Book: Clarence Creager Crisler, Organization: Its Character, Purpose, Place, and Development in the Seventh-day Adventist Church (Washington, DC: Review and Herald, 1938). HTML, PDF.
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Chapter 12: The General Conference
The General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists was organized May 20 and 21, 1863, during a council meeting of representatives from various local conferences and churches, “for the purpose of securing unity and efficiency in labor, and promoting the general interests of the cause of present truth, and of perfecting the organization of the Seventh-day Adventists.”—Review and Herald, May 26, 1863 , p. 204.
A Plan for Cooperating
About a year after the first State conference had been organized, J. H. Waggoner, one of the signers of the 1861 memorial asking for a perfected organization, was constrained to write to James White of the confusion and consequent crippling of effort resulting from a failure to have some central organization by which the general interests of the cause might be fostered and advanced. “If a remedy can be applied,” he wrote, “it should be done immediately. The remedy is in cooperation. If every conference or State had its own laborers, the case would be somewhat different; but while there exists the necessity for one State or conference to call upon another for laborers, steps must be taken to shut out … confusion. Without urging the matter further, I propose the following plan:
“That a General Conference be appointed to convene at or near the time of the annual meeting of the publishing [p. 104] association. That every conference of Seventh-day Adventists send a delegate or delegates to the General Conference; and that a General Conference Committee be appointed, with whom the State conferences may correspond, and through whom they shall present their requests for laborers.”—Id., June 24, 1862.
Initial Steps at the Monterey Meeting of October, 1862
In Monterey, Michigan, October 4, 1862, was convened the second annual meeting of the Michigan Conference of Seventh-day Adventists. For nearly eight weeks the announcements had been out, not only for the conference, but for the second annual meeting of the S.D.A. Publishing Association as well. Thus, as Uriah Smith reported, “a very select company of brethren and sisters found themselves assembled together at the time appointed. Brethren were present from all sections of the State, to the number, as it was estimated, of not far from five hundred, besides a few from New York, Ohio, Indiana, and Wisconsin. This was probably the largest body of Sabbathkeepers ever assembled in the State.”—Id., Oct. 14, 1862.
An effort was made to effect some temporary arrangement for intelligent cooperation between men in responsibility and general laborers in various fields, by the adoption of a resolution reading thus:
“Whereas, Several States are dependent on the Michigan Conference for laborers; and,
“Whereas, Those going out as laborers in some instances have been too much under the dictation of inexperienced brethren; therefore,
“Resolved, That it devolves upon the Michigan Conference [p. 105] to direct as to how and where such missionaries shall labor.”—Idem.
Another resolution, still more far-reaching, in that it finally made possible the calling of a general assembly for the formation of a General Conference organization, reads thus:
“Resolved, That we invite the several State conferences to meet with us, by delegate, in General Conference, at our next annual conference. Adopted.”—Idem.
An Appointment for a General Assembly
At the time this action was taken, it was thought that the next annual meeting would be held October 2-5, 1863. But conditions changed, and an earlier appointment seemed advisable. Accordingly, Elders White, Loughborough, and Byington, at that time the Michigan Conference committee, called a special session of their State conference, and also a representative meeting for the formation of the proposed General Conference. Both meetings were to be held at Battle Creek, Michigan, in the month of May, 1863. “The several conference committees in the different States” were “requested to send delegates or letters at their discretion.” “All delegates and letters,” added those who made the call, “must be sanctioned by some State conference, or conference committee, or—where there are no State conferences—some church, or meeting of scattered brethren.”—Id., April 7 , 1863.
Preliminary Suggestions
Three weeks before the conference convened, an editorial appeared in the Review, touching on the problems that it was hoped might be solved by organizing a General Conference. James White wrote:
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“A few weeks only and our General Conference will be in session. Delegates are being appointed to this assembly from different States, and our people are looking forward to it as the most important meeting ever held by the Seventh-day Adventists.
“The great object of this contemplated meeting, as far as it has been expressed by those who plead that the present state of the cause demands it, is to secure the united and systematic action of the friends of the cause in every part of the wide field. …
“As far as the use of means is concerned in securing united, systematic action in the entire body, must not the General Conference be the great regulator? If so, is it not the duty of the General Conference to mark out the general course to be pursued by State conferences? And if it be the pleasure of State conferences to carry out the decisions of the General Conference, unity thus far will be secured.”—Id., April 28, 1863.
Elder White further suggested that a General Conference organization might properly direct the ministering brethren, distributing them throughout the field, and regulating their support. In closing, he wrote:
“Again, should not the General Conference control all missionary labor in new fields? If so, would it not control missionary funds, and require, among other officers, a treasurer and board of directors? Every such organization should be as simple as possible, and accomplish its design. Useless machinery of this kind is badly in the way. But that which is worth doing at all, should be done correctly and well. If the General Conference is not higher in authority than State conferences, we see but little use for it. Think of these things, brethren, and be [p. 107] ready to act when assembled in General Conference.”—Idem.
