Ellen G. White: The Australian Years: 1891-1900 (vol. 4)

The Armadale Camp Meeting

The camp meeting in Melbourne, scheduled for October 17 to November 11, opened in the suburb of Armadale on Friday, the day the Whites arrived, and Ellen White spoke Sabbath afternoon. Sunday the interest was good and the attendance large, J. O. Corliss speaking in the morning, Mrs. E. G. White in the afternoon, and Prof. W. W. Prescott in the evening (The Bible Echo, October 28, 1895). 4BIO 229.3

In the initial plans for this, the third Australian camp meeting, it was thought it might be held at Ballarat, some ninety miles north of Melbourne. The conference was in debt, and it would be less expensive to hold a meeting there than in Melbourne. But in response to light given to Ellen White that the message must now go to the people in the large cities, it was decided to select an appropriate site in Melbourne where they would benefit from the work at Middle Brighton the year before. It seemed that they were providentially led to Armadale, declared to be “one of the most inviting suburbs of Melbourne,” and a choice site was found on which to pitch the tents. In advance of the meeting, a special “camp meeting edition” of the Bible Echo was published and widely distributed. The issue carried notice of the speakers who would address the crowds: 4BIO 229.4

Professor [W. W.] Prescott, educational secretary of the denomination, who is on tour through Australasia, South Africa, and Europe, in the interests of the school work, will be present, and will take an active part in this meeting. 4BIO 230.1

Mrs. E. G. White, a speaker and writer of rare experience, is to be present.... Among her published works, The Great Controversy Between Christ and Satan, Patriarchs and Prophets, and Steps to Christ are widely circulated in all English-speaking countries, and translated into many foreign tongues. Her long and wide experience makes her labours of special value. Mrs. White will probably speak each Saturday and Sunday afternoon during the meeting. 4BIO 230.2

Pastor J. O. Corliss, one of the first to introduce the views and work of the denomination in the colonies, will take a prominent part in the evening discourses on the prophecies of the Bible and the signs of the times.—September 23, 1895. 4BIO 230.3

Others mentioned in this sheet, advertising the meeting were W. A. Colcord, editor of the Bible Echo, and Dr. M. G. Kellogg, who had been spending some time in the South Pacific. 4BIO 230.4