There were significant reasons for holding the "Pacific Coast Council" in the Pacific Northwest. The reader will recall the concern and burden of heart carried by Ellen White as in the summer of 1880 she closed up her work in Oregon and returned to Oakland, California. She had witnessed the fruitage of lax conference leadership, coupled with the aggressive activities of two young ministers who had not experienced the environment of educational opportunities and association with seasoned ministers. While in Oregon in 1880, she had written rather extensively of the distressing situation and had read these testimonies to the persons involved. At the time the messages had been accepted and the promise made that they would be acted upon, but the counsel and reproof and pledges were soon forgotten. Conditions worsened progressively.
Doctrinal teachings not in accord with those held by the body of believers were stealthily spread. There was a disregard for the authority of the church, and its leaders were treated with disrespect. In time the conference presidents of the two local fields were despised and ignored. A knowledge of this situation in the Northwest confirmed the conviction of church leaders that earnest work must be undertaken to stem the negative and somewhat rebellious tide in Oregon and the Washington territory.
The annual camp meetings for 1884 were to be held in early summer: in the Upper Columbia Conference, at Walla Walla, Washington Territory, June 5-16 (The Signs of the Times, April 17, 1884); the North Pacific camp meeting would convene a few miles from east Portland, Oregon, June 19-30. the announcement carried the word that the Pacific Coast Council would be held in connection with the Oregon meeting.
The Walla Walla Meeting
The site selected for the camp meeting in the Washington Territory was a grove of balsams on the bank of Mill Creek, in the city of Walla Walla. Mill Creek is described as a beautiful, swift-running stream. The worker group from California consisted of J. H. Waggoner, editor of the Signs of the Times; J. N. Loughborough; W. C. White; Mrs. Ellen G. White; Professor Brownsberger, president of Healdsburg College; and William Ings and his wife. The latter served as a traveling companion of Ellen White. On the campground they were associated with G. W. Colcord, conference president; W. L. Raymond, worker in the field; J. O. Corliss, the newly come evangelist; and C. L. Boyd, president of the neighboring conference.
Waggoner wrote commendably of the physical situation and then introduced matters of deeper concern. It is these that form the basis of this chapter:
The condition of the people at the commencement was not the most fortunate for a profitable time. Points of doctrine subversive of the message had been introduced, and to some extent been received, which had weakened the faith and courage of many. Reports had also been circulated against most of those who are bearing responsibilities in the work, which caused many to distrust the work itself; and by these means a spirit of complaining had been fostered. All this was sufficient to bring darkness into the conference, and to make it somewhat difficult to reach the hearts of the people.--Ibid., July 3, 1884
The Heart of the Problem
At the heart of the problems primarily was William L. Raymond, a man indigenous to the Northwest, a promising young worker who had been ordained to the ministry at the camp meeting attended by Ellen White in 1878. He was genial and seemingly very humble, but he was propagating certain views out of harmony with those generally held by Seventh-day Adventists. He was critical of leadership, from the General Conference through the local conference administration. Church members had joined with him to such an extent that the president was powerless.
Soon after coming onto the Walla Walla campground, Ellen White, in writing to Haskell, who had been with her in 1880, stated:
The enemy is at work through different ones to block the wheel of progress. Elder Raymond has been doing a bad work in complaining of all the leaders and finding fault with the General Conference in the building of churches and schoolhouses. He is a man that can do much harm because he has good traits of character and is of ready tact as a helper. But the Lord understands it all and He will work for His people that they shall not to be confused or confounded.--Letter 19a, 1884.
After a strong confrontation with discord at the camp meetings, Ellen White's word, as written to Smith, was:
The meeting closed up well in Walla Walla. It was a success, and a great change has taken place in the feelings of the Upper Columbia Conference. Sunday I spoke upon the subject of temperance. If ever the Lord helped me, He did at this time. I was free and free indeed. The Lord let the power of His Spirit rest upon me.--Letter 7, 1884.
