General Conference Bulletin, vol. 1

THE MEETING TIME

THE meetings preliminary to the General Conference really began on Friday, January 25, when the Conference Committee convened for the purpose of considering the work at hand and arranging it for systematic attention during the Council and Conference proper. Meetings for prayer were held daily at 10:30, and these were followed by meetings of the Committee, Foreign Mission Board, or some of the other boards representing the various associations soon to convene. From time to time the number in attendance would be augmented by the arrival of delegates from distant fields, or from different portions of the home field. GCB February 4, 1895, page 1.3

Among those first to arrive were Elders H. P. Holser of Switzerland, and D. A. Robinson of London, who reached Battle Creek on the twenty-fifth of January. Our readers will remember that Brother Holser has lately undergone a period of imprisonment in Basel for the truth’s sake. He considers such mild treatment as hardly deserving the name of persecution, though to most of us it seems quite serious enough for that. GCB February 4, 1895, page 1.4

At about the same time came Elders Loughborough, Bree, and Van Horn, members of the Committee. And at about this time Elder F. J. Hutchins of Honduras reached us. A few days later brought Joseph Curdy, editor of the Signes des Temps of Basel, and Z. G. Baharian of Constantinople. This is the first visit of these brethren to our shores and we were glad to greet them. GCB February 4, 1895, page 1.5

Soon the arrivals became “too numerous to mention,” though we will be pardoned for noticing particularly Elders E. H. Gates and A. J. Reed and wife, whom we welcome with particular pleasure after their varied and trying experiences in the work among the islands of the Pacific Ocean. GCB February 4, 1895, page 1.6

Friday, February 1, was a day of hearty greetings, as faithful laborers from widely separated fields met each other after long separation. Many met for the first time, but there was no feeling of strangeness visible. The ties of brotherhood in Christ, of a common cause, of mutual interests and sympathies, made all one in Christ, and the greetings were those of joy and Christian love. The scene carried the mind forward to that time when God’s people shall come from the East and the West to sit down in the kingdom of God. GCB February 4, 1895, page 1.7