Saturday, April 13, 2019

Czech-Slovak Union Votes to Ordain Women to Pastoral Ministry, Rejects GC Document




Written by:
Alisa Williams

Published:
March 27, 2019


In business meetings held last week, March 21-24, 2019, delegates of the Czech-Slovak Union voted their affirmation that women pastors should be ordained to pastoral ministry while rejecting the document “Regard for and Practice of General Conference Session and General Conference Executive Committee Actions” that was voted at the GC’s Annual Council on October 14, 2018.

Two dozen agenda items were discussed by 214 delegates during the Union’s business sessions according to a series of articles on the Union’s website. An overview of the items discussed was given in an article dated March 27, 2019, and included the following two voted items (translated to English via Google Translate):

Document on “Regard for and Practice of General Conference Session and General Conference Executive Committee Actions”

The proposal was accepted to file a petition for the annulment of the document “Regard for and Practice of General Conference Session and General Conference Executive Committee Actions” approved by the General Conference Executive Committee on October 14, 2018, and to replace it with a different mechanism that leads to unity in the Church. The Czech-Slovak Union Conference does not agree with the enforcement of unity by a “higher organizational body”; they believe that unity comes from the action of the Holy Spirit on every individual.

The proposal was accepted that the conference express its support for the opinion expressed in the Declaration of the Committee of the Czech-Slovak Union of the Seventh-day Adventist Church on the “Regard for and Practice of General Conference Session and General Conference Executive Committee Actions” on September 23, 2018.

The proposal was accepted that the procedure described in the “Regard for and Practice of General Conference Session and General Conference Executive Committee Actions” approved by the GC Executive Committee on October 14, 2018 would not be applied in the Czech-Slovak Union of the Seventh-day Adventist Church.

Ordaining Women to Full Preaching Service

The proposal was accepted that women in the Czech-Slovak Union be ordained to the preaching service. 


The voted actions, in the original Czech, are included in full below:

Dokument o respektování a praktickém uplatnění rozhodnutí výboru a zasedání Generální konference

Byl přijat návrh podat k vyšší organizační složce podnět ke zrušení dokumentu „Dokument o respektování a praktickém uplatnění rozhodnutí výboru a zasedání Generální konference“ schváleného výborem Generální konference dne 14. 10. 2018 a nahradit jej jiným mechanismem vedoucím k jednotě v církvi. Konference Česko-Slovenské unie nesouhlasí s vynucováním jednoty „vyšší organizační složkou“; věří, že jednota přichází z působení Ducha svatého na každého jednotlivce.

Byl přijat návrh, aby konference vyjádřila podporu stanovisku vyjádřenému ve Vyhlášení výboru Česko-Slovenské unie Církve adventistů sedmého dne k „Dokumentu o respektování a praktickém uplatnění rozhodnutí výboru a zasedání Generální konference“ ze dne 23. 9. 2018.

Byl přijat návrh, aby postup popsaný v „Dokumentu o respektování a praktickém uplatnění rozhodnutí výboru a zasedání Generální konference“ schváleném výborem GK dne 14. 10. 2018 nebyl uplatňován v Česko-Slovenské unii Církve adventistů sedmého dne.

Ordinování žen do plné kazatelské služby

Byl přijat návrh, aby v Česko-Slovenské unii mohly být ženy kazatelky ordinovány do kazatelské služby.

The September 23, 2018 declaration referenced in the above vote was a statement issued by the Union leading up to last year’s Annual Council that rejected the GC’s proposed document, stating that it was “contrary to how we understand the biblical model of church administration and leadership.” Read the full Czech-Slovak Union statement here.

The Czech-Slovak Union has issued statements in the past on these matters as well. In May 2014, they stated that “women can be ordained to full pastoral ministry in our union conference” and following the 2015 GC Session vote on women’s ordination, they expressed their disappointment, stating that the vote contradicts Scripture.



Alisa Williams is managing editor of SpectrumMagazine.org

Image courtesy of http://www.casd.cz/




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