On the basis of the visions given to her, Ellen White had insights into the future of the work at Loma Linda that far exceeded concepts held by those about her. At the General Conference session at Washington, on June 1, 1909, she addressed the delegates, reading from a manuscript entitled "The Loma Linda College of Evangelists." In this she declared:
Loma Linda is to be not only a sanitarium, but an educational center. A school is to be established here for the training of gospel medical missionary evangelists. Much is involved in this work, and it is very essential that a right beginning be made....
In regard to the school I would say, Make it especially strong in the education of nurses and physicians. In medical missionary schools, many workers are to be qualified with the ability of physicians to labor as medical missionary evangelists. This training, the Lord has specified, is in harmony with the principles underlying true higher education (The General Conference Bulletin, 1909, 308 [see also Testimonies for the Church, 9:173, 174]).
She spoke at length concerning the standards that should guide in the training of Seventh-day Adventists for medical missionary service, urging that "they are to be educated from the standpoint of conscience" and to follow right methods.
Step by step the counsels given by Ellen White seemed to be leading to a medical school fully recognized for the training given to physicians. Measures were taken with the view in mind that at Loma Linda one or two years of medical studies would be given, which might be accepted by a recognized medical college as part of a regular medical course. It seemed that the next step would be the securing of a charter that would give such work acceptance. Elder Burden, on September 20, 1909, counseled with Ellen White at her home about this. He found that she was distressed with any plan that called for "having medical students take some work at Loma Linda" and then "get the finishing touches of their education from some worldly institution." She exclaimed, "God forbid that such a plan should be followed," and commented, "I must state that the light I have received is that we are to stand as a distinct, commandment-keeping people" (Manuscript 72, 1909).
As the steps were taken to secure a charter for medical education at Loma Linda, Ellen White on November 5, 1909, gave strong counsel:
Some questions have been asked me regarding our relation to the laws governing medical practitioners. We need to move understandingly, for the enemy would be pleased to hedge up our work so that our physicians would have only a limited influence. Some men do not act in the fear of God, and they may seek to bring us into trouble by placing on our necks yokes that we could not consent to bear. We cannot submit to regulations if the sacrifice of principles is involved, for this would imperil the soul's salvation.
But whenever we can comply with the law of the land without putting ourselves in a false position, we should do so. Wise laws have been framed in order to safeguard the people against the imposition of unqualified physicians. These laws we should respect, for we are ourselves protected from presumptuous pretenders. Should we manifest opposition to these requirements, it would tend to restrict the influence of our medical missionaries (Letter 140, 1909 [Medical Ministry, 84]).
A Charter Secured
On December 9, 1909, with the full approval of the General Conference Committee, a charter was secured under the laws of the state of California authorizing the College of Medical Evangelists to grant degrees in the liberal sciences, dentistry, and medicine (see The Story of Our Health Message, 383).
The biennial session of the Pacific Union Conference, held in the Mountain View church January 25-30, 1910, was a momentous meeting for the Seventh-day Adventist Church and one of deep concern for Ellen White. On the agenda was the matter of a medical school at Loma Linda. The future of medical education conducted by Seventh-day Adventists was in the balance.
In addition to the some 50 delegates in Mountain View for the opening meeting were both Ellen White and W. C. White; and from the General Conference, G. A. Irwin, vice president, and I. H. Evans, former treasurer, under appointment to a new assignment in eastern Asia. The usual reports, beginning with that of the union president, were presented and the various committees were appointed.
The nominating committee, working rather quickly, was ready with a report on Tuesday afternoon, but the secretary indicated that it failed to carry the signature of S. N. Haskell, a nominating committee member. Haskell was known to be a man of large experience and was the president of the largest local conference in the union--the California Conference--and someone proposed that the report, which included the name of the incumbent president of the union, be returned to the committee for further study. This was agreed upon. At this point the real issues, which had not been faced squarely earlier, came prominently to the front. In the nominating committee someone asked whether the incumbent "intended to stand as a stone wall to block the way of the Loma Linda College of Medical Evangelists" (WCW to AGD, January 28, 1910).
It was agreed that before proceeding further, consideration be given to the development of the work at Loma Linda in the light of the counsel received through the Spirit of Prophecy. All knew that the issue was whether the developing school should be a full-fledged medical school. All knew that if it was, the costs would be large and the involvement deep.
