biblical or historical justification.
Tidball is correct in pointing out that it is easy to
overestimate the degree to which the church had become
institutionalized at the time of the writing of the New Testament
documents.32 It is true that the church gradually underwent the
natural process of social institutionalization in the five stages Moberg

has aptly delineated.* However, there is no agreement on the stage
of social institutionalization the church had reached during the
period reflected by the New Testament writings. A more precise
knowledge of the phenomenon of socialization could help us better
understand and determine the adminstrative/office model of the
New Testament church and, therefore, reveal the biblical principles
and guidelines for any "official-inspired" leadership. In the absence
of such a study, a brief historical and biblical review of the issue is in
order.
The Historical Perspective
Ignatius of Antioch (A.D. 110) is the first Christian to speak
coherently about a hierarchy of three orders within the church.33 But
interestingly, two more or less contemporary writers, Justin Martyr
(A.D. 100-165) and Clement of Alexandria (A.D. 155-220), do not
perceive such a hierarchy developing: Justin Martyr does not speak
about the presbyters in the order of "authority," nor does Clement
elevate the bishop above the clergy.34 This would suggest that a
uniform development of orders or hierarchy had not yet taken place
even this late in the church's history. Therefore, we cannot justify the
existence of a definite pattern of leadership or an administrative/
office model from early Christian historical documents. As Kxing
expresses it, this tripartite distribution is neither the primitive
hierarchy nor the primitive repartition of leadership position within
the church, but the result of a very complex historical evolution.35
We do well to remember that outside the natural and
internal laws of institutionalization, three historical factors decisively
influenced the establishment and subsequent preponderance of an
Administrative/office model: 1) the massive arrival of Gentiles, who
brought with them hierarchical-sacerdotal ideas; 2) the legal-
hierarchical Roman environment; and 3) the writings of Cyprian
(A.D. 258).t36 Through these influences, the diaconal/apostolic
*
The five stages of organizational development are: 1) incipient, 2) formal, 3) "maximum
efficiency," 4) institutional, 5) overinstitutional and disintegration. Each stage is characterized
by a certain type of structure, leadership style, and certain group characteristics.
+ "Cyprian's view may be summed up in one sentence—he conceived that bishops were
a special priesthood and had a special sacrifice to offer. So the High Priest class gave place to
a High Priest race, and the spiritual sacrifices gave way to an actual sacrifice offered to God
in the Eucharist. . . . This transition cannot be regarded as a slight deviation in the church's
teaching of priesthood. It is rather the antithesis of the interpretation which was prevalent in
model for ministry and leadership were nearly lost, giving way to
male-dominated, authoritative, and hierarchical leadership ministries
that reinforced the administrative/office model.
Within that model, some fundamental Christian truths were
altered. Rapidly the meaning of both the spiritual gifts and the
priesthood of all believers was lost. This transition is one of the
important landmarks in the history of the church, nearly confining
it for more than sixteen centuries to a one-sided experience within a
male sacerdotal and hierarchically oriented religion. However,
despite this trend, some theologians, and writers such as John
Chrysostom, St. Augustine, Gregory the Great, Hildebrand,
Massiglio of Padua, and John Wycliffe, as well as the monastic
movement, continually advocated a different church structure,
organization, and leadership pattern.
The Biblical Perspective
We agree with Kiing that precision in the reciprocal
boundaries between the episcopate, the presbyterate, and the
diaconate is not so easily extracted from biblical writings.37 From a
dogmatic and theological point of view, it is, in fact, impossible. The
first obstacle is the fact that the New Testament makes no serious
difference between spiritual gifts and ecclesiastical "offices." The
diaconal/apostolic model seems to have always coexisted with the
administrative/office one, as if the latter could only be the concrete
application of the first, according to the time, situations, and degree
of social institutionalization of a particular church. The only way to
keep the two discreetly apart is to read more than is warranted into
the pastoral Pauline epistles regarding the nature of ordination.38
Even at the end of Paul's ministry in the pastoral epistles (1 and 2
Timothy and Titus), as he is passing the torch to the next generation
of leaders, there remains a close correspondence between the
qualifications of leaders (1 Tim. 3:1-13; Titus 1:5-9) and the spiritual
gifts listed by Paul (Rom. 12:3-8; Eph. 4:11). The apostle seems to
work on a fundamental assumption that those who exercise what can
appear as an official or institutionalized ministry possess the
corresponding charismata.
Given the fact that the charismata are expressed as virtues
the first two centuries. Certain factors in the religious and political situations at that time made
the transition relatively easy"
and community functions, we might safely assume that any kind of

church structure of an administrative type would be based on
community functions. However, if this is die case, one is faced with
many questions: 1) Why does 1 Cor. 12:28 suggest a different
tripartite order? 2) If the function of apostles is understood in light
of their diaconal role, should not the leadership functions be based
on a different model, particularly if we look at the distribution of
gifts in Eph. 4:11? 3) Must the prophets be a permanent function of
church leadership? 4) Where are we to place the function of
diaconate which is not mentioned but traditionally accepted as an
institutionalized church office? 5) Where are we to situate the elders
or episkopos? Are they related to the pastor/teacher charismatic gifts?
To these questions, I will offer, rather than answers, some
general remarks. Firstly, the different expositions of functions in the
four lists of charismata give evidence that there was no unique and
intended "revealed" pattern of leadership. Whatever gift might have
once appeared to have served the cause of God in leadership was
expandable and subject to change.39 Leadership appeared first as a
separate charismatic gift (virtue) and, as such, not necessarily
connected with the three traditional offices. In fact, three of the most
highly and traditionally recognized positions of leadership within
the church—the episcopate, pastorate, and presbyterate—were
actually one and the same charismatic function in the early church.
The function of a pastor (or elder) cannot be exercised apart from its
corresponding charismata and diakonia.
Charismatic ministries always endorsed plural leadership
(cf. Titus 1:5) and thus reacted strongly against any one-person
ministry or any set once-for-all administrative/office model. As
Kiing points out, to gather into one the ministries of the apostle, the
prophet, the evangelist, the pastor, and the teacher is an absolutism
of non-Pauline inspiration.40 Leadership appeared, therefore, as a
network of relationships never located in a few individuals, but in a
diversity of functions aroused by the Spirit and controlled by the
body of the church. In this context, preponderance must be given to
the diaconal/apostolic model, because only in such a model can the
Spirit move and act freely.
We have already seen that nothing from the Pauline
charismatic lists really allows us to single out the three traditional
offices. That being as it may, if any of the listed gifts can be singled
out, it would be the diaconate, given its direct "institutionalization"
in Acts 6. It is worth noting that the seven men of this chapter are not
entitled as deacons to a closed office, but to a publicly elected office
directed at service. A serious study of the term diakonos in the New
Testament demonstrates that the word cannot be narrowed down to
an ecclesiastical office. It has a much deeper and larger meaning
directly related to God's diakonia, serving in the world (2 Cor. 3:6)
through Jesus (Rom 15:8)—the diakonos par excellence—whom both
male (Eph. 3:7; Col. 4:7) and female* have to model, as well as the
apostles (Matt. 20:26; 23:13; Mark 9:35; 10:43; John 12:26), the
"unrecognized" apostles (Col. 1:25), the pastors-elders-episkopos (1
Thess. 3:2; 1 Tim. 3:8,12), and the evangelists (1 Cor. 3:5).
Thus, the diaconate is not an office per se, but rather a
fundamental virtue required for certain functions, or more precisely,
the essential virtue of discipleship and leadership. Even if we view
the diaconate as an office or institutionalized ministry, it is then an
office that allows one person to change functions, as in the case of
Phillip (Acts 8:26-40), when suddenly he no longer serves at the
tables but becomes an active evangelist.
It is true that the recommendation to the deacons and elders
in the New Testament (Acts 20:17-36; 1 lim . 3:1-8; Titus 1:5-9; 1 Pet.
5:1-4) tends to attribute a certain "authority" to institutionalized
ministries of leadership. However, there is a danger of reading too
much into these texts, loaded down as we are with almost two
thousand years of closed ecclesiastical patterns of leadership.
Secondly, we cannot justify a tripartite distribution of leadership
simply because of unanalyzed historical necessities. Thirdly, even if
we hold to a traditional tripartite "inspired" distribution, we must
examine the Bible to see if the nature of biblical leadership excludes
women from these ministries. Generally, in the traditional
understanding of the diaconate, the Seventh-day Adventist Church
has had no problem in accepting women into this office, although,
up until just recently, they have been deprived of the ordination
Rom. 16:1; after Jesus' general instructions in the Gospel (Matt. 20:26; 23:13; Mark 9:35;
10:43; John 12:26). The first time the term appears in connection with a person, that person is
Jesus (Rom. 15:8, Christ has become a servant of the Jews, referring to circumcision); the
second time, with Phoebe (Rom. 16:1, servant of the church in Cenchrea of the Gentiles); the
third time, with Paul and Apollos, "servants through whom you believed." It is interesting
that Phoebe, a woman, is placed in direct parallel to the ministry of Jesus to the Jews. Is there
any consistency or theological significance in the same term being sometimes translated
"servant" or "deaconess" in Phoebe's case and "ministers" for Paul and Apollos?
accorded their male counterparts.*41 All of which leads to the

question of whether or not there is any special "authority" that might
exclude women from these ministries.
The Question of Authority/Hierarchy and
Leadership
The inevitable issue related to leadership is "authority,"
and it is certainly one of the most contested questions in die
discussion surrounding the ordination of women. There are those
who consider that women are not to hold ecclesiastical leadership
positions or be ordained/ due to the "authority" connected to such
leadership.
As we survey the New Testament writings for concepts of
authority, hierarchy, and leadership, we find that, for example, the
book of Matthew may appear to speak of an ecclesiastical hierarchy
and of special leadership authority. However, most scholars agree
that it is wrong to see Matt. 16:16-19 as establishing the authority of
Peter or any of his successors. Peter is seen as a representative
disciple for the whole community. "He stands as the representative
of all who are open to God's revelation and who confess Jesus as the
Christ."42 Matthew constantly underscores true leadership as
following the pattern and spirit of Christ by engaging in the path of
self-humiliation and service. True leadership does not care for status,
*
The recent amendments were voted into the Church Manual at the Seventh-day
Adventist General Conference session in July 1990. This decision was a long time in coming,
since the 1975 Annual Council had voted to accept the ordination of deaconesses. From 1975
to 1985, many requests were made to give this item further attention in the Church Manual.
At New Orleans on July 4,1985, during the fifty-fourth General Conference Session, a revision
of the Church Manual on this issue was already proposed, but did not pass because of Mrs.
Hedwig Jemison's opposition: "Since we have no Bible model for ordaining deaconesses, I
would like to move that to preserve harmony among church women, we return to the plan in
the Church Manual that has served the church so well for over 100 years." The motion was
referred back to an appropriate committee for further study, but this action did not nullify the
decision of the 1975 Annual Council that granted permission to ordain deaconesses to the
churches who wished to do so.
+ Such is the position defended by Georges St£veny, Gerhard Hasel, and Samuele
Bacchiocchi, among others. We must underscore, as St£veny has already pointed out, how
illogical and unbiblical the position is that wants to withhold ordination from women pastors,
but accept their ordination as elders. It is, however, this non sequitur that was accepted at the
fifty-fifth General Conference session at Indianapolis on July 12,1990. As we have seen, elder
and pastor refer to the same single function within the church.
but for the most insignificant members of the flock (Matt. 10:24-25;
18:2-9; 20:25-28; 23:7-12). Hdball rightly points out how one must
understand Matt. 18:15-20 within its context (18:10-13, 21-35).
"[W]hatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven" (v. 18) is
not to be viewed so much in terms of church discipline as in terms of
relationships. These texts offer guidelines for reconciling, not
disciplining, a brother or sister.43
In this regard, we do well to note that in the Gospel of
Mark, the only "authority" given to a person is that over the evil
spirits, a power given to the twelve disciples by Jesus. Interestingly,
in the Gospel of Luke, this same authority is also given later to the
seventy disciples, a symbolic number including all of Jesus' future
disciples, male and female alike (Mark 6:7; Luke 9:1;10:17-19).
In Luke's writing, very little is said about church
organization and authority. There is no reference to an implied
church government: Judas is replaced by lot (Acts 2); the deacons are
chosen by the people (Acts 6); Barnabas is delegated by the Jerusalem
church (Acts. 11); Paul and Barnabas are singled out by the prophets
and the teachers through prayer and fasting (Acts 13); elders are
chosen by an election’ 44 organized by Paul and Barnabas (Acts 14).
James presides over the church at Jerusalem in conformity with
Jewish tradition as the older brother of the Lord. The council in
Jerusalem does not come with authoritative decisions on the
discussed issue of circumcision, but on preserving relationships.
Interestingly, the council did not decide by referring the issue to
biblical exegesis or a "thus saith the Lord," but to the leading of the
Spirit. In the book of Acts, the church appears more as a free,
spontaneous body, "consisting of personal relationships rather than
highly organized structures, living and adapting as God moves them
into new territory and situations.45 Each charismata given by the
Spirit responds to the believers needs in dealing with situations that
4
It is not my task here to study procheirotoneo, but I cannot help bringing up an interesting
idea. If we keep in mind the original meaning of "appointment by stretching hands," the verb
suggests an appointment before any "hand stretching," before an election, and thereby points
to an authoritative act within which no democratic referendum is called. In Acts 10:39-41 Peter
expresses to Cornelius that God had chosen by his authoritative will the witnesses of the
resurrection of Christ. No human or heavenly beings were involved in these appointments.
Therefore, the choice of Mary as the first witness—apostle of the resurrection—was as
"authoritative" as Peter and John's apostleship or as that of those "who ate and drank with
him," among whom were all the women followers of Christ (Luke 24:33; 23:49; 8:2-3).
then shape the different church administrative structures.

Paul's discourse to the elders of Ephesus (Acts 20:17-36)
gives us some insights into the "inspired" inner dynamic of
leadership. Leaders should imitate the ministry of Jesus by adopting
his servant attitude, and be people-oriented persons. Their lives
should be able to withstand close scrutiny, and they should be
individuals capable of sharing the authority of God's revelation. The
only authority a leader has is that which comes from God and the
Holy Spirit.
This concept is developed in the Johannine writing where
authority is related to possessing Jesus' commission and the gift of
the Holy Spirit (John 20:21-23). If we accept the Gospel of John as
being the latest writing of the New Testament, we will find that this
Gospel, written for the second and third generations of Christians,
places no emphasis on authority or any structure of Christian
leadership. The only point made is that leaders are shepherds like
Jesus and not superstars. They must witness to Christ and live his
self-sacrificing life. There is no ministry (and, thereby, no leadership)
from above nor from a position of superiority, but only from a
position of servanthood. Thus, in a church that might have already
by this time become institutionalized to the extent of regarding
certain spiritual gifts as permanent ecclesiastical offices, John stresses
time and again the importance of a personal encounter with Jesus.
Far from advocating a hierarchical structure or "representative
authority," John's emphasis is on the concept of nurturing
relationships.
In fact, when we examine Paul's writings, he does not
elaborate any church order, if one accepts the perspective offered by
my understanding of 1 Cor. 12:28. For Paul, there is no authority
apart from the one received by the Lord and the Gospels (2 Cor. 10:8;
13:10), and if there is any in the apostle or pastor-elder functions, it
is then only connected and located in the corresponding charismata
and, therefore, tied to diakonia. As Hdball states it: "Authority, then,
although residing in those who could demonstrate the Spirit, was
also distributed in a network of relationships and was never located
in a few individuals."46
The test of all authority in the New Testament, whether
apostolic, charismatic, or official, is the test of a function, a gift of the
Spirit that builds up and brings to maturity the body of Christ (2 Cor.
10:8; 13:10; Eph. 4:12-16; 1 Cor. 14:4-5,17,26; 1 Pet. 4:10). No one is
placed in an impregnable position. Neither is any gift of the Spirit

ever exempt from the process of evaluation nor any institutionalized
ministry ever owed unquestioned loyalty.
Again, it is easy to overestimate the degree of
institutionalization of the early church. However, even if we were to
see fixed institutionalized or official ministries in these writings, we
would still be obligated to acknowledge the guidelines for
leadership. In 1 and 2 Timothy and Titus, addressed to second- and
third-generation Christians, leadership is viewed as connected with
1) the vital source of all enabling, i.e., the Holy Spirit (2 Tim 1:14); 2)
the ability to know what and why one believes (2 Tim. 2:2; 3:14-16;
1 Tim. 4:11; Titus 3:4-8); 3) the capacity for expounding truth (1 Tim.
4:6,11,13; Titus 2:15) or correcting errors (1 Tim. 5:20; 2 Tim. 4:2); 4)
the capacity to share one's responsibilities (Titus 1:15; 2 Tun. 2:2-3; 1
Tim. 3:1-13; Titus 1:5-9); 5) the ability to escape the temptation of
status-seeking (1 Tim. 5:17-22); and 6) an integrity beyond reproach
in social and spiritual circles (1 Tim. 5:22; 6:11; 2 Tim. 3:17; 1 Tim.
4:12; 2 Tim. 2:22; 1 Tim. 4:15; 5:1-21). In other words, all of these
characteristics are related to the charismata given to both male and
female.
Having given this brief overview of the New Testament
concepts of leadership and authority, we still need to address the
issue in the first epistle of Peter (5:2-4) where the episcopal and
pastoral duties are mingled. Again, a separate office or level on some
kind of status ladder is not being advocated here. The
elders/pastors/episkopos are persons who model Jesus, the chief
Pastor/Shepherd (1 Pet. 2:25). In this model, leadership and
authority are gifts that can shape the practices of the church as needs
and situations evolve.
Authority and Eldership
Interestingly, nothing is said in the New Testament about
the role of the elder possessing any authority in and of itself. Nor are
the leadership and the authority of the elder to be independent of the
way they are defined and exercised in the New Testament. There the
elder (or pastor or episcope) is never referred to as a father, a priest,
or even the "head" of the church. As Petersen expresses it: "[The
Bible] rather points to the equal position of all believers, who are to
call no man either master or father (Matt. 23:8-9)."47 Neither is there
any New Testament evidence that the elder is a continuation of the
Old Testament priest. The priestly functions died out with the
redemptive ministry of Christ, of which the priest was topologically

representative. Even in modeling Jesus' ministry, the elders do not
imitate Jesus as High Priest, since Jesus belongs to a completely
different order than the Levitical. The continuation of the Old
Testament leitourgia is in heaven now, in eschatological excellence,
transcendence, and absolute perfection, where no man (or even
woman) has any part.
The office of an elder is not even a representative headship
function parallel to that of Paul's husband in marriage.48 If we look
for biblical nouns that qualify the elders, there are only two: the
shepherds (1 Pet. 5:2-3) and the stewards (Titus 1:7), whose task it is
to imitate Christ's living, acting, and teaching. Nor is it correct to link
a special teaching authority with the "office" of elder or, as some
would have it, with his "headship function."49 1 Tim. 2:7 does not
speak of an authoritative teaching role of the elder, but of Paul's
personal call to preach and teach the gospel. It is true that elders
should be able to teach (1 Tim. 3:2; 4:13), but there is no authority
attached to their teaching, outside the prophetic calling. The only
biblical authority in teaching resides in transmitting faithfully God's
revealed Word as recorded in the Bible—whether by a seven-year-
old girl or a sixty-year-old ordained minister. No one can contest the
teaching "authority" of either one, as long as the Word of God, in
both cases, is trustworthily spoken and checked individually and
corporately with the Bible (Acts 17:11). In fact, 1 Tim. 5:17 implies
that not all elders were occupied teaching,50 a fact that contradicts
the necessity for an authoritative teaching capacity attached to the
elder "office."*51
Summary
I have attempted to present the theological framework in
which the ordination issue must be placed in order for it to be
properly understood and practiced within the Seventh-day
Adventist Church.
*
To be complete, this study should also deal with Titus 2:15 (epitage) and 1 Tim. 5:17
(proistemi). A quick word study of epitage in the New Testament context shows that it can be
closely related to God's revelation. Therefore, in Titus 2:15, the stress is not on "authority," but
on the divine revelation. Concerning the elders' ability "to rule," this verb as used in the New
Testament is in no way a male exclusivity, since Phoebe in Rom. 16:1-2 is a protasis pollon (a
chief or leader of many). The reader should be aware of the biases of many translations which
render the same verb for male as to rule, lead, manage, direct, but for Phoebe, to succor, assist,
protect.
First, as an incarnation of the Old Testament qahal Yahweh

and the Isaiahic servant, the church is in direct line with the Old
Testament "Israel" even as it breaks with that lineage. No longer a
religious group centered around the temple and priestly services, the
church is a worshiping community, witnessing of God's covenant,
atonement, and future restoration, with servanthood as its principal
function. Both the gathered and scattered dimensions of the church
share its fundamental nature and function: worship and mission.
When defining "ministry" in light of the ordination issue,
we have discovered that it is always modeling Jesus in his diaconal
ministry as the Suffering Servant. If there is anything kingly or
priestly about this ministry, it can be seen only within the collective
dimension of what I have called the "idealized Israel," whose
function was one of service. At the individual level, ministry is by
nature charismatic; by function, diaconal; and by no means tied to
sex, social status, race, or inborn capacities.
We have found that religious leadership moves radically
between the Old Testament and the New from a Levitical and
prophetic model to an apostolic/diaconal one. Indeed, in the New
Testament, the Levitical male privileges of religious service dissolved
with the general call to mission and service. The Levitical model was
spiritualized with applications to daily life and ethical conduct/and,
as it was applied to the corporate body of all Christians, it broke with
racial, sexual, and social exclusivity. Diakonia with its charismatic
functions, won the supremacy over leitourgia which is now placed in
heaven where the risen Christ performs an eternal sacerdotal service,
exalted to the right hand of God as the Liturgist par excellence of the
true heavenly sanctuary.52 Similarly, leadership in the New
Testament belongs to a diaconal/apostolic model of ministry in
which each believer lives in the succession of the apostles, exercising
the charismata they have received and which need to be affirmed and
recognized by the church.
The administrative model that has held sway in the
Christian church over the centuries has weaker biblical
documentation than the diaconal model. Even these "proofs" of a
Rom. 12:1; Phil. 2:15 (Lev. 22:18-25); 4:18 (almsgiving is a sweet smell); Col. 3:5 and Eph.
5:5 (moral or immoral behaviors are a true or false cultus, the latter leading to idolatry); James
1:27 (cultus is spoken of in ethical terms); 1 Cor. 11:26 (missionary terminology is used in the
act of eating and drinking).
supposed hierarchical structure are given consistently within the

charismatic framework. It would seem that the administrative model
is understood in the New Testament rather as a function of the
diaconal model, and not the other way around. It seems clearer that
the apostolic/diaconal model is the only "inspired" guide to general
church ministry and to the specialized ministry of leaders. In such a
model, no equation can be made between leadership and maleness
or authoritative teaching, even within the gift or functions of
pastor/elder/teacher. Leadership, understood biblically, is open to
any sex, race, or social status.
Indeed, our study reveals that women can be chosen and
gifted by the Spirit for ecclesiastical functions, leadership positions,
and even official responsibilities, if the church chooses to do so in the
process of meeting the changing needs of the corporate body of
Christ as the Spirit leads.*53
Further investigation would lead us now to deal specifically
with the question of laying on of hands in order to see how it is
related to the apostolic/diaconal model of ministry, to leadership,
and, finally, to the gathered and scattered church. Such a study
would need to take into account the Old Testament roots of the
ceremony and the New Testament texts of Acts 6:4-6; 13:2-3; 14:23-26;
1 Tim. 4:14; 5:22, and 2 Tim . 1:6. It is only in a solid ecclesiological
framework that these issues can be rightly considered.
*
This understanding is consistent with James White's position regarding church polity.
In I860, faced with the decision to obtain legal p Diane Apostolos-Cappadona, ed. papers for
Adventist property and opposed by certain members who held that Adventists should not
own anything, James White formulated the following principle regarding matters pertaining
to church policy and scriptural authority: "If it be asked. Where are your plain texts of
scripture for holding church property legally? we reply, The Bible does not furnish any . . .
.The church is left to move forward in the great work, praying for divine guidance [the Holy
Spirit], acting upon the most efficient plans for its accomplishment. . . . All means which,
according to sound judgment, will advance the cause of truth, and are not forbidden by plain
scripture declarations, should be employed." Ellen White lent her support to her husband's
position. In a vision of August 3,1861, she stated that "I was shown" that the church should
buy property and get legally organized.
Notes
1 Cf. Floyd Bresee, "Annual Council Report/' Ministry (December 1989): 21. See also,
"Business Meeting Reports," Adventist Review (July 13/14,1990).
2 For a detailed history of the issue, see Viviane Haenni and Kit Watts, "Outline of the
History of the Seventh-day Adventist Church and the Ordination of Women Issue," Ponderings
(May/July 1989): 5-14. For a bibliography of the question from 1972-1989, see Haenni and
Watts, "Seventh-day Adventists and Women's Ordination," The Adventist Woman (June/July,
1989): 10-11.
3 T. H. Blincoe, "Needed— A Theology of Ordination," Ministry (February 1978): 22-24.
4 Raoul Dederen, "A Theology of Ordination," Ministry (February 1978), 24a-o.
5 Miroslav M. Ki§, "Thoughts on an SDA Theology of Ordination." Paper presented to
the Biblical Research Institute, February 1988.
6 Samuele Bacchiocchi, Women in the Church: A Biblical Study on the Role o f Women in the
Church (Berrien Springs, MI: Biblical Perspectives Press, 1987). C. Raymond Holmes, The Tip
o f the Iceburg: biblical Authority, Biblical Interpretation, and the Ordination o f Women in Ministry,
(Wakefield, MI: Pointer Publications, 1994).
7 Haenni and Watts, "Outline of the History"; V. Norskov Olsen, Myth and Truth About
Church and Priesthood (Riverside, CA: Loma Linda University Press, 1991).
8 Cf. Paul Minnear, Images o f the Church in the New Testament (Philadelphia: Westminster
Press, 1960).
9 Kung, Eglise, 59.
10 Ibid., 60.
11 Ibid., 61.
12 The Encyclopedia o f Religion, s.v. "Liturgy" by Theodore W. Jennings, (New York:
Macmillan, 1987).
13 Cf. Minnear, Images, 66-104,136-220; cf. Edmond Jacob, Theologie de VAncien Testament
(Neuchatel: Delachaux & Niestl6, 1955), 171; see Leon Morris, The Apostolic Preaching o f the
Cross (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1965),67-74.
14 Jacques Doukhan, Daniel: The Vision o f the End. (Berrien Springs, MI: Andrews
University Press, 1987), 60-64. "The entire Bible attests the very function of the Day of
Atonement as pointing to creation and judgement" (60). Cf. Pss. 103:4-5,14,22; 17-19; 33:15a
& b ; 7:9-11; 89:9-12,14.
15 J. G. Davies, Worship and Mission (New York: Association Press, 1967), 78.
16 Davies, Worship, 73-83,91-111.
17 Paul Waitman Hoon, The Integrity o f Worship (Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1972), 30-37.
18 Elizabeth M. Tetlow, Women and Ministry in the Testament (New York: Ramsey Press,
1980), 45-54.
19 Dictionary o f New Testament Theology, s.v. "Leitourgeo" and "Diakoneo" by K. Hess,
(Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 1978-1986); see Theological Dictionary o f the New Testament s.v.
"Leitourgeo" by H. Stratmann; "Leitourgeo" by K. Hess (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1985).
20 Hess, "Diakoneo," 545; Dictionary o f New Testament Theology, s.v. "Diakoneo."
21 Jess Burton Weatherspoon, Sent Forth to Preach (New York: Harper & Brothers, 1954),
16-22.
22 Elizabeth M. Tetlow, Women and Ministry in the Testament (New York: Ramsey Press,
1980), 61-62.
23 Dorothy Irwin, "The Ministry of Women in the Early Church: The Archeological
Evidence," Duke Divinity Review 45 (1980): 76-86; Bernadette J. Brooten, Women Leaders in the
Ancient Synagogue (Chico, CA: Scholars Press, 1982); Elisabeth Schiissler-Fiorenza, "The Biblical
Roots for the Discipleship of Equals," Duke Divinity School Review 45 (1980): 87-97; Idem, In
Memory o f Her: A Feminist Theological Reconstruction o f Christian Origins (New York: Crossroads,
1983); Roger Gryson, The Ministry o f Women in the Early Church (Collegeville, MN: Liturgical
Press, 1976); Tetlow, Ministry; Patricia Wilson-Kastner, et al., eds,. A Lost Tradition: Women
Writers o f the Early Church (Washington, DC: Westminster, 1973).
24 See also Rosemary Reuther and Eleanor McLaughen, Women o f Spirit: Female Leadership
in the Jewish and Christian Traditions (New York: Simon & Schuster, 1979), 18.
25 Sandra Schneiders, "New Testament Foundations for Preaching" in Preaching and The
Non-Ordained: An Interdisciplinary Study, ed. Nadine Foley, (Collegeville, MN: Liturgical Press,
1983), 60-90.
26 C. K. Barrett, The Signs o f an Apostle (Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1972), 71ff.
27 Schneiders, "New Testament Foundations," 84.
28 Ibid., 83.
29 Cf. Tetlow, Ministry, 17; Fiorenza, Feminist Theology, 605-626; Fiorenza, Der Vergessene
Partner (Diisseldorf: Patmos, 1964); cf. Brooten, Women Leaders, 141-44.
30 Cf. Dan. 8 and 9; Doukhan, Daniel, 23-72.
31 "Baptism, Eucharist, and Ministry." Faith Order Paper III (Geneva: World Council of
Churches, 1982), 24-27.
32 Derek J. Tidball, Skillful Shepherds: An Introduction to Pastoral Theology (Grand Rapids,
MI: Zondervan, 1986), 120.
33 Tidball, Shepherds, 148.
34 Ibid., 148,150.
35 Kiing, Eglise, 164. See also V. Norskov Olsen, Myth and Truth about Church, Priesthood,
and Ordination (Riverside, CA: Loma Linda University Press, 1991), 90-118.
36 T. H. Lindsay, The Church and the Ministry in the Early Centuries (New York: G. Doran,
n.d.), 309; Kiing, Eglise, 176-185; Cyril Eastwood, The Royal Priesthood o f the Faithful
(Minneapolis, MN: Augsburg Publishing House, 1963), 80-85.
37 Kiing, Eglise, 164.
38 Tidball, Shepherds, 117.
39 Tidball, Shepherds, 78-79; Kiing, Eglise, 164-170.
40 Kiing, Eglise, 164-65.
41 Cf. "Business Meeting Reports," Adventist Review (July 1990): 23-24.
42 Tidball, Shepherd, 61.
43 Ibid., 62
44 See also Dictionary o f New Testament Theology, s.v. "Cheirotoneo" by J. I. Parker; and
Theological Dictionary o f the New Testament, s.v. "Cheirotoneo" by P. Lohse.
45 Tidball, Shepherd, 74.
46 Ibid., 116.
47 Paul Birch Petersen, "The Headship Role of the Elder as an Authoritative and
Representative Teacher and Father in the Church" (paper presented for OTST 685 Principles
of Hermeneutics, Andrews University Seventh-day Adventist Theological Seminary, Berrien
Springs, Michigan, May 1987), 6-8.
48 For a discussion of these texts, see John Brunt, "The New Testament Haustqfeln
Passages" (a study paper presented to the Commission on the Role of Women in the Church,
Washington, DC, March 1988); Berkley and Alvera Mickelsen, "The 'Head' of the Epistles,"
Christianity Today (February 1981): 20-23; Cf. Petersen, "Headship," 10-14.
49 Samuele Bacchiocchi, "Divine Order of Headship and Church Order: A Study of the
Implications of the Principle of Male Headship for the Ordination of Women as Elders and/or
Pastors" (study paper presented to the Commission on the Role of Women in the Church,
Washington, DC, March 1988).
50 Petersen, "Headship," 17.
51 Cf. Austin H. Stouffer, "The Ordination of Women: Yes" Christianity Today (February
1981): 15 and Olsen, Myth, 86-87.
52 P. Brunner, Worship in the Name o f Jesus (St. Louis: Concordia, 1968), 14-15; C. Raymond
Holmes, Sing a New Song (Berrien Springs, MI: Andrews University Press, 1984), 13,41-42.
53 Bert Haloviak, "Longing for the Pastorate: Ministry in 19th Century Adventism"
(study paper prepared by the director of research in the General Conference Department of
Archives and Statistics), 7.
Appendix
As this book goes to press, I want to respond to a recent
book published by C. Raymond Holmes, The Tip o f the Iceberg: Biblical
Authority, Biblical Interpretation, and the Ordination o f Women in
Ministry (Wakefield, MI: Pointer Publications, 1994). In line with
those who object to the ordination of women to the pastoral ministry,
Holmes associates the pro-ordination position with the feminist
movement and with a so-called "liberal" hermeneutic (that is, a
"historical reconstruction" method of interpreting the Bible) and,
after reviewing and refuting the opposition's arguments, settles on
six selected biblical passages on which to base his own position. The
major weaknesses of this book are as follows:
1. In the first six chapters of his book, Holmes leads the reader
to believe that to uphold the ordination of women is
tantamount to rejecting the authority of the Bible under the
influence of feminist/liberal hermeneutics. However, in
chapter seven, as he speaks to the arguments of his
opponents, he assures us that all the arguments he is about
to rebutt are from writers and theologians who have "not
rejected the authority of the Bible" (105). It seems
counterproductive for the author to build up a case that he
later dismantles himself by stating outright that it is indeed
possible to believe in the ordination of women while
upholding biblical authority and absolutes.
2. Certain key terminology is not clearly or biblically defined:
a. Ministiy
b. A call to ministry
c. Authority
d. The laying on of hands and its relationship to ordination
e. The choice of twelve apostles as symbolically related to
the twelve tribes, and not to male priesthood
f. An "office" as opposed to a "function" in ministry, that
is to say, the gratuitous assigning of a "pastoral office" to
the male and a "ministerial function" to the female
g The identification of what are the "divinely ordained
structures"
h. Justification for special dedicatory services for women
pastors
3. Ideas that are not biblical, such as
a. A "pastoral office" superior to the other spiritual gifts