Personnel of the First General Conference Session
The brethren met, according to appointment, on May 20, 1863. “The meeting was temporarily organized by choosing J. M. Aldrich, chairman, and U. Smith, secretary.”—Id., May 26, 1863.
The committee on credentials, chosen during the first meeting, announced the next morning “the following brethren as the duly elected delegates from their respective States: From New York, Brethren J. N. Andrews, N. Fuller, C. O. Taylor, and J. M. Aldrich; from Ohio, I. N. Van Gorder; from Michigan, the ministers present from that State, namely, Brethren White, Bates, Waggoner, Byington, Loughborough, Hull, Cornell, and Lawrence, with a lay representation of Brethren James Harvey, of North Liberty, Indiana, and William S. Higley, Jr., of Lapeer, Michigan; from Wisconsin, Isaac Sanborn; from Iowa, Brethren B. F. Snook and W. H. Brinkerhoof; from Minnesota, Washington Morse.”—Idem. To these, Brother H. F. Baker, of Ohio, was added.
Adoption of Constitution
The committee appointed to draft a constitution brought in their report on Friday, May 21. The preamble of their report reads thus: “For the purpose of securing unity and efficiency in labor, and promoting the general interests of the cause of present truth, and of perfecting the organization of the Seventh-day Adventists, we, the delegates from the several State conferences, hereby proceed to organize a General Conference, and adopt the following constitution for the government thereof.”—Idem.
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This constitution, which, after being considered item by item, was adopted on May 21, 1863, has stood the test of half a century. From time to time changes have been made in it, to adapt it to an ever-enlarging work; but in its fundamental features it has remained unchanged.
Election of Officers
The constitution, as framed in 1863, prepared the way for the formation of the General Conference. The delegates went forward in the fear of God in effecting a permanent organization, by the formal adoption of the constitution, and by the appointment of officers for the ensuing year. The committee on nominations presented the name of James White for president. The conference passed on this unanimously, but Elder White “declined to serve. After a considerable time spent in discussion, the brethren urging reasons why he should accept the position, and he why he should not, his resignation was finally accepted, and John Byington [was] elected as president in his stead. The nominations for secretary [Uriah Smith] and treasurer [E. S. Walker] were then ratified. J. N. Andrews and G. W. Amadon were chosen as the remaining members of the executive committee.”—Idem.
Constitution for State Conferences
Recognizing the advantage of uniformity, the delegates at this first session of the General Conference, before separating, drew up and recommended for adoption a form of constitution for State conferences. (For the text of this constitution, see Review and Herald, May 26, 1863.)
Delegate Representation
In order that all the members of every church might have an equal voice in the deliberations of their respective [p. 109] conferences, provision was made in the State constitution that the churches should be represented by chosen delegates.
The annual session of each State conference was to be “composed of all ministers in good standing and delegates from organized churches within its limits.”—Review and Herald, May 26, 1863. The delegates were to be elected by the individual members of local churches, in accordance with a fixed ratio based on the church membership.* And in the General Conference Constitution it was provided that “each State conference shall be entitled to one delegate in the General Conference, and one additional delegate for every twenty delegates in the State conference, such delegates to the General Conference to be chosen by the State conferences or their committees.”—Idem.
[*This ratio has been changed, at sundry times, to meet changing conditions.]
Thus provision was made that the State conferences and the General Conference should be representative bodies in every sense of the term.
On various occasions, efforts have been made to do away with the election and recognition of delegates to general assemblies. Some have urged that all church members in attendance at general meetings, should be recognized as delegates. But plain counsel has been given through the Spirit of prophecy:
“God would have His people an understanding people. He has so arranged matters that chosen men shall go as delegates to our conferences. These men are to be tried and proved. … The choosing of delegates to attend our conferences is an important matter. These men are to lay the plans that shall be followed in the advancement of the work; and therefore they are to be men of understanding, [p. 110] able to reason from cause to effect.”—Testimonies for the Church, Vol. IX, p. 262.
The Prevalence of Unity
Harmony prevailed throughout the four days the brethren spent together. Uriah Smith, the secretary, in a Review editorial descriptive of the meeting, testified:
“Perhaps no previous meeting that we have ever enjoyed, was characterized by such unity of feeling and harmony of sentiment. In all the important steps taken at this conference, in the organization of a General Conference, and the further perfecting of State conferences, defining the authority of each, and the important duties belonging to their various officers, there was not a dissenting voice, and we may reasonably doubt if there was even a dissenting thought. Such union, on such points, affords the strongest grounds of hope for the immediate advancement of the cause, and its future glorious prosperity and triumph.”—Review and Herald, May 26, 1863.