Ellen White: Woman of Vision

Chapter 30—The 1903 General Conference Session

The Presession

Oakland, California, had been chosen as the site for the 1903 General Conference session. The session was to open on Friday, March 27, and run through a third Sabbath. Meetings would be held in the Oakland church. Most of the delegates would stay in the homes of church members and would breakfast with their hosts. A large tent was pitched across the street from the church, where noon and evening meals would be served by the staff of the San Francisco vegetarian restaurant. A vacant home in Oakland had been rented for the use of Ellen White and her staff during the General Conference session. WV 421.1

On Monday, March 23, Mrs. White traveled to Oakland. Willie had gone on one day in advance. Sara McEnterfer, Maggie Hare, C. C. Crisler, and D. E. Robinson went along with Ellen White. She had hoped that they could drive down, or at least that she could have access to a carriage while she was there, for carriage rides rested her when she was under pressure. This was not feasible, so a comfortable wheelchair was rented that would aid her in going from the rented home to the church where the meetings were held. WV 421.2

On Tuesday morning Elder Daniells, knowing that Ellen White had arrived in Oakland, went to greet her and welcome her. He wondered, How will she greet me? He knew of a 70-page letter Dr. Kellogg had written to prejudice her against him. He knew that if anyone could influence her it was Dr. Kellogg. ^* As he stepped up onto the porch he found the front door standing open. He looked down the hall and saw Ellen White seated in a rocking chair in the kitchen. He made his way down the hall to the kitchen. When she saw him approaching she called, “Come in, Brother Daniells.” Grasping his hand in a warm greeting and looking him in the eye, she said, “Do you know we are facing a great crisis at this meeting?” WV 421.3

“Yes, Sister White,” he replied. WV 421.4

She gripped his hand tighter and with a snap in her eyes said, “Don't you waver a particle in this crisis.” WV 421.5

To this Daniells replied, “Sister White, those are the most precious words I ever heard. I know who you are and what you mean” (DF 15a, AGD, “How the Denomination Was Saved From Pantheism,” copy A, pp. 16, 17). WV 421.6

Then the Lord's messenger disclosed the forces behind the issues they faced.”Let me tell you,” she said, “Satan has his representatives right here at this place now, and the Lord has bidden me, Have no interview with Dr. Kellogg, no counsel whatever with that man” (Ibid., 17). WV 422.1

This session would be different from any that had preceded it. With the new union conferences functioning well, many matters that normally would come to the General Conference were being handled by union conference committees. WV 422.2

It was planned that this session would be “more a council of leading workers than an occasion for instructing the multitude” (20 WCW, p. 381). This would allow the rank and file of denominational workers to continue their labor in the field. There would be fewer delegates than assembled for the 1901 session at Battle Creek—initial provision called for 134. WV 422.3

This was the first General Conference session under the new constitution that had been adopted two years before. Not only was the plan for union conferences working well, but the various corporations and associations were being developed into departments under the direction of the General Conference Committee. WV 422.4

One weakness in the 1901 constitution had been early discovered, that the work as outlined by the delegates was to be administered by the General Conference Committee of 25, under officers of its choosing—a chairman, a secretary, and a treasurer. Under this arrangement the church officers had no mandate from the people. They were responsible only to a committee of 25. WV 422.5