The back page notice in the Ibid., September 30, 1858, signed by James White and J. N. Loughborough under the heading "Appointments" gave plans for meetings in Ohio and New York State in late September and most of October.
Immediately following was a two-paragraph, rather illuminating notice signed by James White, laying out plans for a tour through New England. The notice suggested the very frail financial status of the cause, and the absence of organizational structure to direct the work. Leaders of the emerging church usually depended both on invitations to visit the field and the gifts of those who benefited from their ministry, to cover expenses. Note the wording:
Brother and Sister White design spending October 23 and 24 at Buck's Bridge; the evening of the twenty-sixth near Rouse's Point, where Brethren Taylor and Whipple may appoint; the thirtieth and thirty-first, in Vermont, where Brethren Bingham and Churchill may appoint; November 6 and 7, near Washington, New Hampshire, where brethren may appoint; thirteenth and fourteenth, at Worcester, Massachusetts.
If brethren in New England desire meetings as above, they will please give appointment of the definite place in the Review immediately, and address us at Hubbard's Corners, Madison County, New York. If they wish the labors of Brother J. N. Loughborough, they will please address him at the same place, and he will probably accompany us to the above-named places.
As it turned out, the brethren in the East did want the Whites to come and invited Loughborough to come with them. When the tour was completed in mid-December, James White could report:
Our wants were all cared for, our traveling expenses met, and we received the most affectionate and courteous attention.--Ibid., December 23, 1858
Earlier in the year Loughborough had run a back page note in the Review announcing cancellation of plans because of lack of financial support:
Brother White and I had designed holding some four or five conferences in the State of New York this spring. But we would here state that our lack of means prevents our complying at present with the wishes of the brethren in this matter.--Ibid., April 1, 1858
The three-month-long fall tour taken by the Whites from Battle Creek east to Portland, Maine, and return, was a major part of their travels through the last half of 1858. Loughborough was with them for nearly all the appointments. Few details are given by White, except the names of the places visited. In later years, Loughborough, recounting history he was familiar with, mentioned the vision given to Ellen White in Mannsville, New York, in the public schoolhouse.
The meeting was so well attended that to accommodate the crowds, oak planking obtained nearby was brought in and placed from seat to seat across the aisles, providing an audience in a solid block, with no open aisles. Loughborough was the speaker at that meeting. He later reported:
The Lord gave freedom in the discourse. Sister White followed with a powerful talk. As she began to speak, their boy, W.C. (then about 4 years old), wanted to go out. The only way to do this was for Brother White to raise a window in the back part of the house. After putting the boy out, he followed him through the window.
While he was out with the boy, Sister White spoke with great freedom. As she seated herself in her chair, she gave the three shouts of glory, and was in vision before that great crowd of people. When Brother White returned to the room, she was in the vision. He explained her condition to the people, who looked on with deepest respect. After coming out of the vision, she again spoke for a few minutes to that solemn and heart-touched audience.--Pacific Union Recorder, January 26, 1911.
The next morning, October 21, she wrote with pencil a testimony, based on a part of what was revealed in the vision, to Stephen and Mary Haskell in Massachusetts. Then she requested Loughborough to make a good copy with pen and ink to be sent to them. As he copied this, his mind went back two years to the time when he and R. F. Cottrell held a tent meeting in Princeton, Massachusetts. He had met the Haskells there, and he recalled that Haskell was pressing the matter of the nonuse of pork. Because of its prohibition in Leviticus Haskell felt it should be made a test of church fellowship. Now Loughborough was tracing the lines from Ellen White's penciled testimony:
I saw that your views concerning swine's flesh would prove no injury if you have them to yourselves; but in your judgment and opinion you have made this question a test, and your actions have plainly shown your faith in this matter. If God requires His people to abstain from swine's flesh, He will convict them on the matter.
He is just as willing to show His honest children their duty, as to show their duty to individuals upon whom He has not laid the burden of His work. If it is the duty of the church to abstain from swine's flesh, God will discover it to more than two or three. He will teach His church their duty.
God is leading out a people, not a few separate individuals here and there, one believing this thing, another that. Angels of God are doing the work committed to their trust. The third angel is leading out and purifying a people, and they should move with Him unitedly.... I saw that the angels of God would lead His people no faster than they could receive and act upon the important truths that are communicated to them. But some restless spirits do not more than half do up their work. As the angel leads them, they get in haste for something new, and rush on without divine guidance, and thus bring confusion and discord into the ranks. They do not speak or act in harmony with the body.--Testimonies for the Church, 1:206, 207.
