In 2012, after studying the ordination of women to the gospel ministry for several decades, two unions in North America began ordaining women to ministry. Some members and leaders of the church believed this was the kind of adaptation of ministry methods for which unions were created, while others believed the unions did not have the authority to take these actions. It seemed like a good time to review the story of how and why unions were created. Hence, this brief history.
Our goal is to understand the current structure of the Seventh-day Adventist Church, which was adopted in 1901. But to understand the current structure, we will look first at the previous structures, to see how they served the church, and why they ultimately failed. Finally, we will review the processes by which church authority has changed since 1901, gradually becoming more centralized.
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