While much of the conversation between Seventh-day Adventist world church president, Pastor Jan Paulsen and women in the church focused on abuse, poverty and health, the lack of women leaders in the church took center stage.
While much of the conversation between Seventh-day Adventist world church president, Pastor Jan Paulsen, and women in the church focused on abuse, poverty and health, the lack of women leaders in the church took center stage. For the Dec. 14 program, A Time to Talk, shown live on the Hope Channel, Adventist women from three continents gathered in three studios—at the church’s world headquarters in Silver Spring, Maryland, in Cape Town, South Africa, and in London, England—to share their deepest concerns with Pastor Paulsen and the Adventist world.
When the often-discussed question of women’s ordination came up, Pastor Paulsen explained: “Pastoral credentials are not limited to the local area; they are global. When we began discussion of this issue 20 years ago we said ‘let’s move together on this issue as a global church.’ It is a difficult thing to do because although we may not see a clear Biblical [reason] that ordination may not happen, there are many cultural issues that impact this decision on a local level. We have talked about it and looked at it more than once but we have not been able to make a decision in this matter affirming a direction that the global church can go together.”
One woman from South Africa asked Pastor Paulsen what he plans to do to make sure there are more women leaders in the church. She noted, “We make up the majority of the membership of our church ... I’d like to know what you plan for the future to change the paradigm in our region in regards to the imbalance in leadership at the local level, which really has no women in administrative work.”
In response, Pastor Paulsen noted the election of three women just last year to very high levels of the church: Ella Simmons as a vice president, Rosa Banks as an associate secretary and Daisy Orion as an associate treasurer.
With these appointments, Pastor Paulsen said, “I hope we are sending a signal to the church elsewhere at other levels. Please look at professional women of great competence and use them. It’s not what we are doing [on a world church level] to get ministers in the churches who are women. What are you doing in South Africa? What is the leadership of the church in South Africa doing to encourage women to train as ministers? We have opened the way for women to be employed as pastors, not as ordained pastors but ministers. Now South Africa needs to look at what it is doing.”
The participant, however, clarified that the way the world church is structured hinders the real advancement of women in the church.
“I don’t disagree,” Pastor Paulsen said. “The ordained ministry is the largest group that provides these leadership personnel and so yes, I accept that that in itself is a disadvantage to equal representation as far as women are concerned.” During the broadcast, Paulsen repeatedly encouraged women on the local church level to push for more women pastors and women leaders. He admitted, “I have no good solution. We continue to search for women who are willing and available but it is not easy to find this.”
Another participant of the conversation, this time from London, observed that the church is losing many of its competent workers to the secular world.
Pastor Paulsen agreed. “I think it’s a shame that we have many well trained women—professionals in their training who somehow find that the church doesn’t have room for them professionally and they go outside and find employment elsewhere. I think this is unfortunate. We may be depriving ourselves of some spiritually gifted and professionally very, very competent individuals,” he said.
Another topic that Pastor Paulsen spoke strongly about was that of abuse of women and children in the church. One woman wondered if the church’s theology of forgiveness keeps women in abusive homes.
She said, “Women who have been abused and who are living in violent marriages and relationships are often told by the church to forgive, forget and remain in the position where they are. How are we as a world church addressing the theology of that in a God-honoring way?”
Pastor Paulsen responded, “The worse that can happen is for the church to side with the abuser and fail to give support and comfort and strength and help to the one who is being abused. Just simply to say to ‘forgive and get on with life’ is simply to drive that person into a much deeper emotional problem.”
Poverty was another issue discussed passionately during the hour-long program. One woman from London wondered if the world church had any long-term solutions to poverty. She spoke of churches providing occasional lunches to the homeless but nothing else.
Paulsen responded, “I think that the church has to be a ministering community. Whatever the situation, whoever the people are, [we should] care for people because they are human beings. The church must be first and foremost a community through which Christ extends salvation, healing and support.”
He also said another way the church can help end systemic poverty was for churches to partner with local and national governments.
Women from London and South Africa brought up the issue of HIV and AIDS. One of them suggested that pastors receive training on how to deal with HIV and AIDS. Another wondered what the church was doing about the issue.
Paulsen first addressed the stigma attached to those with the disease and said, “the church must acknowledge the human value of everyone and treat everyone as a human being loved by God.”
He then spoke of the Adventist Aids International Ministry (AAIM) headquartered in South Africa and their involvement educating and encouraging churches to be involved in a solution to HIV and AIDS. “We are making several churches healing community churches trained to received people who suffer from HIV and AIDS and to extend a kind of support care. We are training churches to give encouragement and acceptance.”
The world church president admitted that although AAIM and many Adventist churches are reaching out to those with the disease, more needs to be done.
Paulsen closed by re-affirming the value of women in the church and with words of encouragement: “If you look at this statistically it’s got to be discouraging. Please don’t look at it quite that way. As far as local congregations are concerned you have a choice in the selection of your own leadership. You can make change by making yourself available. Become a spokesperson, the Lord has gifted you with many, many skills and it is important that you allow that to flow into the life of the church.”
Pastor Paulsen was joined by his wife, Kari. Theirs, it was noted, is a partnership in leadership and ministry. Mrs. Paulsen as a participant in many aspects of leadership of her husband has a unique perspective on many of the discussed themes of “Time to Talk.”
Following the broadcast several participants, including the 15 women in Silver Spring, agreed that the talk was a good start, but it should be the first of many such discussions.
When reflecting on the conversation, one participant, Iris David, said while she agreed with Pastor Paulsen on the issue of leadership she said, “It really should not be about women or men in leadership. It should be both working together in partnership,” she said. “Each one brings out distinct qualities that will affect church and society.”
Rebecca Brillhart, associate pastor of the Sligo Seventh-day Adventist Church in Takoma Park, Maryland, added that the issue is more of “mutuality, rather than equality. That’s where the emphasis should be given.”
Another participant, Kay Rosburg, from the United States, found the issues were too many to adequately discuss in only one hour. She was particularly concerned about the issue of leadership. “Many times during the session Pastor Paulsen kept putting it back on local congregations and conference, but one of the points we were trying to make is that the General Conference needs to model and make strong statements with their own actions by putting out statements on such issues. Also, if women are not nominated or invited to go to meetings that deal with [church policy] how can they have a voice?” she asked.
However, Heather Haworth, women’s ministries director for the church in Britain and Ireland, believes that the program has helped the Women’s Ministries issues to be heard by the leadership. Following the program she said, “although Dr. Paulsen was unable to address all the points we put, we appreciate what he and his wife said that we must go to our local leadership and be vocal.”