While marked victories were gained at the Walla Walla meeting and many sensed the presence of the Lord, there was more to be accomplished if the ground gained was to be securely held. The work continued through the Oregon camp meeting and the Pacific Coast Council, which convened in east Portland beginning June 19, three days later.
Visit to Multnomah Falls
The highlight of the trip by train to Portland was a stop at Multnomah Falls. Ellen White described this in her diary.
On our way from Walla Walla Tuesday morning the cars stopped, as they generally do, twenty minutes at Multnomah Falls. Nearly all left the cars to climb the high ascent to obtain a clear view of this wondrously beautiful, grand sight. Sister Ings and Willie accompanied me. Elder Waggoner, Raymond, Elder Jones and wife were all climbing the steep ascent. There were steps built in the embankment, then a narrow zigzag path, then more wooden steps. This was repeated many times until we reached and passed on to a rustic bridge which spanned a chasm above the first fall. The grand fall is above this and called the Bridal Veil. The point from which the water flows is about nine hundred feet high. As the water descends it breaks upon the jutting rocks, scattering off in widespread, beautiful sprays. It is a lovely sight.
I would have been pleased could I have spent an entire day in this place surrounded with lovely scenery.... We looked above, then beneath, and were led to exclaim, "How wonderful are all Thy works, Lord God Almighty!" Surely this is the work of the great Master Artist. We feel our littleness, our nothingness, in the presence of such manifestations of the great God. I called to mind the words of the psalmist when he calls upon everything that hath breath to praise the Lord.--Manuscript 9, 1884.
The Pacific Coast Council and Camp Meeting at East Portland
Ellen White and those traveling with her from Walla Walla arrived in Portland on Tuesday at noon, June 17. Regarding the situation at the encampment Waggoner declared:
From the first it was evident that the meeting would be one of hard labor. The condition of the people was not favorable; most of the members of the principal churches had taken quite a decided stand against the action of the General Conference, which made it very difficult to reach them. Our working force was found to be none too strong for the occasion; and had it not been for the pointed testimonies of Sister White, we have every reason to fear the meeting would not have accomplished the object desired.--Ibid.
Writing to Smith, Ellen White noted:
The work in this conference was of the same character as the work above [at Walla Walla], only more so. We have had one of the hardest battles we ever had to engage in. The leading men in this conference seem to have no respect for the General Conference. The people have no respect for ministers or president.... We cannot give you all particulars. We had men hard to deal with, difficult to be impressed. The labors of our ministers were accounted of no more value than their own wisdom and judgment. The only thing they did not dare to reject was the testimonies. To these they did bow after long delay.--Letter 20, 1884. (Italics supplied.)
Raymond was at this camp meeting and the Pacific Coast Council. At the Walla Walla meeting he had made confessions and had attempted to draw near to his brethren, but cherished views are not easy to part with. There was another confrontation in east Portland. Wrote Ellen White in her letter to Smith:
Brother Raymond has done a work that was tearing down. New views after the order of the views of Brother Owen were presented to the council for examination. The same was done with Brother Raymond's views. A council heard his arguments and then wrote out their answer. He has consented to abide by the decision of his brethren.--Letter 20, 1884.
Shortly after the meeting Ellen White wrote her testimony dealing with the Raymond matter. It may be found in Testimonies, volume 5, where he is referred to as "Brother D." She indicated the procedure that should be followed under such circumstances:
There are a thousand temptations in disguise prepared for those who have the light of truth; and the only safety for any of us is in receiving no new doctrine, no new interpretation of the Scriptures, without first submitting it to brethren of experience. Lay it before them in a humble, teachable spirit, with earnest prayer; and if they see no light in it, yield to their judgment; for "in the multitude of counselors there is safety."--Testimonies for the Church, 5:293.
This counsel was not new from the pen of Ellen White. Her first book, A Sketch of the Christian Experience and Views of Ellen G. White, published in August, 1851, sounded the note:
I saw that the shepherds should consult those in whom they have reason to have confidence, those who have been in all the messages, and are firm in all the present truth, before they advocate new points of importance, which they may think the Bible sustains.--Early Writings, 61.
