BY BONNIE DWYER
Our October 24, 2002, issue carried an Opinion piece by Tom Huson of Bend, Oregon, "Current Concerns of a Conservative Adventist." The article brought heavy mail from readers. Here we offer a complementary opinion to the initial piece.--Editors.
t was during a Sabbath morning church service that I was publicly baptized with the label of liberal. One of my best friends, who proudly describes herself as a conservative Adventist, was speaking from the pulpit about friendship when she commented on her amazement over her friendship with me-someone she knew to be "a bleeding-heart liberal."
Understand, I cherish this friend precisely because of her conservative views. We have the best conversations, because we look at things differently. Ever since that Sabbath, however, I have been the designated liberal in all kinds of local church conversations. So when I read Tom Huson's "Current Concerns of a Conservative Adventist," I figured the only responsible thing for a liberal Adventist to do was to respond.
Like Mr. Huson, I think that labels put people in boxes that they would not construct for themselves and are responsible for many of the incorrect assumptions that we make about each other. Given the multicultural plurality of the Adventist world in 2003, we owe it to each other to listen closely to the other person and hear what they think and say, and not assume that we already know.
Now that Adventism has become a worldwide church, it is encouraging to see a regular effort being made to reflect the international nature of the church in its meetings and deliberations. We have outgrown the narrow worldview of our White New England forebears. A truly international collection of officers preside over the General Conference. Meetings that are called to discuss important topics such as theology, Ellen G. White, and faith and science include people from the entire world. Money and effort are extended to make sure that it is an international conversation that takes place.
Sadly, such attention is not paid to making sure that women are included in those conversations or among the church's officers, despite the fact that 70 percent of the church membership is women. At the Faith and Science Conference that took place in August 2002 there were two women in a group of 80. At the first International Conference on Ellen G. White, six of the 65 people in attendance were women. Of the 45 people called together in May of 2003 to discuss "Theological Unity in a Growing World Church," only two were women. There are few women in high-level positions in the General Conference or any of the world divisions.
Yes, women do serve on many committees. There are women who are undersecretaries, assistants, and associates. But until we put aside the requirement that all leadership positions must be filled by ministers, or until ordination can be reclaimed as a local rather than a worldwide decision, we as a church will suffer. That we, the people of the book, with a woman prophet, have allowed this domination of male over female in spite of biblical injunctions not to do so (Gal. 3:27, 28) is to me mysterious and wrong. (It is similar to the mysterious mistake we made in 1844, predicting the day of Jesus' coming when He told us that nobody knows the day or the hour. How did William Miller miss that text?)
Like Mr. Huson's call for a return to godliness, my call to equity in Adventism is a call that can make some people uncomfortable. None of us like being called by our peers on our behavior. So when such calls are being made, they are usually placed in biblical terms.
Finally, though, the only appropriate call for us to request of each other is one of forgiveness. It is only with a spirit of forgiveness that we can accept each other and learn how to live together. Forgiveness and acceptance are vital ingredients in loving relationships. And ultimately that is what we are called to do-love one another. Perhaps when we demonstrate our obedience to the great commandment to love one another we will automatically fulfill these other calls for commitment and equity. For with love, all things are possible-even plurality of views within Adventism.
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Bonnie Dwyer is editor of Spectrum, the journal of the Association of Adventist Forums.
