Today, the Oklahoma Conference of Seventh-day Adventists held their regular Constituency meeting.
The meeting was chaired by Buford Griffith Jr., executive secretary of the Southwestern Union.
Although there were the usual assortment of budgetary items and perfunctory reports, there was one agenda item that generated a lot of interest throughout the Conference, and the Seventh-day Adventist Church at large.
In the Constitution & Bylaws section of the delegate packet, Article III proposed that the Oklahoma Conference change their Constitution to wit that they would align the Oklahoma Conference with the North American Division (NAD) instead of the General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists. See Article II below:
Defeated
We are pleased to report that faithful Seventh-day Adventist Church members in Oklahoma—through their delegates—soundly defeated this Constitutional & Bylaws change. It lost by a vote of 90% to 10%. Oklahoma rejected this insidious attempt to sever their relationship from the world Church that we are all a part of. More details later.
Details
When it was time for the Constitution & Bylaws portion of the meeting, the Chair stated that they had received a LOT of negative push-back on this proposed Constitution change.
Because of the negative feedback, he was inclined to defer Article III, send it back to the NAD to revise it. That brings up two important points.
If you defer an agenda item, you are essentially postponing the item. This can be a parliamentary (political) maneuver to postpone an agenda item that you don’t wish to see defeated. It can be marked as “deferred” in the meeting minutes, and the date is often left blank. This allows the Chairman or committee to bring the agenda item back up when they think it’s the right time, or let it lie there forever. It is in limbo, able to spring back to life at the discretion of Chairman or committee.
Secondly, the Chairman, Buford Griffith Jr. made a very interesting admission. He said that these Constitutional changes (red-letter additions) came directly from the North American Division. They did NOT come from the Southwest Union, OR the Oklahoma Conference. We believe him.
The delegates at the meeting today, went to the microphone to speak on this agenda item. A couple pastors called for the constituency to ‘trust the leadership’ and not make waves. Almost thirty individuals expressed their profound concern with this Constitutional change. After they had spoken their mind, they made a motion to not defer this agenda item, but rather to vote on it today. Article III agenda item went down in flames by a 90% majority. This is what is needed in our Conferences, Church members who are alert and faithful.
Essentially, you have a rebellious Division (the NAD) attempting to bully local Conferences into changing their Conference Constitutions in a way that gives the Division more power & influence over them. And such tactics come at a cost—the cost is that it damages the local Conference’s relationship to the World Church. We have seen this spirit before. You can read about it in Ezekiel 28:12-16; Isaiah 14:13-14; Great Controversy page 495.
Notice that the NAD attempts to insert the term “Fundamental Beliefs” in the Oklahoma Constitution in lieu of ‘doctrine’. This is significant. After three unsuccessful attempts to persuade the worldwide Seventh-day Adventist Church to ordain women, the NAD strategists came up with an idea. They combed through the 28 Fundamental Beliefs of the Church and decided that #17 and #14 could be re-interpreted to allow women’s ordination. Since 2015, this has been the tact of strategists at the NAD and the Seminary. That is why the NAD is compelling Conferences to insert the language of the Fundamental Beliefs in their governing Constitutions. They (the NAD) believe that this may help them convince the world church to accept WO. This failed today as well.
Incidentally, none of the 28 Fundamental Beliefs of the Seventh-day Adventist Church (especially # 14 & 17) allow for ordaining women as shepherds of the flock, something that the Bible forbids. It’s wishful thinking on the NAD’s part.
They never give up. Over the last 14—months, many of us forgot about all WO. But the liberal wing of the SDA Church didn’t. In the flurry of Covid19, it seemed like the issue of women’s ordination was off the radar. It wasn’t. Even in the midst of a ‘pandemic’ the agents of change were continuing to operate, continuing to strategize and scheme. They never give up. How do we know? They admit this themselves.
Notice the words of former NAD President Dan Jackson on November 5, 2018:
We will not pull back. We are not going to quit a hiring women pastors! If you are going to kick up a fuss about it, too bad! We will not stop! Furthermore, we will continue to agitate for the ordination of women to the gospel ministry!
Fortunately, it failed in Oklahoma.
Hopefully it will in Texas too (stay tuned).
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“Now I beseech you, brethren, mark them which cause divisions and offences contrary to the doctrine which ye have learned; and avoid them. For they that are such serve not our Lord Jesus Christ, but their own belly; and by good words and fair speeches deceive the hearts of the simple” (Romans 16:17-18).