Again in November, 1851, Ellen White reported that while she was traveling in Vermont, the importance of laying new views before leading brethren, or "messengers," as they were designated, was again opened to her in vision. Here is her account as it related to the meeting held on Sunday, November 9, 1851.
I ...also told them ...that the messengers of God should be perfectly united in their views of Bible truth and should consult with each other, and should not advance any new view until they first went to the messengers and examined those views with the Bible, and if they were correct, let all the messengers spread them, and if they were error, lay them to one side. Then the gospel seed would be sown in union and raised in strength; and all the messengers east and west, north and south, would be telling the same story.--Letter 8, 1851.
Brethren of Experience at the Pacific Coast Council
At this point it may be well to look at "the brethren of experience" at the Portland meeting:
Joseph H. Waggoner, the senior minister, 64 years of age, a Sabbathkeeping Adventist since 1851. He was joint editor and publisher of a political newspaper in Wisconsin when he joined the church. In 1884 he was editor of the Signs of the Times.
John N. Loughborough, pioneer minister, 52 years of age. He was a first-day Adventist lay preacher when he accepted the message in 1852. As an evangelist, in 1868 he pioneered the work of the church in California.
William C. White, 30 years old, son of James and Ellen White. He started his career as manager of the Pacific Press and served in many positions in important interests of the church. In 1884 he was a member of the General Conference Committee.
Sidney Brownsberger, 39 years old, first principal of Battle Creek College. In 1884 he was principal of Healdsburg College.
William Ings, minister and publishing house worker. In 1877 he had been sent to Switzerland to assist J. N. Andrews.
Ellen G. White, age 56, the messenger of the Lord.
John O. Corliss, age 39. He became a Seventh-day Adventist in 1868; he was associated with James White for a time, and was tutored by Joseph Bates.
These were undoubtedly joined by G. W. Colcord and C. L. Boyd, presidents of the local conferences.
It was this group that heard William Raymond present his views and gave a written report of their findings. This experience in the Northwest set the pace in dealing with questions relating to so-called "new light."
E. G. White Vision at East Portland
It is clear that matters relating to the Raymond case were opened up to Ellen White while she was at the meeting of the Pacific Coast Council. At several points in her nine-page testimony concerning Raymond and the handling of "new light," Ellen White makes such statements as "Brother D [Raymond] was presented before me."--Testimonies for the Church, 5:289. "God has presented this matter before me in its true light. Brother D's heart is not right."--Ibid., 5:290. Loughborough, in giving an address at the General Conference session nine years later, stated:
I have seen Sister White in vision about fifty times. The first time was about forty years ago.... Her last open vision was in 1884, on the campground at Portland, Oregon.--The General Conference Bulletin, 1893, 19, 20.
In her testimony article written in 1884, which opens on page 289 of volume 5 of the Testimonies, Ellen White touched many points and sounded several warnings. We make reference to a few:
By his freedom in gathering up and repeating false reports, he [Brother D] has come in between the people and the message which God has given His ministers to bear to them to fit them to stand in the day of the Lord. His good traits have made him all the more dangerous; for they have given him influence.--Page 289.
While he is laboring under its the [conference's] sanction, his brethren have a right to suppose that his views are correct. And with this sanction his influence has been a power for evil.--Page 290.
Suppose that Brother D leads the people to question and reject the testimonies that God has been giving to His people during the past thirty-eight years; suppose he makes them believe that the leaders in this work are designing, dishonest men, engaged in deceiving the people; what great and good work has he done? It is a work exactly similar to that of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram; and with all whom he has influenced the result will be disastrous.--Page 290.
God has not passed His people by and chosen one solitary man here and another there as the only ones worthy to be entrusted with His truth. He does not give one man new light contrary to the established faith of the body. In every reform men have arisen making this claim.--Page 291.
