Equal by Divine Design and Appointment

“Women can be instruments of righteousness, rendering holy service.” Evangelism, p. 471

There is much to celebrate this year as we reflect on Christian women.

In the year 2025, when International Women’s Day (8 March) carried the caption – Accelerate Action, I was encouraged to see the positive action undertaken by the membership of Tottenham Lighthouse Seventh-day Adventist church on their appointment of the first female head elder in their 33-year history.

This progressive step was realised on 15 March during the family worship service when Elder Jacqueline Edwards was officially welcomed into her new role.

Previously, following the tradition of male headship in local leadership that governed the church since its inception, this was a milestone move heralding a significant shift. Elder Edwards, former head deaconess, was ordained last year as an elder by Dr Kirk Thomas and elected and sworn in on 22 March as head elder.

Speaking with the pastor of Tottenham Lighthouse Adventist church – Dr Jude Jeanville, he reports:

“Elder Edwards has been a member of this church for 35 years. She is a widowed mother of 5 young adults, Mikhail, Miranda, Melissa, Nadheera, Abib, and a grandmother of 4. Elder Edwards has served as a deaconess and head deaconess for many years. Even after being elected as an elder, she held the role of head deaconess for at least two years. For the past year, she took on the responsibility of assistant head elder to Elder Charles and gave outstanding support in the management of the church. Elder Jacqueline loves the Lord and has a passion for the church. She supports the Conference and the Union programmes.”

Our Seventh-day Adventist beliefs

As outlined in Fundamental Belief 14, emphasise equality and unity.

This belief states, “In Christ we are a new creation; distinctions of race, culture, learning, and nationality, and differences between high and low, rich and poor, male and female, must not be divisive among us. We are all equal in Christ, who by one Spirit has bonded us into one fellowship with Him and with one another; we are to serve and be served without partiality or reservation…” How Adventists Promote Unity in the Body of Christ | adventist.org.

Equal by divine design

At Creation, God’s declaration of functional equality is clear in Genesis 1:28: “And God blessed them, and said unto them, ‘Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it and have dominion…over every living thing that moves on the earth.’”

The gift of the Spirit is not gender-based or gender-biased. It is an equal outpouring, and the Holy Spirit is not partial.

God demonstrated the equality of male and female in His gifting of the Holy Spirit in Joel 2:28-29 which states:

“And it shall come to pass afterwards

That I will pour out My Spirit on all flesh;

Your sons and your daughters shall prophesy,

Your old men shall dream dreams,

Your young men shall see visions.

And also on My menservants and My maidservants

I will pour out My Spirit in those days.”

This is God’s directive. To accomplish His mission for the plan of redemption to be effective, God saw it necessary to use both male and female.

Equal by divine appointment

The Bible teaches functional equality by appointing women to leadership roles. We see biblical examples of women called to lead, such as Deborah (Judges 4 & 5), prophetesses - Miriam (Exodus 15:20), Deborah (Judges 4:4), Huldah (2 King 22:14), wife of Isaiah (Isaiah 8:1-3), Anna (Luke 2:36-38), four virgin daughters of Philip (Acts 21:8-9). More recently, Ellen G White (1827 – 1915) was called by God as a Seventh-day Adventist pioneer, spiritual leader with prophetic gifting, visionary, health advocate, and prolific author.

William Fagal, in his commentary, captioned: Ellen White and the Role of Women in the Church, quotes from Ellen G White’s manuscript in the segment titled: Part 1: Ellen White’s Statements (ellen-white-and-the-role-of-women-in-the-church.pdf ) where she states:

“Women who are willing to consecrate some of their time to the service of the Lord should be appointed to visit the sick, look after the young, and minister to the necessities of the poor. They should be set apart to this work by prayer and laying on of hands. In some cases, they will need to counsel with the church officers or the minister; but if they are devoted women, maintaining a vital connection with God, they will be a power for good in the church. This is another means of strengthening and building up the church.”

Giving further admonition, Ellen G White gives additional insight when she instructs:

“We need to branch out more in our methods of labour. Not a hand should be bound, not a soul discouraged, not a voice should be hushed; let every individual labour, privately or publicly, to help forward this grand work. Place the burdens upon men and women of the church, that they may grow by reason of the exercise, and thus become effective agents in the hand of the Lord for the enlightenment of those who sit in darkness.”*1

The inclusion of women in leadership roles in the Adventist Church is God-ordained.

Concluding thoughts

It’s important to remember that all discrimination and abuse in the world are rooted in notions or ideologies of inequality. Understanding this helps us empathise with those who suffer from it.

Sin brought dysfunction, inequality and hierarchy, but the gospel restores God’s original plan for humankind, which is harmony, unity and equality.

We will live out God’s directives not by might or power but by the Spirit of God, which is beneficial to humanity and acceptable to divinity.

*1 Advent Review and Sabbath Herald (hereinafter Review and Herald or simply Review) 72, 28 (9 July 1895): 434.