Dios es Amor It seems your publication isn't ready to go worldw | Page 135

For God hath not given us the spirit of fear, but of
power, and of love, and of a sound mind.
–2 Timothy 1:7

Concluding Thoughts
The Spirit of the Future

We are looking at the future by way of the past, at the same time attempting to maintain a firm hold on the present. This book is about women who have experienced a
calling to the ministry, a phenomenon that has been recognized by the body of Christ,
at least the part immediately surrounding the ministering women—the conference and
the local church unit.
There have been superficial differences in the circumstances of these various women
ministers: Evangelist Minnie Sype grappled with poverty frequently during her more
than forty years in the ministry, while Pastor Jessie Weiss Curtis could comfortably give
financial assistance to church members in need. Yet the similarity between these women
was far more significant than the differences: both felt called—compelled—to share the
good news of the gospel. Many other women have been and are similarly called; the
ministries of a few have been noted in the chapters of this book.
Study of the individual cases indicates that for years the licensing of women was closely
tied to remuneration; and remuneration for women, unlike that of the men, during much
of the period studied was a spigot turned off or on according to perceived “need” or marital
status. The treatment of women in ministry has improved in significant ways as the
denomination has matured. Women pastors, evangelists, chaplains, and Bible teachers are
now paid a regular salary whether they are single, married, widowed, or divorced. A 1989
Annual Council action, approved by a vote of 190-46 and effective immediately, allows
“female ministers, like their male counterparts in ministry, to baptize and to perform
marriages in states that permit unordained ministers to perform marriages.” (Taken from
Carlos Medley, “Role of Women, Sports Top Annual Council Discussion,” Adventist Review
(November 9, 1989): 6.) These are marvelous steps forward.
In one respect, the status of women in ministry has deteriorated. Not only are they
not ordained; but now, except in a few cases, women are no longer licensed as ministers.
(Because of Internal Revenue Service requirements current in the U.S. in the 1970s, the
Seventh-day Adventist Church redefined the status of licensed minister to include baptizing
and to be definitely a step toward ordination. Since the church has not been willing in most
cases for its women ministers to be thus designated, few women have been licensed to the