On Tuesday morning, April 2, 1901, an atmosphere of excitement and apprehension prevailed as workers and church members began to assemble in the Battle Creek Tabernacle. This would be the largest General Conference session yet held. Ellen White would be there, and it would be the first session she had attended in 10 years. The 267 delegates represented a church of 75,000 members, four fifths of whom resided in the United States.
For some years there had been a growing recognition that the church had outgrown its organization. The basic structure of church organization with its local conferences bound together in a General Conference had remained unchanged from 1863 to 1901.
There were two recognized organizational levels--the local conference and the General Conference. When the General Conference was organized in 1863, the church had one institution--a publishing house at Battle Creek. But the work of the denomination soon expanded. The health work began with the establishment of a sanitarium in 1866. Educational work was started with the opening of the denomination's church school in Battle Creek in 1872, and the college in 1874. Other publishing houses were added, and sanitariums and schools were opened.
As work in different lines developed, associations were formed to foster the interests. There were the International Medical Missionary and Benevolent Association, the International Sabbath School Association, the International Tract Society, the National Religious Liberty Association, and a foreign mission board.
These were all autonomous organizations represented by independent corporations, operated by Seventh-day Adventists but not integral parts of the General Conference organization. The various branches of the work were not thought of or directed as departments of the General Conference, but as independent entities.
As a diversified and growing denominational work with multiplied business interests rapidly developed, spiritual fervor waned, and in some areas there was a failure to heed the counsels God sent to alert of dangers and to guard the cause.
The General Conference Executive Committee, beginning with three members in 1863, was increased periodically as the church grew, and by 1899 had increased to 13. Even so, the group was widely scattered and did not often meet in a full session. Six of the 13 men were district leaders spread out across North America. Two men represented overseas work and resided overseas. This left four members of the General Conference Executive Committee resident in Battle Creek. These, with the secretary and the treasurer of the General Conference, who were not members of the committee, formed a sort of unofficial officer group that carried the day-to-day responsibilities of the operation of the church.
It is not difficult, then, to grasp the situation that developed with the world work outgrowing the organizational structure that was administering it. Those at headquarters naturally felt that they were prepared to give the wisest and best management to even the minute details of Seventh-day Adventist interest in the remotest parts of the world.
One area in particular in which serious problems developed was in financial support of the cause. Without carefully planned budgets to serve as guidelines in the expenditure of funds, great inequities developed, with the needs nearest at hand often gaining the favor of the treasurers.
Little wonder, then, that it was with apprehension that the delegates gathered for the General Conference session that Tuesday morning, April 2. All were profoundly thankful that Ellen White was to be there, and she carried a heavy burden for the meeting. It was this conference with its challenges and its opportunities that had in a large part led Mrs. White to close up her work in Australia and hasten back to the United States.
Preview Of The Conference
Two days before the General Conference session opened, church leaders held some unofficial precouncil meetings. Such a group gathered on Sunday evening, March 31. As they moved into their discussions, they decided to adjourn until a meeting could be held that would be more widely attended, and at which Ellen White could be present.
Quite a representative group met in the college library on Monday afternoon. It included the General Conference Committee, the Foreign Mission Board, conference presidents, and institutional leaders. The room was packed. Elder Daniells took along a secretary, Clarence C. Crisler; and Dr. Kellogg took his private secretary to report the meeting. The records of the meeting include the reports as transcribed by both men, with some understandable slight variations in wording.
Mrs. White had consented to be present and to lay before the brethren some matters that had been opened up to her mind.
Although Elder Irwin was president of the General Conference, Elder Daniells, who had recently come from Australia, was in the chair. In Australia he, with W. C. White, had developed a union conference, binding the local conferences in Australia together in an effective organization.
After making an introductory statement and telling of a meeting with Ellen White in the morning, at which time she had been invited to attend the afternoon meeting, Daniells expressed his pleasure that she was present, and invited her to speak. She replied: "I did not expect to lead out in this meeting. I thought I would let you lead out, and then if I had anything to say, I would say it" (Manuscript 43a, 1901). To this Daniells replied, "Well, it seemed to me (and I think to all of us who counseled with you this morning) that we had said about as much as we wished to until we heard from you."
Ellen White came directly to the point:
I would prefer not to speak today, though not because I have nothing to say. I have something to say.
