That depends on what you mean by "church".
Are you talking about the Adventist church -- or Christian churches generally?
For a legal marriage in North America it must be officiated by a government recognized officiant-- clergy or notary republic, judge, etc. This used to be pretty standard long before Seventh-day Adventists as a church, existed. Now of course common law couples are treated by governments almost the same as legal marriages so everything is getting more confusing.

Early Sabbath keeping Adventists at first tried to remain totally independent of all government "paperwork", not only pertaining to their ministers, but also for registering as "a church" and operating as a legal identity, But that didn't work very well, and in 1862-3 they took the name "Seventh-day Adventist" and became a legal identity.

However, Seventh-day Adventists began to practice ordination even before their official organization in 1863.
James White and Joseph Bates, had already been ordained by their previous Christian denomination before they became Adventists. So when the new Sabbath movement began to grow and they had to deal with several "offshoots" James White pointed out the need for "gospel order" and the need to ordain ministers. He gave three main reasons for that.
First, the ordained ministers would know that they had "the sympathy of ministering brethren and of the church."
Second, it would be a way to "unite the people of God."
And third, it would "shut a door again Satan" and the "influence of false teachers." ( Gospel Order, RH, Dec. 20, 1853, 188-189).



Maybe in some ways it still is that way. If people see it in that light there is a real problem.

But I see it moving away from that. By sacramental, it means having the power to save or assign damnation -- this is a pretty strong belief in Catholicism where priests can forgive sin, assign penance, etc., create divine wafers, substantiation etc. A pastor does NOT take the place of Christ. Christ is the head of the church, not the pastor.
A true pastor points people to Christ , NOT to themself.

Ordination does not make a person holy. The call and the pursuit of holiness in Christ all must come BEFORE ordination. Ordination is NOT the call from God to the ministry. The ordination ritual is a simple confirmation that the person has a calling from God. It's a recognition by the church that God has called the individual to be a leader/facilitator in the gospel mission of the church.

In other words ordination by the church is a government imposed regulation upon the church and has no positive spiritual effect on anyone.

when the new Sabbath movement began to grow in the 1850's and they had to deal with several "offshoots" James White (Ellen White's husband) pointed out the need for "gospel order" and the need to ordain ministers. Ordination was required to maintain "gospel order". He gave three main reasons for that.
First,
the ordained ministers would know that they had "the sympathy of ministering brethren and of the church."
Second,
it would be a way to "unite the people of God."
And third,
it would "shut a door against Satan" and the "influence of false teachers."

Also made it plain that church leaders
Received their commission from no less authority than the Lord Jesus Christ, the HEAD of the church.
NOT being lords over God?s heritage, but being ensamples (examples) to the flock. (Gospel Order, RH, Dec. 20, 1853, 188-189).

Thank you dedication!!!

So is this one of your arguments for women's ordination?

Even if it isn't, times have hanged greatly for the church as the church has been established now for well over 100 years. Why is there a need for "the sympathy of ministering brethren and of the church.", a way to "unite the people of God.", and "shut a door against Satan" especially now when we have ordained SDA ministers preaching against the truths of the Bible? Seems to me church ordination is now working against God in some ways.

Clergy? Wouldn't a pastor fit that, "ordained" or not? If the government does not require a so-called "ordained" wand waving, then it's merely a self-imposed Adventist church thing.

So does a male pastor who has not been ordained:
NOT know that they had "the sympathy of ministering brethren and of the church."
NOT "unite the people of God."
NOT "shut a door again Satan" and the "influence of false teachers." ( Gospel Order, RH, Dec. 20, 1853, 188-189).
?
Does a male pastor who has not been ordained not have the confirmation that he has a calling from God? And does the church not recognize he to be a leader/facilitator in the gospel mission of the church?

Does a male pastor who has not been ordained not receive their commission from no less authority than the Lord Jesus Christ, the HEAD of the church?

Kland, I take it that you are saying no one should be ordained by the church? Is that correct?

Therefore, according to that understanding -- anyone who feels they have been called of God should be recognized and considered a church leader? Is that what you are saying?

I'm just saying there's some inconsistency here and claims that aren't true.
Can anyone serve as a pastor in our church? I think not, but correct me.
What is the purpose of "ordination"?
There was an article in a recent "Journeys" / Adventist Review which talked about women in the early days. One received a "license". Not an ordination. So what's the purpose of "ordination"?
I see none. A waving of a wand.

