15 May 2013 Copenhagen, Denmark [tedNEWS] May 8 – 12, 2013 the Danish Union of Seventh-day Adventist Church held its session at the church owned campsite Himmerlandsgaarden. Quite quickly, the nominating committee put a motion to the floor to re-elect the President, Thomas Müller. Müller was re-elected together with Treasurer Bjorgvin Ibsen, who has been working as a Treasurer in Denmark since March 2012. Henrik Jorgensen was elected as Secretary and replaces Line Nielsen who sat in the position since September 2012 but chose to go back to a leadership position in the town council in Odense. Jorgensen recently moved back to Denmark from serving many years at Newbold College, England.
Among the usual matters of the constitution and bylaws amendments, the Union Executive Committee handed in a document to the Plans Committee concerning the gender equality in the Adventist Church.
The Plans Committee brought the motion to the floor and after some discussion, an addition the document was brought to a vote. The document is a statement of intent to clarify the Danish position concerning equality in ordination. Out of respect for the Theological Study Committee working on the ordination theology, the session chose to wait for the outcome in 2015, however the Committee wanted to express the views from Denmark. Therefore, an extra paragraph was added to the statement declaring that all ordinations will be suspended until 2015.
The atmosphere at the session was positive and the leadership of Dr Bertil Wiklander, President of the Trans-European Division of the Seventh-day Adventist Church, during the nominating committee helped make the session a smooth experience for everyone. The Church in Denmark has 2500 members and has seen a decline of about 25 members yearly for many years. In the last two years, the membership has held a status quo and the Church looks very positive into the future.
After the Session, President Thomas Müller commented: ‘The Church in Denmark has great opportunities. There are a lot of good initiatives happening: the second-hand store “Happy Hand” is reaching out to people in Copenhagen in a variety of different ways; the youth are eager for mission and are seeking opportunities to be involved; and we have just produced a new magazine “The Journey” (Rejsen), a colourful magazine with Biblical texts from Genesis to Revelation, giving people a sneak view of what the Bible is about,’ Müller explained. ‘I look forward to leading out during this next tearm of office and am confident that God has something good in store for Denmark,’ Müller concluded.
To read the full statement regarding the equality and ordination in Denmark, please click here. [tedNEWS]
tedNEWS Staff: Miroslav Pujic, director; Deana Stojkovic, editor
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