Some of the points she brought out were:
Never should the mind of one man or the minds of a few men be regarded as sufficient in wisdom and power to control the work and say what plans shall be followed. The burden of the work in this broad field should not rest upon two or three men. We are not reaching the high standard which, with the great and important truth we are handling, God expects us to reach....
There must be a committee, not composed of half a dozen men, but of representatives from all lines of our work, from our publishing houses, from our educational institutions, and from our sanitariums, which have life in them, which are constantly working, constantly broadening (Manuscript 43, 1901).
She asked why more had not been done to open up new fields even in America.
From one point to another she moved. She branded as "contemptible in the sight of God, contemptible" (Manuscript 43a, 1901) the selfish, grasping financial policies of some, particularly in the publishing houses, who demanded high wages. She called for men to "stand as true to principle as the needle to the pole" (Manuscript 43, 1901).
She pointed out that God did not want the medical work separated from the gospel work, that the medical missionary work should be considered the pioneer work, "the breaking-up plow." She said that "God wants every soul to stand shoulder to shoulder with Dr. Kellogg." She referred to his work in Chicago as she had seen it a few days before. Then she went on to point out that Kellogg should work to reach the higher classes and the wealthy classes. Her closing words were in exaltation of the Word of God.
It was a solemn meeting. Mrs. White had not failed to deal with the matters that were heavy on her heart, matters that concerned the welfare of the General Conference session about to open and the welfare of the work of the church at large. Her talk pointed in the direction the General Conference should take in its work. The session, scheduled for a full three weeks, opened the next morning.
The 1901 General Conference Session
At 9:00 Tuesday morning, with the president of the General Conference, G. A. Irwin, in the chair, the thirty-fourth session of the General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists was called to order. J. N. Loughborough read Psalm 106, and S. N. Haskell led in prayer. President Irwin then opened the way for business.
Following the preliminaries Ellen White, who was seated in the audience, arose and went to the front. The chairman gave her the floor. She first pointed out the privilege of the Advent people to stand high above the world, sanctified by the truth and having a close connection with Heaven. Then she turned to the immediate situation. The following statements were included in her address:
Why, I ask you, are men who have not brought self into subjection allowed to stand in important positions of truth and handle sacred things? ...
The principles of heaven are to be carried out in every family, in the discipline of every church, in every establishment, in every institution, in every school, and in everything that shall be managed. You have no right to manage, unless you manage in God's order. Are you under the control of God? Do you see your responsibility to Him? ...
Here are men who are standing at the head of our various institutions, of the educational interests, and of the conferences in different localities and in different States. All these are to stand as representative men, to have a voice in molding and fashioning the plans that shall be carried out. There are to be more than one or two or three men to consider the whole vast field. The work is great, and there is no one human mind that can plan for the work which needs to be done (The General Conference Bulletin, 1901, 24-26).
Thus Mrs. White gave what was in reality the keynote address. She spoke for an hour. The very serious nature of the situation that had developed she fearlessly and clearly delineated. Help from God was promised if they would take hold of Him. There must be a change. It was one of the most solemn messages ever delivered to the church in a General Conference assembly.
The Response
A solemn silence pervaded the assembly as Ellen White made her way to a chair. Elder Irwin stepped forward and said in response:
These are certainly very plain words that we have listened to, and it seems to me they come in very timely, right in the commencement of our conference. We notice the burden of the testimony was reorganization. This must first begin with us as individuals, and I trust that it may begin in each heart. I, for one, want to accept the testimony that has been borne, and I want that work of reorganization and regeneration to be not only begun, but completed, in my life. I am glad that these words were spoken right now (Ibid., 27).
What took place next came as no surprise to the president. A. G. Daniells, a man of 43 years of age and in his prime, who for the past 13 years had served in New Zealand and Australia, now asked for the floor. He walked down to the front of the tabernacle, mounted the stairs, and stepped up to the desk. He told of the meeting held in the college library the preceding day, at which Ellen White had given similar counsel. He declared:
We all feel that our only safety lies in obedience, in following our great Leader. We feel that we should begin at the very beginning of this work at this meeting, and just as nearly as we know how, build on His foundation (Ibid.).
