Appendix C—Exhibits Relating to the Ordination of Women
237
field as missionary nurses, some as canvassers, and some as gospel
ministers.”—
Testimonies for the Church 8:229, 230
.
6. Ellen White made two statements about her own call to serve
the Lord as his messenger. She declared:
“At the age of 78 I am still toiling. We are all in the hands of the
Lord. I trust in Him; for I know that He will never leave nor forsake
those who put their trust in Him. I have committed myself to His
keeping
.
“And I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who hath enabled me, for that
He counted me faithful, putting me into the ministry.”—
The Review
and Herald, July 26, 1906
.
“In the city of Portland the Lord ordained me as His messenger,
and here my first labors were given to the cause of present truth.”—
The
Review and Herald, May 18, 1911
.
It will be recalled that Ellen White was given her first vision in De-
cember 1844, in Portland, Maine. Shortly thereafter she was prompted
by the Lord to tell others what she had seen
.
7. Ellen White did not concern herself with women’s rights move-
ments. When she was urged to join others in the crusade for women’s
suffrage, she declined the invitation. She wrote to her husband:
“I called upon Mrs. Graves. She had a burden upon her mind and
ever since she knew I was at home she desired to see me. She said
she felt that she must talk out her feelings to me. She is desirous that
women’s suffrage should be looked into by me. She says women ought
to vote, and she related many things of a startling character which were
legalized in France and St. Louis, and an effort was made to carry
them out in Chicago this year, but [the effort] failed. Houses of ill
fame are legalized. Women who travel alone through those cities, if
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they are the least suspicious of them, are taken up by the authorities
and their cases are investigated. If they are diseased they are placed
in the care of the doctors and cured. Then they are fit for the visits
of men and are placed in the legalized home for men to satisfy their
lusts upon. No examination is made of the men, and where this law is
carried into effect the crime and immorality resemble the condition of
the world which existed previous to the flood
.
“Mrs. Graves viewed the matter as I do in regard to the increase of
crime and demoralization of society. She says women must vote if this
law is [to be] withstood. We had a long talk in regard to temperance. I