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REVIEW Promotes Woman President Fantasy

Delegates to the Seventh-day Adventist General Conference have refused to recognize the validity of a woman serving as an ordained minister three times (1990, 1995, 2015). By definition the Working Policy of the church disallows that a woman can legitimately serve as a conference president. And yet the Adventist Review, a publication representing the world church, published an article on February 20, 2016 identifying Ms. Sandra Roberts as “the first woman conference president.” Whether intended or not, the editors of the Adventist Review with this article are contributing to the establishment of an alternate line of reality. Ms. Roberts is recognized by neither the General Conference nor by many Adventist members as the president of the Southeastern California Conference.
The General Conference requires unions and conferences of the world church to adhere to the Working Policy and to the wording in bold print in the model Constitution and Bylaws provided. That text reads “President: The president, who shall be an ordained minister of experience, is the first officer and shall report to the executive committee of the conference in consultation with the secretary and the treasurer/chief financial officer” (General Conference Working Policy, 2011-2012 ed., pp. 181, 182). This bold print wording is required text. Unions and conferences have no authority to act in contradiction to it.
On October 27, 2013, the Southeastern California Conference “elected” Ms. Roberts to the office of president over that conference. Those particulars are discussed here: http://ordinationtruth.com/2013/10/27/secc-elects-woman-president/. The General Conference is bound by the voted policies of the church, and in publishing the Adventist Yearbook which lists ordained ministers and leadership data for conferences, of necessity left the officer slot for president blank for Southeastern.
On to the present matter. The Weniger Society voted to offer an award to Sandra Roberts because she was the “first female conference president.” Andrew McChesney, news editor for the Adventist Review (a publication of the General Conference), reported on the Weniger awards, and identified Ms. Roberts in print as “the first female conference president.” Yes, this is the same “president” who presided at a post-San Antonio “ordination” of a woman on December 19, 2015:

SECC Insub-Ordination from CAP on Vimeo.

The Review has no obligation to report the issuance of an award by Weniger Society based on a false premise, and certainly no business contradicting the voted position of the church. Adventists have phoned the Review and sought to post corrections to the article only to have the comments deleted without being posted. If not corrected, the article will contribute to the establishment of an alternate reality in which in spite of the refusal of the General Conference in session to approve the ordination of women, the legitimacy of this unbiblical practice is established through insubordination.
The Review article is seen at this link:
http://www.adventistreview.org/church-news/story3722-weniger-society-honors-branson-lemon-and-roberts
As the publication of record, this article in the Review cannot be permitted to stand as it is. The Council of Adventist Pastors asks that the article be withdrawn from publication.

If we see no necessity for harmonious action, and are disorderly, undisciplined, and disorganized in our course of action, angels, who are thoroughly organized and move in perfect order, cannot work for us successfully. They turn away in grief, for they are not authorized to bless confusion, distraction, and disorganization. All who desire the cooperation of the heavenly messengers must work in unison with them. Those who have the unction from on high will in all their efforts encourage order, discipline, and union of action, and then the angels of God can cooperate with them. But never, never will these heavenly messengers place their endorsement upon irregularity, disorganization, and disorder. All these evils are the result of Satan’s efforts to weaken our forces, to destroy our courage, and prevent successful action (Ellen G. White, Testimonies to Ministers and Gospel Workers, p. 26).

The Bible says, “A bishop [elder] then must be blameless, the husband of one wife, temperate, sober-minded, of good behavior, hospitable,able to teach” (1 Timothy 3:2 NKJV). The New Testament church had no office of woman elder. This is a point of reform that will help the church come back onto Bible ground and advance in unity. May God guide all and help all to work together on His plan.

28 replies on “REVIEW Promotes Woman President Fantasy”

Thus far the NAD has not been held accountable by the General Conference. Until that happens, it is reasonable that the Adventist Review would be obliged to print such a thing. There are no consequences. They may fearlessly do as they please.
I am sorely disappointed this continues. May God help His church.

