Ellen G. White’s View of the Role of Women in the SDA Church

Chapter III—EGW and the Question of Ordination of Women ¹

EGW was herself never ordained to the gospel ministry by human hands. She held the credentials of an ordained minister, first from the Michigan Conference and later from the General Conference (on one of the certificates, the word “ordained” is crossed out by the stroke of a pen; on some it is not—they were issued every year). Following the death of her husband, James White, in 1881, she was paid the salary of an ordained minister. She never performed tasks usually associated with a minister: (1) Weddings, (2) Baptisms, (3) Organization of churches. EGWVRWSDA 7.14

EGW did not attend the 1881 GC Session at Battle Creek at which the resolution to ordain women was discussed (cf. p. 2). Her husband died Aug. 6 that year; she left for California two weeks later, and did not return to Michigan until Aug., 1883. The resolution was referred to the General Conference Committee where it apparently died. There is no evidence it was subsequently discussed, much less adopted, at that level. EGWVRWSDA 7.15

In the The Review and Herald, July 9, 1895, EGW made a reference to ordination of women in an article on “The Duty of the Minister and the People” (p. 434) [Appendix F]: EGWVRWSDA 8.1

Women who are willing to consecrate some of their time to the service of the Lord should be appointed to visit the sick, look after the young, and minister to the necessities of the poor. They should be set apart to this work by prayer and laying on of hands. In some cases they will need to counsel with the church officers or the minister; but if they are devoted women, maintaining a vital connection with God, they will be a power for good in the church. This is another means of strengthening and building up the church. We need to branch out more in our methods of labor. Not a hand should be bound, not a soul discouraged, not a voice should be hushed; let every individual labor, privately or publicly, to help forward this grand work. Place the burdens upon men and women of the church, that they may grow by reason of the exercise, and thus become effective agents in the hand of the Lord for the enlightenment of those who sit in darkness.

A number of women were ordained to the office of deaconess during EGW’s Australian ministry [1891-1900]: EGWVRWSDA 8.2

1. August 10, 1895, Ashfield Church, Sydney. EGWVRWSDA 8.3

2. January 7, 1900, Ashfield Church, ceremony performed by W. C. White. (Cf. Arthur N. Patrick, “The Ordination of Deaconesses,” Adventist Review Jan. 16, 1986, pp. 18, 19 [Appendix G].) EGWVRWSDA 8.4

There is no documentary evidence that EGW was calling for the ordination of women to gospel ministry in this RH article. The article seems to deal primarily with the question of the church utilizing its resources (including women) to the ultimate. The immediate internal context (“visit the sick, look after the young, and minister to the necessities of the poor”) may suggest she had in mind the work of a deaconess. The opinion of EGW’s personal secretary, Clarence C. Crisler, writing within one year of Mrs. White’s death, was to the effect that EGW was referring to ordination of deaconesses rather than gospel ministers [Appendix H]. EGWVRWSDA 8.5

There are three EGW statements that are sometimes construed as evidence that she supported the concept of women as ordained gospel ministers. In 1898 she declared that “there are women who should labor in the gospel ministry” (Evangelism, 472). The context of this statement would seem to indicate that she here was speaking of the wives of ministers rather than single women: EGWVRWSDA 8.6

“Letters have come to me from several, asking my advice upon the question, Should ministers’ wives adopt infant children? Would I advise them to do this kind of work. To some who were regarding this matter favorably, I answered, No; God would have you help your husband in his work. The Lord has not given you children of your own; His wisdom is not to be questioned. He knows what is best. Consecrate your powers to God as a Christian worker. You can help your husband in many ways. You can support him in his work by working for him, by keeping your intellect improved. By using the ability God has given you, you can be a home-keeper. And more than this, you can help to give the message.

“There are women who should labor in the gospel ministry. In many respects they would do more good than the ministers who neglect to visit the flock of God. Husband and wife may unite in this work, and when it is possible, they should. The way is open for consecrated men. But the enemy would be pleased to have the men whom God could use to help hundreds, binding up their time and strength on one helpless little mortal that requires constant care and attention.”—MS 43a, 1898; Ms. Re. #330.

In 1900 [she] wrote concerning “The Canvasser [Colporteur] a Gospel Worker” (Testimonies for the Church 6:322). The immediate context is not gospel ministry, but the implication is that colporteur work is a good preparation for gospel ministry. Even so, there is no reference to ordination, per se: EGWVRWSDA 9.1

All who desire an opportunity for true ministry, and who will give themselves unreservedly to God, will find in the canvassing work opportunities to speak upon many things pertaining to the future, immortal life. The experience thus gained will be of the greatest value to those who are fitting themselves for the ministry. It is the accompaniment of the Holy Spirit of God that prepares workers, both men and women, to become pastors to the flock of God.