b. A "spiritual authority" disconnected from the Bible and
the Holy Spirit and related to a "pastoral office"
c Ordination and its supposed relationship to "the
headship role of a male pastor," as opposed to the
pastor's role as servant, for example
d The relationship between priests, elders, pastors, and
apostles as one and the same "office" of male mediatorial
authority between a male Godhead and his female
creatures
e. In worship, "authority" delegated by the male pastor to
women
4. The omission of key biblical passages, concepts, and issues,
such as
. Servanthood
(0
X>
. Mutual submission (cf. Eph. 5:21)

c. The wide spectrum of biblical images of God
d. "Spiritual authority" as related to Scripture, the prophetic
gift, and the work of the Holy Spirit
e. Authentein (to usurp authority over, as in 1 Tim. 2:12) as
an apax legomenon (a word that appears only once in the
text and thus has a unique meaning) leading to more
open-ended questions than the "authoritative" answers
Holmes prefers
f. The normative presence of a charismatic structure along
with a hierarchical one in biblical writing
g. The uniqueness of Christ's mediation between the
Godhead and women as well as men.
Ak (S& lack
(AAm an in
by Hyveth Williams
I Chose You!
^ ^ Q / * y story began in 1978 when I was converted from

f atheism to Christianity, and it continues to be
Y f . written as I exercise the divine call to the pastoral
ministry. In my travels, many people ask: "What
does it feel like to be a Black woman pastor in the Adventist
Church?" It seems to me that this question is less difficult to answer
if approached from the perspective of my own experience not only
as a Black female pastor, but as a pastor who happens to be both
Black and female.
In the fall of 19821 enrolled in the Theology Department of
Columbia Union College, and after approximately two years I
graduated with a B.A. in theology. During those years, there were
three women in the program, two of whom were Black. As a student
pastoral intern at Pennsylvania Avenue SDA Church in Maryland,
I was able to participate in a wide variety of ministries.
96
After graduation, not as yet hired by a conference to serve

as a pastor, I determined to continue preparing for the ministry, since
it was clear in my mind that God had called me to his work. I
registered in the Master of Divinity program at Andrews University
Theological Seminary in 1985. Barely one quarter into the program,
Dr. Charles Scriven, then senior pastor of Sligo Church, Takoma
Park, Maryland, invited me to serve as an associate pastor; and Elder
Ralph Martin, president of Potomac Conference where I served for
almost four years, made the call official. After almost three years at
Sligo, I was given a leave of absence to return to the seminary, where
I completed the program in 1989.
My first year at the seminary was shared with eight women
(three of us were Black and one, Korean) and more than 400 men. Of
the eight, I was the only woman hired that year. Pastor Lisa Smith,
one of my Black classmates, was hired almost a year after her
graduation in 1987 as codirector of the Youth Department in her
conference. She was later assigned as associate pastor of a African
American congregation and now pastors her own church in the
Southern California Conference. Bemadine Archer, the other African
American woman in the program, continues to wait for an
opportunity to serve.
There were again eight women during my second year in
the M.Div. program, and, again, four of us African American and
one Korean. One of the Black women, Olive Hemming, is currently
teaching biblical languages at West Indies College. Presently Edna
James and Joyce Evans Webb, serve as chaplains in non-Adventist
institutions while they wait for calls to the pastoral ministry. One
other woman and I were already sponsored by a conference when
we arrived at the Seminary, and another was hired halfway through
her program. The problem of absorbing Black women into the
ministry seems compounded by the reluctance of regional Black
conferences to hire women in pastoral positions (see appendix).*
»
Between 1974 and 1989, more than 42 Black women have reportedly graduated with
theological degrees from Adventist colleges and universities. Since 1989, eleven Black women
have enrolled in the Seminary, one of whom is Efeoma Kwesi, pastor of a culturally-diverse
congregation in the Southeastern California Conference. Nevertheless, many have been forced
to accept positions as Bible workers, chaplains in non-Adventist institutions, church
secretaries, Bible teachers in Adventist elementary schools and academies, and other non
pastoral jobs. Although two women, Efeoma Kwesi and Lisa Smith, pastor Black churches,
they are not employed by regional conferences.
Shortly after returning to Sligo Church after graduation, I

was invited to assume the pastorate of the Boston Temple SDA
Church under rather unusual circumstances. The Boston Temple is
the only Anglo Seventh-day Adventist Church in downtown Boston.
At that time, I was the only female senior pastor serving in North
America; and the church that I was called to was perceived by many
to be physically and congregationally beyond repair, so that no other
pastor, male or female, wanted to accept an appointment there.
One gloomy spring Sunday morning, while on a speaking
engagement at Atlantic Union College, I got my first opportunity to
see the Boston Temple. There were exterior signs of deterioration,
but I was struck by the building's classic demeanor, standing
defiantly against the gray sky like an old dowager badly in need of
a general makeover. Because the group renting the facilities was
holding their worship service in the sanctuary, I was unable to see
the inside at that time. However, it was not difficult to surmise that
the dark, dilapidated lobby was a fair representation of what the
interior might hold in store. Still, I fell in love with the old place and
secretly harbored a desire to be asked to pastor there. Previously
known as the "Queen of Churches," this once grand congregation
quietly dwindled from five hundred in its heyday to twenty-seven
mostly elderly members who had been surviving without a pastor
for more than fifteen months. That church represented all I had
prayed to God for in my first congregation. Countless were the
months and years that I had prayed privately for a dying church that
God could miraculously bring back to life, and here it was
personified in the Boston Temple. That day, while sharing with my
traveling companions the potential that I saw in that old building, I
secretly relished the challenge before me.
Three months later, one of the members contacted me to see
if I would be interested in pastoring the Boston Temple, and after a
few months of telephone negotiations and interviews with the
conference officials and church members, I accepted the invitation.
On September 1 ,1 9 8 9 ,1 assumed the position of senior pastor. One
of my first tasks was to assure the fragmented, hurting community
that I was committed to staying in that parish for at least seven to ten
years or longer, if the Lord so willed it. I also anticipated a difficult
road ahead, but was fortified by the experience of Rev. Suzan D.
Johnson, who had overcome a similar situation and lived to write a
moving article in Leadership Magazine, entitled "The Church That
Didn't Die." Rev. Johnson, the first Black woman elected to a major
American Baptist church in their entire two-hundred-year history,
was assigned to The Mariners' Temple Baptist Church in New York
after the congregation had fallen from one-thousand to fifteen
members. In her article, she stated that "even a terminal
congregation can recover." I took her advice to "look on the
opportunity as a blessing rather than a burden."1
The first discovery I made was that there were more
available resources than seemed immediately visible. But the difficult
task was learning how to tap those resources without threatening the
already nervous and uncertain little congregation. So I began by
studying its history, learning that the Boston Temple was one of the
oldest continuously-operated churches in the denomination. Its
pulpit had welcomed the likes of James White, J. N. Andrews, and E.
J. Waggoner. It was the church where Dr. Gerhard Hasel, former
dean of Andrews University Theological Seminary, did his
internship. In the 60s, it had been a haven for students who attended
"The Gate," a popular meeting place where men like Dr. Roy
Branson, editor of Spectrum magazine, and Monte Sahlin, now
serving in the North American Division Church Ministries
Department, were able to hone their spiritual, intellectual, and
leadership skills.2
On my first Sabbath, approximately sixty people, the
majority of them curiosity-seekers, came to see "the woman
preacher," the first Black female pastor in the Adventist Church. I
realized that this was definitely an asset to be used for the glory of
God. Taking inventory of the premises, I noted that the majority of
the pews on the main floor were broken or damaged. The balcony
was stacked with broken pews, the red carpet in the sanctuary was
tom in several places and patched up with bright red duck tape, and
a large gaping hole loomed overhead in the balcony ceiling. I
decided not to focus on the poor state of the facilities, but rather
brighten the members' spirits with powerful preaching about the
promises of the Lord so evident in his Word. My sermon that day
was "Good News From the Grave."
The second Sabbath, while I was preaching, someone in the
back shouted, "Watch out!" as a large piece of the balcony ceiling
crashed to the floor, and plaster, worn away by months of water
pouring in from the leaky roof, splattered over the pews and
patched-up carpet. Still I refused to pause to acknowledge the state
of affairs around us. I reminded the people in that day's sermon,

"Where Eagles Fly," that they were a chosen people, members of the
royal priesthood. This sermon still remains a favorite with those who
started this journey with me. Already convinced that a positive
attitude along with my own untraditional approach to ministry was
needed to revive the church, I called the congregation to think and
act like eagles rather than chickens, even though everything about
them suggested that they were not eagles. They were challenged to
see the empty pews presently filled by angels waiting to vacate their
places for the hundreds of hungry souls who would come to call this
church home. Then I shared my dreams to renovate the sanctuary.
The members caught the vision, and in another month we had raised
enough money to move all the pews out of the sanctuary and to hire
a professional to begin renovations. The Southern New England
Conference matched all the monies raised; and every week over
thirty members, former Adventists, and even some nonmembers
who heard of the miracle at Boston Temple, came to help remove the
old worn-out carpet, wash windows, and clean the extensive interior
woodwork.
We began the renovation work in October of 1989 with
plans to replace the carpet only. But when we realized how badly
damaged the sanctuary was, we determined to raise enough money
to renovate the entire sanctuary. We were informed that it would
cost over $80,000 to complete just that portion of the building, and all
we had in hand were a vision and $11,000.1 began by setting goals
which I shared with the dumbfounded congregation. Then, taking
stock of my own personal resources and experience it became clear
to me that I had nothing but my heart to offer. Finally, all the while
praying for God's guidance, I studied the passages in the Bible that
told how Moses built and Solomon rebuilt the sanctuary.
One day a common theme in these passages suddenly
became evident to me: God specially endowed people to do his work
as craftsmen and stone cutters. Deciding to claim that promise, I
hired an inexperienced house painter who had not previously used
scaffolding or done any major work such as what was needed for our
project. I promised him that God would give him the skills, and after
two weeks of hesitation, due partly to his conviction that I must
certainly be "crazy," our builder began the arduous task for a mere
$28,000. The proof that God gave him the special skills will remain
as a living testimony in our sanctuary: the entire renovation of the
first and second floors. He has since repointed the tower on the roof
which was about to fall down and replaced the entire front concrete
steps. Not only did God give him special skills; he gave him multiple
special skills.
Rededication and Resurrection
When we began the work on the sanctuary, I informed "my
members"—by now I really was feeling like the senior pastor—that
we would have a rededication service and that at least five hundred
would attend, even though there were approximately sixty
worshiping every week. On January 6, 1990, we rededicated the
sanctuary with Dr. William Johnsson, editor of Adventist Review, as
our morning speaker. Seven hundred worshipers shared the miracle
that morning; and, to the further amazement of all of us, over one-
thousand came for the evening concert. To date, that is the largest
number of people who have worshiped in our sanctuary since the
Boston Temple was established as a congregation over 125 years ago.
A few weeks later, former General Conference president
Neal C. Wilson, spoke at the Boston Temple, and in his remarks
reminded the people that this was a "resurrection and not just a mere
renovation" of the Boston Temple. In two years we had increased our
membership from 27 to 180 on our books with 250 adults in addition
to more than 40 children attending each week. We've raised
approximately $150,000, and we have completed renovation of the
first and second floors. With a matching fund from the local
conference we have also done some exterior refurbishing and added
a new roof. Five years later, our tithe has increased by 190 percent in
a year in which seventeen people were baptized, four received by
profession of faith, and many former members restored to the
fellowship of believers.
Attitudinal Aerobics
When my name was recommended for consideration as a
possible candidate, several of the members voted against hiring an
African American female pastor for their church. However, the
majority of the members who favored this appointment undertook
an aggressive letter-writing campaign to the conference president
urging him to invite me to come to the Boston Temple.
Providentially, they prevailed; but when I arrived, some of the
members decided that my presence was unacceptable, and they
refused to participate in the life of the church until and unless I
should leave the congregation. Others who were opposed remained

to voice their fears that a) I would make such radical changes that
they would be forced to leave, and b) I would turn the church into a
Black congregation, forcing them, again, to leave. Although these
didn't openly resist my ministry, some who were previously active
leaders became passive bystanders, waiting to see the outcome of my
leadership. During my first month, many of them were out
aggressively looking for alternative places of worship in case their
fears were realized sooner than expected. Happily, some of these
opponents, all of them faithful members of this church for over 40
years, are now my strongest supporters.
In addition to this phenomenon, there was another group
at the other end of the pendulum who, although happy to have me
at the Temple, harbored their own plans for directing and controlling
my ministry. In the end, these became the hardest supporters to win,
and despite my best efforts, some of them have chosen to attend
church no longer. Fortunately, there were a majority who offered me
unconditional acceptance and worked hard beside me to make sure
that I would not fail nor falter under the heavy load of responsibility.
The years that I had spent working on political campaigns
and functioning as a politician were to come to my aid as I tried to
win people over and get them motivated and believing in the dream
I had for the Boston Temple. My initial sermons were esteem- and
faith-building exhortations backed by extensive home visitations,
telephone contact, and letters in which my plans and the procedures
for accomplishing them were laid out. I began by pointing out all the
positive attributes of the church, the community, and the specific
people in the church, especially the few children who attended at the
time. The congregation was asked to join me in the fundamental
disciplines of prayer, fasting, and study for the growth of the church.
In my frontal assault on attitudes, every effort was made to instill my
positive feelings about the congregation in everyone with whom I
came in contact. I learned to carefully cut out the "I" vocabulary as
"w e" began to share our ideas about how best to accomplish our
dreams for the restoration of the Boston Temple as a light in the
darkened comer of our city. Some were very easily persuaded, but
others not so. A couple of stories, with names changed, will bear this
out.
One of the older members, Adelaide, was bom and raised
in New England. She had worked all her life at the same job until her
retirement. In her nineties, she was still living in the same house she
had lived in since she was eight, and she was still attending the same
church in which she was baptized over forty-seven years before,
without "missing more than two Sabbaths," in her own words. She
was quick to inform me that she did not vote for my appointment,
since she did not believe there was biblical evidence for women to be
in the pastorate. Still, she was willing to wait and see the results.
Whenever I talked with her, I noticed that she mentioned her duties,
how the previous pastors depended on her participation, and that
she was afraid I would change things before hearing how the
congregation felt about them. A few weeks after my arrival, she
agreed to receive a visit from me.
When I arrived, she immediately escorted me to the
balcony, although, in time, I would become her sole caretaker and
confidante. She began the meeting with a terse, "I guess you're here
to tell me all the changes you're going to make." She spoke stiffly
through her teeth as she closed her hands into two tight fists in her
lap and stared out into the darkening dusk. "No, Adelaide, I need
your help." I proceeded to tell her that this was my very first
pastorate on my own and that I really didn't know everything and
that I needed her knowledge, experience, and active assistance, if I
was to succeed. I was throwing myself on her mercy. Suddenly, her
face brightened into a warm smile. "Well, get paper and pencil," she
ordered, as she listed from memory all the names and addresses, ZIP
codes, and telephone numbers of people who had been members.
She included those who were "missing in action," dead, or moved
away. From that day, Adelaide became one of my staunchest
supporters. One day I was at home and she called me to say: "You
know, your enthusiasm is very infectious, and I want to thank you
for giving me a new reason to live."
Not all my stories have such a happy ending. Several
members still refuse to attend church, and one in particular continues
to support it financially with tithes and offerings, but will not attend.
She had also voted against my appointment and declared that she
would never set foot in the Temple as long as I was there. When I
heard this, I felt that I should try to reach her in special ways, and I
did so by calling and writing. Twice she hung up the phone while I
was in mid-sentence, once telling me harshly not to call and bother
her again. I still persisted in my attempts to win her over, since she
is quite elderly and concerned about the "modem" changes that have
brought a Black woman to serve as her pastor. I sent one Anglo

intern to visit her, but she refused to see him, and even refused to
respond to our then associate pastor, Mark Chaffin, a White male
hired in April of 1990 to help handle the dramatic growth. Two years
later, this member is now restored to full fellowship and attending
regularly.
Not by Program nor Personalities, but by My
Power, Saith the Lord!
After the success of January 6 , 1 convinced myself that the
only way to keep the excitement and momentum going was to invite
"big name" speakers in the Adventist Church and plan exciting
programs that would draw large audiences. In order to keep up with
all of these programs, I led the church at a breathless pace that began
to take its toll on our older, conservative, and more traditional
members. I also noticed that even though the numbers of attendees
continued to increase dramatically, not many people were
committing themselves to membership or to any sustained long-term
involvement.
I was troubled by the trend, but I did not know quite how
to resolve the situation until April 1990 when I feared that the
"miracle" of the Boston Temple was nothing more than a mirage. All
the publicity about the dramatic turn-around of the church had come
back to haunt me. Having been invited to conduct a Week of Prayer
at Andrews University prior to accepting the call to the Boston
Temple, I now welcomed the opportunity to get away and re
examine my situation. One morning, while studying, my attention
was drawn to Ezek. 37: "Can these dry bones live?" As I read the
passage, the Lord revealed to me the single most significant truth
about my ministry and church at that time. When Ezekiel first
prophesied and preached as he was commanded, there was a "noise,
and suddenly a rattling, and the bones came together . . . the sinews
and the flesh came upon them and the skin covered them over, but
there was no breath in them" (vv. 7-8). *
I realized that the dramatic growth was not real growth, but
rather a band-wagon response to the excitement of revival, which
»
All biblical quotations are taken from the New King James Version, unless otherwise
specified.
had not yet taken root. The Spirit impressed me that sounds of
success which attracted the attention of many in those early days of
our restoration were no more than the dry bones rattling loudly as
they came together, and if I treated the matter as real growth, the din
would die out permanently as the bones withered again, only this
time beyond resurrection. Thus the Lord commanded me through
the words of Ezekiel to return to Boston, cancel all the programs,
projects, and personalities, and preach again to my people. I obeyed
God's command, and since no one really knew what to expect of my
ministry, including myself, I dared to be different and obey the
instructions of God specifically. The Lord's instructions to Ezekiel
became my mandate as I shared this revelation in a sermon, and
week after week joined my congregation's excitement as we
witnessed how the "breath [of life] came into them and they lived
and stood [and are standing] upon their feet as an exceedingly great
army" (v. 10).
During this time, the Lord again impressed me with a
concept we call "The Vine and Branches Plan" for small-group
studies based on John 15:1-18. This plan is a simple procedure based
on the pattern of ministry modeled by Jesus. I began by exercising
the spiritual disciplines of solitude, silence, and prayer with fasting
as I studied the passage and prepared for its implementation. I then
invited twelve prayerfully-chosen members of the congregation to
be my spiritual partners and to meet in my home every week for a
light supper as we studied and became part of the Vine. After three
months, each participant was asked to invite twelve people from the
congregation to be their spiritual partners and to study the same
passage. Soon we had several home study groups meeting every
Friday night as part of The Vine and Branches Plan. Training
manuals are available, and several other churches have started their
own small group ministry on this model.
The testimony of the success of this plan lies in the fact that
in six months over a hundred people committed themselves to the
Boston Temple and still many more Bible studies were being
handled by pastor Mark Chaffin. More than eighty of our members
now serve as officers in a church that is organized like an army for
the Lord. The first Vacation Bible School in more than thirty years
attracted thirty-five children, twenty-one of whom came from the
neighborhood. We also started a Sunday morning service and
Christian Growth bible Study, through which free music lessons are
provided for the children of those who attend. We conduct tutoring

sessions and have active children and adult choirs. In addition, the
Helping Hands Community Serives Program feeds more than a
hundred of Boston's homeless and hungry every Sabbath afternoon.
Each Thanksgiving, we give out several bags of food to needy
families; we've provided emergency assistance for dozens of other
families in the area every day of the week. We are recognized as a
community church where ministers and members from other
denominations nearby worship regularly on Sabbath morning.
A Parking Problem
The Boston Temple originally had only eighteen parking
spaces in a small lot adjoining the church. We were able to gain
permission to use a lot across the street which serves as parking for
Fenway Park, but when the Red Sox played on Sabbaths, members
had to interrupt their worship to move their cars by noon.
In my interview for the position, one of the points
highlighted by the conference president was the parking problem,
believed to be unresolvable. I was informed that even if people were
interested in coming to the church, there would not be adequate
parking to accommodate them. One day while sitting in my office
working on our newsletter, I was impressed to go for a walk in the
neighborhood. Soon I found myself on the steps of a vocational
school across the street. I went in to speak to the director, offering
my services to speak to the young people. As we talked, I mentioned
that we were renovating the church. She immediately offered a
group of students to help with the renovations free of charge, under
the supervision of a teacher as a learning experience. Then I
mentioned our parking problems, whereupon she referred me to the
Metropolitan Police, who are responsible for the school lot. Instead
of calling the police, I called the mayor's office and spoke to the
person in charge of neighborhood development. This person had
previously rented a hall in our church, and I shared with him our
need for additional parking spaces. A few days later, the mayor's
office called to inform me that not only were we able to use the
parking lot across the street, but they had also secured permission
from the Russian Orthodox Church nearby, which provided over
two-hundred parking spaces permanently at our disposal, free of
charge. Now we are able to boast that the Boston Temple is an inner-
city church with ample parking.
That's News To Me
Sometime during the last quarter of 1989, while we were
overwhelmed with renovation work, the Lord again impressed me
to do two things. First of all, I should start Wednesday night
meetings. We began OASIS, a time for midweek reflection, different
from traditional Wednesday night prayer meeting. This was a
program I developed at Sligo Church, which would be implemented
with major modifications. We began at 6:30 with a light supper
followed by a brief period of silent meditation, prayer, and one hour
of solid study of relevant topics based on Bible truth. For example,
we studied "How to Handle Anger" and we examined "Human
Sexuality in Salvation" to investigate why God has chosen to use
sexual models to illustrate the plan of salvation and how this affects
our lifestyles in these last days of rapidly-changing mores. We began
with seven attendees and now average more than forty.
Secondly, I was impressed to prepare a newsletter. This was
especially difficult to do since it demanded so much time and
attention. But we persevered. We had a small mailing list comprised
of mostly inactive or missing members. Each person was asked to
provide five to ten names of Mends, former members and supporters
to whom the newsletter and invitation to the January 6th
rededication could be sent. I prayed over those names for about a
week and mailed the first issue of the newsletter. Within a few
weeks, we had an overwhelming response and nearly $8000 of
unsolicited funds came in from those who wanted to be part of the
miracle renovation of the church. Today the Newletter is done once
a quarter and mailed to more than six-hundred people across North
America.
Growing Strong Faith
Many challenges still face us. We have a basement to
renovate, and some exterior and grounds improvement to complete.
There are many Christians in the community yet to be discipled and
the economic downtrend has begun to impact our members' ability
to be generous. Yet, in spite of the recession, the giving increased
from $23,000 to $250,000 annually. We are constantly learning that
we cannot do everything "yesterday" and that we must be a people
in waiting. Through many strategies, we are working to spread the
Word and love of God in the greater Boston area to students on all
of the college campuses, to homebound adults, to those in nursing
homes as well as to families who are hapless victims of the

deteriorating economic times. Our new associate pastor, Amado
Luzbet, has a ministry team that reaches fellowships at Harvard and
Boston University campuses. Recently we established our church as
a training center for Boston University's School of Theology, Field
Education. Under our agreement with the university, we train their
non-Adventist Master of Divinity students in the practice of pastoral
ministry.
Our theme continues to be "the miracle Temple with a
mission to glorify God by sharing his character with the diverse
family of all his created people. It is our desire to be a haven where
all feel accepted. Our objectives are to inspire discipleship in Christ,
to function as an extended family, to minister in our neighborhood,
and to nurture all God's people."*
We recognize that we are a church that was broken, but
made whole by the empowering love of God. Our weeping did last
for a night of fifteen months without a pastor, neglect by some who
thought we were not resurrectable, and despondency of a
membership in despair. But joy has come in the morning of our
success as we continue to grow strong in the Lord. We are a church
with a call, a covenant, and a commission under the leadership of a
pastor who just happens to be a Black female.
Our worship services are filled with the elements of
wonder, witness, and warfare as we recognize achievers in our
church family, honor our children by allowing them to have full
participation in the program, serving as junior deacons, as we exalt
the Word of God in our teaching/preaching ministry. We
successfully inaugurated our "Children's Church," along with the
F.B.I.—Faithful Bible Investigators—whose manual is the Word of
God. Each month I give my agents a clue, and they must search the
Scriptures to solve the case. When they do, their names are posted
prominently on the FBI list. While many of our young agents are
members, some from other churches continue to aim to be noted
among Boston Temple's FBI agents.
The Story Has But Begun
We are called and challenged by God to be conduits of his
Spirit through whom the Good News may be made alive and
*
Mission Statement adopted by the Boston Temple on December 15,1990.
relevant to a generation uniquely poised on the brink of a millenium.