It was apparent that the time had not yet come to advocate certain positions in the matter of a reform in diet; this would come in its proper time and in its proper setting. In the second printing of this testimony, James White appended a significant note:
This remarkable testimony was written October 21, 1858, nearly five years before the great vision in 1863, in which the light upon health reform was given. When the right time came, the subject was given in a manner to move all our people. How wonderful are the wisdom and goodness of God! It might be as wrong to crowd the milk, salt, and sugar question now, as the pork question in 1858.--JW, note to second edition, Ibid., 1:206.
The Support of the Ministers
The church was growing; as it spread to the West, families of means accepted the message. For some it was difficult to grasp their responsibility in giving financial support to the cause they loved. During the years 1857 and 1858, the situation became desperate. There was no church organization; there was no church treasury. Those who felt called to enter the ministry faced great sacrifices, for they were dependent upon the gifts placed in their hands as they moved from place to place heralding the message. Dedication and sacrifice were called for.
John Loughborough, after being pried loose from Waukon, Iowa, in early January, 1857, by the visit of the Whites, held tent meetings in Illinois. He reported, concerning financial support:
I then returned to Waukon, Iowa, having received for my four months' labor my board, lodging, and traveling expenses, and about $15 in money.--Pacific Union Recorder, September 8, 1910.
This did not leave him much to take home to his wife, Mary, in Waukon. James and Ellen White pressed him to come to Battle Creek, and here James White found some help for the family. Loughborough wrote:
At that time an effort was being made to secure humble homes for some of the approved, yet poor, ministers. Some persons had now accepted the truth who had means. In the west part of Battle Creek Brother White found opportunity to obtain a lot and cottage for the writer for $400. Aside from about $150 that I paid, he raised the money from willing brethren who could invest $25 each.--Ibid.
When means became more plentiful and ministers were paid a salary, Loughborough contributed more to the cause through gifts to special enterprises than he received in financial help in securing a home (Ibid.)
But back to Loughborough's account of the situation in 1857:
That winter of 1857-1858 was a hard winter, not on account of the scarcity of provisions, but because of the low price of the abundance of grains raised the summer previous....
As I recount what I received for my labors in Michigan for the whole six months of the winter of 1857-1858, let it be borne in mind that our attention had not yet been called to the matter of "reform in diet." That light came in the view given to Sister White in Otsego, Michigan, June 6, 1863.
For the whole winter of 1857-1858 I received three ten-pound cakes of maple sugar, ten bushels of wheat, five bushels of apples, five bushels of potatoes, one ham, one half of a small hog, one peck of beans, and $4 in cash. This with the small profit on our boarders [three Review office employees] brought me through the winter in better condition than other of our ministers.--Ibid., October 6, 1910
Through the Review of April 8, 1858, M. E. Cornell called attention to money due from church members who had secured books from the ministers, promising to pay in a short time. He prodded them:
If they have forgotten it, we trust that this friendly hint, together with the reproving Spirit, may bring it to their remembrance. We would assure you, dear friends, these debts are not forgiven, and will not be, until at least you manifest feeling enough in regard to it to write to us, or in some way inform us why you do not cancel so sacred an obligation. We must make our returns to the publishing office. Their repeated calls, together with the continual wants of our families, have hitherto rendered it impossible to forget these little dues.--The Review and Herald, April 8, 1858.
Cornell was one of the most fruitful soul winners in the cause at that time. He closed his appeal with these words:
Messengers must sacrifice their worldly interests, and wear out their very lives in ministering in spiritual things, and it is all right; we complain not; and if necessary, minister also in carnal things, even to those who are less needy than ourselves, but it would at least be some relief to hear from them.--Ibid.
A few weeks earlier at a conference in Illinois, considering the evangelistic thrust that should be made in the coming summer, the brethren developed a plan to bring in an evangelist. Josiah Hart, of Round Grove, a man of some means, surrounded by others in like financial circumstances, reported in the Review:
The subject of removing Brother Ingraham and family west was next considered. Brethren Berry and Newton, residing at Crane's Grove, Stephenson County, offered to maintain his family one year, and find a house, or if it should be necessary to build a house, they will give a piece of land, the church at large promising to aid him in building. It was voted to extend a call to Brother Ingraham to come west, but definite arrangements were postponed till his arrival.--Ibid., April 8, 1858
But this seemed to be the exception to what generally happened around the field. In early April, James White, looking toward the summer of 1858 and thinking of the rapidly opening West, named the States of Ohio, Michigan, Indiana, Illinois, Wisconsin, Iowa, and Minnesota, as promising fields of labor. He declared:
It would require from $300 to $500 to sustain such an enterprise [the tent in Iowa] in a manner to accomplish the most good. Where are the brethren who are ready with their hundreds, their fifties, their twenty-fives, or their tens? Where?
