Developments in Norway and Denmark
While Ellen White did not feel too well on this second journey into the Scandinavian countries, she refused to let this keep her from doing her God-appointed work. And of course she needed a change from the incessant writing and speaking. So she and Sara bought cloth and were soon busy making dresses. She had consistently found diversion in sewing, meeting her own clothing needs and the needs of others. Often the church sisters sought her out as a buying companion, for she knew well how to select good material.
Writing to Mary in Basel, she asked for patterns so she could make her granddaughter, Ella, a neat garment, as well. Willie wrote home to his wife in a light vein: "Mother and Sara have carried on quite a stroke of dressmaking. If you will rent a store I think they will be able to stock it with a good line of dress goods."--W. C. White letter, July 16, 1886.
A Symbol of Sister White's Work
But Ellen White's work as the Lord's messenger was more serious and far more difficult than making garments out of cloth. Perhaps her mind went back to the year 1868 when she wrote about a dream in which the Lord repeated to her symbolically the character-building work she was doing in the church:
"A person brought to me a web of white cloth, and bade me cut it into garments for persons of all sizes and all descriptions of character and circumstances in life. I was told to cut them out and hang them up all ready to be made when called for.... I had been engaged in cutting garments for others for more than twenty years, and my labors had not been appreciated, neither did I see that my work had accomplished much good."--Testimonies for the Church 2:10, 11.
Her "guide" admonished:
"'Cut out the garments. That is your duty. The loss is not yours, but mine. God sees not as man sees. He lays out the work that He would have done, and you do not know which will prosper, this or that.'...
"Before me lay new, polished shears, which I commenced using. At once my feelings of weariness and discouragement left me; the shears seemed to cut with hardly an effort on my part, and I cut out garment after garment with comparative ease."--Ibid., 2:11, 12.
Needs of the Church in Christiania
And now there was need in Christiania to use the "shears" again. She had been writing to believers there ever since her previous visit and she identified two reasons why the church was in a demoralized condition: "A neglect to keep the Sabbath properly, and a tolerating of meddlers. There are talkers here," she wrote, "whose tongues are set on fire of hell" (Manuscript 57, 1886).
Mrs. Oyen had written to Ellen White in April expressing her despair over the condition of things. "I sometimes think some of the members of this church have no hearts, and only enjoy themselves when finding fault and abusing someone."--Mrs. A. B. Oyen letter, April 11, 1886. In early May, Elder Oyen reported that he had received a testimony from Ellen White and read it to the church. Some of the people responded favorably to the testimony. Mr. L. Hansen, the building contractor who had been breaking the Sabbath, admitted that he had been in error, and resolved to do better in the future. But there were others, Elder Oyen reported, who remained silent and offended.
The man who had promoted the idea that photographs were a violation of the second commandment refused to accept Ellen White's testimony. Immediately after the meeting where it was read, he called a few of the dissatisfied church members to his house. Oyen did not know what the meeting was about, but wrote, "Their principal burden heretofore has seemed to be to criticize and find fault with just about everything that is done in the church" (A. B. Oyen letter, May 2, 1886).
Mrs. White had met such unhappy situations before in America, even at the headquarters church in Battle Creek. And it called forth a strong testimony! (See Testimonies for the Church 1:526-528). The most devastating observations about the awful evils of unjust criticism appeared in her book Education in 1903:
"We think with horror of the cannibal who feasts on the still warm and trembling flesh of his victim; but are the results of even this practice more terrible than are the agony and ruin caused by misrepresenting motive, blackening reputation, dissecting character?"--Page 235.
A Disciplinary Recommendation
On Thursday, July 8, Ellen White had a conversation with Elder Matteson about the church situation. She told him that members of the church who persisted in their fierce spirit and were "overbearing, critical, and denunciating" should not be retained as members. "The Saviour has told us the course we should take in dealing with these offending ones," she said, "and the Bible rule should be followed."--Manuscript 66, 1886.
"No church can be in a healthy, flourishing condition unless its leaders shall take firm, decided measures to repress this fault-finding, accusing spirit wherever it exists. Its indulgence should be made a matter of church discipline."--The Review and Herald, October 19, 1886.
Matteson confirmed the seriousness of the situation. He related how one member accused another of being a thief right in a meeting when there was no truth whatsoever in the allegation. What made the situation worse was that this person was on the church board.
Ellen White told Matteson that he should not have neglected to take action in these cases, but Matteson wanted her to assume the unpleasant task of speaking to the church about the matter. She dreaded to do so, remembering how she had labored with the people during her previous visit. "How hard it is to take up dropped stitches, how hard to put a new mold upon a people when they have been permitted to go on year after year in a demoralized condition!" she remarked (Manuscript 57, 1886). But if others would not act she had to!
Sabbath morning she urged upon the people the message of John 5, where the story of the healing of the sick man by the pool of Bethesda is told. The believers needed to be reconverted before they could become righteous. This was the burden of her appeal.
