
Delegates to the North Pacific Union Conference’s 30th Constituency Session voted Sunday, August 23, to recognize local conferences’ right to recommend candidates for ordination, opening the way for conferences to submit women pastors for ordination consideration by the union.
The motion, brought to the session following a request from the Oregon Conference, states that the North Pacific Union “recognizes the right and responsibility of each local conference to prepare and recommend names for ordination” and will consider candidates submitted by local conference executive committees. In the vote, 62.6% supported the motion and 37.4% opposed it, with 310 votes cast, according to results displayed during the livestream. Before the main vote, delegates rejected an attempt to require a two-thirds majority for passage: 59.5% supported raising the threshold, short of the two-thirds required, while 40.5% voted no.
The action is significant in the denomination’s continuing debate over women’s ordination. The General Conference Session last voted on the broader issue in 2015, when delegates rejected allowing divisions to decide independently whether to ordain women. Earlier this year, the NPUC Executive Committee asked the General Conference to place women’s ordination back on the agenda for the 2030 GC Session. Sunday’s constituency action goes further locally by establishing that the union will consider ordination candidates recommended by its conferences. The session is being held at Walla Walla University Church in College Place, Washington, with delegates representing the union’s six conferences.
Image: Delegates vote on an ordination motion during the 2026 North Pacific Union Conference constituency session. The motion passed with 62.6 percent support. Image: NPUC constituency session livestream.
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