Our church’s most famous preacher might not get past the pulpit committee.
Ellen White was a woman who preached for decades without ever being ordained. On her 1909 General Conference biographical form, the line asking “If ordained, state when, where, and by whom” was simply marked with an X. The church still gave her ministerial credentials, and on her 1885 General Conference credential the word “ordained” is neatly struck out.
She also had no patience for leaders who confused their own voice with God’s. In 1896 she wrote that “the voice from Battle Creek” was “no longer the voice of God.” In 1898 she said it had been “some years” since she considered the General Conference the voice of God.
At the 1901 General Conference Session she called out “kingly power” in church leadership and pushed for a new structure. The church listened and reorganized, creating union conferences so that one small circle in Battle Creek could no longer run everything. She even told Dr. Kellogg he had to give up his desire to tie every medical institution to Battle Creek.
So we wonder. If a woman stood up today and told the General Conference that a few men had too much power, would we call her a prophet or a troublemaker? Would we hand her the microphone?
Ellen White never wanted people to follow her, or any committee. She kept pointing past herself to Jesus. He is still the One who speaks freely, and He is still the One worth listening to.
Photo: “Ellen G. White at the 1901 General Conference” by an unknown photographer (Ellen G. White Estate), public domain, via Wikimedia Commons. Cropped, tinted, text added. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Ellen_G._White_at_the_1901_General_Conference.jpg
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