Appendix G

The Ordination of Deaconesses

By Arthur N. Patrick

“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.”—The Review and Herald, July 9, 1895.EGWVRWSDA 22.1

Did Ellen White imply ordination by this statement? As Adventists in recent years have discussed the larger issue of ordination of women to the gospel ministry, they have disagreed sharply over her meaning in the 1895 Review article.EGWVRWSDA 22.2

Now church records from the same period that appear to make Ellen White’s meaning clear have come to light.EGWVRWSDA 22.3

Ellen White resided in Australia from 1891 to 1900. She lived in the suburbs of Sydney and the village of Cooranbong, close by the property that became Avondale College, from 1894 to 1900. Her son W. C. White, an Adventist minister, was also in Australia.EGWVRWSDA 22.4

June 24, 1899, the Ashfield church in Sydney elected G. F. Goodman as elder. The church records tell us that he “was ordained as elder by the laying on of hands.” Clearly, Adventists at the time understood the laying on of hands as effecting ordination.EGWVRWSDA 22.5

Which officers were ordained to their tasks? Again the Ashfield church minutes, in two separate entries, give us the answer. At the meeting on August 10, 1895, the nominating committee rendered its report. The record notes: “Immediately following the election, the officers were called to the front, where Pastors Corliss and McCullagh set apart the elder, deacons, [and] deaconesses by prayer and the laying on of hands.”EGWVRWSDA 22.6

On Sabbath, January 6, 1900, Elder W. C. White presided over the regular Sabbath meeting at Ashfield. The clerk’s minutes note: “The previous Sabbath officers had been nominated and accepted for the current year, and today Elder White ordained and laid hands on the elders, deacon, and deaconesses.”EGWVRWSDA 22.7

The page from W. C. White’s diary for this date confirms the Ashfield church’s records: “Spoke at Ashfield. Twenty-five present. Ordained J. Hindson Elder, Thos. Patchin Deacon, and Mrs. Brannyrane and Patchin Deaconesses.”EGWVRWSDA 22.8

So Adventists living close to Ellen White in the 1890s, over a five-year period at least, ordained women along with men to local church office by prayer and the laying on of hands. Surely Ellen White would have instructed to the contrary if she had not intended ordination by her Review statement of 1895. Her son Elder White usually understood well the intent of her writings, and he officiated in the ordaining of women.EGWVRWSDA 22.9

—Arthur N. Patrick is registrar at Avondale College, Australia.EGWVRWSDA 22.10

[Copies of original Ashfield church minutes and the W.C. White diary are available at the Ellen G. White Estate Resource Centers.]