We have this distinction of being the only generation alive to see the
end and beginning of a millenium, and this privilege demands a new
kind of voice and commitment to share the Word of Truth in this
increasingly global wilderness of sin.
It has been, to date, an emotionally wonderful, pro
fessionally fulfilling, spiritually uplifting, and physically demanding
mission. But all of us, Black and White participants, are learning the
disciplines of faith while having fun and fellowship in our social
activities, such as roller-skating, ski trips, boat rides, and many more
creative courses yet to be served. There's really no end to this story,
which continues to be penned by the lives of those who have been
chosen to cast their lot with this diverse family of God. (Even as I
write, several babies have been dedicated this year, many candidates
are being prepared to join us by profession of faith and baptism, and
we are about to celebrate our 125th anniversary with the theme
"Victories, Miracles, and Dreams.")
In December 1991 my parish was expanded from one
congregation to two when the Swampscott Church was added.
Subsequently, the latter church was closed and the members were
incorporated into the Boston Temple while a project to open a new
church in nearby Lynn is underway. In spite of the increased
responsibility, I still continue to travel and urge women to respond
to the call of God into the pastoral ministry with these encouraging
words: " You did not choose me, hut I chose you and appointed (or
anointed) you to go and bear fruit—fruit that will la st" (John 15:16 New
Revised Standard Version).
Notes
1 Suzan D. Johnson. "The Church That Didn't Die," Leadership (Fall 1987): 24-25.
2 Esther W. Smith, "A History of the Boston Seventh-day Adventist Temple: 1870-1966"
(unpublished essay).
PART THREE
cC he Q S)ocial
^imensien
/ / ' 1 ^ ' his is perhaps the most sensitive area o f concern for Adventist
‘ / j women because it is out o f the social context that the church
has historically decided what the role o f women should be
within the ecclesiastical organization as well as within the
home. For theological mandate to grow out o f social custom is hardly a new
phenomenon in the Christian church. Many o f the criticisms that the
Protestant church leveled at its ecclesiastical forbearer have to do with the
unwarranted concessions made to socioreligious dictum at the expense o f
justice, mercy, and sound Biblical exegesis. For this reason, it is useful to
understand the process o f socialization that contributes to woman's place in
the social hierarchy o f all cultures. Such a backdrop will illuminate our
understanding o f woman's historical place in the church.
This section begins with two chapters that deal with issues o f
male-female socialization in foreign societies. The reader will find there is a
common thread that runs throughout all these cultures: women are
perceived as subordinates to men both in nature and in function. They are
there to serve men and invisibly promote men's visible presence in society.
In the chapter on the Latina, the Latino form o f "machismo" is chosen not
because it is the only or even the worse form o f male-dominated
socialization, but because it offers a well-defined formulation o f a global
social phenomenon. Caleb Rosado brings a new theory to bear on the
discussion o f male-female relations within a socialframework that favors the
male over the female. The authors study the particular traits o f machismo in
Hispanic society and then compare and contrast the socioreligious
110
Part 3: The Social Dimension 111
foundations o f machismo/marianismo with Adventist understandings o f

male-female relations. It becomes evident that if Adventism is going to be
consistent with its own religious tradition, it cannot concomitantly support
habits o f thought deriving from socioreligious sources that militate against
the most fundamental Adventist beliefs about human dignity through divine
restoration.
Nor is it enough fo r Adventists to lament social inequities when
the church can be instrumental in making social changes without being
militant. Ramona Perez Greek approaches the socialization o f woman from
the perspective o f poverty to underscore the universal assumption that
woman exists to support man rather than coexist with him as an equal. The
unequal burden o f poverty carried by women all over the world constitutes
a mandate for Adventist Christian leaders who have a measure o f influence
on the societies and governments where they work.
That the Adventist Church arose in the spirit o f the Isaiahic
Messiah to fulfill the spiritual-social covenant with the oppressed is evident
in the life, work, and writings o f the Seventh-day Adventist Church's most
influential founder, Ellen G. White. Ellen White's persistent emphasis on
the spiritual meaning o f Christianity did not keep her from supporting social
ideals that broke with the abusive practices o f her society. Jeanne Jordan
traces the roots o f the Women's Rights movement in this country and shows
how Ellen White, although taking a stand against certain extremes o f the
movement, supported the work o f these women who were trying to improve
the lot o f American women both politically and socially. This work o f reform
was consistent with her own labor to free Adventist women from habits o f
thought that originated in Victorian society and that worked at cross
purposes with the mission o f the Adventist Church.
The implications o f social realities on religious practice and belief
are dealt with in the study carried out by Jannith Lewis and Frances Bliss
on the Black Adventist woman. The two-pronged marginalization o f this
woman—racial and gender—place her in a unique position with respect to
the church. The study, based on a brief and informal survey o f African
American Adventist women, finds a latent discontent among Black women
with respect to practices o f the church, particularly in the area o f hiring, and
a surprisingly unanimous support fo r women's involvement in the
ministries o f the church at all levels. The overwhelming affirmation o f
ordination for women pastors is less surprising, given the African American
woman's long history o f commitment and involvement in the various

formulations o f the pastoral ministry.
Ginger Hanks-Harwood closes this section by focusing on the
need fo r the church's informed participation in the abortion discussion. It
is not enough, argues the author, to sustain an isolated, internal discussion
o f the moral underpinnings o f abortion while neglecting to address the
socioeconomic circumstances that contribute to the abortion decision. The
religious voice carries an accumulated authority that must be complemented
effectively by an explicit advocacy o f women.
O Machismo,
oMmanisme, and
the AJven
&hurch
Rew ard a cH ew
R en der Paradigm
by Lourdes Elena Morales-Gudmundsson
and Caleb Rosado
11human societies operate by certain "rules" with regard

to male-female relations. In Latino culture these norms
can be summarized by the terms machismo and its
feminine counterpart hembrismo or marianismo. To best
113
understand the role of these two polar concepts and their

concomitant social behaviors in Latin societies, we must first
understand how male/female roles develop in general.
This study begins with a theoretical paradigm, the Sex Ratio
Theory, that introduces a new way of thinking about sex roles and
social structures. The relationship of this theory to the social
phenomena of machismo/marianismo within Latino culture will
then be discussed. The chapter closes with a look at the implications
of the findings for the wider context of the Seventh-day Adventist
Church and its mission in a global society.
Sex Ratio Theory
It has long been recognized that patterns of male/female
interaction have important implications for the kind of status and
roles both groups occupy in society and within organizations.1
What has now come to light is that the social position of men and
women in diverse societies is closely related to their numerical
composition. The ground breaking study that brought forth this
impressive insight is the award-winning Too many Women? The Sex
Ratio Question by Marcia Guttentag and Paul F. Secord/
Guttentag and Secord advance a simple theory, which
allows for all the pieces of the male/female interaction puzzle to fall
into place, no matter the culture, society, or time period.2 Their
theory states that when men outnumber women in any given society,
women are treated as prized property, but without rights of their
own. When women are in excess supply, there is much less gender
inequality, but men are inclined to be less dependable as spouses and
lovers and will often treat women as sex objects.
Sex ratio is based on the number of men per 100 women, so
that a sex ratio of 105 shows that for every 100 women there are 105
men in the population. Guttentag and Secord summarize their theory
and its implications with the following explanation:
When the sex ratio deviates appreciably from 100 at ages

when men and women most commonly marry, certain
characteristic changes take place in the relationships between
them that in turn have effects on the family and other aspects of
society. This cluster of characteristics would be filtered through
In 1984 their book received the American Sociological Association's Award for
Distinguished Contributions to Scholarship
Machismo, Marianismo, and the Adventist Church 115
existing cultural patterns and conditions, so that at different times

and in different societies the trends would be manifested
differently. Throughout the variations, however, we would
expect a recognizable core of characteristics with certain basic
similarities.
H ig h S ex R a t io s : A n U n d ersu p p ly o f W om en . When sex ratios

are high, there are more men than women. In such societies, young
adult women would be highly valued, but the manner in which they
would be valued would depend on the society. Most often, single
women would be valued for their beauty and married women for
their spousal and mothering virtues. Although men would generally
want to marry and would be willing to make a commitment to
remain with one woman, in some societies, women might be valued
as mere possessions.
In high sex ratio societies, women would achieve their
satisfaction through traditional roles. Male and female roles would
be complementary, involving a division of labor with men and
women having distinctly different tasks. An acceptable woman's role
would be that of homemaker and mother. High sex ratios in certain
cultural contexts would give a woman a subjective sense of power
and control over her life, particularly if she were free to choose
among men for a marriage partner. This sense of relative power and
control would not be expressed by women in striving for sexual or
economic independence, but would instead be reflected within
traditional institutions of the society, particularly the family. Here,
women would often gain economic mobility through marriage,
marrying upward in socioeconomic class. They would not have
strong career ambitions nor would they actively agitate for personal
or political rights. There would be little discontent or despair among
young women such as would be expressed in depression and suicide
attempts.
Both men and women would stress sexual morality rather
than licentiousness. But in a male-dominated context, virginity
would be more strongly imposed on women than men. In spite of
various forms of illicit sexual behavior, the cultural emphasis would
be on the male's commitment to a single partner for many years or
for life.
There might also be an emphasis on romantic love, if
women had some say in choosing the marriage partner. The concept
of romantic love includes the idea of long commitment to a mate, at
least throughout the childbearing years. Men would be as committed

to this idea as women, and women would be valued as romantic love
objects.
L o w S ex R a t io s : A n O v ersu p p ly o f W om en . If young women
were in relative oversupply, the social, cultural and economic trends
would, in some respects, be opposite to those of an undersupply.
Women in such societies would have a subjective sense of
powerlessness and would feel personally devalued by the society.
Valued largely as mere sex objects, women would find it difficult to
achieve economic mobility through marriage. More men and women
would remain single or, if they married, would be more apt to
divorce. The devaluation of marriage would result in a sharp rise in
illegitimate births and in divorce, the remarriage rate remaining high
for men only. The number of single-parent families headed by
women would increase markedly.
Sexual libertarianism would be the prevailing ethos, shared
by men and women alike, although, because of the surplus of
women, the options would be greater for men. The cultural context
permitting, sexual alternatives, such as lesbianism, might become
more prevalent as possible sexual alternatives for women. Women
would not expect to have the same man remain with them
throughout their childbearing years, and brief liaisons would be
common. Women would more often share a man with other women,
adultery becoming commonplace. At the same time, men would
move successively from woman to woman or maintain multiple
relationships with different women. Because of the shortage of men,
these opportunities would largely be denied women. In summary,
the outstanding characteristics of times when women are in
oversupply while men retain actual social power would be the
transient relationships between men and women, the playing down
of love and commitment, and a reduced value assigned to marriage
and the family.
Women would react to their devalued situation in various
ways. Some might redouble their efforts to attract or keep a man,
while others, feeling powerless and resentful, might try to achieve
economic and political independence for themselves and other
women. We would expect various forms of feminism to be
accelerated under these low sex ratio conditions. Without rejecting
men, many women would intensify efforts to change the balance of
power between the sexes and to alter the roles that men assume. A
central theme would be the attempt on the part of women to

establish themselves as independent persons.3
What causes an imbalance of sex ratios? Guttentag and
Secord suggest several factors: geographic mobility, especially as a
result of large-scale migration or immigration, which typically
involves young single males of marriageable age in the range of
fifteen to thirty-five; female infanticide, the major cause of
imbalanced sex ratios; health and diet; differential life expectancy;
war and sexual practices.
How do sex ratios translate into sex roles? Here Guttentag
and Secord shift to a micro/macro level of analysis. At the micro
level, where two individuals interact, the researchers use Exchange
Theory, with its rational choice premise wherein people tend to
maximize their rewards and minimize their costs. This translates into
dyadic power for the gender in short supply. Guttentag and Secord
explain it this way:
When one sex is in short supply, all relationships between

opposite-sexed persons are potentially affected in a similar way:
The individual member whose sex is in short supply has a
stronger position and is less dependent on the partner because of
the larger number of alternative relationships available to him or
her.4
When dyadic power is wielded, it can be used to theoretically

negotiate more favorable outcomes within the dyad, or two-person
relationship.5
Dyadic power and its ability to shape sex roles is
constrained, however, by forces and structures in the culture and
society. Using a macro level of analysis and the Conflict Theory,
Guttentag and Secord explain the concept of structural power.
Structural power is the power associated with the political, economic,
legal, and religious structures of society, which enables its holders
"to influence and shape social customs and practices, which in turn
are a powerful source of control over people's lives."6 This power is
legitimated by religion, in most societies, for the male, since males
have appropriated for themselves almost exclusively the roles of
priest, pastor, and definer of doctrine. Throughout history, except
until recently and only in advanced economies, men have tended to
be the gender in oversupply, especially in agrarian societies and in
societies with underdeveloped economies, primarily because of
female infanticide (see table 1, for sex ratios in the U.S.). They have
thus been able to structure power relations in society to their benefit,
at the expense of women. South and Trent add:
Because structural power resides with men in all but a

handful of societies, the ability of women to use dyadic power to
gain freedom and independence is sharply limited. More
specifically, men use their structural power over women to limit
and modify women's use of dyadic power. Hence, the
distribution of structural power circumscribes the way in which
women's dyadic power, which is high when women are in
undersupply, can be exercised.7
Table 1 shows trends in sex ratios in the United States over

the past two centuries. There is a marked difference between Whites
and Blacks. Notice that the rise of the feminist movement in the
United States (1960s and 70s)* coincides with the time period when
women began to outnumber men for the first time in American
society. A contributing factor to this change was war, both World
War II and the Korean War in the 40s and 50s, and the Vietnam War
in the 60s and 70s. For Blacks, it was shortly before the Civil War.
When one limits the data to the prime marrying years, the ratios are
even less favorable to women, except among Latinas (see Table 2).
The numbers are worsening for Black females today, in that
there are now only 2 males for every 3 Black females, with severe
consequences for die African American family in the United States.
The Hispanic family presents another scenario. Among
Mexican Americans the ratio of males to females is even slightly
higher than the overall total of 106.1 given in table 2. This is
primarily due to "differential migration," in that more men than
women come to the United States from Mexico. For example, 71
percent of migrant workers are men, and 80 percent of them are
between ages eighteen and forty-four, the prime marriage age.8 For
Cuban Americans, women greatly outnumber men, but this is
primarily due to age, since the Cuban population in the U.S. is
»
Betty Friedan's book The Feminine Mystique, which ushered in the movement, appeared
in 1963.
Males per 100 Females

United States 1790-1988
W hite B lack
1790 103.8
1800 104.0
1810 104.0
1820 103.2 103.4
1830 103.8 100.3
1840 104.5 99.4
1850 105.2 99.1
1860 105.3 99.6
1870 102.8 96.2
1880 104.4 97.7
1890 105.4 99.5
1900 104.9 98.6
1910 106.6 98.7
1920 104.4 99.2
1930 102.9 97.0
1940 101.2 95.0
1950 98.9 94.3
1960 97.3 93.3
1970 95.3 90.8
1980 94.8 89.6
1988 95.7 90.2
Table 1. Source: U.S. Bureau of the Census. Cited in Rodney Stark, Sociology, 4th ed. (Belmont,
CA: Wadsworth Publishing Co.,1991).
relatively older than the rest of the Latino/Latina population.9

Among Puerto Ricans the opposite is true: women outnumber men
to nearly the same extent as among Black Americans,10 and for the
same reasons: fetal deaths, infant mortality, drugs, violence, and
imprisonment.
In view of these differences among Hispanics, Guttentag
and Secord's theory suggests that the role of male/female relations
among Mexican Americans and Puerto Ricans should differ.
Evidence collected by Trevino bears out these differences: "Among
the three major Hispanic groups, 16.0 percent of the Cuban-
Americans were female-headed, 18.9 percent of Mexican Americans,
Sex Ratios Faced by Young

Unmarried American Women, 1980.
W h ite B la c k L a t in o
Unmarried men
23-27 per 100
unmarried women
20-24* 87 72 106.1
*Brides average nearly 3 years younger than their husbands. The age
range for Latinos on which this figure is computed is 25-44.
Table 2. Source: Stark, Sociology.
and 36.5 percent of Puerto Ricans."11 As for the number of

unmarried mothers, the theory suggests that where women
outnumber men there will be a greater number of unmarried
mothers. Of all births to unmarried mothers in 1988 (the year for the
latest information), Latinos as a group comprised 34 percent. Of this
figure, Cubans account for 16.3 percent, Mexicans for 30.6 percent,
and Puerto Ricans for over half, 53.3 percent.12
The implications of Guttentag and Secord's theory for
Hispanic culture and the concepts of machismo and hembrismo/
mariatiismo13 become evident against the backdrop of this theoretical
framework. Most interesting for our discussion, many of what are
often thought to be innate female characteristics may actually be
defense mechanisms against a social position of powerlessness.
Guttentag and Secord point out that the characteristics of nurturing,
domesticity, and affection typically attributed to women derive from
the mothering role, but that all the other attributes, such as
submissiveness, passivity, manipulative deviousness, irrationality,
or emotionality follow from their weaker social position in the face
of men's dominant power and authority, whether they be husbands,
bosses or social leaders. As most societies are set up, women are
dependent on men both at home and at the workplace, so that their
"one-down" position obligates them to use survival tactics that will
help them preserve their human need for freedom-to-be. Like racial
and ethnic groups or members of the lower socioeconomic classes,
women assert their power directly only at the risk of being

humiliated or crushed. The researchers conclude that "these
behavioral characteristics are not inherent, but that they emerge from
the social context."14
Sex Ratio Theory illuminates the following treatment of
male-female relational structures in Hispanic society in that it
provides a more scientific context in which to discuss gender values
and behaviors. Latino expressions of male-female relations can then
be used as a representative sociocultural model that characterizes
most world societies and that inevitably leaves its mark on the
church. Ultimately, this theory also permits us to avoid emotionally
charged language based on alleged "natural" or "divine" mandates
and look at the sociohistorical roots of male-female relations as they
are reflected in Adventist belief and practice.
Machismo and Marianismo
In the following treatment of the two most characteristic
manifestations of gender attitudes and their impact on male-female
relations in Hispanic society and in the church, we will begin by
briefly setting the discussion against the backdrop of medieval Spain
as the conflictive society from which most Latino/Latina values
derive. We will later show how these values are changing in the
context of American urban societies ("American" here means both
Latin America and the United States) and in the particular
environment of the Adventist Church.
Spain's history can best be understood from the perspective
of the intermittent conflicts and coexistence of three religiously-
diverse cultures: Arab, Jewish, and Christian. While it is true that the
Romans gave Spain its language (60 percent of Spanish derives from
Latin) and its religion (Roman Catholic), it is even more important to
understand the cultural impact of the conflicts waged between three
religions over the span of some eight hundred years on the Iberian
Peninsula. In contrast to the rest of Europe, Spain's crusades took
place in its own back yard, as it were, affecting both the
demographics and the Spanish world view in a very decisive way.
The influences of Jewish and Arabic culture on Christian Spain
during its formative years, long negated in the official history books
of the nation, help to explain the particular brand of machismo that
arose on the Peninsula and that was exported to the Americas. The
Spanish "conquistador," for example, can be adequately understood
only against the backdrop of eight centuries of religious wars on the
peninsula and the resulting importance assigned to the male as

"warrior for God." On the other hand, the unique characteristics of
the Spanish notion of "honor" easily arise from Arabic restrictions
surrounding women. It can safely be said that the religious and
patriotic conceptual roots of the Latino macho are firmly rooted in
Spain's history.
Machismo
Without a doubt, the behavioral structures surrounding the
male are the most fundamental and, therefore, the most influential
in Latino social life, both in Spain, Spanish America, and Spanish-
American culture as it exists in the United States. It is a framework
that is consonant with a society that Americo Castro characterized as
implacably centered on the individual rather than on the
collectivity.15 Even the classic Latino concern for the family must be
contextualized in light of the preeminence of the male and the
important role the family plays in preserving his social position.
What precisely is machismo? Machismo assumes the sole
and exclusive dominance of the male and the preservation of that
controlling position by subsuming the female. Because machismo
favors the male over the female in matters pertaining to individual
freedoms, it is often defined negatively. Jorge Gissi, for example,
defines machismo as "an oppressive ideology that divides people
into superior and inferior by their sex."16 The superiority of the
macho, though not explicit, is manifested implicitly at all levels: the
physical (the male is strong, resistant, and aggressive); the sexual
(the male has more energy, meaning that he needs more than one
woman); and the mental (males are more intelligent and less
emotional, thus more capable of leadership).
Machismo, in its best formulation, is an exaggerated
orientation toward life by which man see his role in society as being
one of protector, provider, and pursuer of woman.17 In its less heroic
form, it is expressed through violence or indifference toward women.
Ultimately, the strength assigned to the male is revealed in his view
of woman as his most valuable "possession" since, within the
marriage, her beauty, intelligence, talents, and acquiescence to his
will mark him as a privileged male. Once the macho has created the
woman in the image he has chosen, she can become the depository
of all the ideals assigned to her by the man, as will be seen later in
the discussion of marianismo.
There are many ways in which the male asserts his place
and role in Hispanic society. For one thing, the Latino must
perpetually "prove" to society that he is in charge, both as head of
household and provider. Since the macho is meant to be the sole
breadwinner of his family, remunerative work becomes an important
means of establishing his personhood. Despite the popular myth of
the "lazy Latin," work is the measure of the Latino's manhood. The
Spanish gamberro [the dissolute], for example, is held in contempt
precisely for shirking his work responsibilities and choosing to live
off of women. Gilmore points out that the earning of a large salary
is not necessary for the macho to establish his manhood. Ideally,
work represents sacrifice and service to the family.18 Although it
may come as a surprise, the Latina long has been allowed to work
not only in service roles (maids, farming, etc.), but as teachers,
doctors, nurses, lawyers, judges, and even as political figures of
prominence. However, these are prerogatives historically enjoyed by
upper-class or educated women (the issue of choice rather than
necessity is important here) who were never expected to create
policy, but rather to carry out male-initiated ground rules. Her role
in the workplace must contribute to preserving the male's place of
. respeto [respect] in society.
Another fundamental means through which the male
establishes his masculinity is through his sexual relations with the
woman in the pursuer role. Here the macho is allowed a certain
socially-approved "truancy," both prior to and after marriage, as a
kind of social compensation for his role as provider and protector.
Manuel Pena declares that this role of pursuer is often legitimized
with charritas coloradas [off-color jokes].19 The adolescent male is
permitted and possibly expected to have participated in
"promiscuous adventurism" as proof of his masculinity. After
marriage, a man proves his worth by the number of children,
particularly male children, he can engender. In southern Spain, for
example, a married man with no children is scorned even if he was
youthfully promiscuous;20 and barrenness is seen as his fault, even
if it is hers, a theme dealt with dramatically in Garcia Lorca's Yerma. *
So heavy is the weight of responsibility for the male to be
the economic and sexual "doer" that Hispanic society spurns the
*
In the play, the protagonist, Yerma (meaning "barren woman") lives a tortured
existence because her husband will not "give" her children.
man who does not seem to be actively proving his manhood. What
might be interpreted as theatricality is a survival mechanism of the
Latino who lives perpetually under the judgment of society. A man's
effectiveness is measured as others see him in action, where his
performance can be evaluated.21 Additionally, the macho can wield
his male prerogatives, sometimes regardless of moral correctness. In
fact, ethical behavior can be interpreted as effeminate, since moral
purity is effectively assigned to the woman.
On the other hand, it is important to note that behind the
term macho lies the Spanish concept of "honor," which is not based
on male sexual morality, but on a man's ability to walk the delicate
line between familial responsibility and the social expectations
surrounding his existence as a male. And here a corrective is in
order. The way the term macho is used in English, synonymous with
such terms as "tough," "insensitive," "sexually promiscuous," is not
a reflection of the Latino understanding of the term. In Spanish, to be
a macho means to be a socially responsible person who takes care of
his own with dignity and honor. Therefore, the true macho demands
respeto, especially from other males, for being a socially responsible
being, although not necessarily a sexually faithful one. This situation
explains why it is more important for the Latino male to be a man of
his word (keeping promises) than keeping faith with his wife. Tirso
de Molina's Don Juan, the model for all other Don Juan figures in
European literature, dies a truly macho death, preferring to keep a
foolhardy promise than repent from defiling the wedding bed.*
Marianismo
It was the Spanish philosopher, Jose Ortega y Gasset (1883-
1955), who once declared, in the purest of Latino macho traditions,
that "the destiny of woman is to be seen by man."22 Ortega did not
blush to admit that, in his perception, woman's only function was to
be the "object" of some word or act of gallantry. This passive,
objectifying view of the woman as a kind of invention of man, one
that is "present" when and as he wills, lies at the heart of Hispanic
culture as we know it even today. Insofar as she has been present by
*
It is significant, however, that Tirso, a seventeenth century Spanish monk, not only
disdains the philandering, irresponsible, and childless male, but condemns him on Christian
moral grounds for sexual promiscuity. There has always been a Christian corrective for
excessive macho behavior throughout the Spanish-speaking world, even when the Catholic
church protects male prerogatives over the female.
and for the man, the Latina has essentially been absent from society
except as a transitive entity limited in her ideal sphere of action. It is
this ideal existence of the woman in the mind of man that has come
to be called marianismo or hembrismo.
If machismo represents the endless activity and assertion of
the male ego, then hembrismo [femaleness], as an extension of
machismo, is the necessary secular, polar opposite of the macho's
aggressive search for honor and glory. The spiritualization of
hembrismo which is called marianismo, deriving from the Catholic
conceptualization of the Virgin Mary (in Spanish, la Virgen Maria),
conveys a kind of holy mystique that ever surrounds the ideal, long-
suffering woman created by the strongly patriarchal Hispanic
culture. The wife of the macho is ideally passive with respect to
activities outside the home and in her relationship with her husband.
Whether or not her husband's decisions benefit her or her family, she
will abide by his decisions. In her home, however, the ideal Latina is
an active entity, serving as the sole nurturer and instructor of her
children and sole guardian of the most highly-esteemed moral
values.
The concept of marianismo begins and ends with the
concept of "virginity," going well beyond mere physical purity. For
the centripetal male, the female must become the completing
opposite, the centrifugal depository of all the highest Christian
virtues, namely, humility, patience, abnegation, and self-effacement.
She must provide the moral and spiritual equilibrium his society
does not allow him. Because societal demands are so great on both
male and female, any deviation from these norms, particularly
female deviation, is seen as social treason.
The image of woman as social traitor arises out of a dialectic
virgin/whore complex seen in more traditional societies, where
women are often viewed as either one or the other. Due to a limited
male perception of the woman as an individual human entity with
the full range of human physical, intellectual, social and spiritual
needs, the category of la mujer traicionera [traitorous woman] can
include women not only involved in blatant sexual promiscuity, but
also women seen as spuming traditional values and behaviors
assigned to their gender.
Even within the permissive context in which the Latino
moves, vis-a-vis the female, there is a strong though limited moral
sense in the macho. With respect to the woman, that sense is directed
to the mother, inasmuch as she is the embodiment of the female

virtues the macho most needs and respects. As the almost sole and
indispensable means of holding the family together, she often wields
a kind of moral authority, even over the male. Curiously, there is no
special day dedicated to the mother in either Spain or Spanish-
America (except in Puerto Rico where the American calendar is used
and where, interestingly, Mother's Day festivities rival those of
Christmas and Easter). But the cult to the mother takes different
forms. Older women (mothers) are looked to for counsel, and even
younger mothers who display the preferred virtues are allowed to
function in the political, intellectual, and religious life of the
community.
Machismo and the Information Society:
Machismo/marianismo as a social phenomenon can best be
observed in countries where both the religious and the
socioeconomic aspects of life call for a centralized authoritative
system.23 Thus, because of Catholicism's strong communal ties
within a patriarchal society, machismo is most prevalent in those
countries where this religion has historically dominated—Italy,
France, Portugal, Poland, Spain, and all of Latin America. Protestant
societies with their strong sense of individualism and independence
have experienced a different kind of machismo, particularly in the
agrarian phases of social evolution, but not to the same exaggerated
degree as have the Mediterranean and Latin American societies.
From a socioeconomic point of view, machismo arises from
a communitarian approach to life in which the concern is with the
preservation of the community. It is a social response to the
economic, political structures of society, legitimized by religion. In
agrarian societies, for example, those with little or no infrastructure
(police protection, health-care and governance systems), machismo
had a positive function in that the reputation of a man to protect and
provide for his family extended beyond the family to the community
at large. In earlier times this reputation gave die male's family a
sense of security in what was otherwise an unprotected environment,
and it elicited a sense of respect from the community for what
belonged to this socially responsible man. The real macho, in early
agrarian contexts, was ideally the man who not only provided and
protected his family and his community, but who was the spiritual
guardian, preserving the religious underpinnings of society.
The shift to an industrial society and the movement of
people from the rural areas to the city in pursuit of economic

survival created an inevitable breakdown in male-female roles. The
need to protect the family was obviated in a context where economic
need drove the woman outside the home to the workplace. In some
cases, the woman might be the only one with a job, so that the role
of provider took on new meaning. In this kind of social context,
machismo began to take on a negative and even dysfunctional
dimension which tended to tear down rather than build up the
family. Although normally associated with the Industrial Revolution
of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, these changes began to
surface earlier. That the agrarian arrangement was already meeting
with difficulties as early as the conflictive Spanish sixteenth and
seventeenth centuries, for example, is evident in the many honor
plays written in Spain during this period.’ The "protection" of the
male had already become a straitjacket for the emerging
independence of the woman.
In the information society, with its finespun network of
communication and interchange, the role of the various members of
the family is experiencing further changes. With the availability of
services to all members of the family, attitude changes toward the
role that each member is to play in the well-being, maintenance, and
development of the family are needed. In this social context, a sense
of equality and mutuality contributes to family harmony. The
continued expression of machismo in this new environment tends to
be destructive to the survival of the family as a unit, since it forces
the various members of the family to adjust their legitimate needs
and functions to one inflexible member of the family. When the man
of the house continues to make unrealistic demands of his family,
limiting their social, educational, career, spiritual, and other forms of
development either by means of physical aggression or by pathetic
posturings, the vitality of the family is sapped.
The increase in divorce, so often attributed in funda
mentalist religious circles to women abdicating their "traditional"
place in the home (due to a kind of romanticizing of their place in
agrarian societies), can more fairly be laid at the feet both of sex ratio
realities and of male intransigence in adjusting to these
»
One need only consider the treatment of the theme by such notable playwrights as Lope
de Vega and Calderdn. In the latter's "El mfidico de su honra" ("Honor's Remedy"), the mere
suspicion of infidelity (created by hearsay) is enough to warrant the death of the wife.
socioeconomic realities which no longer favor the man over other

members of the family. This intractable attitude exists because social
change does not always result in a change of mindset. Although
living in a new social order, male-dominated institutions and
assumptions continue to operate from an anachronistic frame of
reference. This is especially true of people that come to an urban
setting from a rural one, as is the case for many first-generation
Latinos, Italians, and others from strong patriarchal/rural societies.
Clearly, industrialization and increased education in the
Spanish-speaking world, while creating greater intolerance for the
double standard of male-female behavior, have done little to
effectively replace the old standards of what constitutes a man or a
woman in Latino/Latina society. The increasing participation of
women in public life, and particularly in economic life, as a result of
high academic achievement, without the concomitant adjustments in
male-female relations, is creating a crisis in gender relations.24
However, despite what may seem to be an extremely rigid social
system, resocialization based on the virtues of both machismo and
marianismo can serve as a viable means within Hispanic society to
effect change in the patriarchal mode of social organization. To be
sure, much of that change is taking place all over the Spanish
speaking world, including the United States.
Adventism and the Latino Gender Myths
In the inevitable evolution of Latino/Latina roles, it is
important to remember the pivotal role of the Catholic church in the
preservation of the mythical dimensions of traditional roles. Church
doctrine with respect to birth control in the predominantly Catholic
countries of the Hispanic world is consistent with the church's
understanding of the role of women. On the one hand, it teaches that
the supposed equality of male and female is both false and
unnatural, and that both pain in childbirth and her subjection to her
husband were mandated by God. Even a progressive leader such as
Pope John XXIII, though lamenting the fact that women's rights are
not sufficiently recognized, consoles women by reminding them that
the purpose for which they were created was maternity. Maternity,
nurture, and sacrifice are the natural functions of the woman,
according to this doctrine.25
Adventism stands significantly on the opposite side of
Catholicism as a Protestant religion rising out of nineteenth-century
American Victorianism and the Protestant ethic.*26 Whereas Latino/