The next morning she had another Bible message for them--this time on Luke 19:10; "For the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost." Then she met with the trustees of the publishing house and helped them resolve a troublesome problem: a portion of the building directly beneath the meeting house had been rented thoughtlessly to a blacksmith, and nearby another space had been let to a gravestone maker.
"Prayers are ascending from the minister and people amid the sound of the hammer and the anvil, the handling and rattling of iron; and just on the other side of where we live is the marble factory where the noisy, continuous sound of chisel and hammer is mingled with the prayers and preaching and the exhortation."--Letter 19a, 1886.
All this on the Sabbath day.
Standing before the committee, Ellen White gave a testimony that surprised everyone. She told them that while she was still in America the condition of things in Christiania and other churches in Europe had been presented to her in vision. The angel informed her that the sound of hammer and anvil and chisel were heard along with the prayers of the people, but she had not understood what was meant at the time. Now she did. "And the angel said to me that God could not let His blessing rest upon a people who have so little respect for His word.... But here the matter is under your control and right on your own premises," she said with a note of incredulity in her voice (Manuscript 7, 1886).
As she concluded she admitted that the things she was saying probably appeared to them merely as a tale being told, but she added solemnly, "You must meet them in the judgment, and I must meet them" (Letter 113, 1886).
Response of the Committee
As soon as she had finished, Mr. Hansen stood up. "I do not consider these as idle tales," he responded. "I receive them, and believe the truth has been spoken to us this morning and I thank Sister White for saying them."
Hansen's response was important because, although he had withdrawn for a time from church membership, he was still a very influential man in the church. His own problem had involved Sabbath observance. As a building contractor, he employed many other men, and he had been settling up business accounts on the Sabbath because it was convenient to do so.
Ellen White had been writing to Hansen "close, earnest" letters, warning him "in love," she said, "pleading in Christ's stead for him to save his soul."
After the ordeal of the committee meeting she felt "weak as a child."
"This bearing plain testimonies affects me much. I always dislike to give pain, but when I see evil and its tendency to weaken and destroy the church discipline ... I cannot hold my peace. I have to speak and in the name of the Lord seek to repress the incoming tide of evil."--Manuscript 66, 1886.
At times like this, Willie White knew his mother needed some rest and recreation. He hired a carriage and took her for a two-hour ride through the forest parks owned by the city. There, as they passed the families with their picnic baskets, and drove along the margin of beautiful lakes, she could relax and refresh herself. "We enjoyed this ride very much," she said. "We felt peaceful and rested" (Ibid.)
A Disappointing Board Meeting
As the week progressed, she and Willie tried to walk out twice a day, going often to the king's palace and gardens. But her labor with the church was not over. On Monday she had a very pleasant interview with the Hansens, who invited her to come to their home later in the week. But that evening a church board meeting was held in order to discipline the members who had persisted in their criticism and faultfinding. Matteson, who had delayed so long to take this step, had difficulty in handling the situation.
"There was not the wisest course taken. These offending ones were cut off while a spirit of harshness and severity was manifested, rather than a spirit of sorrow and pity and love for them" (Ibid.). This naturally aroused the offenders, and they became defiant and combative. The situation was anything but pleasant, and when the vote was taken, a few voted in favor of disfellowshiping, but several did not vote at all. Even some who had been grieved by the slander of the offenders remained silent.
Matteson was so upset when so few supported him that he hastily resigned as president of the publishing association and as an elder of the church. "Thus matters were in a bad jumble," Ellen White said, and the next day she and Willie had to have a long talk with Matteson to persuade him to reconsider his emotional decision (Ibid.).
A Final Service With the Church
The next day was busy with packing and preparations to leave for Copenhagen. Thursday evening, July 15, Ellen White spoke once more to the church, this time on Philippians 2:1-5, where Paul records the appropriate plea: "Fulfill ye my joy, that ye be likeminded, having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind. Let nothing be done through strife or vainglory; but in lowliness of mind let each esteem other better than themselves.... Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus" (verses 2-5).
Just to be sure the point was not missed, she included Psalm 15, as well. The psalm asks who will abide in the tabernacle of the Lord and the answer is: "He that backbiteth not with his tongue, ... nor taketh up a reproach against his neighbour" (verse 3).
She closed with an appeal to the church members to put away the sins that had shut out the "sweet spirit of Christ from the church" (Manuscript 58, 1886).
"When the heart welcomes Jesus and He abides therein, then there will be love, tenderness, compassion, and all bitterness and evil speaking will be forever put away."--Ibid.
When she asked those to stand who wanted to be on the Lord's side many responded. There were good testimonies, and then Elders Matteson and Olsen both offered fervent prayers. "We hope this advancement is but the beginning of a decided advance move on the part of every church member," she wrote.
Elder Matteson reported concerning the work in Christiania:
"These meetings were abundantly blessed by the Lord: especially did the testimony of Sister White make a deep impression on the church, and we have good reason to believe that the church will try earnestly in the future to avoid the temptations and dangers which heretofore have weakened and injured them."--The Review and Herald, August 17, 1886.
