Ellen White: Woman of Vision

Chapter 26—The General Conference Session of 1901: Time for Change!

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. WV 383.1

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. WV 383.2

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. WV 383.3

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. WV 383.4

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. WV 383.5

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. WV 383.6

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. WV 384.1

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. WV 384.2

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. WV 384.3

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. WV 384.4