16 March 2016 | St Albans, UK [Victor Hulbert] On Sunday, 13 March the Executive Committee of the Swedish Union of Churches of the Seventh-day Adventist Church voted that it will cease to ordain pastors. Under their proposal all pastors will ultimately receive a ‘nationell befogenhet’ (commissioned minister credential).
Their aim, according to a statement on the Swedish Union website, is to ensure gender parity in all aspects of employment and so avoid what they see as a possible discrepancy with Swedish employment law.
While the statement and the vote took place in what the Committee describes as “a spiritual climate which encourages all members to respond to God’s call to take advantage of the gifts of the Spirit to the church”, there is a recognition that the decision has set the Union outside the framework of General Conference (GC) and Trans-European Division (TED) working policy. The TED is a branch office of the GC and as such upholds the polices and decisions of the world-wide Church. The TED will continue to work with its Unions to create a better understanding of policy and the necessity to work within the agreed policy guidelines.
Every Union President across the TED has expressed support for the role of women in ministry over the years, including the statement most recently voted by the TED Executive Committee during its 2015 Year End Meeting. TED and Union leadership also met with female pastors and administrators throughout the Division last autumn at three regional meetings in the UK, Denmark and Hungary. During these meetings church leaders listened very carefully to the stories, struggles, joys and commitment to service of female pastors. They are committed that such service should continue and grow.
The Swedish action follows the earlier decision of two other Scandinavian Unions, Norway and Denmark, to modify the way they issue credentials. The TED continues discussions with all three Unions. [tedNEWS]
tedNEWS Staff: Victor Hulbert, director; Esti Pujic, editor
119 St Peter’s Street, St Albans, Herts, AL1 3EY, England
E-mail: [email protected]
Website: www.ted-adventist.org
tedNEWS is an information bulletin issued by the communication department of the Seventh-day Adventist Church in the Trans-European Division.
You are free to re-print any portion of the bulletin without need for special permission. However, we kindly request that you identify tedNEWS whenever you publish these materials.
