WOMEN LEADING IN THE SPIRIT OF THE LATTER RAIN

Excerpt from the article by G. Alexander Bryant, president, North American Division of Seventh-day Adventists, published in the September/October 2024 North Pacific Union Gleaner: Northwest Adventists in Action. This article also appears in the October 2024 Adventist Journey.

God has promised a special gift to His church and His people living in the last days. This promise is illustrated in a very familiar passage found in Joel 2:28–29: And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh; and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions: and, also upon the servants and upon the handmaids in those days, will I pour out my spirit” (KJV).

This promise is for us today — for all people. In the Adventist Church, we believe in the priesthood of all believers — all have been called to proclaim the everlasting gospel of Jesus Christ. To be clear, women are a part of this calling. We need everyone to finish the work that God has entrusted to us.

The Adventist Church still believes God has called women to play a significant role in the advancement and the finishing of His work. The church calls women to serve in leadership roles in the local church as pastors, elders, and departmental leaders, as well as conference, union, division and General Conference leaders.

I want to take this moment to celebrate and thank all the women who have served this church so faithfully over the years. I also want to acknowledge that this church would not be where it is today without women leading in various capacities and the pivotal role they have played in the advancement of our mission.

God calls us to make disciples in Matt. 28:18–20 and promises in Acts 1:8 that He will grant the power of the Holy Spirit upon us to be His witnesses. When the Christian church began, we see in its infancy a marvelous display of the outpouring of the Holy Spirit.