Sybil, things may not happen as quickly as we might wish, but I retain great confidence in the judgment and courage of our General Conference president and those close to him. Perhaps it does us well to remember the following verse:
“Because sentence against an evil work is not executed speedily, therefore the heart of the sons of men is fully set in them to do evil” (Eccl. 8:11).
Irrespective of the timetable of the GC response, it is never reasonable for a church publication to promote an individual or action that stands in violation of established church policy. Such a course on the part of the publication in question will not go unnoticed; of that you can be certain.

“Sybil, things may not happen as quickly as we might wish”

It so true! Sometimes they don’t happen for decades.
“..but I retain great confidence in the judgment and courage of our General Conference president and those close to him.”

Is there any sign that they begin to move?
I remember how much some was expecting from the last annual meeting.
But it seems like the hope will die last, just as it says.
Blessings, brother! 🙂

Please Kevin statements like your first paragraph really aggravate and are supercilious. They are best kept to yourself. We have reason to be very concerned. Until the GC comes out openly against this mischief one is predisposed to judge them complicit. They must not subject the church to this evil experiment with the direction and destiny of a critical movement at such a critical time. There is no way that the President and his fellow workers can be silent on all these activities for this length of time and be unaware of the effect this is having on the church. Some of us find such brazen insolence as is being demonstrated by the Review and the PUC as nauseatingly predictable as it is egregious.

Although Kevin is in fact an Adventist pastor and was on the anti-WO side of the Theology of Ordination Study Committee, so I think he deserves some superciliousness. He is the pastor who speaks the loudest, both figuratively and literally, about the only real solutions, which are the SDA Church Manual and the Working Policies & Constitutions, that we all have for the various controversies that come up. So I’d imagine he is well known among his peers for his bold words, which means he could very likely have some insider knowledge. If that is the case, then I hope they aren’t simply lies that were manufactured in order to try to quiet him down a little. But I’d imagine he’s smarter than that, and knows that is always a possibility.
But if it were up to me I would deal with these issues immediately. I have personally experienced, and seen others suffer from, the open rebellion occurring all around us. It is hardly limited to WO, people have seen what the leaders do and they think they can do what is right in their own eyes. They are allowed to do so as long as it doesn’t upset the cultural sensibilities of the political elite of their congregation, or the officials of their conference. When open rebellion has fully manifested itself I think it is foolish to wait before moving.
But God has put President Wilson and Pastor Paulson in their respective positions, and not me. I hope for his sake that President Wilson is going to take actions about the lack of discipline and unity, and that he hasn’t decided to ignore the rules like King President Saul did.

Precisely my point: “Insider knowledge” and somehow we become “outsiders” by default and we pay the salaries and allowances. What I am saying is that it is NOT legitimate to treat anyone in this church as an outsider or a child. This is neither Biblical nor Adventist MO. We have a right to know what these men are deliberating in detail. We are entitled to it. It is not their personal destiny they are deciding. It is the destiny of the rest of us and the millions who are entitled to this message and salvation. No, we say No. The GC must take an open position representative of the opinion of the loyal global majority and leave the outcome with God. They are elected to do just that: to represent the collective voice. They are OFFICERS not Kings. They have nothing to decide and old actions of the church to enforce. Clarity primarily, not enforcement is what we are requiring of the GC; a clear official declarative definitive response and a call to compliance. What is hard about stating a clear position that has been taken by your highest councils three times. Enforcement is another matter but we are failing to get even just a reiteration of the position of the world church at past general conference sessions. It is as though the leaders have a stand down order from someone. If the GC is the voice of God and God has spoken, what is there to think about indefinitely? I really need someone to clear this up for me with some “insider” knowledge. On second thoughts, may be not. Don’t need it. We need things as bright and open as the sunlight.

