UPDATED: North Pacific Union Votes Three Step Engagement with Constituents on Women’s Ordination

On Nov 14, the following note was posted on The Gleaner 

During their regularly-scheduled quarterly meeting held Nov. 14 in Ridgefield, Wash., North Pacific Union Conference executive committee members voted to engage Northwest membership in a discussion on gender-inclusiveness in gospel ministry. They approved a motion to 1) inform and educate Northwest members of the rationale toward biblical church leadership without regard to gender; 2) engage and encourage constituents in structured conversation and discussion on women in ministry; and 3) call a special session of the NPUC constituency to address ministerial ordination without regard to gender. The motion was presented in response to extensive reports provided by an Ad Hoc Committee on Women in Leadership which met during 2012.  No date was specified at the meeting for a proposed constituency session, but that will be determined as the process for discussion and decision-making is further defined within the next month. An online question and answer page about this vote and a proposed process will be available on Nov. 15.

On Nov 15, the North Pacific Union updated The Gleaner site with a FAQ titled Answers to Questions Regarding NPUC Process on Women in Leadership and a document by John McVay, Walla Walla University president, titled “Reflections on the Theology and Practice of Ordination in the Seventh-day Adventist Church.”