Satan seems to have the control of the purses of the church, with very few exceptions. Repeated disappointments are saddening and discouraging our preachers. They have generally moved out expecting to be sustained by their brethren in their arduous work; but their brethren have often failed to do their duty. They have looked on apparently unmoved, and have seen one after another of our preachers break down in health through overlabor, and deprivation for want of means, while they have continued to hug their earthly treasures to their hearts.
Disappointment has been the sad lot of our preachers, and now several of them are much sunken down in poverty, broken-down health, and discouragement. We suggest to our preaching brethren that it might be best to avoid taking responsibilities which the church should bear. Let the brethren feel the responsibilities which justly rest upon them. Spare your strength and health.--Ibid., April 8, 1858
Then he suggested a plan that could provide regular support:
Should the church freely hand out to sustain the cause the amount of the annual taxes on their property, there would be in the Lord's treasury double the amount wanted to sustain the cause in all its departments.--Ibid.
Through the summer there was little improvement in the matter of financial support for ministers and their families. Evangelists J. B. Frisbie and S. W. Rhodes worked among the communities in central and eastern Michigan, often in places where there were companies of well-established believers. In closing their report for the Review, they made a revealing statement:
A word on sacrificing and we close. Times are hard, and what will be done? We met with scores of brethren who tell the same thing: "I want to help but cannot, because times are hard, and I have not means": and some will begin to talk of selling some or all of their land; but there are no buyers at present.
We dare not advise what others' duty may be; but this we do know, that the work of God must not stop. There is means enough among Sabbathkeepers that can be spared, and it would be a blessing to those who have more than they need, to sacrifice and help now; for the time will come when their help will not be needed.
When some say, Come again, we are glad to see you, don't stay away so long next time, et cetera, they must remember that the preachers must be cared for, or they must labor with their hands to support their families. We are not alone in this. It will cost something to be saved, and to save others; and should it cost all, it will be cheap enough.
The amount received before we arrived at Monterey was $3.85. Our expenses to that time had been $4.12, so that had we returned home from Wayland, what we received would have fallen somewhat short of meeting our expenses. We do not state this to complain, but that the church may think of these things. Brethren have done much better in times past; but we speak of our last trip and the hard times.--Ibid., September 2, 1858
James and Ellen White were also struggling. While some of the ministers had to drop out from time to time and labor with their hands to support their families, James White found as he traveled among the believers that there were those in need of Bibles and other books. He bought supplies and carried some with him, or supplied them from Battle Creek. These he sold at a profit. The Review of May 13, 1858, carried this back page notice:
We have for sale Cruden's Concordance, Nelson on Infidelity, Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress.--JW.
and
We have a supply of English Bibles, three sizes.--JW.
With the publication of The Great Controversy in the summer of 1858, Ellen White had a little income. But as reported in the Ibid., November 25, 1858, "what little profit there was on it was all solemnly dedicated to the Lord, and $25 out of it had already been given to one of the Lord's needy servants [M. B. Czechowski]."
The Promise of a Way Out
Things had reached a state where a permanent plan had to be found to provide financial resources for the growing church. It was in these circumstances (according to J. N. Loughborough, who was to become known somewhat as a historian among the pioneers, and at the time was very closely associated with James and Ellen White) that "Sister White stated to her husband, 'The Lord has shown me that, if you will call the ministers together, and have J. N. Andrews come down from Waukon, and hold a Bible class, you will find that in the Scriptures there is a complete plan to sustaining the work of the ministry.'"--Pacific Union Recorder, October 6, 1910.
James White did call for Andrews to come to Battle Creek for such a study, which took place in mid-January, 1859. [Depending on his memory for the dates of this circumstance, loughborough fixed it early in 1858. Contemporary records place it early in 1859.] White, who had planned to spend most of January on a trip north, stayed by in Battle Creek. Loughborough wrote concerning the conclusions of the study:
The Bible class was held in Battle Creek for two days, and at the end of it our brethren said, "The tithing system is just as binding as it ever was." They said, however, in first introducing it, "Let us call it Systematic Benevolence on the tithing principle."--Ibid.
