Dear President Paulsen,

It is duly noted that there are tremendous international pressures that leaders of a World church must go through. Yet, with all due respect, the acceptance of such a position requires standing firm on issues that are just and in line with responsible Biblical interpretation. You acknowledged in your meeting at the Adventist Intercollegiate Association that you \"know of no biblical reason that women should not be selected…I think the reasons that nothing has happened are cultural based\". *

Additionally you stated “The unity of the global church is a doctrine; many issues are not doctrines that we deal with, but this one is. So, I will give it my best shot to keep the church together.” Understandably, as far as possible, we want to avoid division in the church. However, our church is already divided over this issue. Leaving it to the next generation will only compound the issue and exacerbate the feelings of frustration and injustice experienced among those who are eager for change.

It has been reported that the division leaders who negatively viewed the sanctioning of women’s ordination felt it would somehow negatively affect their territories. Answers to the question, “How?”, have yet to be publically reported. Therefore, a response to those supposed effects cannot be made. But it begs the question, have those leaders considered the negative effects of stagnation in other territories? Clearly you recognize this; as you stated, “the question of unity is not only impacted by what you do, but it can be negatively impacted by what you don’t do.”

Not only are the hundreds of women in ministry undermined by their employer/religious “family”; but millions of Adventist young women are also affected because of the message this sends to them about their “worth” in the church. There are young ladies all over the world who are questioning if the church truly values them and their giftedness…or at least if it is valued as much as the giftedness of men. Additionally, hundreds of women of every age have been--and continue to be--discouraged from joining the ministry of the Gospel because they feel they are not supported, they are not welcome, and they are not respected. Furthermore, how can we credibly minister to the world and attempt to lead people to Christ if we are not following His example? It is difficult to urge people to repent when we allow blatant discriminatory practices to be tolerated and/or endorsed by leaders in our denomination. How can we read the words of Micah 6:8 and Isaiah 58:3-11 and not recognize our God given responsibility to correct injustice when we see it—especially among the people of God?

This letter will not seek to rehearse the myriad of reasons why exclusion from ordination to the Gospel ministry on the basis of gender is un-biblical. Many biblical scholars and leaders--including yourself--have sought out those answers and come to that conclusion already. The purpose of this letter is to call you to action in light of the Word. James 4:17 prevents the Spirit-led Christian from remaining inactive when it is known what is right. Perhaps, you are correct that placing it for a World vote would not be beneficial. But that doesn’t preclude the leadership from doing something. The church membership can sympathize with your statement, “I’m trying to move something on, and I don’t know where it’s going to go or how quickly”. However, we would like to encourage you towards a resolution that comes sooner than later. With that, you are being asked to enact the following steps towards eradicating this discrimination:

1. Boldly and expressly issue a public statement at the General Conference session echoing and expounding on your previous statement that “I know of no biblical reason that women should not be selected…I think the reasons that nothing has happened are cultural based”. You’ve acknowledged that, “a certain education process needs to go on.” Many people have adopted the Catholic hierarchical understanding of clergy vs. laity. Our church, however, affirms the PRIESTHOOD of ALL believers and that the One Head of the Church is Christ. Far too many church members are being led to believe the opposite through poor hermeneutics and irresponsible “exegesis” by other leaders. Additionally, if we truly believe that Adventism is a non-static movement, and if we believe the sentiments of Jesus in John 16:12-13, we cannot stifle the leading of the Holy Spirit in favor of traditionalism.

2. In light of your concession that “We are not going to do this globally…it will be in regions. But globally, the church has to accept that it will be in regions without tearing itself apart”, the leaders of the church need to develop and implement a strategy that will allow regions, areas, or territories to issue ordination credentials to all those who demonstrate acceptance of and commitment to the call to pastoral ministry. These credentials should be identical for all ministers within the same given territory who are duly called-regardless of gender. These credentials should be given equal recognition by the General Conference. We are asking that this implementation take place no later than the next General Conference in 2015.

3. In the spirit of church unity, the leadership should make note of the concerns about the supposed “negative effects” that may occur in regions that aren’t in favor of women’s ordination. The potential for those effects should be explored. If it is noted that there is veracity in those claims, steps should be made to mitigate those effects.

There have already been generations of women who have been excluded from Gospel ministry. There have been generations of both men and women who have missed the great blessings that would have come from the influence of these would-be pastors. Time is short, the harvest is plentiful, the laborers are few. Let’s not discourage those eager to labor! Hopefully, and prayerfully, this matter can be resolved in a Christ-like manner...and in this generation.

Sincerely, The Undersigned

*all quotes taken from the account of President Paulsen’s speech to the 2010 Adventist Intercollegiate Association as reported in the C2, the collegiate publication of Pacific Union College