Mission
The mission of the international Association of Adventist Women is to foster the participation of women in varied leadership roles in Seventh-day Adventist organizations, congregations, and communities.

Goals
The image of God, as embodied in the skills and insights of women, will be more fully reflected in our churches and communities as we achieve our goals:

• To encourage Adventist leadership to enhance the church's effectiveness by creating more significant opportunities for women to be full partners at all levels of church life.
• To promote leadership skills among the diverse groups of Adventist women of all ages.
• To use print, electronic, and personal communication to highlight Adventist women's opportunities, contributions, and achievements.
• To establish a network of Adventist women leaders who can inspire and mentor other women.
• To demonstrate open and collaborate models by working in complementary ways with other church organizations.

Yearly Activities

1. An annual conference which offers numerous seminars providing educational and spiritual growth opportunities for women as well as networking and mutual encouragement.
2. A business meeting at the conference during which resolutions are determined and voted in accordance with the mission and goals of AAW.
3. A Woman-of-the-Year program at its annual conference which recognizes outstanding women in the SDA church both at home and abroad.
4. The publication of The Adventist Woman, an SDA women's newspaper, which keeps women and church leaders informed about SDA women's accomplishments as well as church policies that affect women.

Initiatives
Over its twenty years of existence, AAW has been an advocate for women in the SDA church, strongly recommending changes to various church entities to enable women to use their gifts fully and work with equity within the structure. At its annual conference, AAW formulates its recommendations to specific entities within the church. These recommendations are then tracked to monitor their implementation. Among its many recommendations are

1. The establishment of women's ministries with paid leaders in the conferences, unions, NAD, and the GC with voting privileges on appropriate executive committees.
2. A full-time woman director in the NAD and GC ministerial offices, specifically representing women in ministry.
3. Pay equity throughout the world church, not just in the United States.
4. The NAD union presidents to reaffirm and implement their statement "Commitment to Women in Gospel Ministry" as voted by the NAD union presidents on October 13, 1995, and to educate the laity about this issue in accordance with their document.
5. The world church to recognize that women's ordination is an essential step in the growth and development of the SDA church.
6. An increase in the employment of qualified women pastors.
7. The establishment of a women's resource center.
8. An increase in women in decision-making roles at every level of the church organization with at least one women GC vice president by 2005.
9. The formulation of an abuse policy for all entities of the SDA church.
10. The avoidance of stereotyping in children's Sabbath School materials.
11. In agreement with counsel from E. G. White, appropriate remuneration for stay-at-home pastor's spouses.
12. Since an increasing number of women are taking theology and religion majors, university, colleges and seminary boards and administrators should strive toward gender inclusiveness in selecting faculty for religion departments and for the SDA Theological Seminary.

Accomplishments
In addition to numerous recommendations and the monitoring of those, AAW publishes commendations of entities that place women in leadership roles (e.g., the GC for establishing women's ministries throughout the world field and having a full-time woman in charge, the NAD for electing a woman as vice president and another as associate director of the ministerial association, the Finnish Union for electing a woman as secretary of the SDA church in Finland and re-electing a woman as treasurer) and vote policy changes that grant equity to women (e. g., Southeastern California Conference which has a common credential for women and men pastors).

Besides its activities as an association, AAW has spawned several separate entities. Time for Equality in Adventist Ministry, chaired by Pat Habada, advocates the ordination of women to pastoral ministry and helps SDA women throughout the world attend SDA seminaries by providing scholarships. At last count, 67 women (14 of the total enrollment) were on campus at the SDA Theological Seminary at Andrews University. Other women theology students are attending SDA seminaries outside the United States. Scholarships distributed each year total about $25,000.

AAW also spawned the Adventist Women's Coalition, whose mission is affirmative action for SDA women both in relation to the church structure and in relation to the law of the land. Through correspondence and personal contacts this organization, under the direction of Rosemary Watts, recognizes the steps the church is making in relation to equity for women and urges continued efforts.

Another group begun via AAW is a committee on abuse, chaired by Peggy Harris. This committee has as its goals (1) to cultivate a healing environment in the family, church, and church-related workplaces to restore both the victims and perpetrators of sexual, spiritual, physical and emotional abuse; (2) to safeguard our children from being subjected to abuse in home, school, church, and youth activities; and (3) to educate church members and leaders to help stop harassment and abuse. (Further information at www.tagnet.org/wash) Peggy helped organize the sexual ethics committee of the NAD, which produced the NAD abuse policy, Sexual Misconduct in Church Relationships.

You are Invited to Participate
AAW invites SDA women from around the world to join the organization as it continues to encourage the church to acknowledge and use the many talents God has given to SDA women to help spread the good news of His soon coming.