AY Honors/Women in Adventist History/Requirements

Women in Adventist History

Skill Level

3

Year

2023

Version

22.11.2024

Approval authority

North American Division

1. Name five women in the Bible who played an important role in God’s plan of salvation. Discuss their contribution.

2. Name three women (other than Ellen White) God used during the Millerite movement to help proclaim the end-time message of Christ’s soon return. Learn and share about the Second Great Awakening and how religious revivalism created opportunities for women to share the gospel.

3. List various ways that Ellen White’s contributions as both a woman and a prophet shaped Adventism. Joel 2:28-30 describes that both men and women will do what during the latter days? How do Seventh-day Adventists see this as being fulfilled through the prophetic ministry of Ellen White?

4. Research the ideologies and social changes, such as the Cult of Domesticity and Women’s Suffrage Movement, that occurred during the 1840s through the 1920s. How did early Seventh-day Adventists respond to these viewpoints? Discuss how Ellen White mediated between these two viewpoints to both elevate the role of women in the home while empowering them to be educated and think for themselves.

5. Study Sarah A. Hallock Lindsey, who was the first woman in Seventh-day Adventist history to hold a ministerial license:

a. Where was she born and raised?

b. How was she converted?

c. Describe her call to ministry.

d. Give some examples from her ministry of her desire to win souls.

6. Study the life of Sarepta Myrenda (Irish) Henry:

a. Where was she born and raised?

b. With what reform activity was she involved?

c. How was she converted?

d. Describe her efforts to involve women in the church.

7. Study Flora Plummer who was the first woman to serve as a conference president:

a. Where was she born and raised?

b. What ways did she contribute to the church as an administrator?

c. What books did she write along with her other contributions through writing and editing?

8. Review the story of Irene Morgan, whose refusal to give up her seat on a bus served as a catalyst for the start of the civil rights movement in the United States.

a. Where was she born and raised?

b. How did her civil disobedience contribute to the history of race relations in the United States?

c. How did this Supreme Court decision play a part in the American Civil Rights movement?

d. What other key roles did women play in the waves of social movements and change?

9. Identify and describe the contributions of three of the following early Adventist women who served actively in evangelism or in the development of the Adventist organization:

a. Annie Rebekah Smith

b. Lulu Whitman

c. Alice E. Hardy Aray

d. Marinda (Minnie) Day Sype

e. Kate Lindsay

f. Nellie Rankin Druillard

g. Maria L. Huntley (1848-1890)

h. Edith Mary Graham

i. Ellen S. Edmunds Lane

j. Alma McKibbin

k. Fredricka House Sisley

l. Jennie Thayer

m. Jennie Ireland

n. Sarah Peck

o. Adelia Patten Van Horn

p. Elsa Luukkanen

q. Margaret Caro

r. Carmen Vaca

s. Mary E. Britton

t. Jessie Dorsey Green

u. Lottie Blake

10. How have women in different parts of the world been able to earn the right to vote and participate in society? How have the rights of women changed over time?

11. Research the historical movement known as "Bible women" and the role they played in the expansion of Seventh-day Adventist missions. Share a devotional or Sabbath School presentation on any of the following influential Seventh-day Adventist women who participated in mission service.

a. Georgia Burrus Burgess

b. Ana Stahl

c. Jessie Rowley Halliwell

d. Rachel "Anna" Knight

e. Maud Sisley Boyd

f. Violet Minnie Jane Hawkins Crisler

g. Charlotte "Vera" Chilton

h. Bessie Jane Mount

i. Olga Bertina Osnes Oss

j. Petra Tunheim Skadsheim

k. Ethel Young

l. Diamondola

m. Another example as approved by your instructor

12. Research in detail the life and contributions of any of the following more recent Adventist women who have had an impact on the Seventh-day Adventist Church. Present your findings in a creative manner (skit, video, slide presentation, song, tri-fold display, scrapbook, etc.).

a. Josephine Benton (first woman to be ordained as a local church elder in 1975, college professor)

b. Pauline Schilberg (missionary and first woman to teach Biblical languages at the Foreign Missionary Seminary)

c. Leona Glidden Running (distinguished academic and seminary professor)

d. Elizabeth Sterndale (first director of women's ministries for the North American Division)

e. B. Lyn Behrens (Australian physician, professor of pediatrics and first female president of Loma Linda University)

f. Ardella Vernell "Del" Delker (musician and contralto soloist for the Voice of Prophecy radio program with 70 albums)

g. Louise C. Kleuser (promoter of evangelism and women in ministry)

h. Ruth Janetta Temple (first Black graduate from Loma Linda University School of Medicine and first Black female physician licensed in California; lifelong public health advocate)

i. Betty Ahnberg (pioneered religious radio programming for children as "Aunt Sue" in "Your Story Hour")

j. Eva Beatrice Dykes (first Black woman to earn a PhD from Radcliffe College, educator, first Black woman to complete the requirements for this degree in the United States; chair of the English Department and the Division of Humanities at Oakwood College)

k. Rosa Taylor Banks (first woman to become associate secretary of the General Conference, professor, administrator, first woman general field secretary and director of the Office of Human Relations at the General Conference)

l. Hong Xiao Mei (pastor and evangelist who raised up a large church congregation and training center in China)

m. Hao Ya Jie (pastor of Shenyang Seventh-day Adventist Church in China, largest SDA church in the world)

n. Hyveth Williams (first Black woman to serve as the sole pastor and as director of Andrews University’s Doctor of Ministry program)

o. Nancy Vyhmeister (first woman to be editor of Andrews University Seminary Studies, seminary professor)

p. Lisa M. Beardsley-Hardy (first woman to direct the General Conference Department of Education)

q. Andrea Luxton (first woman to be president of Andrews University, as well as Newbold College and Burman University; General Conference associate director of education)

r. Ginger Ketting-Weller (first woman to be president of Adventist International Institute of Advanced Studies in the Philippines)

s. Ella Lousie Smith Simmons (first woman to be a General Conference vice-president, elected in 2005, previously educator and university administrator)

t. Another example as approved by your instructor

13. Do one of the following as a presentation for an Adventist Youth/Pathfinder/Church meeting, or equivalent (in addition to those researched earlier):

• Create a display of pictures, articles, and resource materials about five significant Seventh-day Adventist women for your local church or school.
• Find three positive examples of women in the Bible and write a one-page review of each story.
• Prepare a sermon about an important female role model in the Bible to be shared, in consultation with your local pastor, with your local church.
• Develop a set of trading cards (minimum 10) featuring influential women from Seventh-day Adventist church heritage.
• Research your local church’s history by reading articles in the old Reviews, Union paper, church board minutes, or old church bulletins or newsletters to discover what leadership roles women have played.