Latina individuality grows out of a Hispano-Arabic and Catholic
identity based on who one is by birth, the American Protestant ethic
allows the individual to "outgrow" social origin and station by dint
of personal effort/27 In fact, one is what one has achieved,
regardless of origin. In Hispanic culture, education is possibly the
only route of escape from a disadvantaged beginning, whether it be
due to race, social station, or gender. The Protestant values
independence, self-sufficiency, and hard work, no matter how
humble, while the Hispano-Catholic ethic values only the
independence of the male, even as it sustains the social
interdependence that gives so much importance to the family and the
community (including respect to parents and the elderly). Neither
the Protestant nor the Catholic mindset allows for women to assume
significant roles outside the home: Remunerative labor is valued
exclusively for the male. However, it will be the Protestant and
pioneering spirit of nineteenth-century United States that will give
birth to a religion that insists on the full humanity of women:
Seventh-day Adventism.
On the one hand, Adventism, as espoused by Ellen White,
rejected those elements of Victorianism and Catholicism that
imprisoned women. Given the urgency of the Advent, the Adventist
*
In general, Catholicism represents a communitarian orientation to life, whereas
Protestantism sustains a more individualistic view. Andrew Greeley suggests that herein lies
the fundamental difference between these two Christian religions. Machismo comes out of a
communitarian approach to the preservation of the community, but it also arises out of the
Hispano-Arabic brand of individualism that places individual freedom above the interests of
the group, specifically in the male. This kind of individual independence is manifest in the
Latino disregard for certain social rules.
+ Max Weber and Emile Durkheim—two of the founding fathers of sociology—held that
these two different approaches to life and group relations impact the economic development
of societies and the individual's relationship to society, respectively. Weber held that the
Protestant focus on individual achievement led to economic success, while the communitarian
ethic of Catholicism tended to impede education and economic achievement. For Durkheim,
the relationship between communal integration and a low incidence of suicide in Catholic
countries stood out in sharp contrast to the individualism and high rate of suicide prevalent
in Protestant countries. Even so, the heroic dimensions of the Hispano-Arabic individual find
expression in such literary figures as Don Quixote, whose wrong-headed idealism reflects a
deep-seated macho longing for ultimate glory and fame while pursuing noble goals, including
sacrificial fidelity to the female beloved.
woman was not to waste her time in preparing delicacies of food and
dress for her family, as required by Victorian precept. She was to be
health-minded and efficient in all her domestic work so that she
might have time free to teach and preach the Advent gospel. In
comparison with Hispanic machismo/marianismo, Adventism will
not assign domestic duties and child-rearing exclusively to the
woman. Her husband must be an effective "king" in his collaboration
with the "queen" mother in the instruction and guidance of the
children. The sole fidelity of the father to the mother is implied in
this concept of male and female as team members. At the same time,
Adventism teaches that every individual is responsible for his or her
own salvation. Man cannot be saved by the "madonna" mother—the
Virgin Mary, the Mother of God—nor woman through childbearing,
as Paul seems to imply in 1 Tim. 2:15. The Protestant concept of
salvation as a gift given generously by God to all humanity breaks
with the Catholic notion that equality of male and female is
unnatural.
Furthermore, the call to preach the gospel is given to both
men and women. Woman cannot abdicate her responsibilities in this
regard, even with those duties connected with the care of the home
and children. Ellen White goes so far as to suggest that capable
women should leave their children in the care of trustworthy child
caretakers so that the work of the Lord might be advanced. As to
the Christian virtues of patience and humility, Adventism once again
sustains the doctrine of the spiritual equality of male and female.
Humility and service are Christian, not solely feminine, virtues.
Christ gave the example of all the Christian virtues as a male of the
species. Likewise, the call to Christian virtue in preserving the
sanctity of marriage is expected of both husband and wife. It is no
longer the male honor that must be protected, but that of God.
Finally, the Adventist understanding of the Imago Dei
(image of God) departs substantially from Catholicism in its
insistence on both male and female equally as the image of God.
Liberation, in this context, is understood to mean man and woman's
freedom to be fully human, fulfilling their shared destiny, not as each
other's captives, but as "prisoners of hope" in Jesus Christ.
Implications
Adventism arose in an atmosphere of social unrest that
was meant to change the lot of women, a socio-historical fact that
should not be lost on Adventists of any culture entering the twenty-
first century. The revaluation of woman was the necessary setting for
a religious movement that was to usher in the ultimate kingdom of
God. Ellen White saw the Advent gospel as a form of freedom from
socially imposed mores on both men and women so that the gospel
might have full priority and all might participate in its dissemination
and benefits.
There is no doubt that the liberating concepts of Adventism
were well received in the Spanish-speaking world, particularly by
women. Under the aegis of this gospel, the woman could, in good
conscience, limit the number of children she brought into a world
living on borrowed time. She could assert her socially approved role
as "keeper of the faith" even in the face of opposition by her
husband, and, regardless of her social origins or economic status, she
could become a spiritual leader in the community of the church.
Together with the spiritual power of the Advent message,
the call to matrimonial and parental responsibility, as well as the
invitation to take on a difficult, challenging task (the preaching of the
Advent), also had its appeal to the Latino, offering him a way of
being truly virtuous while still being fully a man in the eyes of
society.
Unfortunately, Ellen White has often been read selectively
to preserve the traditional place of woman in Hispanic society
(although this kind of reading of Ellen White is hardly limited to
Latinos). Spiritualizing Ellen White on a kind of madonna model has
allowed for a characteristically Latino reading and understanding of
her practical advice on Christian belief and practice. While they have
embraced the Protestant understanding of individual freedom and
salvation, Hispanics still cling largely to Hispano-Catholic
assumptions in their social and domestic male/female relations. The
ensuing dialectical tension between a theology of Protestant
individualism and Catholic social stratification calls for a high level
of spiritual and intellectual integrity, in both men and women, to
overcome.
Conclusion
Although we have here been concerned mostly with Latino
culture, Sex Ratio Theory as applied to Latino/Latina mores and
values has clear implications for the increasingly diverse Adventist
church.
We can easily see parallels between the church and North
American society. Adventist men, as do men in society at large, still
wield both dyadic power (power in the hands of the gender in short
supply) and structural power, and they continue be the chief shapers
of religious practice and belief within the Adventist Church. As in
our society, Adventist women outnumber Adventist men
(membership is made up of over 60 percent women). Outside the
United States and Canada, the female church membership most
certainly parallels and in some places possibly exceeds that of the
North American church. Because of low sex ratios in the Adventist
Church, women members are officially valued for their contribution
to sustaining the status quo. This "maintenance" role to which
women are held is consistent with the withholding of personal rights
and freedoms seen in society at large (although, unfortunately,
correctives are more aggressively being applied to this imbalance
outside the church than inside). In the church, gender inequality is
further legitimized by a male-dominated biblical hermeneutic
(whether espoused by male or female) that plays down the implicit
and explicit biblical teachings regarding male-female equality to
favor a "headship" theology that implies male superiority. Although
this type of thinking tends to inform church organizational practice,
it is to the church's credit that there exists another theology that
underscores the essential and effective equality of male and female.
As the church enters the next century, the Global Age, an
era in which the world church's needs will assume a higher profile,
the important implications of this discussion of Latino/Latina gender
issues will become evident. If under the white Anglo male paradigm,
White women find themselves at a disadvantage when it comes to
sharing in the development of acceptable belief and practice in the
church, women of color all over the world, historically and socially
at the bottom of the socioeconomic ladder inside and outside of the
church, face even greater challenges in this regard.
This essay is a call to return to the sources of Adventism
(the Bible and the writings of Ellen White) to find a new paradigm
that crosses gender and national boundaries in order to find the
essential gospel of freedom and human dignity that lies at the very
heart of the Christian and the Adventist message to the world. It is a
call to base Adventist belief and practice on spiritual integrity rather
than on social expediency. It is an appeal to build a more inclusive,
operative paradigm for a world church that must affirm and actively
accord the full freedoms and responsibilities to women that their
humanity, created by an all-knowing God, guarantees them.
Notes
1 Margaret Mead, Sex and Temperament in Three Primitive Societies (New York: Morrow
Quill Paperbacks, 1935) and the Rosabeth Moss Kanter Men and Women o f the Corporation (New
York: Basic, 1977).
2 Scott J. South and Katherine Trent, "Sex Ratios and Women's Roles: A Cross-National
Analysis," American Journal o f Sociology 93:5 (March 1988): 1096-1115.
3 Marcia Guttentag and Paul F. Secord, Too Many Women? The Sex Ratio Question (Beverly
Hills, CA: Sage Publications, 1983), 19-21.
4 Ibid., 23.
5 Ibid.
6 Ibid., 26.
7 Ibid., 1097.
8 Department of Labor statistics published in USA Today, February 25,1992.
9 Ibid., 367.
10 Ibid.
11 Fernando M. Trevino, et. al., The feminization o f Poverty among Hispanic Households (San
Antonio, TX: The Tom&s Rivera Center, Trinity University, 1988), 6.
12 U.S. Bureau of the Census, Statistical Abstract o f the United States: 1991 (111th edition.)
Washington, DC, 1991.
13 See "Machismo and Hembrismo," chap. 4 in Eugene A. Nida, Understanding Latin
Americans (South Pasadena, CA: William Carey Library, 1974).
14 Guttentag and Secord, 240-241.
15 Americo Castro, De la edad conflictiva: crisis de la cultura espahola en el siglo XVII
(Madrid: Taurus, 1972).
16 Jorge Gissi, cited in Enrique Dussel, Liberacidn de la mujer y erdtica latinoamericana
(Bogota: Edit. Nueva America, 1980), 64.
17 For a further elaboration of this definition and understanding of machismo, see Caleb
Rosado, Women/Church/God: A Socio-Biblical Study (Riverside, CA: Loma Linda University
Press, 1990).
18 David D. Gilmore, Manhood in the Making: Cultural Concepts o f Masculinity (New
Haven: Yale University Press, 1990), 42.
19 Manuel Pena, "Class, Gender, and Machismo: The 'Treacherious-Woman' Folklore of
Mexican Male Workers," Gender & Society, 5:1 (March 1991): 30-46.
20 Gilmore, Manhood, 41.
21 Ibid., 35.
22 Jos6 Ortega y Gasset, El hombre y la gente, vol. 1 (Madrid: Revista de Occidente, 1962),
165-69.
23 For a further elaboration of this thesis, see Rosado, Women/Church/God.
24 See Judith Teresa Gonzalez, "Dilemmas of the High-Achieving Chicana: The Double-
Bind Factor in Male/Female Relationships," Sex Roles vol. 18:7/8 (1988).
25 Mary Porter and Corey Venning, "Catholicism and Women's Role in Italy and
Ireland," in Lynne B. Iglitzin and Ruth Ross, eds., Women in the World: A Comparative Study
(Santa Barbara, CA: Clio Books, 1976), 53.
26 Andrew Greeley, "Protestant and Catholic: Is the Analogical Imagination Extinct?"
American Sociological Review 54 (August 1989): 485-502.
27 Greeley, Protestant, 486; see The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit o f Capitalism (New York:
Scribners, 1958); see Suicide (New York: The Free Press, 1951).
28 Ellen G. White, Gospel Workers (Washington, DC: Review & Herald, 1948), 452-53.
by Ramona Perez Greek
overty in today's world impacts women and children in

ways that are worthy of the attention of the Seventh-
day Adventist Church engaged, as it is, in worldwide
mission outreach. This study focuses on the causes and
issues surrounding poverty and women, and it attempts to analyze
the implications of the feminization of poverty for the church.
The term "feminization of poverty" suggests that to be poor
is to be female. This phenomenon is graphically evident in the
appalling statistics displayed by research. According to statistics
cited in The Washington Post,1 women, as a majority of the poor,
work the longest hours, earn the lowest pay, and receive the fewest
benefits. In 1992 the World Population Data Sheet reported that a full
two-thirds of the world's poor are women.
The number of women in rural areas who live in poverty in
developing countries is estimated by the United Nations to be 56.5
million, a fifty percent increase over the past fifteen years compared
to a thirty percent increase for men. Governed by survival needs
involving domestic labor, child care, and agricultural work, Third
World women are working sixty to ninety hours a week. Due to
heavy involvement in the economy of these nations, women and
children suffer most when their country has economic problems. A
case in point is the economic recession that hit hardest at women in
135
Africa, where malnutrition among women and girls is considerably

higher than among men and boys.
There are five major factors that contribute to the imbalance
in poverty statistics: family instability, ways of thinking, illiteracy,
abuse, and socioeconomic inequities.
Family Instability
Family instability all over the world, further strained by
economic realities, has led to an increased number of woman-headed
households. Sex-based differences in income-earning possibilities
make these households universally the poorest. Even in a relatively
prosperous country such as the United States, women are earning
only 72 cents to the man's dollar in salaries.
Generally speaking, in the United States, there is a growing
minority of persons who are poor for longer periods of time, many
of them members of female-headed households.2 In a study on
poverty among Latinas, an increase was found in the number of
female-headed families which have experienced an economic
decline.3 Poverty becomes a reality to single mothers because they
generally have low earning capacity, lack of sufficient child support
from absent fathers, and low benefits from public assistance in
comparison to other groups.4
In countries where agriculture is the principal activity and
there is a surplus of agricultural labor, men usually migrate to jobs
in towns, leaving women to run the farms. The feminization of
subsistence agriculture exists in countries such as Africa, Poland,
Portugal, Yemen, and Pakistan.5 In Latin America and Asia,
researchers speak of a "feminization of poverty" caused by mass
migrations of rural families to large cities. Single mothers become
isolated and overextended in their slum environments, and families
begin to disintegrate as men are forced to keep on the move in search
of work.
Ways of Thinking
China exemplifies another contributing factor to feminine
poverty. How a culture thinks and how things get done as a result of
that thinking have a powerful influence on women who belong to
traditional societies. For example, the social transformation that
China experiences as it slowly abandons Marxist social ideals in
136
favor of older Confucianist cultural

traditions feeds the prevailing view The Hours
that women are inherently inferior. Rural Women
Attitudes toward women Spend Each Week
also influence choices and Drawing Water
decisions. Recently, a New York
judge6 handed down a five-year Africa:
probation to a Chinese immigrant
who admitted bludgeoning his wife Senegal 17.5
to death. The light sentence was
justified partly because of tradi Mozambique
tional Chinese attitudes toward Dry season 15.3
female adultery. The persistence of Wet season 2.9
perceptions regarding the inherent
inferiority of women is evident in Botswana
fetal testing procedures that allow Rural area 5.5
women to dispose of their female Ghana 4.5
child before birth, a practice that
continues to be used in China, Burkina Faso 4.4
Korea, India, and other countries.7
Encouraged by myths Ivory Coast 4.4
relating to the value of male over
female, some countries perpetrate Kenya
abuses on women that would be Dry season 4.2
unthinkable in others. In one recent Wet season 2.9
survey conducted by the Indian
government's Department of Asia:
Women and Child Development,
India
out of the 1,250 women questioned,
Baroda region 7.0
more than half admitted to having
killed baby daughters. Nepal, South Nepal 4.7
Korea, and Taiwan are other
nations that prefer sons to daugh Pakistan 3.5
ters, since these are cultures that
have chosen to perpetuate the
Compiled by the Statistical Office of the
family line through the male. In
United Nations Secretariat from local
South Asia young women are survey studies and reports, reprinted in
bartered off as wives with little The World's Women: Trends and Statistics,
education and no knowledge of 1970-1990.
Myths and Facts about Women

M YTH: Women do FACT: All "able-bodied" members
not work for family (children, grandparents, women, men, etc.)
income and the of both rural and urban poor families work
earnings of adult as a means of survival. Furthermore, it is
men support all estimated that one out of every three
other members in families worldwide is headed by a woman.
the nuclear or
extended family.
M YTH: Women are FACT: Women provide nearly half the

not farmers. agricultural labor throughout the world,
and in many countries produce the vast
majority of food for family consumption.
In areas of Africa, Asia, and Latin America
where slash-and-bum agriculture persists,
women are responsible for growing most of
the food once men have cleared the jungle.
In near-subsistence societies women do
most of the back-breaking weeding, which
can be extremely difficult in tropical areas.
Women participate in planting and
harvesting.
M YTH: Animal FACT: An assumption worldwide is that

tending is a man's men own, raise, and tend cattle, sheep, and
domain. domestic animals. In many countries,
however, women own cattle although their
rights to the use and sale of animals vary
with regional and local custom. Women
are also more likely than men to care for
animals raised for family consumption, as
well as to milk the animals and to process
milk into cheese and butter. In Latin
America, the findings of a study in one
region showed women to have primary
responsibility for livestock in 88 per cent of
subsistence households.
birth control to spend most of the rest of their youth and adulthood
in a state of pregnancy, hoping for a son. While traveling in China
recently, this author learned from the official New China News
Agency that there were so many cases of female infanticide in a
particular province that half a million bachelors could not find wives,
men outnumbering women their age by ten to one.
Although the Prophet Muhammad encouraged women to
be vibrant and independent, various puritanical sects in Muslim
countries have made their women pay a high price for exercising that
freedom. According to Khalida Messaoudi, past president of an
Algerian women's organization, radical Islamic groups begin their
reformist activities with women because the latter are the "weakest
link in these societies."8 Travelers throughout the Arab world will
find women having difficulty acquiring or holding jobs requiring
contact with the general public. In shopping malls, male salesclerks
tend store counters, even when the items for sale are women's items.
The insistence on a belief that women seen in public
provoke immoral thoughts and behavior is related to another myth:
women should not have interest in sexual pleasure, even in marriage.
The African custom of female "circumcision" is a practice that is
dying a hard death in some twenty-four Black African nations,
Egypt, and the Sudan. More than 80 million African women have
been subjected to this procedure based on the belief that women
should not have sexual enjoyment.9
Although women are prized as workers in most of the
Third World, they can enjoy few if any of the rewards of their labors.
In a small Himalayan village of Benru, a study noted that women in
the village did 59 percent of the work, often laboring fourteen hours
a day, carrying loads weighing one-and-one-half times their body
weight. By their late thirties these women have aged prematurely
and soon die. Karen and Ron Flowers from the Family Life
Department of the General Conference shared that on one occasion
on an international trip they found "grandmothers" nursing young
infants. When they asked about this unusual practice, they were told
that these were mothers of about thirty years of age, nursing their
own babies.
Illiteracy
Illiteracy is yet another factor that breeds the feminization
of poverty. In China alone, women comprise eighty percent of the
country's illiterate or semiliterate population. A new survey by the

All China Federation of Trade Unions revealed that seventy percent
of jobless young people in the cities are female. In Pakistan, about
ninety percent of the women over age twenty-five are illiterate, and
in some rural states, less that two percent of women can read and
write.
More Myths and Facts about Women

M YTH: Women's FACT: Women are perceived as earning
money does not "small cash" by selling a few eggs or woven
contribute baskets. They do not earn income sufficiently
significantly. to provide, partly or totally, for the most
basic needs of their families. The assumption
continues that women spend their scant
earnings on minutia. The opposite is true. In
modernizing countries women contribute all
their earnings, but men only part of theirs to
family support. And among poor families,
women's income is critical to survival. In
Cameroon, women farmers supply over 40
per cent of real family income, on the
average. Rural women in Nepal do more
work than men in agriculture, animal
husbandry, and food processing, with
women and girls providing over half the total
family income.
M YTH: Women F A C T : In West Africa, Central America, and

don't understand Southeast Asia, women vendors have
business. traditionally dominated local markets selling
fresh produce, prepared foods, baskets, and
other home-made products. In recent years,
many of the women of developing countries
have moved into large-scale production and
trading in textiles, finished clothing, and cane
furniture production. One example is in
Ghana where the leading manufacturer of
orange drink and marmalade is a woman.
From "Forward-Looking Strategies for the Advancement of Women" adopted by governments

at the 1985 Nairobi Conference.
Worldwide the educational gap is distressing. Of the

world's one billion illiterates, two-thirds are women. Obstacles to
educational paths for women are varied. In developing countries girls
are withdrawn from school years before boys so that they can remain
at home to carry water, work the fields, raise younger siblings, and
help with other domestic chores. The lack of education opportunities
locks generations of women into a cycle of poverty. It is clear that if
women and their children worldwide are to survive, they must be
given the skills that will allow them to break out of the cycle.
To be sure, much depends on the literacy factor. The recent
United Nations International Conference on Population and
Development in Cairo, Egypt, concluded that as long as women are
mired in illiteracy and oppression, there will be no progress on
population-related issues.10 Ruethetf supports that conclusion
when she states that population control is inescapably related to
social justice issues, and that population cannot be controlled unless
issues of social equity become an integral part of the whole plan of
development.
Abuse
Female-focused violence has reached levels that call for
international attention and action by both society and the church.
Research indicates, first of all, that the problem of abuse is global. In
her study, Heise concludes that women are more frequently abused
because they are perceived as "safe" targets and because men see
violence as an acceptable way to resolve conflicts in general.12
Commenting on the global nature of wife-battering, Dorothy Q.
Thomas, director of the Project of Human Rights Watch, says: "There
is not a single country in the world where violence against women
is not a significant problem."
In Bangkok, Thailand, a reported fifty percent of married
women are beaten regularly by their husbands. Eighty percent of
women in Quito, Ecuador, are said to have been physically abused.
And in Nicaragua, forty-four percent of men admit to beating their
wives or girlfriends. Wife beating is common in Kenya as the
acceptable way to "discipline" women.
Today in African and Asian countries, female circumcision
is widely performed, despite the fact that it carries serious medical
risks and impairs a woman's capacity for sexual enjoyment. Because
of its deleterious effect on women, female circumcision must be
classified as abuse.
In India, bridal dowry disputes led husbands to kill more

than five thousand wives in 1991. Brides are murdered by their
husbands when parents fail to provide a sizeable enough dowry. A
1991 "America's Watch" reports that in Brazil a man can kill his wife
and be acquitted on grounds of "honor." Due to the rampant
violence against women in that South American nation, there are
seventy all-female police stations in Brazil. Without going beyond
our own borders, statistics indicate that domestic violence is the
leading cause of injury and death to American women.
Socioeconomic Inequities
It is important to note that there are different ways women
measure inequities. In the United States and Europe, women often
see gender disparities in terms of pay scales and seats in corporate
board rooms, while women in the Third World gauge injustice by
mortality rates and poverty levels.
Nonetheless, the workplace, worldwide, is still the greatest
revealer of inequities. The results of research underscore the
importance of women's work, paid and unpaid, to the national
economy and the family. Women are the key labor force for
subsistence agriculture; they run seventy percent of all small
businesses; more than one third of the world's households are
supported by women; they produce, process, and market eighty
percent of the food consumed in countries like Africa; and despite
this considerable contribution to the well-being of their societies,
women's voices are rarely consulted by decision-making bodies. This
imbalance results in major gaps and skewed world views. As fully
over one half of the world's human capital, the work of women must
be balanced by their ability to participate in social, economic, and
political decision-making.
The Church and the Challenge
What can and should the church do to help diminish a
woman's chances of falling inexorably into the poverty cycle? In
order to answer that question, it will be useful first to consider the
singular respect the Christian religion assigns to the individual
human as a God-created being. The inherent worth of every human
soul redeemed by the blood of Jesus Christ goes counter to valuing
individuals for their mere utility. Ellen White once stated that a
woman should not be prized for the amount of work she can do, as
though she were a beast of burden.13 She consistently underscored
the husband/wife, father/mother models as reflective of the

king/queen paradigm.
In light of the high calling of woman both in Scripture and
in the belief system of the Seventh-day Adventist Church, the latter
can create a safe environment in which families can come for support
and direction. It can include women trained in mental health and
counseling as Family Life Directors. There is need for a church-
sponsored peer-listening training program at one of our institutions
of higher learning. Interested church members can come for training
and return to their local fields as support persons prepared with
sensitive listening to conduct ministries of compassion creating an
atmosphere of healing and growth.
The church can practice the principles of justice, mercy, and
love by affirming the worth of all people. This will work to dispel the
myths about women's perceived inferiority in the various countries
where Adventist work exists. At all levels of church operation,
bringing women's perspectives, strategies, and contributions into
greater visibility will serve to educate the global church on the real
merit of its women. It is vital to use balanced reporting in publishing
church growth indicators and outcomes by giving a comprehensive
picture of women, their presence and their work, within the church.
Christian principles can be most visible in the integration
of women into critical areas that impact change affecting them. The
church can reflect this value-added diversity and composition in its
church boards, advisories, and committees. Having women fully
represented at every level of planning, consultation, action, and
implementation recognizes that a woman's experience can bring
critically important information and insights to the discussion.
Women's involvement reinforces the correlation of the power of
ownership to participation and commitment in church work and
church life.
The church can explore and identify barriers that keep
women and men from understanding each other and utilizing the
gifts of all in meaningful ways. It can establish a taskforce for
evangelizing women worldwide and exploring the implications of
this work for the church. Evangelism from this unique perspective
will need to focus on family instability, hunger, poverty, and related
issues.
In the area of illiteracy the church can sponsor adult literacy
programs. Teaching women to read impacts the spiritual dimension
of women's lives as well as their children's. Women can work with

women in this area of skill development. The Adventist
Development and Relief Agency (ADRA) can play a significant role
in matching women students with their countries of origin. In the
United States Latina youth can be assigned to Spanish-speaking
countries; Asian youth can work with people in Asia.
As for abuse, the church can address this issue by taking a
proactive stance and by refusing to tolerate abuse within the church
family. The church will always recognize and prize the human body
as the temple of the living God. Because violence against women cuts
across all cultures and all socioeconomic groups and impacts many
areas of life, the church should take a strong position against the sin
of abuse as a violation of human dignity.
Education of the membership to raise awareness about
abuse may include the organization of shelters to provide refuge for
abused women and children, education on the sexism that underlies
violence, and organizing education and awareness initiatives.
Support groups can be educational as well as healing for victims and
perpetrators. Here families can discuss what it means to be the
temple of God, effective and ineffective communication, how
violence is learned and transmitted from one generation to another,
how disagreement is inevitable, some nonviolent ways of expressing
anger, and culture-specific influences on communication between
genders. These groups can explore the perception of various roles in
the family system, identify sources of those roles (i.e., traditional
rules, society, religion, etc.), and analyze how masculine and
feminine behaviors relate to the use of violence.
Conclusion
The church is now in a unique position to make a
multifaceted difference for women as an unreached population
group. Making a significant difference in the lives of women
shattered by pain and ignorance can only benefit us. Being
accountable for the stewardship of humanity is an important element
of our global mission.
The Adventist Church does well to recognize that the old
models of exclusion no longer work and that the challenge of
inclusiveness must be taken seriously. Women and men should be
urged to come together as equal partners with a common purpose of
sustaining church, family, and society while waiting for the Lord's
return. Our church must reflect a unique style of communication that
is characterized by respect, diversity, flexibility, empowerment,

partnership, sharing, trust, and love.
Can these lofty goals be realized? Only if they are
internalized as personal values, and not merely imposed through
external pressures prompted by economics, politics or personal gain.
Matt. 3:2 reminds us that . . the kingdom of God is within you."
Paul suggests that the "natural" person isn't capable of receiving the
"things of the Spirit of God; for they are foolishness unto him [or
her]" (1 Cor. 2:14). The call to justice and mercy is a call to the
cultivation of the "spiritual man," for when the kingdom of God is
absent from the inner person, neglect, abuse, and violence abound.
Conversely, the internalization of the kingdom of God will manifest
itself in acts of justice and mercy: liberation of the oppressed, care for
the hurting, sharing God's resources with the needy, and
empowering people.
Notes
1 "Third World: Second Class" (a five-part series on poverty in developing nations), The
Washington Post (February 14,1993).
2 See Frank Levy, Dollars and Dreams: The Changing American Income Distribution (New
York: Russell Sage Foundation, 1987).
3 Fernando M. Trevino, Dorothy B. Trevino, Christine A. Stroup, Laura Ray, "The

Feminization of Poverty Among Hispanic Households" (presented at the Seminar on
Persistent Poverty Among Hispanics, The Tom4s Rivera Center, Trinity University, San
Antonio, Texas, April 8,1988).
4 Irwin Garfinkel and Sara McLanahan, Single Mothers and Their Children: A New American
Dilemma (Washington, D.C.: Urban Institute Press, 1986), 11.
5 "Third W orld," Washington Post.
6 Lori Heise, "The Global War Against Women," The Washington Post (April 8,1989): B l-
B2.
7 "Asia: Discarding Daughters," Time 136 (1990): 40.
8 Lisa Beyer, "Life Behind the Veil," Time 136 (1990): 37.
9 Ibid., 39.
10 Daniel C. Maguire, "Cairo Consensus," Christian Century (October 12,1994).

