Ellen G. White: The Early Elmshaven Years: 1900-1905 (vol. 5)

The Next General Conference Session

Perhaps the main topic of discussion was the next General Conference session and where it would be held. Normally, it would come in February, 1901. The sessions held in the 1890s had been scheduled for dates from late January to early March. As the group broke up, it was with the feeling that most likely Oakland, California, would be the best site for the 1901 session. Elder Irwin returned to Battle Creek prepared to speak in favor of that proposal at the Autumn Council, which would convene shortly. 5BIO 41.4

Factors that seemed to point to Oakland as the logical place were the delicate nature of Ellen White's health and her dread of a long journey east in midwinter, and the state of the work in California. Nonetheless, while she dreaded returning to Battle Creek in winter, or anytime, because of the burdens that would fall upon her when she returned to that city after an absence of ten years, deep down in her heart she knew that the time would come when she would have to spend some time in Battle Creek. In visions of the night she seemed to be bearing her testimony there in the Tabernacle, and she knew that she must sometime return. But in her weakness and advancing age, she just did not feel that she could undertake it for a meeting in midwinter. 5BIO 42.1

The Autumn Council action on the question of the forthcoming session was that the meeting would be held in Oakland. It was an indecisive action, for some refrained from voting. It was clear that the vote was in deference to Ellen White. Some of the men, seeing the crisis that was looming at Battle Creek that involved Dr. Kellogg and his loyalties to the church, felt that there would be great advantage if the General Conference session could be held there at the headquarters city with Ellen White present. 5BIO 42.2

Dr. Daniel H. Kress wrote to her on this point in a very open and candid letter, explaining the situation as he saw it. Kress had been in England and then returned to the United States to regain his health. He was now soon to leave for Australia. He felt that the men were using Ellen White's position as an excuse for not thinking or acting for themselves. He was sure that a majority of the delegates favored Battle Creek over Oakland, but were afraid to go against her wishes. 5BIO 42.3

Kress told Ellen White that Dr. Kellogg “feels that every hand is against him.” Then he explained that this was “not altogether without reason, for some of our brethren have used the testimonies which were given to correct and save him, as a club to destroy him and his influence.... The doctor thinks you also are trying to crush him.... I know you have the feeling of a mother toward him, but he does not believe this.”—D. H. Kress to EGW, October 18, 1900. 5BIO 42.4

Kress pointed out that if the General Conference were held in Oakland, the rank and file of Battle Creek Sanitarium workers, as well as those in the publishing house and the college in Battle Creek, could not attend. Kellogg, he felt, would see it as just another scheme to press him to the wall. Kress mentioned a rumor that Dr. Kellogg was planning to leave the denomination and he hoped that Ellen White would be able to prevent it. He felt that more than anything else Kellogg needed a heart-to-heart talk with her. 5BIO 43.1

There were other rumors and reports that came to Ellen White that led her to feel that it might be best if the General Conference session were held in Battle Creek rather than in Oakland. Among these was one she heard in Australia that she was engineering things so as to bring A. G. Daniells and W. C. White into prominent positions in the leadership of the church—Daniells as president of the General Conference and W.C. as secretary and president of the Foreign Mission Board. These Ellen White categorized as “most surprising falsehoods,” stating that “such a thought never entered our minds.”—Letter 139, 1900. 5BIO 43.2

Her correspondence, with St. Helena as the dateline during late October and November, reveals the struggle in her heart as she dealt with important matters, particularly in regard to the forthcoming session. The Lord did not give her clear light as to just what move should be made, and she wavered between promises to attend the session if it should be held in Battle Creek and her own physical weakness that seemed to make the journey impossible. To the General Conference officers she wrote on October 24: 5BIO 43.3

I do not refuse to go to Battle Creek if the Lord indicates that it is my duty to go, but I may not be present at the General Conference if it is held in Battle Creek, or even if it is held in Oakland. I have a great and most solemn work before me in preparing for publication the writings which till now have been merely private testimonies, to be laid away in a drawer, with no heed paid to their instructions.— Ibid. 5BIO 43.4

But it wasn't long until she assured the president of the General Conference that if the decision were made to hold the session in Battle Creek, she would be present. 5BIO 43.5

Now settled in northern California, she was urged to fill speaking appointments in nearby and Bay-region churches. Immediately upon her return she had spoken several times at the camp meeting at Napa, twenty miles south of the Rural Health Retreat, where she was staying. On Sabbath morning, November 10, she spoke to four hundred believers crowded into the San Francisco church. Her altar call brought a hearty response, with some lingering on to visit. There were some who expressed their “gratitude to God that they had been permitted to see Sister White's face again and to hear once more the message of the Lord” (Letter 148, 1900). 5BIO 43.6

The next Sabbath she spoke to the Calistoga church, nine miles to the north. She was pleased with the neatness of the building, and the congregation was larger than she expected. But the room was small, the day was rainy, and a fire was burning in the stove in a room without proper ventilation. The hot stovepipe ran right above her, and when she rose to speak, the blood rushed to her head. Sara McEnterfer, her traveling companion and nurse, who had accompanied her, saw her face turn almost purple and feared that she would fall. Ellen White had to ask for more ventilation and told the people it would be better for them to dress warmly and do without the fire. At any rate they would be able to listen better if they had fresh air. 5BIO 44.1

Just after the experience in Calistoga, in an interview with Dr. Kellogg, who had made a surprise visit to California, she explained to him that she could not go to Battle Creek in the middle of winter to attend meetings in tightly closed rooms. He asked her whether it would help if the date of the session were postponed a few weeks, and she indicated that it would. He invited her to come to the Battle Creek Sanitarium for a few weeks before the session and receive treatments so she could be ready for it. In commenting on the matter, she said that she would not dare to attend the session in midwinter in the East, then declared, “Midwinter is not the proper time to hold a conference.”—Manuscript 62, 1900. 5BIO 44.2

The next Sabbath she was to fill a speaking appointment in Healdsburg at the church that served the college. She had sent word in advance that the room was not to be heated, but the janitor forgot, and when she arrived she found a crowded, closed room heated with two wood-burning stoves. She got through the meeting successfully, and felt that she had been vitalized by the Spirit of God. This experience was to her an indication that she could probably attend the session in Battle Creek. On December 4, she wrote to the General Conference Committee urging that the session be held later than February or March. She declared, “It is not wise to bring together in midwinter a large number of people to a place which, in order to be comfortable, must be artificially heated. The heated atmosphere, with limited ventilation, has a tendency to lessen vitality.”—Letter 155, 1900. 5BIO 44.3