Then he offered the following comprehensive motion:
I move that the usual rules and precedents for arranging and transacting the business of the conference be suspended, and that a General Committee be hereby appointed, to consist of the following persons: The presidents and secretaries of the General Conference, of the General Conference Association, of the European and Australasian union conferences; of the Review and Herald, Pacific Press, and Echo publishing companies; of the Foreign Mission Board, Medical Missionary and Benevolent Association; of Battle Creek, Healdsburg, and Union colleges; and the following named persons--J. N. Loughborough, S. N. Haskell, A. T. Jones, W. W. Prescott, and such other persons as may be necessary to represent the important enterprises and interests connected with the work of the Seventh-day Adventists throughout the world, the same to be named by the committee when organized, and this committee to constitute a general or central committee, which shall do such work as necessarily must be done in forwarding the work of the conference, and preparing the business to bring before the delegates" (Ibid.).
Elder Daniells confidently predicted that if we "step out boldly to follow the light that He [God] gives us, whether we can see clear through to the end or not--if we walk in the light we have, go just as far as we can today, God will give us further light; He will bring us out of bondage into glorious liberty." In his closing remarks he expressed appreciation for the fact that "we have a definite, certain voice to speak to us."
The delegates then entered upon an earnest discussion of the proposal before them. When there seemed to be an overcautious attitude, Ellen White arose and urged that no one block what was being proposed. After a season of prayer, the matter was placed before the assembly, and after further discussion and the answering of questions, the chair put the matter to a vote. The record is that it "was carried unanimously" (Ibid., 29).
Changes had been called for by the Lord. Changes had to be made. Steps must be taken that would distribute responsibilities to leaders near where the work was being done.
Steps Toward Reorganization
According to the General Conference Bulletin the first Sabbath of the General Conference session, April 6, was a great day. "Sister White spoke in the Tabernacle at 11:00 a.m. to an overflowing house. Not only was every available seating space occupied, but every foot of standing room was covered." The estimate was that approximately 5,000 people worshiped that Sabbath morning in Battle Creek, "making [it] the largest Sabbath meeting ever held" in that city (Ibid., 1901, 89).
If Ellen White's voice had not been heard in a General Conference session for 10 years, it was heard in this conference of 1901. This was the most largely attended session thus far held by Seventh-day Adventists. In addition to the delegates, there were 1,500 visitors from all parts of the United States, and the comment was made, "All of these seem of one heart and mind to make this the greatest and best occasion of their lives" (Ibid., 65).
At 5:30 Tuesday morning, April 9, Mrs. White again gave the morning devotional study. Her topic was the need of missionary effort. She thanked the Lord that He was working in their midst, and said that this could be so only when His people draw together. "There seems to be in this meeting an endeavor to press together. This is the word which for the last fifty years I have heard from the angelic host--press together, press together. Let us try to do this" (Ibid., 182).
Elder Daniells, with his implicit trust in the messages of the Spirit of Prophecy and his recent experience in leading in the organization of the work in Australia, was the man of the hour. Standing at the head of the Committee on Counsel, he was the man to step forward and fearlessly initiate steps toward reorganization. After reviewing the general needs and the directions in which the work should move, the first task was to set up subcommittees. First to be appointed was a committee on organization, with W. C. White as chairman. Then followed the naming of other committees, on education, on colporteur work, on publishing, on missionary work, et cetera. But it was the committee on organization especially that often brought its reports to the conference as a whole. And it was these reports that gained first attention.
Sweeping Changes
The proposed changes were sweeping. They called for the various independent and separate international organizations--the Sabbath School Association, the Religious Liberty Association, the Foreign Mission Board, et cetera--to be blended into the General Conference. The Executive Committee was to be a much larger group with much wider representation. The medical missionary work, which had grown so strong, was to be integrated, with a definite representation on the General Conference Committee.
An early proposal was that union conferences, after the order of what had been done in Australia, be formed throughout North America and the European fields. At the business session held Thursday afternoon, April 4, a memorial was presented from the Southern field, or what might be termed the Southern district, embodying three conferences and six missions. On Tuesday, April 9, the organization of the Southern Union Conference was completed, a constitution adopted, certain officers elected, and members of the executive committee named. This represented the first full-fledged union conference to be organized in the United States. It was the bellwether, and before the conference closed two weeks later there were six union conferences in North America.
