Organizing the gospel army
Basel is situated in northern Switzerland, near the German and French borders. Like Zurich and Berne, the city is German-speaking. The country is not so mountainous as central Switzerland. This historic city, so strategically located, had been selected as the headquarters of the Seventh-day Adventist work in Central Europe. Here the first institution of the church on the Continent was established. And now the announcement was out for the Third European Council to be held here, preceded by a four-day meeting of the Swiss Conference. Ellen White had hastened across the Atlantic to attend these meetings.
At the Basel railway station to meet her was B. L. Whitney, who had come to Europe in 1883 to take over the leadership from J. N. Andrews.* Young Charles M. Andrews, J. N.'s son, and one of the Vuilleumier brothers were also at the station.
After a hack ride to the newly completed headquarters building and publishing house, there were more greetings from old friends. A. C. Bourdeau was there, having arrived the year before. The aging mother of J. N. Andrews, Sarah L. Andrews, was also on hand to welcome the newcomers. Martha Bourdeau,* A. C.'s wife, was there too, along with Bertha Stein and Anna Rasmussen. The last two had crossed the Atlantic with Ellen White, but had gone directly to Basel instead of remaining with her in Britain.
"I Have Seen This Place Before"
The publishing house building that Ellen White would make her home for the next two years was situated on the corner of Weiherweg and Rudolphstrasse, and cost, with its machinery, more than $30,000. She was much pleased with the building. And it was not unfamiliar to her even before her arrival in Basel. The story is told in Life Sketches:
"When Mrs. White and her party reached the publishing house, Elder [B. L.] Whitney said, 'Look at our meeting hall before going upstairs.' It was a fine room on the first floor, well lighted and well furnished. Mrs. White looked searchingly at all features of the place, and then said: 'It is a good meeting-hall. I feel that I have seen this place before.'
"Not long after this, those parts of the building occupied by the printing business were visited. When the pressroom was reached, the press was running, and Mrs. White said: 'I have seen this press before. This room looks very familiar to me.' Soon the two young men who were working in the pressroom came forward, and were introduced to the visitors. Mrs. White shook hands with them, and then inquired, 'Where is the other one?'
"'What other one?' Elder Whitney asked.
"'There is an older man here,' Mrs. White replied, 'and I have a message for him.' "Elder Whitney explained that the foreman of the pressroom was in the city on business."--Pages 282,283.
Ten years before, after a vision given to her on January 3, 1875, Mrs. White related to a large audience in the Battle Creek church that she had seen presses running in many countries printing periodicals, tracts, and books on present truth.
"At this point in her narrative, James White had interrupted her, asking if she could name some of these countries. She said she could not, because they had not been named to her, 'except one; I remember the angel said Australia.' But she stated that although she could not name the countries, she would recognize the places should she ever see them, because the picture was very distinct in her mind.
"In the pressroom of the new publishing house at Basel she recognized one of these places. A few months after this, during her visit to Norway, she recognized in the pressroom of the Christiania publishing house another of these places; and six years later, during her visit to Australia, she saw, in the Bible Echo Office in Melbourne, still another pressroom where she recognized the place and the presses as among those she had seen in the vision at Battle Creek, January 3, 1875."--Ibid.
What courage it must have brought to Elder Whitney and the Basel pressmen when she recounted her vision. They were doing the very work that God wanted them to do.
A year after the vision, in an editorial in the Review entitled "Preaching by Steam," James White challenged the believers with these stirring words:
"The advancing cause in Europe demands that there should be an Office of publication in Switzerland, as suggested in a recent report from our worthy missionary, Elder J. N. Andrews. We highly approve the measure.... Little has been accomplished in our own country without the press. The cause moved very slowly on this continent until we began publishing in good earnest. The work in Europe will amount to but little until our brethren there commence preaching by steam....
"We have three men of ability in Europe who are devoted to the cause of God, and we expect more will be raised up there to stand in defense of the truth. Mrs. White joins us in the pledge to give $1,000 for the mission and press in Europe before the close of 1876, and we shall expect that those of our brethren who have more than a humble competency will join us with a liberal hand in this important work. By the grace of God we will have a Publishing House in Basel, the central point for Switzerland, Germany and France."--March 30, 1876.