As the details of this development are presented it is important to keep in mind that the church was without organization but was held together by strong leaders, one of whom possessed the special guidance of the Holy Spirit. These, working together close to the publishing office, kept in touch through the Review with the churches and with scattered believers throughout the East and the Midwest. The steps taken by the Battle Creek church provided an example to the other churches. The framework of an organizational structure was coming into being. At this point, however, the leaders of the cause could speak in an official way only for the Battle Creek church, of which they were members. Progressive actions of the Battle Creek church were carefully reported in the Review and Herald and thus carried to all Sabbathkeeping Adventists.
The Development of the Plan of Systematic Benevolence
As reported by J. N. Loughborough, several workers, including J. N. Andrews, who was summoned for the purpose, met for two days in Battle Creek to study a Bible-based system of finance for the emerging church. The plan developed was brought to the Battle Creek church in a business meeting the following Sunday night. James White reported:
The Battle Creek church assembled January 16 in the evening to consider the subject of a system of benevolence which would induce all to do something to sustain the cause of present truth, and thereby fully sustain the cause, and at the same time relieve some who have given beyond their real ability.
Brethren Andrews and Frisbie were present, and spoke upon the subject. Others also freely expressed their views; all seemed deeply interested in the subject.
Brethren Andrews, Frisbie, and White were chosen to prepare an address on Systematic Benevolence, founded upon the declarations of Holy Scripture.--The Review and Herald, February 3, 1859.
Two weeks later, January 29, after the hours of the Sabbath were passed, the church came together to hear the reading of the address. The report was adopted by a unanimous vote, and it was voted to publish it in the Review and Herald.
The Address
The address carried a heading giving the proper setting of the matter: "From the Church of God at Battle Creek, to the Churches and Brethren and Sisters in Michigan." It opened with the words:
Dear Brethren and Sisters,
We wish to call your attention to a plan of Systematic Benevolence to support the proclamation of the third angel's message, which may be in harmony with the plain declarations of Holy Scripture.--Ibid.
With the citing of New Testament support, a scriptural framework was assembled for the projected procedures, and it was suggested that "we gather from these facts some instruction relative to our own duty." The pioneers of the Seventh-day Adventist Church could have gone more easily to the Old Testament and brought in the obligation of the tithe, but at this juncture, regardless of the attractiveness of the tithe, they were not sure that it was not one of those ceremonial obligations that ceased at the cross. In the occasional mention of organization they were looking to the New Testament with its seven deacons, not to the Old Testament with the appointment by Moses of the seventy. In finance they were looking to the New Testament and Paul's counsel in 1 Corinthians 16:2 that "upon the first day of the week let every one of you lay by him in store, as God hath prospered him, "rather than to Malachi's direction to "bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in mine house" (Malachi 3:10). They conceded that the tithing system was a good plan, and it did have a strong bearing on the conclusions reached and set before the church. Here is the argument set forth in the address:
If Paul found it essential to complete success that method should be observed in raising means for benevolent purposes, it is certainly not unreasonable to conclude that we should find the same thing beneficial in promoting a similar object. As Paul wrote by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, we may rest assured that his suggestions were not only safe to follow, and calculated to ensure success, but also that they were in exact accordance with the will of God. We shall not therefore displease Him by adopting the suggestions of His servant Paul.--Ibid.
The next paragraph delineated the points supported by Scripture, which it was thought should form the basis for the plan Sabbathkeeping Adventists ought to follow:
"Upon the first day of the week let everyone of you lay by him in store as God hath prospered him." This implies: 1. A stated time for the business, viz., the first day of the week. 2. The concurrent action of each individual, for he adds, "Let every one of you" lay by him in store. 3. This is not a public collection, but a private act of setting apart for the Lord a portion of what one possesses. 4. The amount to be given is brought home to the conscience of each individual by the language, "as God hath prospered him."--Ibid.
The next point made was "How may we reduce to practice these excellent suggestions?" It was thought that with few exceptions the following plan could be adopted:
1. Let each brother from 18 to 60 years of age lay by him in store on the first day of each week from 5 to 25 cents. 2. Each sister from 18 to 60 years of age lay by her in store on the first day of each week from 2 to 10 cents. 3. Also, let each brother and sister lay by him or her in store on the first day of each week from 1 to 5 cents on each and every $100 of property they possess....
The lowest sums stated are so very small that those in the poorest circumstances (with very few exceptions of some widows, infirm, and aged) can act upon this plan; while those in better circumstances are left to act in the fear of God in the performance of their stewardship, to give all the way up to the highest sums stated, or even more, as they see it their duty to do.--Ibid.