You make an excellent point. As you probably know, I was only assuming that Pastor Paulson was referring to insider knowledge, which I only point out at this moment in order to not possibly be misunderstood by others when I agree that members shall not be looked upon as outsiders. We also shall not be treated in such a way that members can reasonably feel that way. On second thought his comment is supercilious. Why do we have to wait for an Annual Council meeting for enforcement rules that were ALREADY DECIDED? It is indeed concerning when considering the point Trevor Hammond in another comment below, which is that the GC Executive Committee has a habit of changing the rules after they’ve been broken and then deciding not to take disciplinary action because of some imagined ex-posto facto “logic”.
And why are there no video recordings of the GC Annual Council Sessions when they clearly have recording equipment at the meeting hall in Silver Springs? Why can’t I find a copy of the GC Constitution, Bylaws, and Working Policy? Why are new members not told about the Church Manual and why is that not concerning to GC Executive Committee Members, not to mention the lack of use of Baptismal Vows for no reason? And why are the latest minutes that I can find for the GC Annual Council Meetings dated 2004?
I don’t see any reason for the General Conference Executive Committee to wait for an Annual Council Meeting. They need to enforce the rules at their monthly meeting! Changing the rules after they have been broken in no way negates prior offenses! That wouldn’t work out so well if tried as the head of a family. And waiting only gives the offenders time to solidify their position with their constituents. And it is interesting that they pray to God at all those meetings and then completely ignore the results. That also wouldn’t work out so well in anyone’s personal life. When we do such things we are revealing a lot about character through definite actions, and whatever words one self proclaim’s to the contrary shall not withstand. They need to apologize for their lack of action before I’ll be willing to trust them, or at least make documentation available that would explain what I am misunderstanding.

Let me say something more. Over the decades our work has been in a steady state of psychological and philosophical deconstruction and we have been continually sedated by statements such as Kevin’s. “Retain confidence”, “the leaders know what you do not know…..” “They are wise men….” And the result is we have lost our schools and colleges to secularism, our pastors to liberalism, our work to global integrationism. We mimic the world in so many ways down to the world’s annual calendar of events and we now observe days that one finds nowhere in scripture because we “retain great confidence” in leadership. Have we no right to be alarmed when we observe a gradualism towards the world in the name of “confidence in leadership”. This church can only ever be misled by its leaders and it is incumbent upon us as a people to hold them to account and call them to order. I am really sorry Kevin but you must not be so intentionally condescending towards us and try to smother us with such seemingly vacuous, seemingly innocuous and “loyal” propaganda. Be genuine. These are very concerning actions on the part of the PUC and Review and reveal a trend towards plain apostasy and treason. These are not things one can just watch and say nothing about. This is the Eli and Aaron remix and some of us are not dancing! We as a people are being led to change masters and we are sleeping through it. NO!NO!NO!

The SdA have the working policy to discipline wrong things and Unions, who are in rebellion against the order. Ted Wilson and the GC-Committee are silent and neglect their holy duty in a worst manner. They are working not according the working policy and can therefore not discipline others. How many month and years shall we wait, until we protest openly against it?

His watchmen are blind: they are all ignorant, they are all dumb dogs, they cannot bark; sleeping, lying down, loving to slumber.

There are a certain set within the church who would like to change the narrative. Some doubtless are well meaning, but either way, the desire is to establish a different story line than the actual story line. The actual story line is that every time women’s ordination has come up throughout the history of the SDA church to this day, the church has quite intentionally voted it down. The alternate story line is that women’s ordination has just never been seriously considered and that enlightened Adventists everywhere know that it is the right thing to do. At every turn then these persons push against the actual story line.
And so, where they have been able to, they do whatever they can to establish their alternate reality and give legitimacy to WO. When SECC elected SR it was pushing this alternate narrative forward. Then for the Review to include in a story that she was the first female conference president is just one more item in the evidence stack to support this false narrative. As this Review story moves off the front page (I think it already has) everyone will forget it is there. But the pro-WO faction will not forget at all. They will refer to it again and again as an unequivocal piece of evidence to support the alternative narrative they are busily attempting to construct. They are working to change the record of history. That is why this is so important.

