Most victims of domestic violence and sexual assault that I spoke to for this series in the Seventh-day Adventist Church are aware by their own experience of how ill-equipped the Church is to deal with their trauma. They, however, aren’t prepared for the vast army of church lawyers and self-serving administrators to deny them any […]
Adventists & Women’s Ordination
by Mike Manea In Adventist circles, the debate over the ordination of women to gospel ministry has involved many different topics, ranging from biblical hermeneutics (interpretation,) to headship/complementarian theology, to ecclesiology (doctrine of the church,) etc. At its core, however, the issue is primarily a question of what a biblical theology of ordination is. The […]
When Women’s Ordination and Church vs State Rights are in Conflict
There are two sets of “rights” and authoritative powers that are enmeshed in every constitutional document for every level of the church. They are 1)Ecclesiastical authority 2)State authority. When the PUC General Counsel gave advice to the constituents, he was giving advice regarding the rights under the State of California not ecclesiastical authority. States rights […]
A House Divided (4D): Is the Pacific Union too Big to Fail?
(This is article 9 in a 9 article series by Adrian Zahid) Every year denominations that have irreconcilable differences over doctrine and practice end up in the United States Court system. Here the courts wrestle over the apportioning of the assets and property of the church either to the breakaway faction or the denomination. The […]