"Whether ministering through music or the Word, we are facilitators to an encounter between you and our heavenly Father and Savior, Jesus Christ,” said Jan Paulsen, president of the General Conference, in his Sabbath sermon for the winter camp meeting in Palm Springs.

The local church sponsors the weekend event each January when many Adventists come to Southern California to enjoy the sun. More than 800 attended Sabbath morning worship.

An afternoon question-and-answer session attracted a capacity crowd, including reporters and photographers from the Riverside Press, San Bernardino Sun, and desert newspapers. (The sidebar summarizes one reporter’s visit with Paulsen about the ordination of women.)

Paulsen emphasized youth in his comments. “Don’t keep them as observers; trust them and give them leadership responsibility,” he said.

Sharon Cress, associate director of the GC ministerial department, presented the Sabbath school lesson, and Charles Sandefur, president of Adventist Disaster and Relief Agency, captivated the audience with stories. “Although ADRA does provide emergency help in disasters,” he said, “its main focus is long-term, sustainable community development involving rebuilding, agriculture, sanitation and individual economic independence.”

Church Must Reach Consensus on Women

The Adventist Church must reach consensus on the ordination of women or risk rebellion, according to Jan Paulsen in an interview with Riverside reporter Bettye Wells Miller (Press Enterprise, Jan. 28, 2007, p. B2b).

The global church “needs to find a way to sign off on it,” Paulsen added. “If they don’t, those (local) conferences that want to ordain women will find themselves acting in a rebellious way against the global Church. That is not healthy.”

The article noted that the Southeastern California Conference in 2000 became the first to grant the same ministerial credential to men and women, although the credential is only recognized within the conference.

Paulsen told the reporter that Ellen G. White, one of the church founders, had never taken a position on biblical grounds opposing the ordination of women. Some individuals, however, believe the Scripture prohibits women from teaching men, he said.

He asked women who feel called to ministry to be patient, but admitted, “I know I’m asking a lot of women … because they feel they have waited a long time already.” He expressed hope that “objections will weaken as people see women in ministry. Let’s see where the Lord leads in this matter.”