11 Rosemary Radford Ruether, "Rich Nations/Poor Nations: Towards a Just World Order
in the Era of Neo-Colonialism," Proceedings o f the Theology Institute o f Villanova University
(Villanova, PR: University Press, 1991).
12 Heise, "Global War."
13 Ellen G. White, The Adventist Home (Mountain View, CA: Pacific Press Pub. Assoc.,
1940), 114.
GLllen (JtfPhite
the omen's
(lig h ts C Movement
o f the
’ dH'ineteenth
&enturp
by Jeanne W. Jordan
— n a letter to John Adams, while he was attending the

f / Second Continental Congress in the Spring of 1776,
^ ^ Abigail Adams made an historic appeal on behalf of
women. Often cited in the annals of women's rights in
America, it reads thus:
. . . and by the way in the new Code of Laws which I suppose it

will be necessary for you to make I desire you would Remember
the Ladies, and be more favourable to them than your ancestors.
Do not put such unlimited power into the hands of Husbands.
. . . If perticular care and attention is not paid to the Ladies, we
are determined to foment a Rebelion and will not hold ourselves
147
accountable for any Laws in which we have no voice or

representation.1
Her husband's reply is perhaps not so oft-quoted: "As to

your extraordinary Code of Laws, I cannot but laugh."2 His
reference to her request as the "first intimation" of "another tribe"
wanting its rights establishes her statement as the genesis of the
nineteenth-century women's rights movement. In the rest of his
response, Adams coyly suggests that such a code would remove the
last male bastion of independence, since, in reality, men "are the
subjects . . . [and] have only the Name of Masters."3
Ellen White's only written statement on the women's rights
movement, sometimes cited as support for those wishing to discredit
the movement, responds neither to Abigail Adams' adamant stance
nor to John Adams' patronizing reception of his wife's suggestion.
In the first volume of Testimonies for the Church, Mrs. White wrote:
"Those who feel called out to join the movement in favor of woman's
rights and the so-called dress reform might as well sever all
connection with the third angel's message." (1T:421)* Another
statement of Ellen White more closely linked to women's rights
issues than dress reform, is not perhaps, so oft-quoted: "I do not
recommend that woman should seek to become a voter or office
holder.. . . " (RH, 19 Dec. 1878:194)
Of prime importance to an understanding of these
quotations are the full context and historical setting from which we
may safely make inferences applicable to the present. It is the
purpose of this chapter to examine this background in order to
achieve such an understanding and thus to provide a climate in
which we can reconcile Abigail Adams and her successors with Ellen
White.
Perhaps the most striking consideration in the relationship
of women and the Adventist Church is that the birth of the women's
rights movement in the United States is concurrent with the
beginning of the Adventist movement. And the one privilege the
women of that time sought before ever seeking the vote and other
concessions of equality was the right to be heard in public on matters
of social reform. At the very time that women speakers, generally
*
All references from Ellen G. White will be given in the text. A list of abbreviations used
for her works is provided at the end of this chapter.
Ellen White and the Women's Rights Movement of the 19th Century 149
scorned and humiliated, were being refused the public platform,

Ellen White was preaching and lecturing, encouraging women to
enter the public gospel and reform work.
When other women were hiding behind male pseudonyms
to ensure the publication of their work, Ellen White was writing and
publishing voluminously under her own name. By contrast, one of her
contemporaries was lamenting: "When I wrote my first book, I was
gravely warned by some of my female acquaintances that no woman
could expect to be regarded as a lady after she had written a book."4
During this time when marriage as a means of financial survival was
virtually the only option available to a woman, Ellen White wrote that
"a woman should be trained to earn a living" (AH 91).
Even a superficial look at Ellen White's life will reveal just
how "liberated" she was vis-a-vis other women of her time. When
women were struggling to get into higher education, she was
involved in establishing coeducational colleges. At a time when
women were suffering setback after setback in their attempts to enter
the professions, Mrs. White was pleading for the training of women
as physicians "to serve the needs of women" (9T 176). Despite the
fact that women had few wage-earning prospects and that, in most
states, they could legally hold no property of their own (even
property owned legally prior to marriage became the husband's),
Ellen White was insisting that women be paid for their gospel work,
even, if need be, out of the.tithe (Ms., 149,1899, italics supplied).
The list of these contrasts between Ellen White and her
contemporaries goes on and on. In view of her own broad-minded
views on women and the public furor over the women's rights
movement of her day, it may come as a surprise that Ellen White
offered so little on the subject. Even so, her views on women seem
rather to affirm than disdain what contemporary feminists were
attempting to attain. For each statement by Ellen White that seems
to confine woman to "her sphere" and to restrict her liberties both in
the workplace and in the political arena, one can find a statement
encouraging her to step into full equality with men and reach for
greater heights of accomplishment.
History of the Women's Rights Movement
As a means of contextualizing Mrs. White's prohibitions
against joining the women's rights movement or seeking the right to
vote and holding public office, we will review the history of
women's struggle for equality.
The beginnings of this struggle are traced by historians to

various sources. Although John Adams spoke of Abigail's request to
"Remember the Ladies" as the first such feminist suggestion, there
are earlier instances of such ideas and earlier examples of women
swimming against the tide of prevailing opinion. One we dare not
omit, among the many we shall have to ignore in our limited
overview, is Anne Hutchinson.
Because of her preaching activities with women in the
1630s, Mrs. Hutchinson might be considered the founder of the first
women's club. In the civil and religious trials brought against her for
her weekly meetings, "Hutchinson brought into focus questions that
bore directly on issues of sexual equality and the role of women.. ." 5
In the face of Governor Winthrop's objection that too much reading
made women insane, Hutchinson insisted that women should be free
to teach and preach.6 In her weekly meetings with the women of the
colony, Anne Hutchinson tried to reinterpret God as kind and loving
rather than vengefully dangling sinners over hell or, in that time of
high infant mortality, consigning dead infants to hell. For this
"slightinge of God's faythfull Ministers" and for doing something as
"unseemly to her sex" as teaching, she was convicted, in two judicial
charades, as a "dayngerus Instrument of the Divell" and labeled a
"hethen and Publican," a "Leper," and delivered "up to Sathan."7
In her sixteenth pregnancy, the mother of eleven living
children, Anne Hutchinson was banished from the colony in the cold
of winter. A final irony in her tragic story: Although a friend and
helper of Native Americans, she, along with her children, later died
in New York at the hands of a few unfriendly ones. Certainly, Anne
Hutchinson is one of the earliest American women on record to die
fulfilling what she understood to be her God-given calling.
A number of works on the subject of the "Rebelion" that
ensued because the ladies were not remembered in the laws of the
land associate the Industrial Revolution with its beginnings.8 It is
certainly correct to refer to it as "the soil in which feminism grew,"9
if one considers the countless women who, prior to the Revolution,
did piecework at home for starvation wages and later flooded the
factories. It was the glaring injustices perpetrated on these
women—one need only remember the women textile workers of
Lowell, Massachusetts—that eventually gave birth to organized
efforts by women to win equality.
Calling North America the "cradle" of feminism,

Shirmacher links the movement, as a political issue, to the War of
Independence and its call for freedom and equality.10 On the other
hand, Eugene Hecker places feminism's beginning with the 1820 visit
of Frances Wright, a reform-minded Scottish woman whose well-
articulated views on slavery and the social degradation of women
became wide-known, if caustically denounced, "by press and
pulpit."11 Wright, along with Ernestine Rose, had brought from
Europe the writings of one of the fathers of European feminism: the
Marquis de Condorcet.12 Other writers and books that gave impetus
to the movement were Lydia Child's History o f Woman (1832);
Margaret Fuller's The Great Lawsuit: Man vs. Woman (1843); and
Quakers Angelina and Sarah Grimke's pioneer work in the
numerous antislavery conventions of the 1830s and '40s.13 The latter
were Southerners who had manumitted their own slaves and moved
to the North. In their crusade for abolition, the Grimke sisters "were
defending not only their right to speak publicly, but also the rights
of all women to be as free as men to develop their talents and to
enjoy lives of usefulness, respect, and independence."14
Hersh confirms this intimate relationship between women's
rights and the slavery issue: "The Garrisonian women [followers of
the abolitionist William Lloyd Garrison] forced to defend their right
as women to speak out against slavery, became the leaders of the
earliest movement for women's rights."15 Summing up the work of
the abolitionist champions, Hersh continues:
In disputing even the more liberal Protestant sects, the

abolitionist women raised important questions that are still
relevant and still largely unresolved questions about the role of
women in the church and the attitude of male clerics toward
women, questions about the racial prejudice that still permeates
the churches as well as the rest of society.16
We find an even earlier evidence of the rebellion against

male supremacy in several documents dating back to the seventeenth
and eighteenth centuries. Margaret Fell Fox published in 1666 what
has been called "her best-written work": Women's Speaking Justified.17
In the Massachusetts Magazine of March 1790, Judith Sargent Murray,
the first native-born woman dramatist to have plays performed,
published an essay in which she rhetorically addresses men: "Yes, ye
lordly, ye haughty sex. Our souls are by nature equal to yours; the
same breath of God animates, enlivens, and invigorates us___ " 18

In eighteenth-century England, Mary Wollstonecraft
published what Fischer calls the "first systematic exposition of
women's rights to come from the pen of a woman."19 Her A
Vindication o f the Rights o f Woman earned her an early place in
feminist history, along with the undying opprobrium of such male
contemporaries as Horace Walpole who called her a "hyena in
Petticoats."20 Despite such contemptuous dissent, England gave the
women's liberation movement a strong male voice in the person of
John Stuart Mill, author, social critic, and philosopher. Long a
champion of equality, Stuart Mill wrote what was to become a major
document in feminist literature, The Subjection o f Women. Though
conceived and written earlier, it was not published until 1869, just
when it was most needed.
The women's movement had been temporarily suspended
because of the Civil War. In the difficult aftermath of the war, men
such as Horace Greeley and Wendell Phillips withdrew their support
of women in favor of first winning the Negro vote. A book
championing woman's cause by a writer and scholar of Mill's stature
came as a powerful stimulus to the cause of women's rights.
Needless to say, the book was taken up with enthusiasm by
American feminists. Sarah Grimke, for instance, sold 100 copies
door-to-door in her New England town at the age of seventy-nine!21
One wonders how many years the rebellion in American
women's hearts would have smoldered had the pre-Civil War
antislavery movement not begun. As Schirmacher suggests, since
women had experienced oppression and slavery, they were among
the most zealous and active in taking up the abolitionist cause,
despite harassment. One of the most noted feminine antislavery
orators was Abby Kelley, called from the pulpit a "Jezebel" and a
"hyena."22 Angelina Grimke and her sister Sarah met with similar
jeering. In Philadelphia, where Angelina was speaking in 1837, the
hall was set on fire, and in Boston, the following year, a mob
threatened her life as she attempted to address the Massachusetts
House of Representatives.23
Lucy Stone, outstanding advocate of women's rights, had
herself received such treatment, once being hosed down through the
window of a hall where she was speaking. Describing public reaction
to women's speaking in public, Stone put it succinctly: "The mob
howled, the press hissed, and the pulpit thundered."24 When she
Ellen White and the Women's Rights Movement of the 19th Century_____ 153
graduated from Oberlin College in 1851, the first American

institution of higher education to confer degrees on women, she was
not allowed to read at the commencement exercises an essay she had
written simply "because she was a woman." In protest, she refused
to have it read at all, even by the college president.*25
Opposition to women's efforts to speak out in the cause of
abolition as well as temperance, another contemporary social issue,
took both active and passive forms. The latter was exemplified by
men's refusing to serve with women on committees of the Anti-
Slavery Association, largely funded, ironically, by women. Matters
climaxed in London in 1840 at the World's Anti-Slavery Convention,
to which several American abolitionist groups sent women delegates.
The question of whether or not to seat these women became the
subject of a two-day debate. Ultimately, they were denied seats,
largely by English clergyf who quoted Paul's injunction that women
should not teach.
While the men took over the convention, a very significant
meeting was taking place between Lucretia Mott, a Quaker preacher
In reading about the physical and emotional inequities women have endured
throughout history, one finds the structure that has fed that abuse documented not only in the
law, but in poetry. Tennyson captures the accepted view of woman's place: Man for the field,
and woman for the hearth;/ Man for the sword, and for the needle she;/ Man with the head,
and woman with the heart;/ Man to command, and woman to obey;/ All else confusion ("The
Princes," quoted by Letha Scanzoni and Nancy Hardesty in All We're Meant To Be: A Biblical
Approach to Women's Liberation). In a graphic comparison, the eighteenth-century poet-
lexicographer, Samuel Johnson, stated the generally-held male view: " Sir, a woman's
preaching is like a dog's walking on his hinder legs. It is not done well, but you are surprised
to find it done at all."
+ That the pulpit has most adamantly dictated male and female roles is evident in one of
many examples that could be adduced, namely, a sermon by the Reverend Knox-Little at St.
Clemens Church of Philadelphia in 1880:
. . . men are logical, but women, lacking this quality, have intricacy of thought. There
are those who think women can be taught logic; this is a mistake. They can never by
any power of education arrive at the same mental status as that enjoyed by men, but
they have quickness of apprehension, which is usually called leaping to conclusions.
. . . Wifehood is the crowning glory of a woman. In it she is bound for all time. To her
husband she owes the duty of unqualified obedience. If he be a bad or wicked man,
she may gently remonstrate with him, but refuse him never. . . . I am the father of
many children and there have been those who have ventured to pity me. "Keep your
pity for yourself," I have replied," they have never cost me a single pang."
Such views as held by the well-meaning reverend explain the existence of such laws
up until 1898, whereby the "age of consent," in virtually all of the states, was the
tender age of 10 or 12.
active in the abolitionist cause/ and Elizabeth Cady Stanton, who

would later become a leading suffragist. On their return to the
United States, these two new friends organized the first women's
rights convention. Held on July 19-20, 1848, at Seneca Falls, New
York, the convention and its organizers became the butt of acrid
criticism. Newspapers referred to the organizers, most of them
married with children, as "divorced wives, childless women, and
sour old maids."26 Three of the most prominent leaders of the
women's movement, Lucretia Mott, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, and
Lucy Stone were all happily married with children—Stanton with
seven. Susan B. Anthony, who seemed amenable to marriage and, in
fact, had a number of proposals, simply never, in her own words,
"found the time" to take the step.27
As to the first women's rights convention itself, the
attendance was relatively small. Had it not been for the telegraph to
provide wire service to the newspapers, this meeting might never
have won such national attention.28 The first practical problem to
solve had to do with who would preside over the meeting. Women
themselves were unaccustomed to speaking in public, and not one
of the women present knew how to organize a meeting. Eventually,
it was James Mott who assumed the chair.29
Elizabeth Cady Stanton, self-taught lawyer, was largely
responsible for the document that emerged from the convention.
Essentially a paraphrase of the Declaration of Independence, the
Declaration of Sentiments listed many of the injustices against
women that would serve to counteract prejudices that portray
feminists as rebels without a cause. They were injustices experienced
by women like Lucretia Mott and Abby Kelley, who had been
stoned, egged, and called "Jezebels" for merely attempting to speak
in public. Elizabeth Stanton had been forced to acquire a higher
education on her own because no college would admit a woman of
her experience. Moreover, they could cite instance after instance of
women "married to a tavern loafer of a husband who could claim *
*
Many of the women connected with the women's rights movement were Christians, a
number of them preachers, such as Methodist Dr. Ann Howard Shaw and Quaker Lucretia
Mott. A large number of these women were, in fact, Quakers, one of the first groups to
demonstrate a belief in full equality of all human beings. Early on, Quaker women in England,
determined to preach as their church gave them opportunity, were sometimes publicly
whipped, according to Dorothy Ludlow.
Ellen White and the Women's Rights Movement of the 19th Century_____155
every cent of their wages," supporting themselves on one third or

one half of a salary.30
Meanwhile the press had a heyday at the expense of the
emerging women's movement. Although many attacked it with
Scripture and venom, "to most journalists the performance seemed
merely funny—such a God-sent opportunity for the newspaper
humorist as arises only once in a decade. The spectacle of a woman
trying to do something a man has always done . . . is a primitive,
fundamental joke."31 According to Elizabeth Stanton, "there was not
a single paper from Maine to Louisiana which did not contain our
Declaration and did not present the matter as ludicrous."32
Although critics continue to denigrate the document, and
perhaps justifiably so, these pioneers time and again unjustly
experienced the ridicule and rejection they had first received at the
abolitionist convention in London. The Seneca Falls women were
consistently refused a serious hearing among men whom some
authors characterized as their palpably intellectual inferiors. Despite
these seemingly unsurmountable obstacles, however, the Seneca
Falls meeting helped in influencing the state of New York to grant
women full property rights.
Other women's rights conventions were held annually until
the movement was interrupted by the Civil War. After the war, the
franchise was soon given to African-Americans in 1870 by the
Fifteenth Amendment. But the word "male" effectively barred the
enfranchisement of women. And the word remained, despite a
vigorous effort made by suffrage leaders to rule it out. Women were
outraged that one had merely to be a man, Black or White, to be
entrusted with civic responsibility, no matter how much more
educated than he a woman might be.
The right to vote was only one of the prerogatives
nineteenth-century feminists were seeking. It became, however, the
paramount issue, chiefly for political and legal reasons. Women
needed, among other things, the right to make legal transactions
without husbands' consent. Moreover, the application to women of
such slogans as "The consent of the governed" and "No taxation
without representation" was long overdue.33
In 1872 Susan B. Anthony took upon herself an audacious
challenge: She would go to the polls in Rochester, New York and ask
to be registered. Fifty other women followed her example, fourteen
of whom actually voted. Those who registered them were later
placed on trial and fined, along with the "voters." The fine Anthony
refused to pay has remained unpaid to this day.
Gradually, by various tedious processes and hard-won
victories in education-related issues, the right to vote was accorded
women locally. Later, state by state, beginning with Wyoming in
1869, came full enfranchisement. After much arduous effort against
the continuing tide of opposition, universal suffrage was granted in
1920 by the Nineteenth Amendment to the Constitution.
Ellen White and the Women's Movement
Certainly, Adventist women owe these pioneer women a
debt of gratitude. No less a debt is owed to the nineteenth-century
evangelical movement, which Banks sees as "a significant factor in
the development of feminist consciousness."34 Ellen White, whose
writings take a fair-minded view of the struggles of women both in
the home and in public, made no small contribution to that
consciousness. Woman, she insisted, should fill the position which
God originally designed for her as her husband's equal (FE 141, italics
supplied); the wife and mother should not sacrifice her strength and
allow her powers to lie dormant, leaning wholly on her husband.
Her individuality cannot be merged in his (AH 231). In this latter
respect, she wrote to a Brother M counseling him that "your wife has
as much right to her opinion as you have to yours. Her marriage
relation does not destroy her identity. She has an individual
responsibility" (2T 418). In another place, she is careful to be even
more specific: "When husbands require the complete subjection of
their wives, declaring that women have no voice or will in the
family, but must render entire submission, they place their wives in
a position contrary to the Scripture . . . . This interpretation is made
simply that they may exercise arbitrary rule, which is not their
prerogative" (AH 116, italics supplied). Always impatient with the
frivolous women of her time, she advised woman to "improve her
time and her faculties" so that she might stand "on an equality with
her husband as advisor, counselor, companion, and co-worker with
him and yet lose none of her womanly grace and modesty" (WM
160).
As to woman's place in God's work, she stated that "wives
are recognized by God as necessary in the ministry as their
husbands" (Ms. 43a, 1898). Furthermore, "they [women] can take
their place in the work at this crisis, and the Lord will work through
them ___ The Saviour will reflect upon these self-sacrificing women
the light of his countenance, and this will give them a power that will
exceed that of men. They can d o . . . a work that men cannot do" (9T
128-29). That women could do a work unavailable to men is an oft-
repeated theme Ellen White takes up again when she reminds the
Adventist sisters that "[women] can reach a class ministers cannot"
(WM 147), and that "there are many . . . offices connected with the
cause of God which our sisters [married or single] are better
qualified to fill than our brethren" (RH, Dec. 19, 1878, 93). She
appeals to women to enter the gospel work force as workers and
leaders: "The Lord has instructed me that our sisters . . . have
received a training that has fitted them for positions of responsibility.
. . . In ancient times the Lord worked in a wonderful way through
consecrated women whom he had chosen to stand as his
representatives. . . . Converted women can act an important part
(Letter 22,17 May 1911).
Ellen White taught that the "worker is worthy of his hire"
was a biblical principle and that, if a woman did the gospel work, she
should, in all fairness, be paid for her work. "If a man is worthy of
his hire, so also is a woman" (Ms. 149, 1899). She reprimanded the
church leaders for "defrauding" women whose work for the Lord
was every bit as valuable as that of the ordained minister and who
were not being paid: "The tithe should go to those who labor in word
and doctrine, be they men or women" (Ms. 43a, 1898; 7T 207). The
following excerpt from Gospel Workers not only reiterates the
importance of giving women their just wages, but suggests that Ellen
White did not limit women to their traditional "sphere" (that
burning issue in the nineteenth-century women's movement) nor
rule out entirely the possibility of mothers' leaving the home to
work:
Injustice has sometimes been done to women who labor just

as devotedly as their husbands and who are recognized by God
as necessary to the work of the ministry. The method of paying
men laborers and not paying their wives . . . is not according to
the Lord's order, and if carried out in our conferences is liable to
discourage our sisters from qualifying themselves for the work
they should engage in.
God is a God of justice and if the ministers receive a salary
for work, their wives, who devote themselves just as
disinterestedly to the work, should be paid in addition to the
wages their husbands receive, even though they may not ask for
this. Seventh-day Adventists are not in any way to belittle

women's work. If a woman puts her housework in the hands of
a prudent helper and leaves her children in good care while she
engages in the work, the conference should have the wisdom to
understand the justice of her receiving wages" (451-453, italics
supplied; 6T 117)
Whether or not the woman could or should develop her

intellectual capacities was a settled question with Ellen White: "Why
should not woman cultivate the intellect? . . . Why may they not
understand their own powers and . . . strive to make use of them to
the fullest extent. . . ? (WM 161). Nor was she averse to women's
preaching and lecturing in public, clearly a position not generally
held in the hotly-debated "woman question," the somewhat
pejorative label under which women's issues were lumped in her
society. Because the gospel work was in need of the Christian
woman's "softening refining influence" (RH, Jan. 2,1879,1), she was
able to encourage a woman involved in temperance work to
"address the crowds" (Letter 54, Mar. 24,1899). Taking what some
might interpret as exegetical liberties, she states that "[Jesus] made
[women] his messengers to preach a risen Saviour" (WM 156) and
Mary was the first of these women ministers to "preach" the gospel
of the risen Jesus (ST, Sept. 16, 1886; RH, Dec. 12, 1878 and Jan. 2,
1879).
Ellen White's silence about the women's movement, on the
one hand, and her generous support of women, on the other, would
seem, as we have stated before, contradictory, at best. This apparent
contradiction can be understood only in light of the preeminence she
accorded the gospel ministry in an end-time context. The gospel
mission superseded all other concerns in her mind, as we shall
discuss shortly.
It is important to remember that Ellen White's statement
about Adventist women and the women's movement arose in the
context of the dress-reform issue. She devoted many pages to the
deleterious effects of the prevailing fashions on the health of the
wasp-waisted, heavily-corseted, hoop-skirted women of her day.
Irwin confirms the fact that women's fashionable clothes "confined
and tormented them, pressed and bruised them, caught and tripped
them."35 The need for reform was obvious both to the women's
movement and to Ellen White.
There were three dimensions to Ellen White's argument
with the contemporary feminine movement's idea of dress reform.

