Conference sessions in Sweden and Denmark
The 1886 session of the Swedish Conference was slated for late June, with a week of workers' meetings to precede it. So two weeks after her visit to Tramelan and her tour of the Swiss churches, Ellen White was on the road again. On this six-week tour of the Scandinavian countries (June 15-July 28) her strong spiritual influence would be seen and felt by thousands of people.
This time Sara McEnterfer and Kristine Dahl accompanied her. Kristine had been living with the W. C. White family in Basel since the previous November, and now she was returning to her family in Christiania.
The party left on Tuesday, June 15. The following evening they met Willie in Hamburg. He had gone the day before to attend to publishing house business in Leipzig.
Their route was the same as before, to Kiel, Germany, by train, then by boat to Korsor, Denmark. Arriving in Copenhagen, the party was able to catch a boat leaving for Malmo, Sweden.
When they reached Orebro, the site of the conference, no one was there to meet them, but a Swedish coachman appeared eager to "help." The man "seemed determined to take our satchels right out of our hands," Ellen White related, "but we held to them valiantly. Although he talked eloquently in Swedish, we knew not a word he said."--Letter 2, 1886. It was about seven in the morning, so they decided to walk the mile to the Jacobson home where they stayed before. Here they discovered Elder O. A. Olsen,* who had recently come from America to labor in Scandinavia. Elders Oyen and Matteson were also at the Jacobson home.
The men explained that they had met every train the day before, but had thought that the party could not then possibly arrive before noon. Just to be sure, they had given a Swedish coachman special instruction to bring them should they come earlier! Poor coachman!
Two furnished rooms and a kitchen had been rented for Mrs. White and Sara. "We found excellent accommodations," noted Ellen White, as she turned her attention to the workers' meeting, which had already begun.
A School for Workers
"This is an important season for those assembled," she wrote. "They may never be as favourably situated again to be instructed."--Manuscript 65, 1886. By "instruction" she meant that the meetings were actually conducted like a school for workers.
A busy schedule of meetings was in progress, beginning with a social meeting at six-thirty each morning. At nine there was a bookkeeping class; at eleven-thirty instruction in "missionary labor." a class in how to give Bible readings was conducted at 4:00 p.m., and finally the day closed with a preaching service at 8:00 p.m. All of this reflected the willing response of the Swedish workers to the appeals from Sister White and others at the Third European Council in Basel for a better-trained working force.
Her first sermon came on Sabbath afternoon. And after a testimony meeting had been held, she exclaimed, "We could but say, One Lord, one faith, one baptism. The brethren in Sweden have the very same experience as our brethren in America."--Ibid. She repeated these sentiments more than once while in Europe, all of which reflected the good impressions made upon her mind.
A Practical Talk on Sanctification
Ellen White gave a brief devotional talk for the early morning meeting the next day. Her subject was sanctification, and she called it a "practical talk" (Ibid.). She told the workers:
"There is one point that I wish to emphasize. Those who are striving to keep the law of God never boast of their holiness.... Sanctification is not the work of a moment, but of a lifetime. It is not gained by a happy flight of feeling, but is the result of dying to sin, and constantly believing and living to Christ, practicing the virtues of Christ.... Every day our faith should increase. While we say 'I know that I am a sinner,' we can say also, 'I know I have a Saviour.'"--Manuscript 25, 1886.
Late that Sunday afternoon the meeting hall was packed with 400 people eager to hear her speak. So crowded was the room that she could hardly make her way to the platform.
Each morning the Lord's servant had a Spirit-filled devotional message to share with the workers. On Monday she tried to impress them not to be discouraged by trials and opposition. On Tuesday she emphasized Christian courtesy. "God does not require us to be like a prickly burr, but to cultivate everything lovely and attractive in our manners and disposition, for this is the fruit of the Spirit--love, joy, peace."--Manuscript 65, 1886. She challenged the brethren to broader plans, and when she finished, "testimonies were borne, evidencing that the Lord was moving upon hearts, and they were ready at the command to 'Go forward.'"--Ibid.
The next day the conference session opened, and the reports received were encouraging. There were evidences of real progress. Sweden now had 327 Sabbath-keepers. Of these, 250 were members of the ten churches. The others were in isolated places where there were no organized churches. This was a gain of 57 over the previous report in September, 1885. Three new churches were admitted to the conference: Rattvik and Kartylla and Halmstad.
God Calls for Sacrifice
The financial situation in Sweden, however, was not encouraging. Only about $65 had been received from the churches since the previous September. Ellen White spoke to the delegates about the beginnings of the work and the sacrifices required:
"It is true the brethren are poor, but no more so than when the work was in its infancy in America. We worked then according to the directions of God with what facilities we had, in establishing systematic benevolence* and organizing tract societies. We showed by our works that we expected the Lord to do something for us and the Lord honored our faith."--Ibid.
Before the conference was out, the Swedes had resolved: "That we most earnestly request our brethren to donate of their means for the support of the laborers," and that "in order to attain a greater unity in this matter, we will try to follow the Bible plan for the support of the ministry."--The Review and Herald, August 10, 1886.
These were the longest days of the year in Sweden-- it was light by 2:00 A.M. and at 10:00 P.M. one could still write by daylight.
That evening the town was a scene of busy activity as the citizens prepared to celebrate "Midsummer's Day," June 25. The people came past Ellen White's window bearing green branches, shrubs, roses, "anything that will be a fitting emblem of summer" (Manuscript 65, 1886). The next day all the stores were closed as the parades and celebrations were carried on. Ellen White saw "animation and gladness" everywhere.
