On Thursday, November 15, the executive committee of the Pacific Union Conference unanimously approved requests to ordain seven women and two men. Most of the women who were approved for ordination have been in ministry for several years -- in some cases several decades -- but have officially been considered “commissioned.” According to Bradford Newton, executive secretary of the Pacific Union, “This vote removes any reservations or limitations on the church’s affirmation of the ministry to which God has called these pastors and trainers of pastors.”