What does Ellen G. White mean by “to ordain”?
In her published writings, this verb in its various forms appears close to a thousand times. Although it may refer to the Christian rite of appointing someone to a church office by means of a laying on of hands ceremony, ordain does not always refer to this ceremony. The basic root meaning of the word is to order or organize. The word may also mean to command or decree. These various shades of meaning appear in her writings. When, for example, she refers to John 15:16, as quoted above, to support a dedicated Christian service on the part of all believers, the verb ordain in the KJV does not seem to refer to a laying on of hands ceremony, but rather has the meaning of decree or command — God decrees or commands that Christians should go and bring forth much fruit. At the beginning of the chapter “A Consecrated Ministry” in Acts of the Apostles, she makes the statement that the “great Head of the church superintends His work through the instrumentality of men ordained by God to act as H