On this same day the basic action embodying reorganization was framed and presented to the General Conference in these words:
"5. That the General Conference Committee be composed of representative men connected with the various lines of work in the different parts of the world.
"6. That the General Conference Committee, as thus constituted, should take the place of all the present boards and committees, except in the case of the essential legal corporations.
"7. That the General Conference Committee consist of twenty-five members, six of whom shall be chosen by the Medical Missionary Association, and nineteen by the General Conference. That five of these members be chosen with special reference to their ability to foster and develop true evangelical spirit in all departments of the work, to build up the ministry of the word, and to act as teachers of the gospel message in all parts of the world; and that they be relieved from any special business cares, that they may be free to devote themselves to this work.
"8. That in choosing this General Conference Committee, the presidents of the union conference be elected as members" (Ibid., 185).
Battle Creek College To Move To Rural Location
One matter of great concern to Ellen White at this conference was the location of the three institutions in Battle Creek: the publishing house, the sanitarium, and particularly the college. In the 25 years since the college had been dedicated, city growth had produced a congested environment far different from that which God had revealed as desirable.
At the time of selecting a location on which to build Avondale College she had said:
Our schools should be located away from the cities, on a large tract of land, so that the students will have opportunity to do manual work. They should have opportunity to learn lessons from the objects which Christ used in the inculcation of truth. He pointed to the birds, to the flowers, to the sower and the reaper. In schools of this kind not only are the minds of the students benefited, but their physical powers are strengthened. All portions of the body are exercised. The education of mind and body is equalized (Ibid., 215, 216).
For some time the need for a change of location for the college had been the subject of discussion and correspondence between Ellen White and the president, Professor E. A. Sutherland, and the dean, Percy T. Magan.
At 5:30 on Friday morning Mrs. White dispatched one of her helpers to the Magan home with the message that she wished to see both men. They came at once.
Later that morning, in a meeting with the delegates, Magan gave his report on the relief book plan he was directing. Ellen White had dedicated her book, Christ's Object Lessons, to the financial relief of Seventh-day Adventist educational institutions. Thousands of dollars had been raised as church members sold the books to their neighbors and friends and used the proceeds for debt reduction. Mrs. White was seated on the platform with other workers who were leading out in this particular meeting. As Magan closed his report, he referred to the testimonies that called for a country location for Seventh-day Adventist schools and proposed that consideration be given to moving Battle Creek College to "a more favorable locality" (Ibid., 212).
Then Mrs. White rose to speak. After referring to the experience with Christ's Object Lessons, she challenged the audience with this declaration:
The light that has been given me is that Battle Creek has not the best influence over the students in our school.... God wants the school to be taken out of Battle Creek.... Some may be stirred about the transfer of the school from Battle Creek. But they need not be. This move is in accordance with God's design for the school before the institution was established. But men could not see how this could be done. There were so many who said that the school must be in Battle Creek. Now we say that it must be somewhere else (Ibid., 215, 216).
She urged:
The best thing that can be done is to dispose of the school's building here as soon as possible. Begin at once to look for a place where the school can be conducted on right lines. God wants us to place our children where they will not see and hear that which they should not see or hear (Ibid., 216).
At this point the meeting adjourned to 11:00 a.m., which left just a short intermission. Much of the rest of the morning was devoted to a consideration of the relief of the denomination's schools from their debts through the sale of Christ's Object Lessons and to the moving of Battle Creek College.
Elder A. T. Jones, president of the Seventh-day Adventist Educational Society, asked for the floor. After referring to the appeal that the college be moved out of Battle Creek, he called for the stockholders of the Educational Society present, who favored carrying out the instruction that had been given, to rise to their feet. The report is that there was a hearty response and that when the negative vote was called for, no one responded.
Then the delegates of the General Conference session were asked to vote. They voted unanimously to move the school. Finally a third expression was called for from the congregation generally. Rising to their feet, they gave a unanimous affirmation to the decision to move the college from Battle Creek. History was made that day at the General Conference session, and when school took up that fall, it was at Berrien Springs, Michigan. This was the second marked instance of a wholehearted and immediate response at the General Conference session of 1901 to counsel by the messenger of the Lord that called for sweeping changes.