First, the mannish costume promoted by some was out of keeping
with Ellen White's interpretation of Scripture. In 1863, she described
the "costume" as follows: "It consists of a vest, pants, and a dress
resembling a coat and reaching about halfway from the hip to the
knee" (IT 465). In her view, such a dress stood in radical defiance of
Deut. 22:5: "The woman shall not wear that which pertaineth to a
man... " (IT 457). Not only did she relate the "mannish costume" to
what Moses forbade in Deuteronomy, but she also identified it as the
garment worn by some spiritualists—all the more reason for
Adventist women to avoid its use.
As it turns out, none of the giants of the movement—Mott,
Stanton, Stone, and Anthony—ever wore the so-called "American
costume." When the more modified "Bloomer" costume had appeared
on the scene in 1859—described as "full Turkish trousers gathered at
the ankles with an overskirt"36 —Stanton was quick to see the relief
and comfort it offered and adopted it, persuading her colleagues to
follow suit. Mrs. Bloomer, the active feminist for whom this pant was
named, had picked up the pattern from another woman and strongly
advocated it among the feminist leaders, most of whom took it up.
This may explain why these women were referred to as "men-women"
and "unsexed" creatures,37 though the Bloomer outfit could hardly be
said to be masculine. Trousers were, however, as Gattey points out,
"the symbol of male domination and the proposal that women should
adopt them (almost entirely concealed by the skirt as they were) was
seen as a threat to the whole structure of society___ For a woman to
'wear the trousers,' even in a metaphorical sense, seemed to imply the
reversal of all established values."*38
*
Quoting a Mrs. Russel Sage, Gattey provides the following interesting observation
regarding the Bloomer costume: "Her [Mrs. Bloomer's] manner was unpretentious, quiet, and
delicately feminine. Her costume showed a total disregard for effect and was mannish only
to the extent of its practicability. Her bodice was soft and belted at the w aist.. . . Her skirt fell
halfway from knee to ankle, beneath which she wore her bloomers—really pantalets. . .
reaching to her boot tops." The reference to "boot tops" reminds the reader of Ellen White's
own recommendation that the skirt reach the top of the gaiter boot usually worn by women
("The dress should reach somewhat below the top of the boot, but should be short enough to
clear the filth of the sidewalk and street, without being raised by the hand" [IT 462]). Mrs.
Bloomer's own explanation for leaving off the costume herself was that she "felt that the dress
was drawing attention from what we thought to be of far greater importance— the question
of woman's right to better education, to a wider field of employment, to better remuneration
for her labors, and to the ballot for the protection of these rights.
In any case, Susan B. Anthony soon gave up the costume

which, as she said, attracted too much attention and might do the
movement more harm than good.39 Irwin agrees that the Bloomer
costume was one of Susan Anthony's "two mistakes in judgm ent..
.. Two years later, she abandoned it and returned to the wasp waist
and hoop skirt."40
Despite her objections to the mannish look of the three-
piece dress reform costume adopted by less conservative feminists,
Ellen White did not object to certain parts of it. In her chapter
"Simplicity of Dress" (4T 628-48), she discusses the reform she was
advocating, an outfit that was a combination of dress, "sack," and
pants, which she herself wore for a time and recommended to the
sisters in the church. It seems apparent, with all her emphasis on
properly clothing the extremities, that the pants of the "so-called
dress reform" were not what she found most objectionable. Nor did
the boots of the other dress seem inappropriate: "They [the dress
reformers] imitate the opposite sex as nearly as possible. They wear
the cap, pants, vest, coat, and boots, the last of which is the most
sensible part of the costume" (IT 459).
Ellen White was at pains to keep people in the middle of
the road on all matters of reform. After recommending the outfit
described in Testimonies to the Church, volume 4, she said it was not
her duty to urge it on the sisters. However, because others were
"constantly" doing so, she was forced to write: "It seems to
constitute the sum and substance of their religion" (4T 636). Because
of this misplaced emphasis on dress, the "murmurings and
complaining" about the "labor to prepare the reform dress in a
proper manner," and the misinterpretation of her testimonies on the
subject, she eventually distanced herself from it: "I avoided all
questions and answered no letters" (4T 637). Elsewhere she wrote:
"Christians should not take pains to make themselves a gazingstock
by dressing differently from the world" (IT 458). She is explicit also
in a number of writings that any extreme or fanatical position that
would bring disdain on the church is to be avoided: "W e are
considered odd and singular, and should not take a course to lead
unbelievers to think us more so than our faith requires us to be" (IT
420).
Ellen White's final objection to the popular dress reform has
to do with the connection between the American costume and
spiritualism. This connection brings us to two of the women's
movement's lesser-known activists who were spiritualists: Victoria

C. Woodhull and her sister, Tennie C. Claflin. According to Laurel
Darmsteegt, these were "among the few women's rights activists
mentioned in Adventist periodicals" (AA 35).41 The second of Susan
B. Anthony's "mistakes in judgment" was her association with
Victoria Woodhull. In her enthusiasm to take on anyone who would
support the suffrage cause, Anthony placed the reputation of the
entire movement in question by connecting with the highly volatile
Woodhull. Historian William O'Neill considers that "Mrs. Woodhull
was an incredibly dangerous woman by virtue of her peculiar
temperament and bizarre views. She not only supported every
drastic prescription for society's ill, from spiritualism to Marxism,
but represented another outcropping of that vein of free love which
underlay Victorian monogamy."42 We should note here, with Banks,
that the free-love advocates, though often associated with the
women's rights movement in alarming terms, "never represented
more than. . . a tiny minority of feminists."43
Woodhull's identification with the women's movement
would have been permanently damaging had not Anthony, arming
herself with moral courage, put an abrupt end to the relationship. At
a meeting of the National Suffrage Association in 1872, Mrs.
Woodhull ascended the platform. Rheta Childe Dorr describes the
encounter: "Miss Anthony planted herself squarely in front of the
intruder, declared that she was not a member of the Association, had
no place on the platform, and that the chairman must rule her out of
order." When Woodhull attempted a motion, Susan Anthony
announced that nothing that Woodhull had said would be recorded
in the minutes and that the Convention was adjourned. "Then she
[Anthony] ordered the janitor to turn out the lights. And out went
the light of Victoria Woodhull so far as woman suffrage was
concerned."44
Mrs. White's emphatic advice against joining the women's
movement, then, had to do with fanaticism and extremes connected
to the movement and not to the principles of justice and equality that
they as well as she espoused in favor of women. What can
indisputably be inferred from an extensive and careful reading of her
writings is that the thrust of all her work was the promotion of the
message to which she devoted all her time, her energy, her funds,
her very life—the message of a Savior soon to come. To the task of
soul-winning she urged all—men and women, young and old.
Because the time was short, there was no place on her agenda for
peripheral issues that would distract from her all-consuming burden.
Summarizing her vision for women, she stated that "women of firm
principles are needed, women who believe that we are indeed living
in the last days, and that we have the last solemn message of
warning to be given to the world" (ST, Sept. 16,1886). This focused
vision accounts for her refusal to recommend that women seek the
vote or political office. Her complete thought on this matter reads as
follows: "I do not recommend that woman should seek to become a
voter or an office holder; but as a missionary teaching the truth.. . . "
(RH, Dec. 19,1878).
While holding the view that woman's sphere was different
from man's, though certainly equal, she was totally in step with the
women's rights movement in promoting and practicing many of the
liberties they were seeking, especially in defying the taboo on
women speaking in public. If she interpreted Paul's statement on
women's keeping silent in the church as universally applicable, she
certainly did not practice it. We may safely assume that her attitude
toward women's struggle for equality was similar to Paul's position
toward slavery in his day. Ellen White writes: "It was not the
apostle's work to overturn arbitrarily or suddenly the established
order of society. To attempt this would be to prevent the success of
the gospel" (AA 459). Certainly, she thought it unwise to divert
women's time and effort from the Cause uppermost in her mind, lest
the success of their gospel work be compromised.
In a more practical vein, Ellen White did not feel that
women of her time, with their limited education, their heavy
domestic duties, and their inordinate interest in fashion and
dressmaking were qualified to be voters. In 1875, she wrote:
There are speculations as to woman's rights and duties in

regard to voting. Many are in no way disciplined to understand
the bearing of important questions. They have lived lives of
present gratification because it was the fashion. Women who
might develop good intellects and have moral worth are now
mere slaves to fashion. They have not breadth of thought nor
cultivated intellects. They can talk understandingly of the latest
fashion, the styles of dress, this or that party or delightful ball.
Such women are not prepared to intelligently take a prominent
position in political matters (3T 565).
Beyond this concern, Ellen White did not wish the young Adventist
Church to be seen in any other light than a Sabbath-keeping, gospel
proclaiming church, awaiting the Lord's return. What mattered the
right to vote in view of the imminence of the Lord's coming? Women
had more important tasks to learn, more important duties to
perform.
She did not, however, hesitate to recommend involvement
in an issue that was very much in the public domain in her time:
temperance. She urged the sisters to participate in the activities of the
Women's Christian Temperance Union, one of the most powerful
organizations of the day. She herself spoke at meetings of this
organization, on at least one occasion in a tent provided by the
Michigan Conference (LS 221). In 1907, she wrote: "Some of our best
talent should be set at work for the WCTU, not as evangelists, but as
those who fully appreciate the good that has been done by this
organization" (Ms. 91, 1908, italics supplied). In a letter written in
1900, she even scolded A. T. Jones for being antagonistic toward this
organization in his articles (Letter 3, Jan. 1,1900).
This relationship with the WCTU is important for a proper
understanding of Ellen White's vision for women. Despite her policy
of concentrating almost exclusively on evangelizing the world, she
firmly believed women should champion moral causes, such as
temperance. Moreover, the contact with this important organization
is significant because the WCTU was closely allied with the women's
rights movement. Frances Willard, the founder of the temperance
organization, was a suffragist, and the leaders of the rights
movement first organized temperance societies before they took up
the suffrage cause. According to Arthur Sinclair, Willard was not
unwilling to use the WCTU to "advocate woman suffrage and child
labor laws and other progressive legislation___ " 4S
Ellen White could hardly have been unaware of the activities
of this organization. We may assume, therefore, that her strong
support of the WCTU is not a contradiction of her one statement about
the women's rights movement, but an interpretation of its intent.
Those who felt called to join the "lunatic fringe" by wearing the
American costume, identifying with the spiritualists in the movement,
"might as well sever all connection with the third angel's message."
And as we have already suggested, Mrs. White was not
above taking a strong stand on another issue that was relevant to
progressive truth: slavery. Did not the Bible support slavery? Did not
the book of Leviticus explicitly permit it? Did not Peter tell slaves to
obey their masters and Paul return a runaway to his master? Pro
slavery advocates of her day used just such texts to justify slave
owning. Referring to Anne Warren Weston's address to the Boston
Anti-Slavery Society, Hersh writes:
The very theologians who had used the Scriptures to justify

slavery were now perverting the same sainted oracles to sanction
woman's inferiority and subordination. Those who considered
women as goods and chattel were not fit judges of the sphere
woman should occupy; they had not objected that the slave
woman in the rice fields was 'out of her sphere.'46
Ellen White, however, spoke out forcefully against slavery

describing it as "hopelessly degrading" (AA 459). In spite of slavery's
biblical legality, her position was that God gives no man the right to
hold another as a slave (IT 358). Moreover, she wrote that church
members were not to obey the law requiring the delivery of a
runaway slave to his master (IT 202).
May we not infer that those Bible statements that applied to
a particular time and place—times when God allowed conditions to
prevail that were not within his ideal for his children—are not
universally applicable? Although the biblical injunctions of Paul's day
advocate "silence" for women and forbid their "usurping authority
over a man," Ellen White's position, as indicated in her writings and as
revealed in her own strong influence over the male-dominated councils
of the church, supports the above inference. It seems clear that
progressive truth, though painful and sometimes shocking, is God's
method of bringing his people to higher levels of freedom and equality.
Seen from this perspective, the Adventist educational ideal—"higher
than the highest human thought can reach" (ED 18)—seems to be the
logical outgrowth of the divine plan for humanity.
Conclusion
If Ellen White were alive today, where would she stand on
women's rights? Certainly she would inspire Adventist women to
continue to strive for the equality that God originally meant for her
to share with men. Her writings support the fact that she would
strongly encourage those in gospel ministry and she would support
their being paid from the tithe. She would doubtless repeat the
counsel given early on in her own ministry: Wives who work with
their husbands in the ministry should also be paid from the tithe. In
the context of today's proliferation of single-parent homes, she
would unquestionably reiterate her stand that women "can do a
work that men cannot do."
Nor can there be any question that she would encourage
women to seek higher education, while still upholding the
sacredness of the home. Would she not also encourage them to
"speak out" in moral causes, as she did on the issues of slavery and
temperance? Perhaps she would impel them to lend their influence
publicly in such issues as ethnic and racial prejudice, drug abuse,
sexism, pornography, and spouse and child abuse. Above all, she
would call women to give preeminence to the work of the church
and the finishing of the gospel commission to all the world.
Key to Abbreviations of
Ellen G. White Titles
AA The Acts o f the Apostles
AH The Adventist Home
ED Education
EE Fundamentals o f Christian Education
LS Life Sketches o f Ellen G. White
MH Ministry o f Healing
T Testimonies to the Church
WM Welfare Ministry
Notes
1 Alice S. Rossi, ed., The Feminist Papers from Adams to de Beauvoir (New York: Columbia
University Press, 1973), 10.
2 Rossi, Feminist, 11.
3 Rossi, Feminist, 10-11.
4 Lydia Child as quoted in Inez Haynes Irwin, Angels and Amazons (Garden City, NJ:
Doubleday, Doran & Co., 1933), 22.
5 Carol V.R. George, ed., "Remember the Ladies": New Perspectives on Women in History
(Syracuse, NY: Syracuse University Press, 1975), 3-38
6 George, Remember, 37.
7 George, Remember, 34.
8 Robert Riegel, American Feminists (Lawrence, KS: University of Kansas Press, 1963), 186.
9 Aileen S. Kraditor, Up From the Pedestal: Selected Writings in the History o f American
Feminism (Chicago: Quadrangle Books, 1968), 14.
10 Kaethe Shirmacher, The M odem Woman's Rights Movement: A Historical Survey, trans.
Carl Conrad Eckhardt (New York: Macmillan, 1912), 2.
11 Eugene Hecker, A Short History o f Women's Rights: From the Days o f Augustus to the
Present Time, with Special Reference to England and the United States, 2nd ed. revised (Westport,
CT: Greenwood Press, 1914), 157.
12 Marguerite Fischer, "Eighteenth Century Theorists of Women's Liberation," in George,
Remember, 42.
13 Hecker, History, 157.
14 Blanche Glassman Hersh, "To Make the World Better: Protestant Women in the
Abolitionist Movement" in Richard L. Greaves, ed., Triumph Over Silence: Women in Protestant
History (Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 1985), 183.
15 Greaves, Triumph, 174.
17 Dorothy P. Ludlow, "Shaking Patriarchy's Foundations: Sectarian Women in England
1641-1700," in Greaves, Triumph, 111.
18 Judith Sargent Murray, "O n the Equality of the Sexes," in Rossi, Feminist, 21.
19 Fischer, "Theorists," in George, Remember, 46.
22 Irwin, Angels, 107.
23 Schirmacher, Rights, 5.
25 Irwin, Angels, 89; "The Princes," quoted by Letha Scanzoni and Nancy Hardesty in All
We’re Meant To Be: A Biblical Approach to Women's Liberation, (Waco, TX: Word Books, 1974), 13;
statement by Samuel Johnson on July 31, 1763 and quoted by James Boswell in his Life o f
Johnson.
26 Hecker, History, 158.
30 Irwin, Angels, 86-87.
33 Kraditor, Pedestal, 17-18.
34 Banks, Faces, 14.
36 Riegel, Feminists, 50.
37 Charles Neilson Gattey, The Bloomer Girls (New York: Coward-McCann, Inc., 1968),
85.
Ellen White and the Women's Rights Movement of the 19th Century_____167
38 Gattey, Bloomer, 13,84,113.

39 Helen Stone Peterson, "Susan B. Anthony: Pioneer in Woman's Rights" in Wayne
Bennet, ed., Women With a Cause (Champaign, IL: Garrard Publishers, 1975), 98.
41 Laurel Darmsteegt, "Feminism versus Adventism," Adventist Affirm 2:2 (1989): 33-40.
42 William O'Neill, Everyone Was Brave: The Rise and Fall o f American Feminism (Chicago:
Quadrangle Books, 1969), 25.
43 Banks, Faces, 8.
45 O'Neill, Everyone, 35.
A frican A m erican
Qd/eves
(A ides o f QAcmen
in the (Abeventh-dap
A dventist &hureh
by Frances Bliss and Jannith Lewis
omen comprise the largest segment of membership

in the Seventh-day Adventist (SDA) Church. In
the North American Division (NAD), African
Americans constitute the largest ethnic minority
membership group. A survey was distributed to obtain information
from African Americans concerning their beliefs about the role of
168
African American Views . . . Roles of Women in the SPA Church 169
women in the SDA church. The term "African Americans" as utilized

in this study is an ethnic descriptor referring to persons of African
descent within the North American Division. Other related
terminology is used according to common usage during the different
time periods.
African American Female Heritage
As the first colored woman to join the SDA church (1886),
Jennie Allison (1858-1953), and her husband, John, were two of the
ten charter members who joined the first organized group composed
only of colored members in Edgefield Junction, Tennessee. Two of
her sons became SDA ministers.1
Bom in Mississippi, Anna Knight (1874-1972) was baptized
into the Graysville, Tennessee church in 1893.2After graduating from
Battle Creek College in Michigan, in 1898, she established a self-
supporting school in Jasper County, Mississippi for colored children
and adults, as a pioneer teacher. Anna Knight was appointed to
become the first woman of color to serve as a missionary to India and
served for six years. In 1909, she worked as a nurse, teacher and Bible
worker for the Southeastern Union Conference. She organized and
was president of the National Colored Teachers' Association until
the age of 98. The Medallion of Merit Award for extraordinary
meritorious service to SDA education was awarded to Miss Knight
a few months before her death in 1972.3
In her autobiography, Mississippi Girl, Anna Knight
recorded her extraordinary activities throughout many Southern
states, beginning in 1911. She held 9,388 meetings, made 11,744
missionary visits, wrote 48,918 letters and traveled 554,439 miles in
appointments.4 Concurrently, she served in the Southeastern Union
Conference as an associate secretary for the Home Missionary,
Sabbath School, Missionary Volunteer and Education Departments.5
A missionary outreach for Negro Americans was launched
in the mid 1890's from the Morning Star, a steamboat piloted by
James Edson White and others. The boat floated down the
Mississippi River to Vicksburg in 1895, where Etta Littlejohn was
introduced to Seventh-day Adventist beliefs and heard about a
school that was to be opened in Huntsville, Alabama. At the age of
fourteen, she became one of the first sixteen students who enrolled
at the Oakwood Industrial School, which opened its doors in
November of 1896. Later Etta attended the New England Sanitarium
to study nursing. She was one of the nursing students who was
assigned to care for Ellen G. White, co-founder of the Seventh-day
Adventist Church. In 1912, she became one of the first trained nurses
to teach at the Oakwood Sanitarium in Huntsville.6 She and her
husband, Robert Bradford who was a minister, became the parents
of eight children. Their youngest son, Charles Bradford, was the first
Black American to become president of the North American
Division. One of Mrs. Bradford's grandsons, Calvin Rock, a former
president of Oakwood College is currently serving as one of the vice
presidents of the General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists.
Lottie Isbell Blake (1876-1976) was a pioneer physician who
graduated from the American Missionary College in Battle Creek,
Michigan in 1902. She organized a training program for nurses at the
Oakwood Manual Training School in 1903. She and her husband
developed the Rock City Sanitarium that was located in Nashville,
Tennessee, and also served several years in Panama as self-
supporting medical missionaries. She established the first SDA
medical work designed for Negro people.7
Mary E. Britton was an outstanding SDA female who was
a prominent leader in the state of Kentucky in the nineteenth
century. In 1903, she graduated from both the American Missionary
College and the Battle Creek Sanitarium. She was known as a
teacher, speaker, journalist and specialist in hydrotherapy, massage
and vegetarianism.8
Ruth Temple (1892-1984) bom in Mississippi, became the
first Negro female graduate of the Loma Linda University School of
Medicine in 1918. She was the first woman of color to practice
medicine in the city of Los Angeles, California, and was a pioneer in
the public health medical area. In 1962, Dr. Temple became director
of health services for the SDA Southern California Conference, and
established the Total Health Program and Community Health
Association.9 She earned a public health graduate degree from Yale
University.10
Eva B. Dykes (1893-1986) bom in Washington, D. C., was
the first Negro women to complete the requirements for a Ph.D.
degree in the United States in 1921. In 1944, Dr. Dykes left her
teaching position at Howard University to become head of the
English Department at Oakwood College. One of her publications
was a scholarly book entitled The Negro in English Romantic Thought,
and she authored many articles for various journals and church
African American Views. . . Roles of Women in the SDA Church 171
publications. Her column for Message magazine ran for more than
fifty years.11A Certificate of Merit from the SDA General Conference
Education Department was awarded to Dr. Dykes in 1973, at the
opening of the Oakwood College Library named in her honor. She
received a Citation of Excellence in recognition of her outstanding
contribution to the SDA world program of Christian education at the
General Conference session held in Vienna, Austria in 1975. A
biography of her life, written by DeWitt Williams, is entitled She
Fulfilled the Impossible Dream.
Natelkka Burrell (1895-1990) was an educator who
contributed much to the SDA educational system, on both
elementary and higher education levels. She co-authored sixty-one
basal readers and guidebooks for the SDA General Conference
Education Department. Her autobiography is entitled God's Beloved
Rebel. Eva Strother was both the first Negro Pathfinder and
Pathfinder leader of programs for SDA Black people. Chessie Harris,
co-founder of the Harris Home for Children, has been given many
awards including national recognition from former President George
Bush for community volunteer service.
One contemporary African American woman who has
served in several major SDA roles is Helen Turner who was the first
female auditor in the SDA Church in 1979, and the first Black woman
to become treasurer in a local conference and director of trust
services. Additionally, she was the first female secretary for the
Southwest Region Conference.12
Currently, Rosa Taylor Banks serves as a North American
Division associate secretary. Dr. Banks, the first African American
female director to hold an administrative office at this leadership
level, is director of the Office of Human Relations. Rosa Banks is also
the first female general field secretary for both the NAD and General
Conference.13
Norwida Marshall was the first Black woman to hold the
position of associate director of education for the Southern Union.14
Hyveth Williams pastors the Boston Temple SDA Church and was
one of the first females to serve fully in the North American Division
as a senior pastor.15 Janice Saliba serves as a female education
director at the union level in Canada.16 Barbara Jackson-Hall serves
as editor of Vibrant Life magazine.17Phyllis Ware serves as secretary-t
treasurer of the Central States Conference.18Carol E. Allen is the first
female African American vice president for academic affairs of a
African American women can be found in leadership roles as

conference educational supervisors, secondary education principals,
Bible instructors, health professionals, higher education leaders,
women's ministries leaders, literature evangelists, local church
elders, and other SDA positions.
The Survey
Given this brief overview of a sampling of African
American women's participation in the establishment and
development of the Adventist work among African Americans and
the work of the church at large we were interested in determining
the views of African American women and men toward the current
and potential roles of African American Adventist women today. It
seemed important to survey the views of the largest ethnic minority
within the North American Division (African Americans represent
29% of the church population) and whose women constitute
approximately 60% of the African American population in the North
American Division.20
The 1992 membership statistics for multicultural groups in
the NAD (Table 1) demonstrate the demographic importance of the
African American community within the church.
1992 M em bership Statistics for the M ulticultural

Groups o f the North Am erican Division
African Anglo Asian Hispanic Native

Membership American American American American American
Totals (1992) 229,588 471,563 20,245 67,725 1,791
Percentage of NAD
Multicultural
Groups (1992) 28.93% 59.42% 2.55% 8.53% 0.23%
Total Membership
Increase (Decrease)
From 1991 to 1992 0.15% -0.12% -0.01% -0.02% 0.00%
Total NAD 1992 Membership 793,594
Table 1. From the NAD Office of Human Relations, issued Nov. 15,1993 and based on 1992
data.
African American Views . . . Roles of Women in the SDA Church 173
The office of Human Relations has identified five distinct

multicultural groupings and an additional grouping for others (see
Figure 1).
M u lticu ltu ral M em bership G ro u p in g o f

the North A m e rica n D iv isio n fo r 1992
500
------------------ T i-------------------
400 ■ ■
B L
-C TJ r
£ c 300
5 | te l
E o 200 E”’’
a .c ■ I nu
100 ■ I
67,275 |
■ ■
: j 20,245
0 ■ I -: - ■ ■ 1,791 | 2,682
African Anglo Asian Hispanic Native Other
American Ethnic Group
Figure 1.
To discuss African American beliefs and attitudes

concerning the roles of women in the Seventh-day Adventist Church,
a survey instrument was designed to collect data from a sampling of
African Americans. The twenty-item survey was divided into two
sections. The first section, consisting of seven questions, collected
descriptive data concerning the respondent. The second section,
consisting of thirteen questions, examined the beliefs and attitudes
of the respondent in the following categories: Spirit of Prophecy,
SDA women's movement, male support, female self-concept,
denominational progress and equity, gender sensitivity and gender
preferences for church leadership.
Respondents were requested to circle the response that best
described their beliefs and views concerning the role of women in
the SDA church. The five-point Likert scale choices were: 1-strongly
disagree, 2-disagree, 3-no opinion, 4-agree, and 5-strongly agree.
The survey was completed by individuals who volunteered
after an invitation to participate in the study. Approximately 1,200
surveys were distributed to selected regions in the North American
Division. The 1,200 number includes additional copies duplicated in

certain regions. A total of 1,051 surveys were returned; hence, a
return rate of 88.5 percent, a sufficient number for external validity.
The demographic distribution was by selected regions in
the United States (see Table 2).
Percentages of Demographic Distribution
Regions Percentage of the Total Population
Northeast 16.20%
Midwest 8.60%
SD A Denominational Administrators 1.70%
Southern 16.60%
W est Coast 10.80%
W om en’s Ministry Retreat 46.10%
Table 2.
Surveys were distributed at South Atlantic Women's

Ministries Retreat held October 29-31,1993 at New Heritage U.S.A.,
Fort Mill, South Carolina. In addition, surveys were distributed to
the Northeast, Midwest, Southern, and West Coast regions of the
United States. Surveys were also sent to a variety of denominational
administrators, such as regional conference presidents, selected
General Conference and North American Division African American
administrators and other selected African American administrators.
All other regions were surveyed via church group contacts in various
locations.
There were 1,051 respondents of which 912 were women
(86.57 percent) and 139 were men (13.43 percent) (see Figure 2).
Figure 3 is a graphic representation of the 1992 statistics for
African American males and females. The female population was
estimated by using the North American Division standard of 62
percent.
There were three categories of age group respondents: the
18-34 age group, the 35-54 age group, and those 55 years of age and
older (see Figure 4).
Respondents were asked to check the category that best
describes their educational background: below eighth grade, high
school, college work, college graduate, master's degree, doctorate,

and other categories (see Table 3).
The survey responses were divided into two sections. The
N A D A fric a n A m e ric a n
G e n d e r P o p u la tio n
160 -|
142,345
140 ■
_120 ■ p- ^.#11
CO
-o 100 ■ 07,243 fllpc :
$ 80-
J 60 ■ H H B H
t- 40 • 1 jB B E f li
20 ■ ■ -4
j
n .—
Male Female
African A m e ric a n s
Figure 3.
A g e G ro u p s
500 485
-428-
J j 400
c
0
%
a> 300
01
O 200
146
18-34 35-54
Age Range
Figure 4.
first section requested demographic data; the second section

requested respondents to circle the items that best described their
beliefs concerning the thirteen questions. The belief summaries in
Table 4 are percentages of the surveyed population.
A total of 90.6 percent respondents affirmed their belief in
the prophetic work and writings of Ellen G. White, whose personal
involvement in the beginnings of the Adventist work among African
L e v e ls o f E d u c a tio n
Educational Level Number of

Respondents
Below Eighth Grade 38

High School 195
College Work 292
College Graduate 279
Master’s 183
Doctorate 58
Other 6
Table 3.
Survey Results of Attitudes and Beliefs

S tro n g ly No S tro n g ly No
A gree A gree O p inio n D isagree D isagree O p in io n
Q1 Spirit of 71.2 19.4 2.9 0.7 3.4 2.4

Prophecy
Q2 SDA 21.9 36.4 25 6.7 3.1 6.9

Women’s
Belief
Q3 Male 8.4 31.9 21.6 26.1 7.4 4.6

Support
Q4 Female 56.8 23.5 6.2 5.7 4.1 3.7

Skills
Q5 Position 11.1 28.3 30.9 17.8 5.5 6.4

Quotas
Q6 Gender 7.8 33.7 25.7 22.2 3.7 6.9

Cooperation
Q7 Role 27.7 50.7 8.6 6.9 2.1 4

Progress
Q8 Denom. Job 21.4 36.7 19.3 13.2 4.6 4.8

Oppor.
Q9 Job Equity 33.4 27.2 26.2 4.7 2.5 6
Q10 Gender 8.1 29.4 28.1 22 5.3 7.1