Anyone, of course, can witness for the Lord, they don't need credentials or an official position, they just need the love of Christ in their hearts,
but to become a recognized pastor in the Adventist Church, the following is the general process:

1. Education -- most are urged to get at least a bachelors' degree in theology. Some who have shown considerable leadership and spiritual knowledge in the past have at times skipped that step, but they are the exception, not the rule, and even they are usually sent off to college for some education before receiving a call from a Conference.

2. Receive a call from a Conference -- This is usually the tense time for theology students in their last year. Will they get a call from a conference? Not all receive a call. A fair number never become Pastors.
The ones that do receive a call from a Conference, are then assigned as internes in a church district, or to work with an evangelist, etc.

3. License -- the newly called pastor than receives a ministerial license from the Conference that has called them. A license is not the same as ordination, it is seen more as a pastor still in internship or training. Yes, they are recognized as a pastor, they are given the care of church or two, but they don't have full authority to baptize, perform marriages, etc. as there are some restrictions as to what they can do, and their authority is generally contained mainly to their local church area. Also, a license can expire.

4. Ordination -- after several years of working as a licensed pastor, conference personnel review the licensed pastors performance and if satisfactory, nominate them for ordination. This is a big step. Ordination recognizes them as being full-fledged ministers in the Adventist Church with full authority to perform all the duties and privileges of a Minister. An ordained minister is a recognized representative of the Adventist church, and this distinction is not restricted to a local district, and is usually (unless revoked by serious misconduct) a life time commitment.


Now -- since controversies have risen to a rather high level, things are being "stretched" concerning the "license" step, since women aren't allowed to go beyond "license".

Thank you dedication!

Kland: Don't forget that the Review would give a more party line of who is currently running the church in their reporting.
Adventist Historians have pointed out how people, such as John Loughborough, in working in the western territories, would raise up churches and then ordain someone to carry on the ministry of the church. They tended to ordain the best that they could find whether it be a man or a woman. Now as things became more organized the men received credentials that included the world "ordained" but the women got credentials without the word. In the early 1900s, there were conferences back east who wanted to ordain their women pastors. Their ordinations were approved on the Union level, however General Conference President A. G. Daniels put in a request (not a demand, but only a request, seeing that Ordination belonged on the Union level). not to deny the ordinations of women, but to POSTPONE them TEMPORALLY due to members not realizing that it was indeed Biblical to ordain women, and asked for them to wait until the church could educate the members that it was indeed Biblical to ordain women. While we don't find the direct connection, around this time Mrs. White began writing some articles on women in ministry.

The critics of women's ordination state that we don't have a direct connection between Daniels and White at this time that her articles were in connection to Daniels wanted to educate the church that women's ordination was indeed Biblical, they say that Mrs. White wrote those articles at that time in ignorance of what the conferences wanted to do and Daniels asking for a temporary postponement. During this postponement, the women, either ordained out west, or the recommended back east got a license that did not have the word "Ordination" but where these women got the same pay as the ordained men and their husbands received the same stipend that was given to the wives of the ordained men. For all practical purposes, we have been ordaining women right along, only avoiding the word "ordination" in their records.

Sadly, there were other ideas that became issues and the education of our members that women's ordination was indeed Biblical fell to the side; then dropped even more so after the 1922 General Conference and it's aftermath.

Now, Mrs. White's papers included the word "Ordination" although one copy has the word "ordination" crossed out, but we have no idea who did it or when they did it. Now whenever Mrs. White crossed something out she always placed her initials by this cross out does NOT have her initials, and non of her other papers, both before and after the one crossed out had the world crossed out. Critics of women's ordination has said that Mrs. White needed ordination papers to get paid; but don't forget, there were two types of papers given out for the same pay and benefits, if Mrs. White wanted the paperwork that did not include the word "ordained" she still could have gotten her pay with those papers.

Another interesting thing about the critics of women's ordination: At times they claim that our pioneers did not ordain women and thus we need to follow their example; however, when they are reminded that John Loughborough and others did indeed ordain women, they say "Sadly, some of our pioneers did ordain women, but we must not repeat their mistake."


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