But the European press did not open its doors until 1885, just prior to Ellen White's arrival in September. Until then all the work was done by commercial printers. Andrews' first effort at publishing in Switzerland was in the form of tracts, first prepared by printers in Neuchatel, and later in Basel.
He began to publish Les Signes des Temps in July, 1876, and again a commercial shop did the printing. Andrews carried on his work with considerable success. The year of his death there were 6,000 subscribers.
The Swiss press in Basel, built at great effort and sacrifice, was followed shortly by new presses in Norway, England, and Australia. By the time of the General Conference of 1901, there were 20 publishing houses in different parts of the world--"preaching by steam!" Today there are half a hundred, preparing literature in more than 200 languages.
Life in the Headquarters Building
After Elder Whitney introduced Ellen White to the publishing house workers, they stepped into the hydraulic lift and ascended to the third floor, where she was temporarily made at home in the Whitneys' apartment. The entire third floor of the building was devoted to family apartments, as was part of the second floor.
The fact that all the workers lived, as well as worked, in the same big publishing building no doubt contributed to some of the internal troubles experienced at headquarters, and certainly must have aggravated the problem faced by the management in seeking to maintain proper decorum between young ladies and young men in the establishment.
It is not known exactly in which apartment Ellen White and the W. C. White family finally settled, but it was on the third floor and doubtless on the front (south side) of the building. From their windows they could look out on a large government park or parade ground where school children played and soldiers drilled.
The building itself, built of stone, was 46 feet by 76 feet. In the subbasement were the furnace and two gas engines to produce power for the presses above. The next level, the basement or ground floor, was only partially below ground level, allowing light to enter through the windows. Here was located the pressroom and bindery, storage room for paper, stereotype foundry, and one room divided into small cellars for the individual families that lived in the building. The right, or east, half of the first floor was occupied by the meeting hall that would seat 300; the other half contained the business office and the folding and mailing rooms.
The second floor housed the composing room, and areas for the editors, translators, and proofreaders. The front and a portion of the east side of this floor was reserved for family apartments.
As mentioned, the third floor was entirely reserved for apartments. Above this was the attic room that was lighted by the center "observatory" and was used for storage.
On Friday night Ellen White addressed about fifty in the meeting hall on the first floor. Her address was interpreted into both French and German. Of this she commented: "This way of speaking was rather embarrassing at first; but this soon wore away, and to me it has proved far less taxing than I anticipated."--Historical Sketches of the Foreign Missions of the Seventh-day Adventists, 183.
Reflections on Historic Basel
Ellen White spent the first of the next week, September 7 and 8, writing about her journey to Basel for publication in the Review and Herald, and preparing for the European Council meeting. Her thoughts also turned back to Reformation times in Switzerland, about which she had written two years before in her popular book Spirit of Prophecy, volume 4 (The Great Controversy). But while in Switzerland, she wrote:
"The city of Basel was an important place to the Protestant reformers. Switzerland was one of the first countries of Europe to catch the light of morning, and to announce the rise of the Reformation. And Basel was one of those points on which the light of day concentrated its rays, and whence they radiated over the surrounding country. It was not, however, until years of waiting and conflict had passed that the Reformation was fully established here."--Ibid., 169, 170.
She was shown that the literature of the Reformation period was important to the success of the Lord's work at that time.
"Being the seat of a university, Basel was the favorite resort of scholars. It also had many printing-offices. Here Zwingle received his early education; here Erasmus published the New Testament which he had translated from the original Greek into Latin; here Frobenius, the celebrated printer, published the writings of Luther, and in a short time spread them in France, Spain, Italy, and England; and here, too, John Foxe spent a portion of his exile in getting some of his books through the press.... While here he issued the first installment of the 'Book of Martyrs.'"--Ibid., 171.
Then Mrs. White's mind turned to the modern church with its present opportunities to print and publish God's last message.
"In the providence of God, our publishing house is located on this sacred spot [Basel]. We could not wish for a more favorable location for the publication of truth in the different languages. Switzerland being a small republic, that which comes from here is not looked upon with the suspicion that it would arouse if passing from one to another of the large rival powers. Three languages are spoken here,--the French, the German, and the Italian; therefore it is a favorable place for issuing publications in these languages."--Ibid.