Heartaches in Faraway America
During the preceding few days Ellen White's attention was directed to a problem in America. While in the Christiania church discipline had been too lax, she was now led to write to those in charge of the school in South Lancaster, Massachusetts, where discipline had been too strict! The brother of Cecile and Kristine Dahl had been sent from Norway to attend the academy in South Lancaster, but had become involved in trouble and had been expelled from the school. Mrs. White knew the boy was prone to misbehave, but she wrote to the chairman of the school board:
"I am a mother and have dealt largely with children and I know that we must have the spirit of Christ with us continually and our own spirit under control or we shall make a failure. Children will be cheerful, full of life, and inclined to mischief, and they may carry their love of amusement too far; but these things should not be regarded as sins. If the managers should unbend from their grave looks and from their dignity and mingle with the children in their innocent sports and amusements at proper times they would have far more influence over them. If the lines are held too firmly there will be a breaking loose somewhere."--Letter 19, 1886.
She asked the chairman:
"Why did not some one write to the mother and notify her before sending the boy adrift? ... Why should this boy or any boy in like circumstances be treated thus, turned adrift in a foreign country? His mother and sisters separated from him by the broad Atlantic Ocean. Would they have wanted one of their children treated in like manner?"--Ibid.
"I do think the older members of the church have too little sympathy and forbearance for the youth, and they have very many lessons to learn at the feet of Jesus, that they exercise patience to young sinners, as old sinners wish patience to be shown to them."--Ibid.
Next Stop: Copenhagen
At noon on Friday, Ellen White, Sara and Willie, and the Scandinavian leaders, Olsen, Matteson, and Oyen, left Christiania for Copenhagen aboard the steamer Melchior. Many friends from the Christiania church went with her to the steamer, and as she was about to leave they handed her a bouquet of flowers as a token of Christian love and friendship. The voyage took a little more than 24 hours, and though they disliked traveling on the Sabbath, it was the only way they could reach Copenhagen in time for the Sunday appointments that had been made for them.
Since Matteson had moved his family to Stockholm by this time, two rooms on the third floor of a pension were rented for Ellen White. The same building today is the Hotel Botanique, on the corner of Norre Volgade and Gothersgade.
She spoke to a well-filled hall on Sunday evening. What a contrast this was to her previous visit. The accommodations were excellent. The hall was well lighted and seated with chairs. Since many halls were empty during the summer, Matteson had been able to rent it for less than a dollar per meeting. Her health improved markedly during her stay there, and she was pleased to discover that the little church had grown, as well.
On Monday, July 19, the training school for colporteurs opened. She was determined to give strong support to these worker-training sessions. She was to spend a full week with them. Four meetings a day were scheduled, a devotional meeting at eight-thirty, instruction in methods at ten-thirty, Bible study at six o'clock P.M. and a preaching service at seven-thirty.
The American visitor spoke for the devotional meeting on Monday. Only twenty-four were present, but she well understood the reason. This was a time of great economic and political turmoil in Denmark. Thousands were out of work, and naturally Seventh-day Adventists were even more likely than most to lose their jobs, because of the Sabbath.
She spoke five times at the devotional meetings that week and twice she had the evening sermon. Over the weekend she continued to speak to the believers and workers.
The Round Tower of Copenhagen
During the week in Copenhagen, Mrs. White had opportunity to take a little time for sight-seeing. With Willie and Elder Brorsen, she visited the "Round Tower." The tower, a Copenhagen landmark, was built in 1642 by Christian IV as an observatory for astronomers of the University of Copenhagen. Connected with the tower is Trinitatis, the University church.
She was intrigued by the fact that instead of stairs, the tower had a broad, gradual ramp on an incline, winding to its top, nine stories high. The guide at the tower informed the visitors that once Peter the Great and Frederick IV of Denmark rode to the top of this tower. As they looked down from the dizzy height, Peter said to Frederick, "Which of us has soldiers who would prove their loyalty by throwing themselves down from here if their king required it?" Frederick replied that he could not claim to have any such soldiers, but he was not afraid to sleep in the house of the poorest subject in his kingdom. "Noble man! Noble answer!" Ellen White exclaimed in a letter to her niece, Addie Walling (Letter 101, 1886). But as she gazed down on the great city her thoughts turned from its noble past to its clouded future. She began to imagine what it would be like the day Christ comes. "This city is given up to pleasure and worldliness," she said. "Beer-drinking and card-playing, dancing and revelling, absorb the attention of the people."--The Review and Herald, October 26, 1886.
The people of Copenhagen, like the dwellers in Sodom, would wake only when it was too late, she said.
"As the sun arose for the last time upon the cities of the plain, the people thought to commence another day of godless riot. All were eagerly planning their business or their pleasure, and the messenger of God was derided for his fears and his warnings. Suddenly as the thunder peal from an unclouded sky, fell balls of fire on the doomed capital. 'So shall also the coming of the Son of man be.'"--Ibid.
The words sounded strangely like the warning voice from an ancient seer.
On Monday, July 26, 1886, Ellen White and her traveling companions left Copenhagen to return to Basel once again, reaching home on Wednesday, and she was glad to be back! It had been a time of turmoil and a time of peace.