Sensitivity
Q11 Community 14.6 43.3 23.3 10.3 2.7 5.8

Activity
Q12 Female 30.7 31 17.1 7.9 9.4 3.9

Pastorate
Q13 Female 36.5 30 14.3 7.7 8.7 2.8

Ordination
Table 4.
Americans was pivotal to its success. Although, response to one

unique Seventh-day Adventist belief cannot reflect a respondent's
overall Seventh-day Adventist belief system, the high percentage of
positive responses reflects a high degree of orthodoxy within the
basic doctrinal beliefs of the Seventh-day Adventist Church.
Additional doctrinal questions, such as the Seventh-day Sabbath and
the second coming of Christ, which are equally fundamental, were
not included in the survey.
Fifty-eight percent of respondents agreed that the Adventist
women's movement has had some influence on African American
women; although, 25 percent had no opinion. The differences in the
responses possibly reflect that African Americans are faced not
onlywith gender bias, but also with racial and cultural prejudices.
Vivian Gordon clearly points out that Black women do not separate
their individual equity from that pursued by the total African
American community. Furthermore, they view themselves as co
partners with Black men in the struggle to overcome all kinds of
oppression, including sexism.21
The positive beliefs of the African American community
toward its church are reflected in the 78.4 percent who felt that the
participation of African American women within the church has
progressed over the past ten years. There was affirmation that
African American women within the church have sufficient
preparation and skills to be selected for any position open in the
Adventist Church, according to 80.3 percent of the respondents.
While this response confirms the positive view African Americans
have of their abilities, it also reflects strong feelings about the lack of
optimum utilization of qualified African Americans within the
church organization. According to Dr. Rosa Banks, "Of the minority
groups, African Americans constitute the smallest population of the
employment sector of the NAD," even though they constitute the
largest minority membership group.22
Currently, there is an estimated female African American
population in the North American Division of 174,840. Overall, 39.4
percent agreed that African American women are selected for
positions by quota. However, it is important to note that 30.9 percent
had no opinion. The belief that SDA women of other ethnic groups,
particularly Caucasian, with less training and qualifications are given
more job opportunities than African American women was reflected
in the response of 60.7 percent of the respondents. Also, 58.1 percent

agreed that job opportunities within the SDA Church are limited for
African American women. African Americans represent 29 percent
of the NAD membership, but only 17 percent of the NAD
workforce.23
The responses to questions relating to male-female beliefs
and perceptions indicated mixed feelings about their relationships.
African American men are proud and supportive of African
American women in leadership positions, according to 40.3 percent,
while 33.5 percent disagreed. African American women leaders have
strong collaborative ties with African American men according to
41.5 percent, but 25.7 percent had no opinion, and 25.9 percent
disagreed. In response to the statement, African American women
are sensitive and cautious about taking jobs from African American
men, 37.5 percent agreed but, 28.1 percent had no opinion while 27.3
percent disagreed. African American men like to see women visible
and active in community cultural activities that do not conflict with
our denominational beliefs, according to 57.9 percent, others (23.3
percent) had no opinion, and only 13 percent disagreed. These
responses seem to suggest that there remains considerable work to
be done in building and maintaining positive understanding and
acceptance of female roles between male and female African
Americans. Delores Aldridge states that the relationship between
Black men and women does not take place in a vacuum because
behavior is influenced by the European-American social definition
of male superiority. This role behavior is based on inequality rather
than equality which causes relationships between men and women
to be tenuous.24 Nevertheless, an article written by Brenda Vemer
indicates that African American women are not involved in
launching a "battle of the sexes" through confrontation with African
American men. She likens the cultural identity of African American
women to a mighty oak tree, whose roots are deep, enabling them to
withstand changing roles with stalwart allegiance.25
Strong affirmation (66.5 percent agreed) was given to the
inquiry concerning approval of the ordination of women as pastors,
compared to the 16.4 percent who disagreed. A small group of 14.3
percent had no opinion. This response makes a very positive
statement concerning the perceived role of women in leadership
within the Black Adventist community, since it suggests that the
community is concerned that equity be applied by the church,

regardless of gender or race.
Conclusions
It was difficult to draw hard and fast conclusions from a
thirteen-item questionnaire that was limited to a five-point Likert
scale to pinpoint all the beliefs concerning the roles of women in the
SDA church. However, the survey did provide important
information concerning many of the views of the SDA African
American community.
There was a strong indication of commitment to a
fundamental church doctrine as well as a willingness to acknowledge
church organizational progress in regard to both gender and racial
issues. Many African Americans are dedicated to the promotion of
Adventism among their own people. They seem to be committed to
issues of gender and racial equity that extend beyond those of their
own ethnic community.
The findings of a study reported by Karen Flowers on the
role of women in the church correlates with the findings of this
present African American study concerning restricted employment
opportunities within the church for females.26 In this present study
that focuses on African American's views, there appeared to be a
conservative reluctance in expressing strong disapproval of the
current practice of restrictive work opportunities for women with
regard to job opportunities in the church. However, the strong
response percentages in "No Opinion" or "Disagreed" columns
could suggest a silent disapproval of the church organization's
practices of employment opportunities and equity for African
American women. In addition, findings from this study correlate
with 1992 data from the NAD Office of Human Relations in which
African Americans are listed as having the largest membership
growth pattern, a fifteen percent increase, among all groups
reported, but without a proportional representation in leadership
roles. There was valid concern that other racial groups receive
preferential treatment either by intent or neglect. Like other racial
minority groups, African Americans desire increased representation
in the leadership of the church in proportion to their membership
numbers and to their commitment to tire prosperity and growth of
the Adventist Church.
The survey also revealed mixed feelings about male-female

relationships. African American women seemed unsure about male
support of female leadership roles. Perhaps this may be a reflection
of a unique culturally-motivated allegiance common within African
American communities.
The overwhelming affirmation by respondents of ordained
women in the pastorate seems less surprising if one considers the
variety of roles Black women have unselfishly performed as church
workers over the years. The incontestable commitment of African
American women is documented not only in the sampling of the
African American women included in this study, but in the strong
response of those respondents who affirmed their belief in a
uniquely Seventh-day Adventist tenet of faith.
A recent Adventist Review reported findings of an
international research study concerning the church's mission for
Adventist women. The description of this mission in summary was
to require nothing short of full identification of people resources and
to bring them into full utilization.27 Since African Americans
constitute 28.93 percent of the NAD membership, one cannot but
wonder what a positive impact this population would have on the
finishing of the work if gender and racial equity was fully
implemented. Traditionally, African Americans have looked inward
for spiritual strength through a close relationship with God and the
church, thus building up courage to reject adversities while
overcoming the seemingly insurmountable odds of gender and racial
inequities. The skills and abilities of women from all ethnic groups
should be fully utilized to assist in fulfilling the global mission of
spreading the Christian gospel to all the world.
Notes
1 Louis B. Reynolds, We Have Tomorrow (Washington, DC: Review and Herald Pub. Assn.,
1984), 109-10.
2 Reynolds, Tomorrow, 113-14.
3 Seventh-day Adventist Encyclopedia (Washington, DC: Review and Herald Pub. Assn.,
1976), 743.
4 Anna Knight, Mississippi Girl (Nashville: Southern Pub. Assn., 1952), 224.
5 Knight, Mississippi Girl, 193.
6 Mervyn Warren, "The Legacy of Etta Littlejohn," Adventist Review (May 24,1990): 15.
7 "Pioneer Physician Passes," The North American Informant (Jan.-Feb. 1977): 7.
8 Darlene Clark Hine, ed., Black Women in America, vol. 1 (Brooklyn: Carlson Pub., Inc.,
1993), 167-68.
9 Scot Roskelley, “Ruth Temple: Alumni Extraordinary,” Scope, (Mar.-Apr., 1981): 8-11.
10 Alice Marshall, "Los Angeles' First Black Physician Dies at 91," Inglewood Wave (Feb.
15,1984): 1.
11 Jessie Carney Smith, ed., Notable Black American Women, (Detroit: Gale Research, Inc.,
304-06.
12 Lee Paschal, "Helen Harris Turner—An Example in Perseverance," North American
Regional Voice (May 1982): 2.
13 Rosa Taylor Banks, ed., A Woman's Place (Hagerstown, MD: Review and Herald Pub.
Assn. 1992), 92.
14 A Star Gives Light (Decatur, GA: Office of Education, Southern Union Conference of
Seventh-day Adventists, 1989), p. v.
15 Banks, Woman's Place, 94.
16 Ibid., 104.
17 The Adventist Woman (Feb.-Mar. 1991): 1.
18 Banks, Woman’s Place, 92.
19 The Adventist Woman (Oct. 1992): 1.
20 Interview on Jan. 26, 1994, with Rosa Banks, Director of NAD Office of Human
Relations.
21 Vivian Gordon, Black Women, Feminism, and Black Liberation: Which Way? (Chicago:
Third World Press, 1987), 56.
22 Interview on Jan. 26,1994, with Rosa Banks
23 Ibid.
24 Delores P. Aldridge, Focusing: Black Male-Female Relationships, (Chicago: Third World
Press, 1991), 54-55.
25 Brenda Vemer, "Africana Womanism," Unpublished paper (Chicago: Vemer
Communication), 8.
26 Karen Flowers, "The Role of Women in the Church," Adventist Review (Sept. 28,1989):
15-18.
27 Rosa Banks, Karen Rowers, Carole Kilcher, "A Glimpse of Adventist Women Today,"
Adventist Review (Apr. 2,1992): 38.
QtfPomen,
and an G Lthic o f
by Ginger Hanks-Harwood
-J .A espite the passing of two decades since the Roe vs.

) Wade verdict legalized abortion in the United States,
abortion remains a volatile topic. Within the last year,
the controversy has intensified as the so-called
defenders of the unborn have employed increasingly militant
strategies in their attempts to halt abortions. The escalation from
pamphleting and picketing to murder reveals that the court decision
establishing the legality of abortion did not resolve the question of
morality.
183
It is clear that abortion activists will not diminish their

endeavors until they are satisfied that the values which they feel are
being threatened are protected. It is equally clear that the current
violence directed toward women entering clinics for abortions and
physicians performing them cannot remain uncorrected. The
necessity of securing safety and order in a public arena made
hazardous by the clash of convictions is motivation enough to draw
us into conversation.
The social crisis engendered by the current abortion debate
is an invitation for serious examination of the nexus between private
morality and the public arena. As O'Connor suggests, ethical
reflection arises from the conflict inherent in attempting to lead a
moral life in a social context where disparate values create ethical
confusion.1 Such reflection would not only review the ways in which
group life is structured and individual moral responsiveness
fostered, but it would, hopefully, lead to the recognition of the need
for far-reaching adjustments in corporate as well as personal
morality.
Due to the peculiar history of the Christian church in the
United States, the church bears a particular responsibility in
participating and even shaping such a moral discussion. The
accumulated moral authority of the church guarantees it a place in
the ensuing dialogue, while its commission to be a redemptive
presence in society compels it to speak to the crisis. While the
abortion question has become polarized, there are points where even
the most adamant agree. Most would agree, for example, that life is
precious, deserving of respect, and never to be terminated without
solemn consideration. This shared perception results in a common
assessment of the situation: The numbers of abortions performed
annually in this nation indicate a distress in the national moral
schema and an urgent need for serious ethical deliberation. This
fundamental area of agreement can serve as a point of departure for
the development of a common ground of understanding for ethical
discussion.
Structuring the Common Ethical Endeavor
The ensuing task demands a willingness to transcend
ideological stances and move toward careful consideration of
conflicting value claims while engaging in positive decision-making
processes.2 On the one hand, all aspects of the discussion must
submit to rigorous analysis, including the way in which the issue is
Women, Abortion, and an Ethic of Advocacy 185
approached and investigated. On the other, in both religious and

secular circles, the conversation must be intentionally structured to
include all interested parties and perspectives so that the work will
represent the group. "The act of defining a problem is a political act;
it is an exercise of power to have accepted one's terms of a
problem."3 If the effort is not made to construct a common
definition, consensus will flounder. The way we structure a common
ethical endeavor is of utmost importance, for, as Mary Hunt reminds
us: "those who write the rules win the game."4
Selection of Terminology
Because description of the issue can incorporate covert
prejudice and preempt the discussion, the ethical endeavor must
begin with the selection of a workable vocabulary. Undoubtedly, the
terms chosen to describe a phenomenon and its constituent elements
will direct the course of any given conversation. When abortion
decisions are cast in terms of convenience or expediency, biased
perspectives are woven into the fabric of dialogue. For example,
when abortion is referred to as murder, infanticide, or the war on the
unborn, terminology reveals ideology and impedes the conversation
by locating the forum on partisan ground. This is equally the case
when a crisis pregnancy is described as a clump of tissue or equated
with a tumor or parasitic growth. Such attempts at controlling the
dialogue predispose investigation outcomes.
Similarly, the appropriation of names that characterize one
group as champions of the good and other groups as reprobates
polarizes the discussion. Such rhetorical sophistry as dividing
activists into categories (pro-life, pro-choice, abortionists, bigots, etc.)
simply obscures the complexities of the issue. An authentic pro-life
position, for example, requires more than the assumption of a stance
against abortion, just as a pro-choice position extends beyond
securing the right to receive an abortion on demand.
Admission of Data
While the task demands a careful analysis of the logic,
consistency, and ideology employed or concealed in the various
arguments, it also requires a recognition of the feelings generated.
Since evaluation is both an intellectual and affective phenomenon,
consensus will be achieved when the feelings that undergird the
conversation are acknowledged. As Maguire aptly points out: "It is
not just the thinking animal that evaluates; it is the thinking, feeling,
sensing, believing, reacting, geographically and culturally situated

animal that responds."5
The affective components need to be taken into account for
several reasons. Feeling is a legitimate form of knowing, as Maguire
states.6 The intuition that something is wrong may alert us to a
moral issue before we can identify or articulate the source of our
apprehension.
O'Connor further warns that feelings are associated with an
individual's as well as a community's moral bedrock. Those matters
that are taken seriously, those that are honored, protected, nourished
or that appear to be endangered or violated7 are intimately linked to
feelings. To dismiss sentiments as irrelevant to the moral evaluation
is to discard a valuable source of information. Only recognized
emotions are accessible for moral scrutiny. To be sure, Teilhard de
Chardin's aphorism that "Great truths are felt before they are
expressed" speaks to the importance of giving the affective its
rightful place in any moral discussion.
Identification of the Issues
The degree of passion exhibited by abortion activists
reveals the need for a comprehensive assessment of all the issues. An
important aspect of this analysis is the detection of larger unresolved
social questions contaminating the discussion. As Kristin Lukers so
accurately noted: "When pro-life and pro-choice activists think about
abortion, abortion itself is merely 'the tip of the iceberg.' Different
beliefs about the roles of the sexes, the meaning of parenthood, and
about human nature are all called into play when the issue is
abortion."8 Luker concludes that abortion is symbolic of a larger
conflict between disparate visions of the universe and appropriate
behavior within it. The abortion question represents an ongoing
struggle to determine the cultural standard for moral personhood:
the rights and responsibilities of the individual, the relative
importance of the family, the comparative weight to be accorded
variously to reason and faith, the value of personal control and
planning versus resignation to fate as befitting responses to life
shaping events, and so forth. Each of these fundamental questions
signals social ambiguity and ensuing personal distress.
Two related issues have direct and acute impact on the
abortion dialogue. The first emanates from collective uneasiness with
and conflict around sexuality, for which the abortion debate serves
as a lightening rod. Sexual expression is regulated in every culture,
social rules prescribing behavior and imposing sanctions on non

conformists. In Western culture, Calvinist and Roman Catholic
theological taboos associated with the body and human pleasure
have left a free-floating resentment that will continue to frustrate
efforts at consensus surrounding debates that have anything to do
with human sexuality.
The matter is further complicated by the prevailing cultural
tension around the changing place of women in society. As Lukers
concludes: "While on the surface it is the embryo's fate that seems to
be at stake, the abortion debate is actually about the meaning of
women's lives."9 The increased control over fertility has changed the
inevitability of child-bearing and thereby given women greater
freedom to construct their lives around such concerns as education
and career, rather than reproductive obligations exclusively. In light
of such changes, the question of abortion has become, for some
women, "a referendum on the place and meaning of motherhood."10
The very arguments used to defend the right of woman to decide
when she will bear children depreciate the traditional role of women
by conceding that there are other things for a woman to do with her
life (or a certain segment of her life) than to rear children. The
necessary subversiveness of such an assumption can easily
complicate the moral dimensions of any discussion on abortion.
Location of the Focus
The public debate on the morality of abortion has
concentrated on the rights and obligations of a woman who has
conceived versus the unborn child. When, under what circumstances,
and at what gestational point is abortion morally acceptable are
questions that locate the discussion exclusively at the individual
level. This point of departure builds on a presupposition that the
issue revolves around women and their morals. Thus, it is the
woman in crisis who is the moral problem, the one whose ethics are
in question or at risk.
While it is appropriate to address the personal level as part
of the overall project, selecting it as the focal point unfairly reduces
the discussion to the ethical failure of women. The abortion
discussion would gain much from a careful consideration of the
broader moral landscape in which women must make reproductive
decisions. As Ruth Smith points out, every moral choice is made in
a context.11 Veena Das suggests that any discussion of abortion that
does not take into consideration the responsibilities of society at
large to the embryo, the fetus, the infant, and those who will care for
the bom child is incomplete.12 Gustafson adds that the context
assigned to the abortion question should include questions dealing
with the reasons for destroying the fetus, the condition of the
mother, the situation of conception, and the social setting. Such a
contextual discussion will relinquish the presupposition that
commonly focuses on the failure of the pregnant woman and project
the discussion onto the larger moral backdrop.
In summary, the ethical endeavor can begin when we
ensure that the vocabulary selected to describe what we see, the
issues we permit to surface in the course of the review, and the
sources of pertinent information do not contain covert attempts at
premature foreclosures or subtle manipulation of the debate. While
each step in the structuring of the dialogue is necessarily political,
the choices made can be inclusive.
Significance of the Religious Voice
The religious voice is critical within the ethical project
surrounding abortion because the church, mosque, synagogue, and
temple contribute importantly to women's social and ethical
formation. The values, principles, and structures of belief instilled by
those institutions are part of the context in which women's ethical
decisions are made. Even women who reject affiliation with
organized religion are not exempt from the influence of the images
of the good and the fitting which those institutions foster. Because
the religious voice defines what constitutes a moral crisis and an
ethical response for so many women, religious groups have a unique
opportunity to assist women in crises. Certainly the link between the
religious community and personal development is of critical
importance, since personal morality is calculated in measures
derived from the group cosmology.13
The Crisis, the Church, and Society
The Christian church has an interest in the abortion
discussion with all its implications for valuing human life. Christian
doctrine has long promoted reverence for life as a sign of loyalty to
God, the source of all life. The abortion question provides the church
with an opportunity to encourage public consideration of the moral
aspect of social structure and the implications of our attitudes toward
life within the corporate trajectory.
Due to its mission, the Christian church is perceived as a
cautious and conservative adjudicator, laboring to preserve

foundational social values. The church provides a credible location
for the ethical inquiry and moral sifting required to construct a
corrective. In today's cultural climate, however, churches who wish
to maintain their reputation as moral standard bearers must give
evidence that their commitment to life is more than mere rhetoric. A
church's claim to high moral ground is no longer incontrovertible; it
must be verifiable when the church demonstrates that it is a firm and
consistent champion of all that protects and enhances life. If the
church is not actively engaged in the struggle to promote the value
of life, it will forfeit its moral authority on the abortion issue.
Part of the task of promoting life is to promote the well-being
and security of those who have already been bom, including women.
Numerous reports have been published in the last few years on the
condition of American women: the frequency of their physical and
sexual abuse, their harassment in the workplace, their economic
vulnerability, their double workload, their disproportionate
responsibility for caregiving of the young, old, and infirm. Women
and the children they care for are increasingly counted among the
homeless and poverty-stricken. Ultimately, any attempt to be a
consistent voice for life impels the church toward advocacy of women.
The church's full participation in the ethical task includes
the challenge of scrutinizing its own enterprise for attitudes and
practices that undermine the goodness and value of all. This requires
a review of church beliefs on women and gender relationships. The
church must be amenable to a study of its support structures for
marginal families: single parents, parents of handicapped children,
and other individuals who potentially lack the resources to sustain
the valued life. It must also monitor its record on racial inequities, to
determine whether it is consistently on the side of life for everyone.
It must discuss its own underfunded children and the responsiblity
of the church community to them.
Finally, as the church works proactively, its success in
decreasing the numbers of abortions is also a product of its
educational programs. One of the most important contributions the
church can make to the resolution of the abortion crisis is to promote
instruction in mature ethical choices and in decision-making styles.
The church can also contribute positively to the abortion dialogue by
imparting a sacred meaning to women's lives, bodies, sexuality, and
role in procreation that will encourage care and respect. Such a
teaching can equip women with a theological justification to resist

attempts at exploitation and victimization.
Toward a Responsible Church Statement
When a church body has determined to frame a statement
with reference to abortion decisions, it is assumed that the church
has participated conscientiously in the abortion discussion. Recently
the Seventh-day Adventist Church discussed the issue within its own
walls and produced what was offered as the church's position on
abortion. The absence of the Adventist voice in the larger arena of
discussion is much to be lamented, given the useful material
contained in its abortion statement.
The church's statement is a move in the right direction. The
mere existence of such guidelines not only documents the church's
concern, but manifests that the moral conflicts of a particular woman
facing the abortion decision are not unique, unprecedented, or
unanticipated, and that they are already visible to the church. The
statement's presence signals organizational recognition of women's
struggle, and may serve to validate and support a woman in her efforts
to gain clarity and construct a response with which she feels
comfortable.
Any adequate statement for women must incorporate
certain basic components:
1. The woman in a crisis pregnancy
2. The partners of these women
3. Their families
4. Church procedures with respect to church members
involved in a crisis pregnancy
5. Guidelines for church members actively engaged in the
public debate on abortion
More specifically, statements should include:
1. An affirmation of women as moral agents with a divine
claim to have their lives valued and their integrity
respected
2. An appreciation of women's peculiar location as those who
experience major consequences of childbearing and
abortion, thereby retaining the responsibility of decision
3. An affirmation of the goodness of procreativity and the
value of prenatal life
4. The recognition of the dilemmas that emerge in crisis
pregnancies
5. The acknowledgement that tragedy is a real and

unavoidable component of our experience in the universe,
present in certain situations, no matter how well or wisely
we choose
6. An assurance of God's presence and guidance throughout
the decision-making and subsequent events
7. An acknowledgement of the human situation: All exist as
finite and limited individuals who must make difficult
choices within an imperfect context
8. A challenge to women to be mindful of both mystery and
grace as they participate in the human project of shaping
the world through faith-filled decision-making
9. An articulation of broad-based, general religious principles
to be kept in mind when formulating a decision, including
principles to help discriminate between pregnancies
10. An articulation of support services that a woman may
reasonably expect from her church community during and
after her decision, the process by which she can avail
herself of this aid, and where she may register her need, if
the structures are not functioning adequately.
A Case Review: The Seventh-day Adventist
Abortion Guidelines
The abortion guidelines statement voted by the Annual
Council of Seventh-day Adventists in October of 1992 is a recent
example of a serious effort to provide moral guidance for its
members (see the appendix to this chapter).
The statement articulates and applies selected Christian
principles to the question of relating individually and as a church
organization to crisis pregnancies. The willingness of a church
organization to sponsor such a discussion is in itself a sign of moral
leadership and responsibility.
The guidelines are characterized by a level tone and careful
approach to the topic, missing in many analyses. The document is
structured to establish common ground rather than widen
differences. This accomplishment is particularly noteworthy when
it has been achieved by a committee comprised of individuals
specifically selected for their diverse views on the topic. Their ability
to create a statement of consensus that could be voted by the Annual
Council of Seventh-day Adventists, a worldwide aggregate
representing extremely diverse opinions and strongly-held

sentiments, is evidence of healthy and constructive process at work
within a church body.
Informed by compassion, the guidelines reserve for the
pregnant woman the responsibility of making the final decision. The
document endorses the principles of the sacredness of human life,
individual moral agency, Christian accountability to God for
personal choices and actions, and the church as a redemptive
institution. The work acknowledges the gap between God's
intentions for humanity and the circumstances in which women find
themselves. It also contributes to the discussion by envisioning the
church as a vehicle of grace for those struggling with or recovering
from crisis pregnancies.
The shapers of the guidelines were wise to sidestep such
quagmires as the debate concerning the beginning of personhood
and the relative value of the fetus with respect to stage of
development. They also resisted the temptation to cast the situation
in terms of competing rights (fetus vs. woman, woman vs. society,
etc.). Furthermore, the guidelines contain at least implicit coverage
of most of the basic issues of morality raised in current abortion
discussion: the moral status of the fetus, the metaphysical meaning
of life, the right to make procreative choices, and appropriate
relationships with those we view as having transgressed moral
expectations and law.
The wisdom presented to help a woman in a crisis
pregnancy make an informed decision includes the following points:
1. Prenatal life is a sacred, magnificent gift from God.
2. Abortion is never an action of little moral consequence.
3. Abortion should be considered only for the most serious
reasons, defined as "significant threats to a woman's life,
serious jeopardy to her health, severe congenital defects
carefully diagnosed, and pregnancy resulting from rape or
incest."
4. Abortion for reasons of "birth control, gender selection or
convenience are not condoned by the church."
5. Her decision should not be coerced, but should be guided
by a commitment to biblical principles and the laws of God,
her accountability to the faith community, and a
consultation with her family.
The solid principles underpinning the guidelines establish
a conservative stance on abortion and recognize the significance of

abortion choices. But a closer analysis of tire explicit and implicit
"theology" of the statements reveals certain weaknesses. For
example, although the pregnant woman is identified as the
responsible moral agent, sacredness of life and accountability to the
law of God are the only principles given to guide her decision. While
this approach establishes the value of every fetus and the necessity
of proceeding judiciously, it begs other significant questions. Is every
pregnancy a gift from God with every conception representing God's
specific will? Does God supervise all human reproduction, choosing
whether a zygote will be established or pass out of the womb
without implantation?
Nor does the document invite woman to explore the
principle of stewardship and the role that it may play in her refusal
to bring additional life into the world. Although it acknowledges that
women "at times may face exceptional circumstances that present
serious moral or medical dilemmas," the list of examples provided
are reserved for cases of medical catastrophe or situations of forced
impregnation. On what moral basis may abortion be considered in
the exceptional cases, since no theological framework has been
established that would provide for a different decision? Are the
situations listed the only "most serious reasons," or would
homelessness, lack of medical care, or physical abuse also qualify?
The statements fail to appreciate a woman's difficult calling
as the person who must assess the available resources and make the
final decision as to whether to bring a new life into the community.
To speak generically of conforming to the laws of God and
accountability to the faith community may be misleading: The
sanctity of life is not the only guideline for action given by God. To
describe the situation in terms of law and accountability without
speaking of grace does a disservice to the woman and the
community.
In the end, the document undermines a principle it claims
to promote: individual moral agency. With the principles outlined in
the guidelines, a woman has little choice of response, if her decision
is to be a moral one. The only choice presented to a Christian woman
(unless her pregnancy falls under the exception category) is whether
or not she will submit to God's prerevealed will. Framing the choice
in this manner introduces a subtle note of coercion: the "faithful"
woman has the best moral choice outlined for her.
When the guidelines speak to the response of the church to

the abortion dilemma, the church is called on to be a caring
community that assists those "in crisis as alternatives are being
considered," but little mention is made of the church's obligation to
those same women once a decision has been made. This approach
leaves crucial questions unanswered: Will the church support those
who decide to terminate their pregnancies? What are the
responsibilities of a church which encourages women to bring new
life into the world that will be neither welcomed nor supported by
society? What structures to assist women must a church establish in
order to be considered responsible and faithful to its mission?
That the guidelines are not meant for a woman in a crisis
pregnancy, but rather as general guidelines to church members, is
evident in the way information is laid out in the document. The
information pertinent to her is not presented in a concise, accessible
way, but it must be gleaned by sifting through the statements
directed to church members and institutions. Little is contained in
the document that could be interpreted by her as encouragement or
support as she faces a crisis pregnancy. That such a presentation
makes principles less accessible and obscures the ideological
prejudices of the document is particularly lamentable because the
statements were ostensibly designed to be used by women in crisis
pregnancies.
Additionally, the guidelines call on pregnant women to
conform to an ethic that the church does not apply consistently.
While women in crisis pregnancies are instructed to conform their
decisions and actions to an ethic of the sacredness of life and divine
accountability, the church has not pursued this stance in other areas
of ethical concern. Although the church has long called on males to
pursue the conscientious objector status in military service, it has not
based its position on the sanctity of life. Nor does the church object
to nuclear bombs or other weapons of mass destruction on this
premise. A statement of responsibility towards the environment has
not been formulated, despite ample evidence that pollution causes
fatal birth defects and terminal diseases. The church does not seem
to consistently hold its practices to an ethic of accountability.
Furthermore, although the church is well known for its
political activism on issues relating to religious liberty, it has not
lobbied for laws to protect women and children. The Adventist
Church has not used its power or its resources to encourage
lawmakers to support day care, medical care, or even basic financial

aid to single mothers, all issues that promote the life and well-being
of children. In the absence of denominational support for national
efforts to sustain women and children, or the creation of parochial
structures to support pregnant women and the children they would
bring into the world, the guidelines seem out of touch with the
church's own reality.
Not surprisingly for a church that has never made
pronouncements on the moral obligation of men to financially
support their children, the guidelines predictably fail to address the
responsibilities of men who are partners of women in crisis
pregnancies. Given the prevalence of domestic neglect and violence,
along with the numbers of women who die annually at the hands of
their husbands and partners, a church that in the area of abortion
upholds the sanctity of life seems strangely reluctant to comment
officially on the blatant disregard for life exhibited daily in the
domestic domain.
It might be observed, too, that the document misses a
valuable opportunity to affirm and strengthen women in these
dilemmas. The guidelines might have called for a reverence towards
the lives of women or sought to construct a vision of the Christian
woman as a person who takes seriously her responsibility to her own
sacred body-temple. It might have assured a woman of church
support and divine presence as she grapples with her quandary and
weighs her choices.
Conclusion
Christians of all persuasions are called on to join the
discussion on abortion. As responsible citizens and active church
members, they may contribute to the common ethical endeavor
surrounding not only abortion, but larger issues related to the
unborn child: the mother, the father, the home the child will enter,
and the society that will meet its socioeconomic needs. Church
leaders and members cannot lament the increase of abortions
annually when they are not involved in offering correctives to the
circumstances that contribute daily to the abortion decision.
The religious voice, both personal and institutional, will
play a pivotal role in calling on the conscience of the church and of
the society in which it lives. Actions, both individual and collective,
will speak louder than words as the church becomes an authentic
advocate of justice and mercy for women and children in the
abortion discussion. At the local level, the church will participate in

social actions designed to improve women's lives by educating its
membership and society to reduce physical and sexual abuse in the
home and exploitation and harassment in the workplace. The
physical resources of the church will be employed to ameliorate
existing conditions that oppress women and contribute to their
remaining in destructive situations. A church community, by itself
or in collaboration with other church groups, will offer safe,
affordable day care to working mothers, care facilities for the
handicapped, and time-out programs for caregivers. It will sponsor
safe houses for women who are victims of domestic violence,
maternity homes for those without economic resources, and
counseling centers where women can clarify their personal situations
and formulate constructive responses. When the church commits its
resources to augment those of single mothers and isolated family
units, it will alter the context in which decisions are made and thus
change the options available.
If the church will make progress toward the decrease of
abortions, it must be willing to utilize its influence and resources to
support legislation and policies in areas that contribute to the shape
and quality of women's lives by investing in proposed laws that
secure women's safety in the home and public spaces, opportunities
in the workplace, medical care, access to birth control, and freedom
of procreative choice. Such a stand will validate the church's claim to
be on the side of life.
Notes
1 June O'Connor, "On Doing Religious Ethics" in Andolsen, et al., Women's Consciousness,
Women's Conscience: A Reader in Feminist Ethics (Minneapolis: Winston Press, 1985), 282.
2 O'Connor, Ethics, 269.
3 Carol S. Robb, "A Framework for Feminist Ethics," in Andolsen, Women's Conciousness,
213.
4 Mary Hunt, "Beginning with Women," Second Opinion 10 (March): 72-79.
5 Darnel Maguire, The Moral Choice (Minneapolis: Winston Press, 1978), 297.
6 Maguire, Choice, 281.
7 O'Connor, Ethics, 279.
8 Kristen Lukers, Abortion and the Politics o f Motherhood (Berkeley: University of California
Press, 1984), 158.
9 Lukers, Abortion, 194.
10 Ibid., 193.
11 Ruth Smith, "Feminism and the Moral Subject," in Andolsen, Reader, 244.
12 Veena Das, "Notes on the Moral Foundations of the Debate on Abortion," in Diana Eck
and Jain Devaki, eds., Speaking o f Faith: Global Perspectives on Women, Religion, and Social Change
(Philadelphia: New Society Publishers, 1987), 232.
13 James B. Nelson, Moral Nexus: Ethics o f Christian Identity and Community (Philadelphia:
Westminster Press, 1971), 92.
Appendix
Abortion Guidelines voted by
the Seventh-day Adventist Church
Many contemporary societies have faced conflict over the

morality of abortion.1 Such conflict also has affected large numbers
within Christianity who want to accept responsibility for the
protection of prenatal human life while also preserving the personal
liberty of women. The need for guidelines has become evident, as the
Church attempts to follow Scripture, and to provide moral guidance
while respecting individual conscience. Seventh-day Adventists
want to relate to the question of abortion in ways that reveal faith in
God as the Creator and Sustainer of all life and in ways that reflect
our Christian responsibility and freedom. Though honest differences
on the question of abortion exist among Seventh-day Adventists, the
following represents an attempt to provide guidelines on a number
of principles and issues. The guidelines are based on broad biblical
principles that are presented for study at the end of the document.2
1. Prenatal human life is a magnificent gift of God. God's ideal for
human beings affirms the sanctity of human life, in God's
image, and requires respect for prenatal life. However,
decisions about life must be made in the context of a fallen
world. Abortion is never an action of little moral consequence.
Abortion, as understood in this document, is defined as any action aimed at the

termination of pregnancy already established. This is distinguished from contraception, which
is intended to prevent a pregnancy. The focus of the document is on abortion.
+ The fundamental perspective of these guidelines is taken from a broad study of

Scripture as shown in the "Principles for a Christian View of Human Life" in David R. Larson,
Abortion: Ethical Issues and Options (Loma Linda University Center for Christian Bioethics), 260.
Thus prenatal life must not be thoughtlessly destroyed.