To implement the plan, the pioneers suggested:
Each church may choose one of their number whose duty it shall be to take the names of those who cheerfully act upon this plan, and also the sums they propose to give each week, and collect these sums on the first of each month, and dispose of them according to the wishes of the church. Those scattered, and not associated with any church, can act for themselves or for their households, in the same manner.--Ibid.
This plan, developed by leading men in the church, became known from the outset as "Systematic Benevolence." They were pleased that it placed the burden of church support in an equitable way upon all believers. In time refinements and developments in applying and servicing the plan were made. As for the Battle Creek church, to which this plan was primarily addressed:
J. P. Kellogg was ... chosen collector and treasurer for the Battle Creek church, and Elder James White was chosen corresponding secretary to correspond with the brethren scattered abroad who may wish to address him upon the subject of Systematic Benevolence.--Ibid.
A week later, White reported to the readers of the Review that forty-six in Battle Creek had already signed up, declaring what they intended to do. It looked good to him, and he stated:
It is time that all shared the blessings of the cheerful giver. God loves such.... Let this work of giving be equally distributed, and let the cause be fully sustained, and all share the blessing. This system carried out properly will serve to unite in prompt action, in sympathy and love, the waiting people of God.--Ibid., February 10, 1859.
White was cheered by the response of some of the churches. The first to respond was Hillsdale, Michigan. They also had a question:
Brother I. C. Vaughn writes from Hillsdale, Michigan, that the church in that place "are acting on the Systematic Benevolence plan, and like it much," and inquires, "What is to be done with the money at the end of the month?"--Ibid., March 3, 1859.
White rather quickly came up with a practical answer. This related to the very purpose of instituting the plan. He responded:
We suggest that each church keep at least $5 in the treasury to help those preachers who occasionally visit them, and labor among them. This seems necessary.... Such is the scarcity of money, that our good brethren very seldom are prepared to help a messenger on his journey. Let there be a few dollars in every church treasury. Beyond this, the debt on the tent enterprise, et cetera, claims the proceeds of Systematic Benevolence in this state [Michigan].--Ibid.
The back page of the February 10 issue of the Review carried an announcement that blank, ruled books were being prepared at the Review office "for the use of those who act as collectors and treasurers," and they could be had for 15 cents. White urged a response from believers in other States, and some soon began to appear in the Review and Herald.
Almost from the first the close relation of Systematic Benevolence to the tithe was observed. This appeared first in the details of how to reckon the obligation of the property holder. The basic plan, which called for 1 to 5 cents to be paid each week on every $100 of property, embodied a tithing principle, as explained in more detail in early 1861. James White, in a little-known and short-lived printed sheet, referred to the Systematic Benevolence as the tithe:
We propose that the friends give a tithe, or a tenth of their income, estimating their income at 10 percent of what they possess.--Good Samaritan, January, 1861.
The basis for this determination of the tithe was soon explained in the Review and Herald:
We meant just what the churches are adopting in Michigan [referring to his statement published in the Good Samaritan]; viz., they regard the use of their property worth the same as money at 10 percent. This 10 percent they regard as the increase of their property. A tithe of this would be 1 percent, and would be nearly 2 cents per week on each $100, which our brethren, for convenience sake, are unanimous in putting down....
Next come the personal donations. Let the young men who have no taxable property come up nobly here, also the young women.--The Review and Herald, April 9, 1861.
Systematic Benevolence was early endorsed by Ellen White, and she linked it with the tithe. First she assured the church in June, 1859, "The plan of systematic benevolence is pleasing to God" (Testimonies for the Church, 1:190), and then in January, 1861, in a Testimony article entitled "Systematic Benevolence," she wrote: "Rob not God by withholding from Him your tithes and offerings." The article closed with Malachi 3:8-11 quoted in full (Testimonies for the Church, 1:221, 222). At the outset there was no separation of tithes from offerings. The demand for funds was mainly for the support of the ministers and the evangelistic outreach.
Some years later, in an article published in the Testimonies entitled "Tithes and Offerings," Ellen White wrote of Systematic Benevolence:
The special system of tithing was founded upon a principle which is as enduring as the law of God. This system of tithing was a blessing to the Jews, else God would not have given it them. So also will it be a blessing to those who carry it out to the end of time.--Testimonies for the Church, 3:404, 405.
There were developments through the years, as the work of the church broadened, that called for a separation of funds into two groups, "tithes" and "offerings." Also the precise use of the tithe, sacred to the support of the ministry of the church, was repeatedly brought to the attention of the leaders and members.