Ellen Chat Conversation

Ellen White was notably cautious about the question of women's ordination to gospel ministry. According to her secretary C. C. Crisler, she "was very careful about expressing herself in any wise as to the advisability of ordaining women as gospel ministers" (DG 255.2). He noted that she has often spoken of the perils that such general practice would expose the church to by a gainsaying worldbut that he had "never seen from her pen any statement that would seem to encourage the formal and official ordination of women to the gospel ministry" (DG 255.2). Interestingly, Ellen White herself held ministerial credentials from the Michigan Conference and later from the General Conference for many years, yet "she was never ordained by human hands, nor did she ever perform a wedding, organize a church, or conduct a baptism" (DG 249.1). This suggests she saw a distinction between credentialed ministry work and ordained pastoral functions. In 1895, she did recommend the ordination of women for a specific type of ministry - "women who would give themselves to a deaconess-type of work" (DG 249.1). This indicates she supported women in certain ministry roles, but distinguished this from the full scope of ordained gospel ministry as it was typically understood. The documents note that "the question of women's ordination was not high on Ellen White's agenda during her lifetime. Her best energies were directed toward achieving a greater unity and a deeper spirituality in the church" (DG 255). When urged to join the women's suffrage movement, she declined the invitation (DG 252.7), showing she did not align herself with broader women's rights crusades of her era. Regarding the Apostle Paul's teachings, the provided documents do not contain Ellen White's specific commentary on Paul's statements about women teaching or having authority over men. The documents focus primarily on her practical approach to women's ordination rather than her exegesis of specific biblical passages. --- 💡 **You might also want to explore:** • What specific ministry roles did Ellen White say women should fill in the church? • How did Ellen White's own ministry work function without formal ordination? • What did Ellen White teach about unity in the church when members disagree on secondary issues?