Abortion should be performed only for the most serious
reasons.
2. Abortion is one of the tragic dilemmas of our fallenness. The
Church should offer gracious support to those who personally
face the decision concerning an abortion. Attitudes of
condemnation are inappropriate in those who have accepted
the gospel. Christians are commissioned to become a loving,
caring community of faith that assists those in crisis as
alternatives are considered.
3. In practical, tangible ways, the Church as a supportive
community should express its commitment to the value of
human life. These ways should include:
a. Strengthening family relationships,
b. Educating both genders concerning Christian principles of
human sexuality,
c. Emphasizing responsibility of both male and female for
family planning,
d. Calling both to be responsible for the consequences of
behaviors that are inconsistent with Christian principles,
e. Creating a safe climate for ongoing discussion of the moral
questions associated with abortion,
f. Offering support and assistance to women who choose to
complete crisis pregnancies, and
g. Encouraging and assisting fathers to participate
responsibly in the parenting of their children. The Church
also should commit itself to assist in alleviating the
unfortunate social, economic, and psychological factors that
may lead to abortion and to care redemptively for those
suffering the consequences of individual decisions on this
issue.
4. The Church does not serve as conscience for individuals;
however, it should provide moral guidance. Abortions for
reasons of birth control, gender selection, or convenience are
not condoned by the Church. Women, at times, however, may
face exceptional circumstances that present serious moral and
medical dilemmas, such as significant threats to the pregnant
woman's life, serious jeopardy to her health, severe congenital
defects carefully diagnosed in the fetus, and pregnancy
resulting from rape or incest. The final decision whether to
terminate the pregnancy or not should be made by the

pregnant woman after appropriate consultation. She should be
aided in her decision by accurate information, biblical
principles, and the guidance of the Holy Spirit. Moreover, these
decisions are best made within the context of healthy family
relationships.
5. Christians acknowledge as first and foremost their
accountability to God. They seek balance between the exercise
of individual liberty and their accountability to the faith
community and the larger society and its laws. They make their
choices according to Scripture and the laws of God rather than
the norms of society. Therefore, any attempts to coerce women
either to remain pregnant or to terminate pregnancy should be
rejected as infringements of personal freedom.
6. Church institutions should be provided with guidelines for
developing their own institutional policies in harmony with
this statement. Persons having a religious or ethical objection
to abortion should not be required to participate in the
performance of abortions.
7. Church members should be encouraged to participate in the
ongoing consideration of their moral responsibilities with
regard to abortion in the light of the teaching of Scripture.
PART FOUR
V o book on Adventist women and their perspective on

Adventist belief would be complete without the devotional
v dimension. To be sure, women have been the guardians o f
devotional religion both in the home and in the church as
is evidenced in the recent success o f the General Conference Women's
Ministries Department-sponsored devotional books by women fo r women.
The unwritten and unspoken perception is that men are entrusted with
theological truth, but that women have a unique handle on devotional
verities. It is not difficult to hear echoes o f old male-female myths in this idea
which only recently has been challenged within the Christian church
through its women theologians.
In her meditation on unity in Christ, Donna Haerich mines the
depths o f Jesus' life and ministry on earth, as told in the Gospels, to find the
profound roots o f what must move increasingly toward the forefront o f
Adventist belief and practice: Jesus' democratic love for men and women and
his insistence on having them participate equally in the responsibilities and
privileges o f the Gospel. This thought-provoking meditation takes us from
Creation through the crucifixion to show how Redemption through Jesus
Christ necessarily heals the broken relationship between man and woman.
200
rO hat rC hep oM ap
(S3 e
by Donna J. Haerich
/ / 1 hey were created for God's good pleasure, to be his

/ delight, to share his throne, to think his thoughts, to
j
love and serve the created order and each other (Rev.
4:11; Prov. 8:31; Col. 1:19; Rev. 3:21; Phil. 2:5).‘ They
were placed in a garden home with the responsibility to dress and
keep it, to exercise dominion over the earth and to share authority
with the Ruler of the cosmos (Gen. 1:26). They were given the
opportunity to study the mysteries of the visible universe— "the
wondrous work of him who is perfect in knowledge—to be students
of the all-wise Farmer and Upholder of all that is" (PP 50).+
With no job distinctions, no role differentiations, no
division of labor, no gender bias or discrimination, male and female
were created to be one, even as God is one, with the ever increasing
capacity to know, to enjoy and to love.*
*
All biblical quotations are taken from the New International Version, unless otherwise
specified.
+ All abbreviations for Ellen G. White's books are listed at the end of this chapter.
201
The Lord's portion is his people.

He found them in a desert land,
In the howling waste of the wilderness.
He encircled them;
He cared for them;
He kept them as the apple of his eye.
Like an eagle that stirs up her nest,

That flutters over her young,
Spreading out her wings and catching them,
Bearing them on her pinions,
So the Lord alone did lead.
He made them to ride on the heights of the earth

To eat the produce of the field;
To suck honey out of the Rock
And oil out of the flinty stone;
To eat curds from the cattle; milk from the flock;

To eat the fat of lambs, rams, and goats;
To eat the finest of the wheat;
And to drink wine from the blood of the grape.
But they forsook the God who made them

And scoffed at the Rock, their Salvation
(Deut. 32:9-15, paraphrased).
As they left their Maker's presence, the glory which

surrounded them vanished, and the unity that had bound them
together into one flesh was broken. They became alienated and
estranged from one another. Now they "worshiped and served the
creature rather than the Creator" (Rom. 1:25 RSV; SR 37). They
exercised dominion over one another, set up chains of command,
and established hierarchical systems in their homes and in their
communities (Luke 22:24-27).
"Their thinking became futile and their senseless minds
were darkened" (Rom. 1:21 RSV). They gave their blessing to
societies that exploited the widow and the orphan, their allegiance
to governments that waged wars and took captives, their wealth to
churches that marginalized segments of their congregations, and
their honor to families that cast blame and passed on guilt unto the
third and fourth generations. "They exchanged the truth about God
for a lie" (Rom. 1:25). He was no longer "Abba, Father," but Deity to
be appeased and placated. And when he came to them, they hid
from him in fear. And when he spoke, they "trembled with fear.
They stayed at a distance" (Ex. 20:18).
God longed to lift up his countenance upon them and give
them peace, but they cried for the rocks and mountains to hide them
from his face (Hos. 10:8). He strove to speak tenderly to them,
offering comfort but they stopped their ears and would not listen.
Often he sought to gather them to his heart as a mother hen gathers
her chicks, but they would not ( Zech. 7:11; Matt. 23:37).
So, he became a human being and pitched his tent
alongside theirs and lived among them. He hoped that they might
come to understand that he is Mercy, Graciousness, Kindness,
Faithfulness, and Steadfast Love, personified. But most of all, he
hoped that by beholding him they might be changed into his likeness
and be one with him and with each other as it had been in the
beginning (John 1:14; Ex. 33:18; 34:6; 2 Cor. 3:18; PP 91).
Therefore, unto them a son was bom (Isa. 9:6). And woman
wrapped him in swaddling clothes and took him to her breast. Man
took the infant up in his arms and blessed God; woman saw him and
publicly gave thanks for him throughout the city (Luke 2:7,25-38).
In the fullness of time, man took him down into the water
and baptized him (Mark 1:9, 10). Then he traveled about the
countryside, doing good and healing all their diseases.
He took woman's children into his arms and blessed them
(Matt. 10:13). He touched man's eyes and sight was restored (Mark
8:23). He took woman by the hand and she got up from her deathbed
(Mark 5:41). He touched man's withered arm and made it whole
(Mark 3:3). He lifted woman up and the fever left her (Mark 1:31). He
put his arms around man when he was drowning and lifted him
from the water (Matt. 14:29).
Man took his body down from the cross and wrapped him
in linen cloths with spices, according to burial custom (Mark 15:43-
46). When he arose, woman was there, weeping. He called her name;
she turned and clung to him (John 20:11-18). Then man thrust his
hand into his side, felt the scar, and believed (John 20: 24-28).
Over and over again, man and woman touched him!
Without fear they talked with him, shared their joys and sorrows,
and mingled their tears. At last they asked, "Show us the Father"
(John 11:33-35; 14:8). He then told them plainly that if they had seen
Him, they had, in fact, seen the Father; that the Father loved and
cherished them as dearly as did he (John 14:9-11). This is how they
described their experience:
We write to you about the Word of Life, which has existed

from the very beginning. We have heard it, and we have seen it
with our eyes; yes, we have seen it and our hands have touched
it! What we have seen and heard we tell to you also, so that you
will join with us in the fellowship that we have with the Father
and with his son, Jesus Christ. We write this in order that our joy
may be complete (1 John 1:1-4, paraphrased).
Man and woman, again in joyful fellowship with their

Creator! But what of the brokenness between them? Could male and
female also be reunited? Could they again be one with each other?
Was "at-one-ment" only to be a vertical experience? Would God
restore his relationship with his people and not bring them into
oneness with each other?
Perhaps no other event more fully symbolized the
restoration process and the return to the original state than did the
Year of Jubilee. Therefore, it was not mere happenstance that he
began his public ministry with the grand pronouncement that the
year of the Lord's favor had arrived.
The Spirit of the Lord is on me,

because he has anointed me
to preach good news to the poor.
He has sent me
to proclaim freedom for the prisoners,
and recovery of sight for the blind,
to release the oppressed (Luke 4:18,19).
The time had come when all wrongs were to be set right.
Liberty and justice would be restored. The land would be at rest, and
all would be as it had been in the beginning.
One of the most pressing wrongs to be addressed was the
absence of mutual trust and respect between men and women. When
they left their Maker, an enemy came in who sought to permanently
mar the image of God by tearing it asunder. The enemy pitted male
and female against one another, defining their status by their sex,
separating and manipulating their roles and functions in a way
destructive of the collaborative model God meant for them to reflect.
Now God would tenderly and creatively restore to humans

their rightful heritage as one flesh. He would return to them their
dreams and give them faith to believe that the desires of their hearts
could be realized. He would give assurance that their role and
function in life was no more dependent on the shape of their body
than on the color of their skin. He would call all to choose "what is
better" (Luke 10:42) and he clearly stated that the truly blessed
person was the one who did the will of the Father, regardless of
station or birth (Luke 11:28). Very carefully and very deliberately he
began his work of healing centuries of separation and alienation.
It has long been recognized that the content of his message
was nonsexist. There was no instruction given just to women nor any
command limited to men only. But it is worthy to note that even his
"delivery system," the package in which his message was wrapped
and presented, was free of any bias or favoritism as to gender.
As it was written in their law, "On the testimony of two or
three witnesses a man shall be put to death, but no one shall be put
to death on the testimony of only one witness" (Deut. 17:6). It was
through their joint as well as individual witness to his public
ministry, death, and resurrection that he ensured the collaboration
and the mutual trust that would characterize his church. His story
would be considered credible because it would be based on first
hand or eyewitness accounts by at least two persons—sometimes
both a man and a woman; other times, only men or only women.
Thus, if people were to believe in him, they would have to believe
and trust in one another.” But what is significant is that his birth,*
*
The gospels carefully document by name the witnesses to important events in Jesus' life.
Named are the men and women who traveled with him as disciples and witnessed his public
teaching and miracles (Luke 8:1-4); Matt. 14:21). At the crucifixion, Mary Magadalene; Mary,
the mother of James and Joseph; the mother of Zebedee's sons; the mother of Jesus; and John,
the beloved disciple, watched Jesus die (Matt. 26:56; Mark 15:40; Luke 23:49; John 19:25).
Joseph of Arimathea and the women followed Jesus' body to the tomb site (Luke 23:55), and
we are told that the two Marys saw the tomb sealed and witnessed the earthquake and the first
news of Jesus' resurrection (Matt. 27:61; Matt. 28:1-10). Luke makes a point of naming off the
women who came to the tomb on Sunday morning: Mary Magdalene; Joanna; Mary, mother
of James; and "others" (Luke 24:10). Mary Magdalene was the first of the disciples to actually
see Jesus after his resurrection, and she was commissioned by him to go tell the good news
(John 20:11-18). From the context of the events as recorded by John, it was most likely a
married couple from Emmaus who spoke to the risen Jesus and watched him break bread at
their home (Mark 16:12). His ascension was witnessed by some 120 men and women (Acts 1:8,
14,15) who later, presumably along with others, received the outpouring of the Holy Spirit in
Jerusalem (Acts 2:1,18). Again, the names of both men and women are included in the record.
dedication, baptism, ministry, death, burial, resurrection, and

ascension would be confirmed as valid only by the collaborative
witness of male and female. One man and one woman witnessed the
announcement of his incarnation and his dedication (Luke 1:35-38;
Matt. 1:20; Luke 2:25; 2:36-38); women as well as men witnessed his
crucifixion and burial (Matt. 26:56; 27:61; Mark 15:40; Luke 23:1-10,
49,55; John 19:25; 20:1-9).
Likewise, his parables were carefully distributed among
male and female protagonists, always with an eye to the full
participation of both genders of humanity in the witness of his
teachings. Not surprisingly, in his first sermon he used both the
widow of Zaraphath and Naaman of Syria as examples of Gentiles
whom God preferred to honor over the unfaithful Israelites (Luke
4:24-27). He likened his kingdom to both a man planting seed and a
woman mixing bread (Luke 13:19-21); he taught us how to pray by
setting a woman against an indifferent judge and a lowly tax-
collector against a haughty Pharisee (Luke 18:1-3,10); he made tax-
collectors as well as prostitutes eligible for the kingdom (Matt. 21:31);
his coming would affect equally two men in a field and two women
grinding grain (Matt. 24:39-41); they were equally his brother and
sister/mother who did his will (Matt. 12:46-50); the signs of the end
were likened both to ten virgins and to a man going to a far country
(Matt. 25:1,14)/
Because of this method, all, men as well as women, would
be able to picture themselves in a kingdom in which the
disenfranchised, the outcast, and the unclean found welcome
acceptance and status. Furthermore, his teaching would draw men
and women into dialogue and fellowship at a level they had never
before experienced: one of mutual respect and mutual participation
in hope. Privately he entered into dialogue with both men and
»
In Jesus' sermons and storytelling, men and women are given parity. In Luke 11:29-32
both the pagan Queen of Sheba and the men of Nineveh are invoked by Jesus as witnesses to
the stubborn ingratitude and rebellion of the chosen people. As to the Torah, a person's honor
was due equally to a mother as to a father (Mark 7:10-11), but neither a mother nor father,
sister nor brother should be used to replace God in the affections of the human heart (Mark
10:29-30). Indeed, the claims of the gospel on the individual, he warned, would set the father
against the son, the mother against the daughter (Luke 12:51,53).
women.* He encouraged both to speak out publicly and he gave his

blessing to their testimony.+ It was the testimony of one woman that
converted an entire Samaritan town (John 4:39). It was the witness of
a healed man that raised the number of believers in Israel (Mark 1:25;
5:19). It was the woman/disciple Mary who was commissioned to
"Go instead to my brothers and tell them" about his resurrection
(John 20:17,18). Even children became enabled as witnesses of his
ministry (Matt. 21:15).
The intentional inclusiveness of his mission was evident,
too, in the miracles he performed for men and women, boys and
girls, Jew and non-Jew alike. He raised from the dead both the son
of the widow of Nain and Jairus' daughter (Luke 7:11-16; 8:51-56); he
healed a crippled woman and a man with dropsy on the Sabbath
(Luke 13:10-17; 14:5); one needs only to recall the healing of the
Roman centurion's servant and the Canaanite woman's daughter to
realize that the Gentiles also enjoyed his healing across gender lines
(Matt. 8:5-13; 15:21-28).
Thus was fulfilled the plan of the Ultimate Teacher to repair
the breach, restore communion, and usher in the reign of God.
Having accomplished his mission, he said: "Do not hold on to me. I
am returning to my Father and your Father, to my God and your
God" (John 20:17).
Lift up your heads, O you gates

Lift them up, you ancient doors,
that the King of Glory may come in ( Ps. 24:9).
Father, I have glorified you on earth. I have finished the

work that you gave me to do. I have revealed your very self to them
(John 17:1-6 Phillips). I have made at-one-ment and restored your
*
Note the parallel conversations of Jesus with Nicodemus (John 3:1-21) and the
Samaritan woman (John 4:7-30), and the similar injunctions to Peter (Luke 9:20) and Martha
(John 11:27), along with their identical responses: "You are the Messiah."
+ Jesus not only encouraged men and women to speak out publicly; he empowered them
by the "laying on of hands," a symbolic action that would later be considered sacramental by
the church. His healing touch would restore men and women to wholeness, not merely relieve
their physical complaints. Thus it is significant that he chose the time and location of the
synagogue on the Sabbath day to lay hands on a disabled woman. The Scriptures record that
she immediately stood up and gave her public testimony (Luke 13:10-17).
208_______________ Women and the Church: The Feminine Perspective
image in humankind. They are my witnesses, and this is their

testimony:
For he himself is our peace, who has made the two one, and
has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility, and in
this one body to reconcile both of them to God___Through him
we both have access to the Father by one Spirit (Eph. 2:14-16).
I commissioned them to go unto all the world and tell this

story. I poured out the Spirit you gave me on both men and women
and gifted them with the necessary skills and talents to do the work
I have called them to do (Matt. 28:19; Acts 2:1-4). They will no longer
go it alone. Together they will assemble the people, break the bread,
and tell the stories. Together they will wait upon my table and wash
one another's feet. Together they will baptize all nations and teach
them all that I have commanded them. Together they will go forth to
love and serve the world.
I am coming to you now, but I say these things while I am

still in the world, so that they may have the full measure of my
joy within themselves.. . . I have given them the glory that you
gave me that they may be one as we are one (John 17:13,22).
Abbreviations to
Ellen G. White Books
PP Patriarchs and Prophets
SR Story o f Redemption
Conclusion
— / anyt hi ng becomes clear from reading this book, it is that our
( ( \ / understanding o f God and o f each other is greatly enhanced
^ when we consider our beliefs and practices in terms o f both
the male-dominated received language and the heterogenous
female discourse. To allow "human" to mean solely or ideally "male" has
long cheated Christians o f the potentialfullness o f vision and comprehension
o f the self and God. To replace that meaning with "female" will do as much
damage. We are in need o f a balanced language that draws on the unique
strengths o f both manifestations o f humanity. However, due to abuses
weighted heavily on the male side, balance will, for the moment, have to be
achieved by listening more carefully and respectfully to feminine discourse
as it interfaces with (rather than replaces) male discourse. What would
happen if in the Adventist Church it was really believed that our women
could and even must teach us something about God and about ourselves
before we can consider ourselves taught at all? Furthermore, what would
happen if we saw the masculine and the feminine perspective on all our
doing and thinking as equally important, to the point that we dare not make
any decisions at any level without consulting one another? Would this not
fulfill Christ's prayer o f oneness with him and with each other? Happily,
some o f this work has already begun.
This feminine perspective on Christian as well as Adventist belief
and practice has also revealed the importance o f our language, and
particularly our metaphors, not only in reflecting, but in creating our views
o f God and each other. The recent work o f Anthony Robbins has made the
general public aware o f the powerful influence o f language and simile in
formulating our way o f seeing the world. In his book, Awaken the Giant
Within, Robbins gives the example o f physicists who fo r years used the
metaphor o f the solar system to describe the relationship o f electrons to
protons and neutrons within the nucleus o f an atom. It was not until they
209
were willing to give up that "received" metaphor that they were able to
experience a breakthrough in their understanding o f the variably-distanced
orbits o f electrons around the nucleus and deepen their understanding o f
atomic energy.1 As long as Adventists continue to carry about one
inflexible metaphor fo r men and one fo r women, we will disempower
ourselves as a church body. Since the old metaphors o f rulership and
submission are no longer operative as they have come to us, we would do
well to find a new language that will mutually empower us to learn from
one another as members o f the same body on equal footing. Paul's metaphor
o f the church as a body with diverse members and differing gifts (Rom. 12:3-
8) yet whose ministries are equally important fo r the benefit o f the whole
body (1 Cor. 12), should be a point o f departure fo r a new understanding o f
male-female roles in the church and for mutual respect based on our unique
gifts rather than our gender.
These readings also make us wonder how fa r the Adventist
Church is removed from its beginnings when beliefs and practices that
suggest God's ordaining man's rule over woman continues to receive
support in our midst to the detriment o f women's full and official
participation in pastoral and other ministries o f the church. Adventist
theology teaches that sin brought on man's rulership over woman while it
also instructs that Jesus Christ restores man and woman to their Edenic
equality. But the persistent metaphor o f male rulership over female, with all
o f its social accouterments, has kept the church from seeing how the latter
act must o f necessity negate the first. Man's rulership acquired under sin
cannot survive in any form under the rulership o f Christ, sole Ruler o f both
men and women, who now are brothers and sisters.
Adventism as a Christian church cannot continue to talk out o f
both sides o f its proverbial mouth on this matter. Either the gospel is an
equalizer in Christ, or it isn't. The gospel cannot free slaves while it
approves a gender hierarchy. It must also become very evident to us as an
increasingly global church that no matter what the culture nor the customs,
the gospel's leavening influence o f liberation must be a conscious part o f our
evangelizing rhetoric before we may consider that the gospel has been
adequately preached at all. Far from being a apologetic adjunct to the
"important" doctrines o f Adventism, the liberating implications o f the
gospel fo r ritually raped adolescent women in Malawi, Africa, and silent,
abused wives and children in Kansas City must be laid out in a language
that is free from religiously approved (whether implicit or explicit) gender
favoritism.
Conclusion 211
Another dimension o f Adventist belief that has been illuminated

in these pages is the pivotal role o f the free will in gender relations.
Wholeness in human relations does not come from assigned subjection any
more than it derives from assigned theological justification or sanctification.
Free choice and its concomitant respect for the essential freedom o f humanity
are at the heart o f every healthy human relationship, just as they are at the
core o f human relations with God. The Christian church has always
prospered spiritually when it made every effort to preserve human dignity
as guaranteed in the gospel summary o f John: God so loved the world (men
and women) that he gave himself through Jesus Christ so that everyone who
so chooses, regardless o f race, social status, or gender, may have eternal life
and become a minister o f that saving truth to all the world until the final
restoration through the Second Coming o f Christ. The power o f that message
remains incontestable and efficacious wherever it is applied.
This book is a call to the Adventist Church not only to integrate
its women into all ministries at all levels o f the church, a work that is
already in process, but to move away from fear and toward genuine courage
and cooperation. While Adventist men and women continue personally to
believe that there is some inherent inferiority or danger in all things
feminine or some mysterious superiority assigned to the male, we will be
crippled spiritually as the body o f Christ, no matter how high the
membership numbers swell. In the end, it is the quality o f Adventism in
individual women and men, rather than the quantity o f Adventists that will
prove that we have understood the claims o f eternal truth in our lives.
Notes
1 Anthony Robbins, Awaken the Giant Within (New York: Simon & Schuster, 1991), 230.

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( ItfPom en

Gourdes <2u QMorales-^judmundssm

£m §i A, Andrews University Press

©1995 Andrews University Press

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be

Printed in the United States of America

Part One: The Scriptural Dimension 1

Coming to Know God Through Women's Experience 3

Relationships in the Godhead: A Model for Human Relations 22

Part Two: The Ecclesiastical Dimension 33

Women, Music, and the Church: An Historical Approach 35

Ordination of Women in the Church: Implications of a Forgotten

The Ordination of Women: Toward a Seventh-day Adventist

A Black Woman in Pastoral Ministry 96

Part Three: The Socal Dimension 110

Machismo, Marianismo, and the Seventh-day Adventist Church:

Ellen White and the Women's Rights Movement of the Nineteenth

African American Views Concerning the Roles of Women in the

Women, Abortion, and an Ethic of Advocacy: Toward a

Part Four: The Devotional Dimension 200

That They May Be One 201

interchange between religion and the society in which it develops and is

Professor Neall's insightful understanding of Scripture has

Seventh-day Adventist Church, and performed as a concert pianist

General Assembly resolution for her outstanding community

She holds professional membership in the Modem Language

Ramona Perez Greek

Jeanne Wagner Jordan

Jannith Louise Lewis

Frances Hudson Bliss

courses in AIDS education, sexual harassment, CPR, and suicide

/I Ithough there are various significant studies dealing with

tension between dependence and independence, leading and following,

/| recurrent theme in the literatures of religion and

religious thinkers for centuries. And each metaphor that is added to

Fortunately, feminine metaphors provide more prevalent

times of extreme need, twice it refers specifically to Eve's role, and

One book of the Bible—usually neglected, at times even

My lover is radiant and ruddy,

His lips are like lilies

Place me like a seal over your heart,

The richness and provocativeness of the imagery prompts the

An early clue to the metaphoric potential of the woman is

—images which have later been applied to Jesus. In chapter 6, the

. . . my dove, my perfect one, is unique,

Again, we find here expressions reminiscent of descriptions of God

Fair is the sunshine,

I opened for my lover,

The infidelity exhibited here by the man is consistent with

Do not arouse or awaken love

In her unique way, the woman's way of loving represents aspects of

who loves strongly, passionately, and possessively as the man has

As the eyes of slaves look to the hand of their master,

We are accustomed to thinking of God in terms of "master," but the

description of Yahweh as the perfect female homemaker, the perfect

Her husband has full confidence in her

This extraordinary woman can be no mere mortal. Only one

In the chapter of the workers who represent the work of

Does the rain have a father?