Well said Larry and the world church membership needs to realize their silence is treason. “The Lord abhors indifference and disloyalty in a time of crisis in His work. The whole universe is watching with inexpressible interest the closing scenes of the great controversy between good and evil. The people of God are nearing the borders of the eternal world; what can be of more importance to them than that they be loyal to the God of heaven?” PP 148.What astonishing deception and fearful blindness had, like a dark cloud, covered Israel! This blindness and apostasy had not closed about them suddenly; it had come upon them gradually as they had not heeded the word of reproof and warning which the Lord had sent to them because of their pride and their sins. And now, in this fearful crisis, in the presence of the idolatrous priests and the apostate king, they remained neutral. If God abhors one sin above another, of which His people are guilty, it is doing nothing in case of an emergency. Indifference and neutrality in a religious crisis is regarded of God as a grievous crime and equal to the very worst type of hostility against God. {3T 280.3}

Noel, I want to encourage you to have faith in God and to pray for the leaders He has appointed us. Now surely some in leadership are there in spite of His guidance, but many who lead are servants of His appointment whom the church has properly appointed to their present office. Spring Council is coming and while I do not know what the GC officers are going to do/not do, I am trusting God that they will not merely make some paper declaration or plea but that they will act now decisively. Until now it has been appropriate to work with more patience. However, since Fall Council the situation has changed dramatically. Now we have the most open rebellion; now there are actual “ordinations” happening post-San Antonio. It has been hard to wait until now, but now the rebellion is right in the open. The situation has clarified itself because now subentities within the church are in open defiance of the GC session decision. Spring Council 2016 is (at last) the time for very decided action on the part of the GC. The very order of the church is now at stake. Let us pray for the leadership that will be gathered in just a few weeks (April). The president will seek to lead the Council to proper action I am convinced. Or, if it cannot be Spring, an appropriate time this year. Do not give up hope now that we are at the close of one phase and the beginning of another in resolving this matter. Pray earnestly for the faithful clear-headed leaders and for the confused leaders to grasp the situation. Pray for the repentance or removal of false leaders. God is on His throne.

My dear brother, I DO have a lot of faith in God and have the same towards anyone He appoints. Faith is no enemy of vigilance and genuine protest. These are duty. The very fact that we are discussing this is a sign that God is in charge and at work. Things will not go the way the enemy intends because SOMEONE will see and call caution. God directs all things to the accomplishment of His will but we do have a duty to NOT SUFFER SIN in a brother or neighbor and to be sure that those that lead have eyes and act like it. We have to remember that humans are fallible and gullible. They need our collective honesty and sobriety to buttress them. The best we can do for our honest and good men in our leadership tree is to be vocal when things are not being done right. It strengthens them.

Yes Larry. I concur. There is need to watch ourselves even as we raise alarm. The recommendations you make sound.

“A bishop [elder] then must be blameless, the husband of one wife…”
————
The above is our first port of call. Unless the one-side NAD led Camp Mohaven chapter is properly dealt with, which eventually led to the election (and ordination) of women as local church elders, “before” the GC Annual Spring Council got hoodwinked into passing such an unbiblical practice, and without proper consultation was done with the world church, there will not be unity on this issue.
There is a noticeable pattern since Camp Mohaven on how this has played out:
1] the forced unauthorised unbiblical election of a woman as elder without any policy or doctrinal position being in place, and furthermore, against our fundamental church practices and beliefs
2] GC calls for study committee under pressure from the NAD
3] GC Annual Spring Council adopts the practice as a “policy.”
The ordination of women as elders followed the same pattern, and although this was turned down twice before San Antonio, one can clearly see that the NAD and their counterparts will not rest until they have their way. Who would have thought that the NAD would be leading the pack in the terms of the apostasy within our ranks?
Same with Sandra Roberts: 1] Forced unauthorised election against the GC working policy. 2] Will there be another study done? 3] Will there be another Annual Spring Council “policy” to allow this?
The Southern-Africa Indian Ocean Division under the leadership of Dr Paul Ratsarra has been forthright in calling for the rescinding of the policy to ordain women as local church elders. This is the root of the problem. Unless the election and ordination of women as elders is properly addressed, things will continue to spiral out of control. That should have been voted on in San Antonio.
The Hollywood Adventist Church recently appointed a transvestite as elder, right in the face of the GC, but with the blessings of the NAD of course, which shows the extent of the wickedness in our church. Instead of a call to repentance, we will get another committee to study and find ways to excuse such abominations. The church is in trouble: since Camp Mohaven (and Glacier View), I might add.

