Speaking to a Sabbath School class at the Calimesa Seventh-day Adventist Church in Southern California, North American Division president Don C. Schneider stated that he believes the church's policy on women's ordination will change, though it may not happen now.

Schneider, who has been receiving Loma Linda University Medical Center's proton therapy for a brain cyst that rendered him temporarily blind, agreed to attend Calimesa's Contemporary Issues class to answer questions.

In a letter obtained by Spectrum dated 30 March 2010, British Union Conference president Don McFarlane wrote to the pastors and first elders of the conference to affirm women in ministry. The letter in its entirety follows.

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Ministry

Re: Women in Ministry

On their joint website, God's Character, Dorothee and Brad Cole have posted a response to Sacramento Central Adventist Church senior pastor, Doug Batchelor, who asserts that the Bible forbids women's ordination. The article's primary thesis is that the problem Batchelor makes is failing to understand the culturally-conditioned nature of biblical material.

From the article:

In the hours following the devastating earthquake in Haiti, health care professionals and Administrators from Loma Linda University Medical Center mobilized a carefully orchestrated relief effort. Teams of workers gathered medical supplies and basic necessities to send to the relief effort.

Pastor Doug Batchelor, speaker/director of Amazing Facts and senior pastor of the Sacramento Central Adventist Church says that women can minister (verb), but not be ministers (noun).

Martin Doblmeier's latest documentary, The Adventists, is scheduled to air on PBS in early April. Doblmeier has participated in screenings across North America in what he is jokingly calling his "haystack tour." Now, courtesy of YouTube user danatjourneyfilms, you can preview segments of The Adventists.

With twenty minutes to go until show time, a large, chatty crowd already filled the Loma Linda University Church to see a documentary, The Adventists, by Martin Doblmeier, the filmmaker who also screened his feature films on Deitrich Bonhoeffer and forgiveness at the church within the last three years.

View our live conversation on the 82nd Academy Awards below.
Great bunch of films this year!

It's Oscars time. The 82nd Academy Awards ceremony this Sunday, March 7th, showcase the best of film from 2009. In this film vlog, we break down the Oscar nominees and predict winners in all the biggest categories.

This three-part conversation focuses on the importance of film as art and the importance of art as a window into the human experience.

For immediate release

La Sierra Board Action
Larry Becker
Executive Director, University Relations
Febrary 12, 2010
1-1-1

Reaffirmation of Board Statement

La Sierra University's Board of Trustees has reaffirmed their previous action from November 2009 upholding the Adventist Church's doctrine of creation. The trustees voted their actuion during their February 11, 2010 meeting. The specific action reads: