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Active and Retired Women Ministers
When she was nursing in 1983 at a Veteran’s Administration hospital in Alexandria,
LA, Maggie had this experience, which she shares:
One night the Lord led me to the bedside of a man who had never experienced the
saving grace of Jesus Christ. I, in obedience to God’s prompting, extended an invitation for him to accept the plan of salvation. He accepted, and 20 minutes later he
was found dead in his room. We were unable to resuscitate him. When his family
arrived, they were elated to know that he had accepted Jesus as his personal Savior.
When I began my ministerial training at Oakwood College in 1990, I had actually
forgotten that experience, but the Holy Spirit brought it back to my remembrance.
He spoke to me saying, “This is what I want you to do. This is why I brought you
to Oakwood College.”
Farley, Linda
Linda Farley’s preparation for her present work includes a BA in Religion and a
Masters in Specialized Ministry (Pastoral Care and Counseling). She has been a staff
chaplain at Kettering Medical Center, and is now Manager of Pastoral Services there.
She has baptized one person, while preparing many others for that sacred rite.
What is a source of frustration to her? It is to hear someone deny that the Seventhday Adventist denomination has women pastors. Pastor Farley says she may no longer
remain silent when such an assertion is made.
This pastor enjoys visitation and providing nurturing. She says, “I love working with
people of different faiths.”
Ferreras, Marlene Mayra
Marlene Mayra Ferreras is dynamically involved as youth pastor of a spirited congregation, the Campus Hill Church in Loma Linda, CA. She graduated in June 2003 from
La Sierra University with majors in Religious Studies and Spanish and a minor in
Biblical languages. In July 2003 Marlene was elated to be hired full-time by Southeastern
California Conference for her position at Campus Hill Church. She is on an “ordination
track” with Southeastern, for the ordained-commissioned credential awarded alike by
that conference to men and women candidates when they are shown proven and ready.
(See p. 166)
Marlene showed gifts for the Lord’s work early, evidenced by her being ordained as a
deacon at the age of 16 and as an elder at 18. She says, “The only consistent thing in
my life has been God. To think He was calling me was frightening because I knew it
would consume all that I am. But God has been faithful to me and I will follow His
leading through it all.”
Her greatest frustration arises from wanting to preach in Spanish (she’s Hispanic), yet
encountering strong rejection in that culture. To deal with this, she relies on God for
“strength to endure, words to speak, and comfort to heal.”
What does this pastor enjoy best? She wrote, “I enjoy preaching and sharing with
people the power of God. Watching God work in and through people is humbling and
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