One has to applaud Southern-Africa Indian Ocean Division for that stance. NAD needs to do something about their leadership. We love them but they are literary off base on this.

You’re right, Brother Larry..
Satan leads people to hell little by little so they couldn’t have any doubt into where they’re going because the previous steps seem to be so right to them…
E.White compared this with the fast moving train and the events behind the windows unfolding so rapidly, but inside of the wagons everything is so nice and funny and life seems being so good and full of promises.
We know that at the end of time Satan beast and false prophet will cast out three unclean DECEPTIVE spirits in order to gather whole World under their spiritual control – Rev.16:13.
And prophecy says that the mission will be successful.
Does their efforts affect the God’s church anyhow?
The prophecy says – yes, it does. It has to come to the Adventism as well as to the rest of the World – Rev.12:15

And when an Adventist preacher with PhD from Andrews preaches some disorienting mix of Adventists teaching and the ideas from infidel sources, they don’t even think that the preacher can feed them with poisoned meal because nobody taught them that in the history of church troubles always came from the most trustful sources.
So they open their hearts to those unclean spirits and consequently their minds get twisted and their priorities get shifted from the most urgent work to some other things with less importance. They don’t care about prophecies, the three angel messages and distinct Adventist doctrines anymore.
And the worst thing is that they become unable to see their true condition, because the unclean spirits persuade them that they are totally right.

And when another part of Adventists who haven’t received those spirits point out to the sins, the first part just answer “There is no sin in there! That’s all is being done for the God’s glory!”
Isn’t it what’s happening now?
(How disappointing and stressful for them will be the second coming of Lord Jesus! Their spirits will make them run away to any nearest hole to hide in there.
What a horrible time will be for many people just because they couldn’t realize the time in which they were living.)
We are living in the time when the Holy Spirit apparently remove his protection from the people of both the World and the Church and let them make the very last choice before the Day of Judgment comes.
Which means, the time of Grace comes to its end.
And I assume that we are staying on the threshold of getting either the seal of God or the mark of the beast.
My strong impression is that upcoming decade will be the last one in the Earth history, Because too many of prophecies have already fulfilled or being fulfilled now.

“And Elijah came unto all the people, and said, How long halt ye between two opinions? If th Lord be God, follow him; but if Ba’al, then follow him. And the people answered him not a word.” 1Kings 18:21
Time has come for people to make a decision and follow its path. Not every Adventist is an Adventist. Money, control and power should not even be an issue when it comes to deal with apostasy and rebellion. Can God bless His people when they insist in walking in their own paths? The Scriptures teach us the opposite.
The Church needs to demand unity or separation.

Do I believe that God is in charge of the church? Absolutely. Is He in charge of everyone? No. Sobriety and vigilance and honest protestation are not lack of confidence in leadership that God has appointed. They safeguard that confidence and strengthen that leadership. “If we see no necessity for harmonious action, and are disorderly, undisciplined, and disorganized in our course of action, angels, who are thoroughly organized and move in perfect order, cannot work for us successfully. They turn away in grief, for they are not authorized to bless confusion, distraction, and disorganization. All who desire the cooperation of the heavenly messengers must work in unison with them. Those who have the unction from on high will in all their efforts encourage order, discipline, and union of action, and then the angels of God can cooperate with them. But never, never will these heavenly messengers place their endorsement upon irregularity, disorganization, and disorder. All these evils are the result of Satan’s efforts to weaken our forces, to destroy our courage, and prevent successful action (Ellen G. White, Testimonies to Ministers and Gospel Workers, p. 26)”.

