Adventists vote against women's ordination

Seventh-day Adventists voted 1,381 to 977 at their 60th General Conference Session in San Antonio not to allow their regional church bodies to ordain women pastors.

Tense discussions prior to the July 8 vote featured dozens of delegates voicing opinions for and against the question, “Is it acceptable for division executive committees, as they may deem it appropriate in their territories, to make provision for the ordination of women to the gospel ministry?”

Despite the ban, several U.S. conferences of Seventh-day Adventists have ordained women in recent years. Several of the church’s 13 worldwide divisions—with a total of 18 million members—have approved theological reviews suggesting that women’s ordination should be widely accepted. Women pastors have often held a “commissioned” credential without being formally ordained in the church, which observes its sabbath on Saturday.