Video: Columbia Union Leaders Ordain Josephine Benton at Sligo Church
As a result of the Columbia Union’s vote last year to ordainits ministers regardless of gender, on Sabbath, February 16, the union leadership ordained Josephine Benton during the eleven o’clock hour. Elder Benton was the congregation’s first female pastor from 1973 – 1979, then was the senior pastor of the Rockville, MD, church until 1982. According to an article by the Columbia Union, Benton, who is now a grandmother of five and great-grandmother of five joked, “I’m glad they didn’t wait until 2015 to do this because by then I would be a very old woman.” The ordination begins about 22:30 minutes into the video.
Photo via Zdravko Plantak.