The General Conference Becomes A World Conference
The General Conference was now a world conference, with an Executive Committee of 25 representing the various interests of the whole world field. The organization of union conferences provided for the leaders close to the problems to carry the burdens of the work. This was a point that had been emphasized again and again by Ellen White. It also led to the development of men in executive experience.
Provisions were made to bring the various auxiliary interests into the General Conference as departments. Though committees were named to represent these lines, to implement the changes would take a little time.
One weakness in the new constitution that did not show up clearly when it was adopted caused considerable concern in the months that followed. This related to the election of the officers of the General Conference.
According to the new constitution, the delegates attending a General Conference session were empowered to elect the General Conference Committee; this committee in turn was to organize itself, electing its own officers. It was recognized at the time that this could mean that someone might chair it for only one year.
Undoubtedly this provision came about as an overreaction to the desire to get away from any "kingly power" (Letter 49, 1903), a point that was pushed hard by Elder A. T. Jones, a member of the committee on organization.
While this arrangement would clearly reduce the possibility of anyone's exercising kingly power, it also greatly undercut responsible leadership. It went too far, for it took out of the hands of the delegates attending the General Conference session the vital responsibility of electing the leaders of the church, and instead placed this responsibility in the hands of the General Conference Executive Committee of 25. This meant that there was no church leader with a mandate from the church as represented by its delegates.
That some of the delegates attending the session of 1901 were not clear on this point is evidenced in the insistence that the committee elect the chairman and announce its decision before that session closed. A. G. Daniells was chosen as chairman of the General Conference Committee. He was the leader of the church and nearly all the delegates were pleased, but they did not discern at this point how he would be crippled in his work, having no tenure and no mandate.
To take the position that Ellen White's urging that there be no kings meant, as interpreted by A. T. Jones, that the church should have no General Conference president was unjustified. At no time had her messages called for the abolition of the office of president of the General Conference; rather, her messages recognized such an office in the organization of the church. An earlier statement indicated that she understood that the work devolving upon the president of the General Conference was too large for one man to carry and that others should stand by his side to assist (Testimonies to Ministers and Gospel Workers, 342, 343). She did condemn the exercise of "kingly power."
The weakness, which soon became apparent, was corrected at the next session of the General Conference--the session of 1903. *
Last 10 Days: Taxing Problems
At midsession many burdens still rested heavily on Ellen White's heart. Perhaps one of the greatest was that of Dr. John Harvey Kellogg and the broad influence of the course of action that he might take. Along with this was the attitude of the ministry toward the medical work of the church, and further, the personal experience of the ministers toward the health reform principles to which God had called His people. Also, she was deeply concerned regarding the development of the work in the southern states, both among the Whites and the Blacks. Up to midsession little had been done along this line.
One disruptive element with which Ellen White had to contend at the 1901 General Conference session was the case of Helge Nelson, who claimed the prophetic gift and insisted that he be given a hearing by the conference. This being denied, he was granted an interview with Mrs. White and the General Conference leaders. His burden was that Mrs. White stood where Moses stood in the typical history of God's people, and he, Helge Nelson, was to stand where Joshua stood, for he claimed special guidance from God. Ellen White met the false claims squarely and in the interview declared, "I know that God never gave mortal man such a message as that which Brother Nelson has borne concerning his brethren. It is not like our God" (The Review and Herald, July 30, 1901).
She was to meet Nelson again at the General Conference session of 1903 in a rather dramatic way.
Meeting The Holy Flesh Fanaticism
Another disruptive element that Ellen White met at the 1901 conference, and this time before all the ministers of the cause, was the "holy flesh" fanaticism, which centered in Indiana. This came on Wednesday evening, April 17.
Under the guise of a great revival and the outpouring of the latter rain, the "holy flesh" movement swept through the Indiana Conference. Late in 1899 the president, Elder R. S. Donnell, became a strong advocate of the movement and was joined by most of the ministers in Indiana. In arranging for the camp meeting of 1900 he planned great things. He was unwilling that the two visiting General Conference brethren, Elders S. N. Haskell and A. J. Breed, be given much opportunity to reach the people. He warned his workers that these men had not passed through Christ's Garden of Gethsemane experience, and the ministers should not allow themselves to be influenced by them.
