The discussion we had to have

Wednesday, April 18, 2012

A reflection on the worldwide theology of ordination study

Dr Ross Cole
Senior lecturer in Old Testament
School of Ministry and Theology
Avondale College of Higher Education

Credit: Lagani Gairo

I have been invited to contribute an article to a worldwide discussion of ordination and the Seventh-day Adventist Church. Why the review and why now?

The ordination of women to pastoral ministry has long been topical. For some people, any distinction in the way we recognise the pastoral calling of male and female members seems contrary to the radical inclusiveness of the gospel. For others, erasing distinctions is a misguided chasing after contemporary causes.

The discussion is important, but for decades we’ve overlooked fundamental questions about ordination. Does it exist in the Bible? If so, what is its significance?

I’m studying the Hebrew and Greek words used in the Bible to refer to a calling to office. I’m also studying the practice of the laying-on of hands. I’m looking at whether ordination should come at the beginning of ministry or later as the fruit of the community’s recognition of a divine calling. Is it symbolic, or does it add to ministry?

The discussion is worldwide in part because the Adventist Church is one of the few international denominations. To be ordained as an Adventist elder or as a deacon is to be ordained for service in the local church. To be ordained as a pastor is to be ordained for service at the worldwide level. I like the sound of that. Yet in practice, who has the cultural and linguistic background to minister in any and every region? Under church policy, a pastor shouldn’t publicly minister in any region, unless approval has been sought and given by the administration of the church in that region. Indeed, approval has to come from each successive hierarchical level, up to the one that encompasses the region visited and that of the pastor’s employing entity. Then approval must be sought all the way down to that entity. Is this procedure really about global ministry, or is it about global management?

In the 1970s, Adventist scholars were consulted about the appropriateness of ordaining women to ministry—they saw no problem. I sometimes ruefully wish the clock could be wound back so things could have gone ahead without further debate. But maybe coming to terms with what ordination is about is one reason we have had to wait.

Culture will play a part because it has something to do with everything, both for how we live our lives, and for how people in Bible times did. This doesn’t mean there isn’t eternal truth. Yet eternal truth inevitably comes to us in cultural terms. The problem is not when we use culture to understand the Bible and apply it to our day. It’s when we use it and deny the fact, even to ourselves. I suspect those who claim the loudest their interpretations are culture-proof will be the ones who are the most bound.

Unity versus uniformity? Diversity versus diversion? I expect the ordination discussion to be profoundly absorbing and enlightening. And not just because of what may be said about ordination!