The Gospel Army
Being an evangelist at heart, she looked to the future of Seventh-day Adventist witnessing in Europe and represented it under the figure of a well-trained army.
"The grassy common in front of the office, of which we have spoken, is reserved by the Swiss government for military drill. Here, day after day, at certain seasons of the year, we see the soldiers training, so that they may be ready, when needed, to engage in actual service. As we have watched the progress of the drill, and from time to time noted the thoroughness manifest in every department, the query has arisen, Why should there not be in Basel a large army of Christian soldiers drilling for actual service in the battles to be fought in the different countries of Europe against tradition, superstition, and error? Why should those who are preparing to fight the battle for Prince Immanuel be less earnest, less painstaking, less thorough, in their preparation for the spiritual warfare?"--Ibid.
And the preparation of soldiers for spiritual warfare meant Christian education--church-sponsored schools to which the volunteers for service might come to prepare for "battle" on the vast frontiers of Europe--"to go forth as missionaries," she said. Then she added, "And also that those of our brethren who have children may have a place to send them where they will not be obliged to attend school on the Sabbath."--Ibid., 172.
This Sabbath-and-school-attendance dilemma was to be a really painful problem in some countries of Europe. God has worked many miracles for His obedient children as time has shown, but this has often been in the crucible of testing and faithfulness!
Here let us pause to see how the basic organizational structure of Seventh-day Adventist work in Europe came into being. This insight into the laying of the foundations forms the basis for understanding the structure that developed in conferences, publishing houses, schools, and medical institutions.
The First and Second European Conferences
In 1882 the first European Missionary Council was held in Basel, September 14-17. This meeting helped develop a unity and cohesiveness among the messengers of God laboring in the three distinct fields--Great Britain, Scandinavia, and Switzerland. The accomplishments of that conference are reported in Historical Sketches:
"This being the first meeting of the kind, it was made more an occasion of consultation and comparison of the labors of the past than of recommendation for future plans of work. A permanent organization was formed by the adoption of a constitution. Of this organization Elder J. N. Andrews was chosen chairman; Elder A. A. John, secretary, and Charles M. Andrews, treasurer. While the question of the relation of this organization to the various parts of the work in Europe was referred to the General Conference for its recommendation, the practical benefits gained from this first assembly were so evident that the meeting recommended such convocations to be held at least annually, from that time forward."--Page 109.
Because of J. N. Andrews' extreme feebleness and subsequent death, the Second European Council planned for October, 1883, was postponed. This second meeting was rescheduled for Basel, May 28-June 1, 1884, and coincided with the close of G. I. Butler's visit to the three European missions. The representation from the fields was much larger this time, with delegates present from Italy and Romania, as well.
The 1884 Council adopted certain recommendations, which included an official name, "The European Council of Seventh-day Adventist Missions," and the appointment of a general executive committee of three, composed of brethren selected from the three different missions. This brought the best judgment of all the missionaries to bear upon the work to be done, and helped all to feel responsible for the advancement of the common cause.
It should be noticed that this arrangement did not create a "division" or "union" superstructure, or call for a staff of new workers, or a new budget. It simply gathered together the chairmen of the local missions into a three-man committee to oversee the general work in Europe. Thus the General Conference could deal directly with this committee on all matters of importance to the growing work, and Europe would have a voice to speak for it at General Conference sessions.
The emphasis upon representation from each field in order "to unite the work" in Europe reflected the strong and essential features of the denomination's representative form of church administration. Though this happy idea of full representation grew to fuller fruition at the General Conference session in Battle Creek in 1901, the general idea was recognized and apparent in the earliest development of the work in Europe.
From the earliest days of the Seventh-day Adventist Church, even before the organization of the General Conference in 1863, the Spirit of Prophecy messages had been heard calling for order and orderly procedures in developing a sound church government. (See Early Writings, 97).
And now we see in Europe the instrument whom God had used, on hand to facilitate the efficient development of a strong evangelistic and institutional witness on the Continent.
Ellen White was to be present at the Third European Missionary Council in Basel, and her speeches and counsels were to exert a strong influence on church organization in Europe and the rapid spread of God's truth.