Future Of Loma Linda With Plans Committee
Should the denomination attempt to organize and support a medical college? "The object to be gained was greatly to be desired, but the expense would be so large, and the difficulties so many, that they [the delegates] did not feel free to recommend the undertaking of such an enterprise, before satisfying themselves, first, that they correctly understood the instruction given in the communications received from Sister White" (Pacific Union Recorder, February 3, 1910).
Many of her statements relating to the point were reviewed, and there were differences of interpretation. Some held that the school she called for should be to train ministers in physiology and a knowledge of how to give treatments as a means of enhancing their ministry. Others held that the church was called upon to operate a school in which physicians would be trained. So at this point, on Tuesday, January 25, it was decided to make a specific inquiry of Ellen White. I. H. Evans, E. E. Andross, and H. W. Cottrell were authorized to place this before her in writing, with the hope that she would give a clear-cut answer in writing. Their letter opened:
Dear Sister White,
We have read the testimonies, as far as we have seen them, that you have given concerning Loma Linda, and the establishment of a medical school in connection with the work at that place. As far as we know, our people are anxious to carry out the light that the Lord has given; but there is a difference of opinion between us in regard to what you mean when you use the term, "a medical school" (Ibid.).
Then the differences of interpretation were clearly outlined, probing especially the point as to whether the training along medical lines should "qualify the students who take the course to pass state board examinations and become registered, qualified physicians for public work."
This letter was submitted to Ellen White on Wednesday at noon. Early Thursday morning, January 27, she penned her reply, and sometime Thursday it was placed in the hands of the committee. It was short and to the point and left no room for doubt as to what she meant or the course the church should follow:
The light given me is, We must provide that which is essential to qualify our youth who desire to be physicians, so that they may intelligently fit themselves to be able to stand the examinations required to prove their efficiency as physicians. They should be taught to treat understandingly the cases of those who are diseased, so that the door will be closed for any sensible physician to imagine that we are not giving in our school the instruction necessary for properly qualifying young men and young women to do the work of a physician. Continually the students who are graduated are to advance in knowledge, for practice makes perfect.
The medical school at Loma Linda is to be of the highest order, because those who are in that school have the privilege of maintaining a living connection with the wisest of all physicians, from whom there is communicated knowledge of a superior order. And for the special preparation of those of our youth who have clear convictions of their duty to obtain a medical education that will enable them to pass the examinations required by law of all who practice as regularly qualified physicians, we are to supply whatever may be required, * so that these youth need not be compelled to go to medical schools conducted by men not of our faith.
This response, far-reaching in its implications, made it clear both to the committee on plans and the nominating committee that the work of developing the educational interests at Loma Linda must be in the hands of those in full sympathy with steps that should be taken.
Problems For The Nominating Committee
But not all were in sympathy with such an advanced step. Chief among them was H. W. Cottrell, the president of the Pacific Union Conference. Ellen White was aware of this, as also were some on the nominating committee. Someone asked, "Are we to reelect the incumbent who will stand as a stone wall to block the way of the Loma Linda College of Medical Evangelists?"
On Thursday afternoon two members of the nominating committee interviewed Ellen White regarding the names that should be brought forward as the future officers of the Pacific Union Conference. She advised "a change in the presidency" (WCW to AGD, January 28, 1910). When this was reported to the delegates at the afternoon businesses session, it "created quite a sensation" (Ibid.).
That afternoon Mrs. White wrote a six-page letter to the president that included these words:
I am instructed by the Lord to advise our brethren to choose some other man to stand in your place as president of the Pacific Union Conference. This would make it less difficult than otherwise for you to put away some traits of character that are not Christlike (Letter 18, 1910).
She assured him that Jesus stood ready to help him overcome "objectionable traits" and fit him "for continued usefulness in His cause." She then spoke of the church's institutions as agencies of divine appointment, and stated that at times we should come into possession of favorable properties even though all the money for their purchase was not in hand. At such times, she said, "we are to learn to walk by faith when necessary."