“If we see no necessity for harmonious action, and are disorderly, undisciplined, and disorganized in our course of action, angels, who are thoroughly organized and move in perfect order, cannot work for us successfully. They turn away in grief, for they are not authorized to bless confusion, distraction, and disorganization. All who desire the cooperation of the heavenly messengers must work in unison with them. Those who have the unction from on high will in all their efforts encourage order, discipline, and union of action, and then the angels of God can cooperate with them. But never, never will these heavenly messengers place their endorsement upon irregularity, disorganization, and disorder. All these evils are the result of Satan’s efforts to weaken our forces, to destroy our courage, and prevent successful action (Ellen G. White, Testimonies to Ministers and Gospel Workers, p. 26)”.
Oh, how Satan would rejoice if he could succeed in his efforts to get in among this people and disorganize the work at a time when thorough organization is essential and will be the greatest power to keep out spurious uprisings and to refute claims not endorsed by the Word of God! We want to hold the lines evenly, that there shall be no breaking down of the system of organization and order that has been built up by wise, careful labor. License must not be given to disorderly elements that desire to control the work at this time. {LDE 47.1}
Some have advanced the thought that, as we near the close of time, every child of God will act independently of any religious organization. But I have been instructed by the Lord that in this work there is no such thing as every man’s being independent. [From manuscript read before the delegates at the General Conference Session, Washington, D.C., May 30, 1909.]—Testimonies for the Church 9:257, 258 (1909). {LDE 47.2}
As we near the final crisis, instead of feeling that there is less need of order and harmony of action, we should be more systematic than heretofore.—Selected Messages 3:26 (1892). {LDE 47.3}
God has invested His church with special authority and power which no one can be justified in disregarding and despising, for in so doing he despises the voice of God.—Testimonies for the Church 3:417 (1875). {LDE 47.4}
God has bestowed the highest power under heaven upon His church. It is the voice of God in His united people in church capacity which is to be respected.—Testimonies for the Church 3:451 (1875). {LDE 47.5}
We are to strengthen our position by dwelling on the Word, and by avoiding all oddities and strange exercisings that some would be very quick to catch up and practice. If we were to allow confusion to come into our ranks, we could not bind off our work as we should. We are trying to bind it off now, in every way possible. {3SM 373.3}
Do not let the enemy come in and spoil the work by placing defective timbers into the institution, for these defective characters, not under the special control of the Spirit of God, will work at cross purposes. It is Satan’s special business to create variance and dissension among the people who claim to be Seventh-day Adventists. {20MR 369.1}
I call upon you, my brother, in the name of the Lord to unite with us, to close every door through which Satan would enter to cause strife and alienation among brethren. Let us counsel together. There has been altogether too much moving in one’s own independent judgment. Self-sufficiency and self-esteem lay at the foundation of the greatest trials and discords that have ever existed among the people of God. The angel of God has repeated again and again, Press together! Press together! Be of one mind, of one judgment! Let God be your leader! Follow His footsteps! {20MR 369.2}
My brother, God’s people are one body. God has a people whom He is leading, teaching, and guiding, that they may teach and lead and guide others. There will be among the remnant of these last days, as there was with ancient Israel, those who wish to move independently of the body, who are not willing to be subject to the body of the church, who are not willing to submit to advice or counsel, but ever bear in mind that God has a church upon the earth, and to that church God has delegated power. {20MR 369.3}
He expects them to grow up as a holy temple unto the Lord. Men will rise up against reproof; men will despise counsel; men will depart from the faith; men will apostatize; they will want to follow independent judgment. Just as surely as they do this, disaster and ruin of souls will be the result. In short, Satan will become their leader, and will work constantly to tear down the things which God is building up, and follow their own finite judgments and plans. But the works of all are to bear the test of the judgment. {20MR 369.
We are never safe when we pull apart from the pack however we may be convinced by the enemy that it is right. You do have a point Larry when you raise the point that we are to retain faith in this organization and its leadership whatever may be going on there. It is not a blind faith you propose but a faith in the overruling power of God that enables us to regain calm and composure. To that I say, Amen.

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