Critical Days for the Conference President
Behind the scenes at this Swedish conference in Orebro, some feelings were being stirred, and important issues were looming that would be felt throughout Scandinavia. J. G. Matteson, who had pioneered the work in the Northland, quite naturally controlled it up to this time. He was a man of tremendous talent, ability, and dedication. The Scandinavian Adventists held him in the highest esteem. But no man is in a safe position when he stands on giddy heights.
Ellen White saw clearly that if the cause of truth was to continue to prosper, different minds and different talents would need to be introduced to give balance. Matteson knew of her feelings. So when O. A. Olsen came from America, Matteson was suspicious, and fearful that he was being pushed aside. But such was not to be the case. Before the conference was finished on Monday, June 2, Elder Matteson was re-elected as president of the conference. To bring breadth and strength to the growing work, a tract and missionary society was organized. O. A. Olsen was chosen to lead in this.
Mrs. White had been shown that one of the great temptations of administrators in the work of God would be the pre-empting of leadership, taking it wholly into their own hands. This danger existed with Matteson, but not alone with him. It seemed to be a temptation that beset men called to pioneer important phases of the work. In 1883, in letters to J. N. Andrews, she had cautioned him about trying to dominate the work, and had mentioned that J. N. Loughborough suffered from the same temptation. It was a common weakness that the Lord's servant was frequently called upon to combat. At the same time, she recognized the good that dedicated men accomplished and strongly defended them wherever she could.
When Willie White left for the General Conference session of 1885 Ellen White charged him to take a good report about Matteson.
"Willie, I want Matteson to stand in a proper light before the [General] Conference. We see mistakes and failures in his work and mission, but how much better would others have done under the circumstances? I am thinking he has done, in many respects, a good work. He has suffered privation and taken the work from nothing. All these things deserve our appreciation and we will encourage him all we can, and not say one word to discourage."--Letter 36, 1885.
Even though she was called to the unpleasant work of pointing out a man's shortcomings and mistakes, it never undercut her confidence in or friendly regard for him. Just after her return to Basel from her first visit to Italy, she had written Matteson and his wife a long, newsy letter about the trip for no apparent reason other than simply to show her friendship.
At the conference session at Orebro, Matteson seemed to her to be somewhat withdrawn. She had a long talk with his wife, and "told her that Brother Olsen was not to take Matteson's place, but to help him in the work and both were not able to do one-half of that which should be done in these kingdoms" (Letter 117, 1886).
And in a letter to G. I. Butler, the General Conference president, she confided:
"I have been writing close letters to Elder Matteson in regard to many points of his manner of labor where they should change. I wanted to heal the wound by all kindness and sympathy and courtesy on my part; and now there seems to be all openness on his part and he seems to feel we do not want to hurt him but to help him."--Ibid.
At the close of the session the people dispersed to their homes, and Matteson and Olsen went together in good spirits to the Danish Conference meeting, which began two days later in Jerslev in Northern Jutland.
Ellen White lingered in Orebro until Thursday, when she took the train for Christiania, stopping overnight in Charlottenberg. She reached Christiania on Friday morning and found new faces in the headquarters buildings. Niels Clausen had just arrived to edit the Danish-Norwegian papers, and a John Lorentz had also come to assist in the new publishing house.
The new presses were now ready for operation, and the old portion of the building had been remodeled and designed for family apartments. Two rooms had been reserved for the White party, and the Norwegian church members had all contributed to furnish them temporarily. "We will be comfortable here," Ellen White noted with pleasure in her diary.
Sabbath morning W. C. White spoke to the church in their meeting hall in the new publishing house. He found it a good place in which to speak, with no ring or echo, and observed that the two-part gallery was convenient for Bible study during Sabbath school.
That afternoon Ellen White spoke on 2 Peter 3:11-14 about the "necessity of being diligent to be ready for the appearing of Jesus Christ." It was the beginning of a week and a half of most earnest labor for the Christiania church. The problems that the members had faced during her last visit had not disappeared. But before she got involved again with the church in the capital city, she had an appointment to fill at Larvik, a town about seventy miles distant where E. G. Olsen had been working since the previous December.
It was an all-night trip by steamer. All the staterooms were occupied, so Ellen White, Sara, and eleven other ladies had to do the best they could on the seats in the ladies' cabin. When they arrived at Larvik they were worn out and went directly to a hotel.
After dinner with the Olsens they took a walk in the park. As she walked among the beautiful beech trees she was surprised and pleased to notice that no beer or liquor was sold there. "Mild, simple drinks as soda water, are dealt out," she observed.
At four o'clock she went to the hall to speak. There were about twenty who had accepted the Sabbath in Larvik, and they, with their friends, had gathered to hear the diminutive lady preacher. She had intended to address them in a way that could not offend anyone, but Providence planned a special message for her. "The Lord gave me a message to the people in regard to the false theory of sanctification," she said, and Ellen White spoke with power about God's holy law and a godly life (Manuscript 57, 1886). Larvik was afflicted at this time with a number of people who claimed perfect holiness, but were transgressors of the law. One even said he was Christ Himself!
The talk almost frightened Edward Olsen, but he stated, "The believers were very much pleased and benefited and that it was just what they needed" (Ibid)..
The next morning they were back on the steamer headed for Christiania. Meanwhile, Elder Matteson had returned from the Danish conference. He brought a good report. "The [Danish] brethren seem willing to work and make advancement. They have done remarkably well, poor as they are, in keeping up their finances."--Manuscript 66, 1886.
Matteson and Olsen along with Niels Clausen, Willie White, and John Lorentz immediately began laying plans for the new publishing house, evangelistic efforts, and colporteur training. The Spirit of Prophecy counsels and the European Council actions calling for the preparation of workers were taken seriously.