As the conference president stood speaking one evening, he held his arms outstretched toward the congregation, and later reported that he had felt great power coursing down his arms and passing through his fingers out to the people.
Elder Haskell reported that there was indeed a power, a strange power, in this new message. The people were bewildered. None wished to miss the experience of the outpouring of the Spirit of God. Translation faith seemed desirable. The teaching was a mixture of truth, error, excitement, and noise.
This was not Ellen White's first introduction to this strange teaching. She responded to Haskell:
Last January the Lord showed me that erroneous theories and methods would be brought into our camp meetings, and that the history of the past would be repeated. I felt greatly distressed. I was instructed to say that at these demonstrations demons in the form of men are present, working with all the ingenuity that Satan can employ to make the truth disgusting to sensible people; that the enemy was trying to arrange matters so that the camp meetings, which have been the means of bringing the truth of the third angel's message before multitudes, should lose their force and influence (Letter 132, 1900 [2 SM, p. 37]).
The workers' meeting at 5:30 on Wednesday morning, April 17, was not only solemn but exciting. Mrs. White chose at that point in the session to meet the "holy flesh" fanaticism. She did so by reading a carefully prepared manuscript statement. Before the meeting closed, she told the audience that to meet this fanaticism was one of the reasons she had left Australia and returned to the United States. The situation with which she was dealing had been revealed to her in Australia in January 1900, "before I left Cooranbong." And she declared, "If this had not been presented to me, I should not have been here today. But I am here, in obedience to the word of the Lord, and I thank Him that He has given me strength beyond my expectations to speak to the people" (
The General Conference Bulletin, 1901, 426). She said, in part:
Instruction has been given me in regard to the late experience of brethren in Indiana and the teaching they have given to the churches. Through this experience and teaching the enemy has been working to lead souls astray.
The teaching given in regard to what is termed "holy flesh" is an error. All may now obtain holy hearts, but it is not correct to claim in this life to have holy flesh. The apostle Paul declares, "I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing" (Romans 7:18). To those who have tried so hard to obtain by faith so-called holy flesh, I would say, You cannot obtain it. Not a soul of you has holy flesh now. No human being on earth has holy flesh. It is an impossibility. If those who speak so freely of perfection in the flesh could see things in the true light, they would recoil with horror from their presumptuous ideas....
The manner in which the meetings in Indiana have been carried on, with noise and confusion, does not commend them to thoughtful, intelligent minds. There is nothing in these demonstrations which will convince the world that we have the truth. Mere noise and shouting are no evidence of sanctification (The General Conference Bulletin, 419-420; Selected Messages, 2:31-35]).
Ellen White stood before the congregation for an hour, first reading from the manuscript she had prepared for the occasion, then bearing impromptu testimony, which was also reported in the Bulletin.
The next day at the early morning workers' meeting, Elder Donnell rose and asked whether he might make a statement. It appears in the General Conference Bulletin under the title "Confession of Elder R. S. Donnell." He spoke in measured words:
I feel unworthy to stand before this large assembly of my brethren this morning. Very early in life I was taught to reverence and to love the Word of God; and when reading in it how God used to talk to His people, correcting their wrongs, and guiding them in all their ways, when a mere boy I used to say: "Why don't we have a prophet? Why doesn't God talk to us now as He used to do?"
When I found this people, I was more than glad to know that there was a prophet among them, and from the first I have been a firm believer in, and a warm advocate of, the Testimonies and the Spirit of Prophecy. It has been suggested to me at times in the past, that the test on this point of faith comes when the testimony comes directly to us.
As nearly all of you know, in the testimony of yesterday morning, the test came to me. But, brethren, I can thank God this morning that my faith in the Spirit of Prophecy remains unshaken. God has spoken. He says I was wrong, and I answer, God is right, and I am wrong....
I am very, very sorry that I have done that which would mar the cause of God and lead anyone in the wrong way. I have asked God to forgive me, and I know that He has done it. As delegates and representatives of the cause of God in the earth, I now ask you to forgive me my sins, and I ask your prayers for strength and wisdom to walk aright in the future. It is my determination, by the help of God, to join glad hands with you in the kingdom of God (The General Conference Bulletin, 422).
With this confession the holy flesh fanaticism was broken.