The president received this testimony Thursday evening. Ellen White was to take the devotional hour on Friday morning. She chose to read to the congregation this letter that she had written the day before to the president, whose term would close with the session. This she followed with remarks that filled eight manuscript pages. She told of how since coming to the union session she had "been writing out the things that" she was "required to write," for, she explained, "the end desired could not be accomplished unless matters were brought before" the conference "plainly and decidedly." She told of the distress of soul this had caused her, but she said, "When messages come to me for the people of God, I must not conceal them, but must write them out, and speak of them" (Manuscript 25, 1910).
In the light of these most earnest words a deep solemnity came over the delegates. Turning to the work before them in the few closing hours of the conference, they appointed a new nominating committee, for the original committee had lapsed.
Later, on Sunday morning, the nominating committee brought in its report, presenting the name of G. A. Irwin for president of the Pacific Union Conference. Irwin was a seasoned administrator; for four years he had been president of the General Conference (1897-1901), with subsequent experience as president of the Australasian Union Conference and then as General Conference vice president. He was known to have unbounded confidence in the counsels of the messenger of the Lord. J. J. Ireland, a son-in-law of J. N. Loughborough, would stand by his side as secretary-treasurer.
The Night Of The Decision
It was an eager but subdued group of workers and members that gathered that Saturday night in the Mountain View church. The outgoing president, who presided throughout the assembly, opened the meeting and then called Elder Irwin to the chair. Irwin reviewed the experience of the church in arranging in the 1890s for the education of physicians at the American Medical Missionary College in Chicago. He pointed out the church's responsibility in providing medical education for its youth under favorable spiritual conditions. Elder Burden followed with a review of the developments at Loma Linda. The letter to Ellen White and her response were read.
Burden was followed by I. H. Evans. The latter, on his way from Washington to Mountain View, had spent a few hours in Chicago conferring with the officers of the American Medical Association. This is the body that is recognized in the United States as establishing standards to be followed in medical education and practice. When Evans had presented the proposal that he had in mind, the medical men in Chicago laughed at the proposition, declaring that it was useless for Seventh-day Adventists, with their limited finances, personnel, and facilities, to consider starting a medical school."Why," they said, "the best you could do would be to start a 'C' grade school, and we are closing all 'C' grade schools."
But Evans was a man of faith. He opened his remarks in the Mountain View Saturday night meeting by saying:
I am deeply interested in what has been read to us tonight from the Spirit of Prophecy. The question before the meeting is one of great importance, and needs most careful consideration from every standpoint....
Now, if we always were wise-hearted, and saw everything as the Lord would have us view it, there would be no need of further light through the Spirit of Prophecy; but we are mortal, and our vision is limited, and we often see things in a perverted light. Because of our lack of clear perception, the Lord in mercy speaks to His people through the Spirit of Prophecy. He has had to do this in the past, and we may well hope that He may long continue speaking to us concerning our duty and the needs of His cause.
Most earnest attention was paid as this representative from the General Conference pressed the matter:
Someone may say, "The time is most inopportune." But the question is, When the Lord reveals to us His desire that we shall establish a medical school and do it soon, is the time inopportune for doing such a work?
I can conjure up many reasons why at this time we are ill-prepared to establish and operate a medical school. It is not hard for any man to say that we have not the money at hand. Any man need not be very wise to say, "We do not know where we shall get medical men trained and qualified to take up this work."
But the question is, Will we establish this medical school, when the Lord has indicated so plainly our duty? I believe, brethren, if we step forward in the fear of God, and make an effort to establish this school, the Lord will help us and make the way clear.
W. C. White, in the last speech made, declared:
Brethren and friends, I believe that the Lord God of Israel is leader of this people, and I believe that it is He who is leading us to undertake this tremendous enterprise....
And while the world will continue to say to us, as it has said in the past, "Ye are not able to go up and possess this field of usefulness," I believe that our people will unite in saying, "We are well able to go up and possess it, and do this great work" (Pacific Union Recorder, February 3, 1910).
The Vote To Advance
At this point the delegates were called upon to vote on the recommendations presented by the plans committee. This called for the establishment of a full-fledged medical school at Loma Linda. The vote was unanimous.
Then the delegates proposed that the matter be submitted to the whole congregation for their action. Again the vote favoring the establishment of a medical school was unanimous. The die was cast. The church would have a medical school at Loma Linda.