Lastly, in September, 1903, EGW wrote in Testimonies for the Church 8:229, 230 about young women in the ministry; but again not even a hint concerning whether or not ordination was an issue: EGWVRWSDA 9.2

The Lord calls upon those connected with our sanitariums, publishing houses, and schools to teach the youth to do evangelistic work. Our time and energy must not be so largely employed in establishing sanitariums, food stores, and restaurants that other lines of work will be neglected. Young men and young women who should be engaged in the ministry, in Bible work, and in the canvassing work should not be bound down to mechanical employment.

The youth should be encouraged to attend our training schools for Christian workers, which should become more and more like the schools of the prophets. These institutions have been established by the Lord, and if they are conducted in harmony with His purpose, the youth sent to them will quickly be prepared to engage in various lines of missionary work. Some will be trained to enter the field as missionary nurses, some as canvassers, and some as gospel ministers.

There is no question but that EGW called for women as well as men to enter gospel ministry. But there is no documentary evidence I have seen yet to indicate a linkage between women as gospel ministers and their ordination. On the contrary, in Manuscript 43a, 1898, the first five pages deal with the question of proper payment for the professional services of women ministers. The article is entitled “The Laborer is Worthy of His Hire.” And in the very first paragraph Mrs. White points out that “although the hands of ordination have not been laid upon her, she is accomplishing a work that is in the line of ministry,” and she should be paid wages accordingly. There is not the slightest hint here—or anywhere else in Mrs. White’s writings—that she favored (or disfavored) ordination for women. She is totally silent on the question; and proponents or opponents can only “argue from silence.” EGWVRWSDA 9.3

EGW made two statements about her own call to service as the Lord’s “special messenger”. She declared: EGWVRWSDA 10.1

“At the age of 78 I am still toiling. We are all in the hands of the Lord. I trust in Him; for I know that He will never leave nor forsake those who put their trust in Him. I have committed myself to His keeping.

“And I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who hath enabled me, for that He counted me faithful, putting me into the ministry.”—The Review and Herald, July 26, 1906, p. 9.

“In the city of Portland the Lord ordained me as His messenger, and here my first labors were given to the cause of present truth.”—The Review and Herald, May 18, 1911, p. 1.

As a girl just barely 17 years of age, Ellen Harmon received her first vision on an unknown day in December, 1844, in Portland, Maine. Very shortly thereafter she was instructed of the Lord to relate to others the things He had shown her by special revelation. EGWVRWSDA 10.2

EGW distanced herself from a contemporary women’s rights movement in her own day. When urged to join others in this crusade for women’s suffrage, she declined the invitation. She expressed her own views in a letter to her husband, James White: EGWVRWSDA 10.3

“I called upon Mrs. Graves. She had a burden upon her mind and ever since she knew I was at home she desired to see me. She said she felt that she must talk out her feelings to me. She is desirous that women’s suffrage should be looked into by me. She says women ought to vote, and she related many things of a startling character which were legalized in France and St. Louis, and an effort was made to carry them out in Chicago this year, but [the effort] failed. Houses of ill fame are legalized. Women who travel alone through those cities, if they are the least suspicious of them, are taken up by the authorities and their cases are investigated. If they are diseased they are placed in the care of the doctors and cured. Then they are fit for the visits of men and are placed in the legalized home for men to satisfy their lusts upon. No examination is made of the men, and where this law is carried into effect the crime and immorality resemble the condition of the world which existed previous to the Flood.

“Mrs. Graves viewed the matter as I do in regard to the increase of crime and demoralization of society. She says women must vote if this law is [to be] withstood. We had a long talk in regard to temperance. I told her that my mind was unprepared for any such matter as women voting. She had been thinking and dwelling upon these things and her mind was ripe upon them, while my work was of another character. We were doing upon the point of temperance what no other class of people in the world were. We were as much in favor of a pledge against tobacco as liquor.”—Letter 40a, 1874; Ms. Re #794.

As already noted, EGW urged her fellow sisters in the church not to participate in the 19th Century feminist movement by seeking to become: EGWVRWSDA 11.1

1. Voters in elections in which women were then ineligible to exercise their franchise. EGWVRWSDA 11.2

2. Political office holders (Welfare Ministry, 165). EGWVRWSDA 11.3