That which Brother D calls light is apparently harmless; it does not look as though anyone could be injured by it. But, brethren, it is Satan's device, his entering wedge. This has been tried again and again. One accepts some new and original idea which does not seem to conflict with the truth. He talks of it and dwells upon it until it seems to him to be clothed with beauty and importance, for Satan has power to give this false appearance. At last it becomes the all-absorbing theme, the one great point around which everything centers; and the truth is uprooted from the heart.
No sooner are erratic ideas started in his mind than Brother D begins to lose faith and to question the work of the Spirit which has been manifested among us for so many years.... Brethren, as an ambassador of Christ I warn you to beware of these side issues, whose tendency is to divert the mind from the truth. Error is never harmless. It never sanctifies, but always brings confusion and dissension. It is always dangerous.--Page 292.
Waggoner stated in his report:
Though it seemed harder to approach the people here than in the meeting at Walla Walla, there was a more thorough work done at the East Portland meeting than at the other. Almost all broke down and made an entire surrender of their prejudices and opposition to the action of the General Conference. Hearty confessions were made, and strong pledges to stand by whosoever should be sent to help them. Elder Boyd was very cheerfully reelected president, and we believe he has consecrated associates in his fellow officers.--The Signs of the Times, July 17, 1884.
The way was now open for the meetings to climax in a strong, devotional atmosphere. Monday, the last day of the council, twenty-five were baptized in the Willamette River, close to the campground. Raymond and Jones, both of whom needed broader experience, were assigned to work in other States. Within a few years Raymond was lost sight of, but Jones worked up to the position of associate editor of the Signs of the Times, to be followed by other positions of trust.
Loughborough was elected president of the Upper Columbia Conference, with the understanding he would divide his time between that field and other areas where he was needed.
The cause of God was greatly hurt by what had taken place in the Northwest over a period of several years. Waggoner made this observation:
In the work of establishing this truth it was far different. Those whom God evidently set forth to develop this faith labored for unity, not distraction. They carefully and prayerfully examined the points, and when they had constructed their argument, they submitted it to the judgment of their brethren, and only taught and published it after it was approved. And if by any means a point was put forth upon which there was not agreement, its projectors carefully abstained from further teaching it.
And God blessed this method, and His Spirit approved their work. But men have always come up who gave no evidence that the Lord had set them forth to bring out the faith, who seize upon some point, either untrue or unimportant if true, and without consulting their brethren of experience, thrust it before the weak and inexperienced as new truth which is calculated to greatly strengthen the message!
But wherever such a work is found, confusion and distrust are sure to follow.--Ibid.
Ellen White Warns of Subtle Deceptions
In her letter to Smith, Ellen White wrote of what is before the church:
From that which the Lord has been pleased to show me there will arise just such ones all along and many more of them claiming to have new light, which is a side issue, an entering wedge. The widening will increase until there is a breach made between those who accept these views and those who believe the third angel's message. Just as soon as these new ideas are accepted, then there will be drawing away from those whom God has used in the work, for the minds begin to doubt and withdraw from the leaders because God has laid them aside and chosen more humble men to do His work. This is the only interpretation they can give to this matter, as the leaders do not see this important light.--Letter 20, 1884.
In her testimony dealing with the Raymond matter, Ellen White sounded a solemn, startling warning:
The enemy is preparing for his last campaign against the church. He has so concealed himself from view that many can hardly believe that he exists, much less can they be convinced of his amazing activity and power. They have to a great extent forgotten his past record; and when he makes another advance move, they will not recognize him as their enemy, that old serpent, but they will consider him a friend, one who is doing a good work....
Satan hopes to involve the remnant people of God in the general ruin that is coming upon the earth. As the coming of Christ draws nigh, he will be more determined and decisive in his efforts to overthrow them. Men and women will arise professing to have some new light or some new revelation whose tendency is to unsettle faith in the old landmarks. Their doctrines will not bear the test of God's word, yet souls will be deceived.--Testimonies for the Church, 5:294, 295.