SDA ARTICLES

Released by: Ray Dabrowski
                Phone: +31-30-955-324 (June 29-July 8) or +301-680-6300
                Written by: Dick Duerksen
                          
                FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
                July 7, 1995
                          
                THE CHURCH AFFIRMS THE PASTORAL MINISTRY OF WOMEN
                          
                Utrecht, The Netherlands... Most Sabbaths, a woman Seventh-day Adventist
                pastor baptizes a new member as part of a worship service. Each week a
                woman Seventh-day Adventist minister preaches a sermon, chairs a board
                meeting, leads out in Bible studies and prays for the sick. And each
                week church administrators affirm those women pastors.
                    "We receive tremendous support from our conferences and unions. We are
                not ignored but are included in all conference activities, just as are
                the male pastors. We receive regular affirmation and know that our
                leaders know and appreciate the value of our work." says Karin
                Lundberg, Senior Pastor of the Stockholm church.
                    A number of the Church's nine world divisions have asked women to
                accept pastoral responsibilities. Some of these women have been
                employed as departmental directors or media center managers, others as
                youth leaders or family life educators, but most Adventist women
                ministers serve as pastors of local congregations.
                    In the Trans-European Division there are now seven women serving as
                pastors. Lisbeth Krage is pastor in Nyrgling and Naksron, Denmark, the
                country where Marianne Dyrud serves as dean of girls and pastor for
                youth activities at the Adventist academy. The Danish Union has also
                employed Anne-May Muller as youth director and Kirsten R. Oster as
                director of the media center. In England, Drene Somasundram pastors in
                Crawley and Wimbledon. Ansku Jaakkola serves as youth director of the
                Finland Union and Karin Lundberg is the senior pastor of the Stockholm
                church.
                    These pastors experience the full benefits and responsibilities of
                ministry. "The reward of ministry is being able to participate in the
                miracle of transformation," says Pastor Dyrud. "I, as an imperfect
                minister, can be used by God to transform lives. It keeps me amazed at
                all times!"
                    Occasionally, questions are raised regarding the ability of women to
                serve effectively in the position of pastor. The women pastors,
                however, have discovered that few members have any concern over their
                gender. Pastor Lundberg of Stockholm says, "The members are looking for
                the real qualifications of ministry. They want to see that I have
                received a true call from God and have accepted that call. Most of the
                members do not even notice my gender, they notice and respond to my
                ministry."
                    Pastor Krage of Denmark adds, "I am not here because I can do a better
                job than a man, but because I've been called to ministry by God."
                    That calling from God is the center of life for each woman pastor. "We
                are role models for the young people who are being called to the
                ministry," says Pastor Jaakkola, youth director in Finland. "We happen
                to be women, but we are each individual personalities, we each approach
                ministry within our personal call."
                    For Pastor Somasundram that call was very direct and specific. "One
                day," she recounts, "I was walking out of my college dormitory dressed
                in a short skirt, red lace stockings and bright lipstick. As I passed a
                tall mirror I saw myself and heard God say, "I will make of you what I
                want you to be." Later one afternoon she was looking at the blue sky
                and saw a bright red line glowing across the sky. "I looked at the sky
                and heard God speak," she says. God's voice said, "This is what I want
                to do with you, make you a bright light for me." Drene was overwhelmed
                and answered, "But it is so high and so far I know I cannot reach it."
                God responded , "Look at the cloud." There, in the sky near the red
                line, was a small white cloud, His promise that He would "always be
                with me."
                    The Seventh-day Adventist Church has affirmed this call by assigning
                Pastor Somasundram pastoral responsibilities in Crawley and Wimbleton,
                England. She, and the many other women Adventist pastors around the
                world, take their Divine instructions seriously. But it's a seriousness
                mixed with joy. Pastor Dyrud smiles, "It is absolutely thrilling to
                bring people to Christ, to be affirmed by people I had no idea I was
                reaching."
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