Should Women Be Pastors? (Pr. Danielle Pilgrim)

#ordination #womeninministry #femalepastors

 

Welcome back to Advent Next, a theological podcast curated for curious faith discussions. This week we open up a riveting discussion with Pastor Danielle Pilgrim on female pastors and we get to hear her story on why she rejected her commission. So let’s start with little background information, what does it mean to be commissioned? In this specific denomination, there was a vote back in 2015 by the General Conference worldwide church that stated women in pastoral ministries would not be allowed to be “ordained” like their male counterparts. This distinction came from the underlying fundamental belief that pastoral positions in their official capacity are set aside by God for men and not women. This ordination confers some extra “authority” within the church structure such as the ability to baptize in a way that is recognized as “valid” by the institution. I have a separate podcast on the history of ordination for those who want to learn more about this, but essentially, when a woman becomes a pastor she is not ordained by the church, rather she is commissioned. This is a title that essentially says, we recognize the work you are doing, but we believe the authority associated with ordination such as baptism, should be reserved for your male counterparts alone. They alone have the blessing of God in this position. I have a previous podcast that gets into this type of thinking in more detail, but this a very simplified summary of the differences between ordination and commission so you can understand what a commission is and why a woman would choose to reject it. 

 

I’d love to hear your thoughts on today’s topic, so take a close listen and let me know.

 

Before we get started I just want to thank the Adventist Learning Community for making this program possible. If you’re not already following us on Facebook, Instagram, or Youtube, be sure to find us at the handle @adventnext. You can follow our guest today Pastor Danielle Pilgrim on Instagram @Danielle_Pilgrim and me at @kendraarsenaux with an “x’. But right now this is Advent Next.

 

Article by Pastor Danielle Pilgrim: https://spectrummagazine.org/views/2019/injustice-struggle-equality-female-pastors-seventh-day-adventist-church

 

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