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.
[p. 157]
Chapter 16: The Reorganization of 1901
During the General Conference of 1901, held at Battle Creek, Michigan, counsels were given through the Spirit of prophecy that the time had fully come for a further distribution of responsibility among the working forces of the Seventh-day Adventist denomination throughout the world. In these counsels, the evils of centralization were dealt with in a most earnest, positive manner, and a change of policy was called for.
A Call for Decentralization
The first public talk given by Mrs. White along these lines in 1901, was in the Battle Creek College library, the day preceding the formal opening of the conference. In attendance at this council meeting were workers from many lands, including General Conference Committee members, State conference presidents, business managers, editors, physicians, and heads of training schools. Before this representative group of men, Mrs. White expressed herself freely concerning the burden resting on her heart. She pleaded that the brethren introduce, without delay, a change of policy in the management of conference and institutional affairs. She said, in part:
“The work has been increasing; it has been growing. The light that I have had from the Lord has been expressed over and over again, not to as many as there are here today, but to different individuals. The plans which God wishes us to work upon have been laid down.
[p. 158]
“Never should the mind of one man or the minds of a few men be regarded as sufficient in wisdom and power to control the work and say what plans shall be followed. The burden of the work in this broad field should not rest upon two or three men. We are not reaching the high standard which, with the great and important truth we are handling, God expects us to reach.
“Over and over again men have said, ‘The voice of the conference is the voice of God; therefore everything must be referred to the conference. The conference must permit or restrict in the various lines of work.’ As the matter has been presented to me, there is a narrow compass, and within this narrow compass, all the entrances to which are locked, are those who would like to exercise kingly power. But the work carried on all over the field demands an entirely different course of action. …
“We have heard much about everything moving in the regular lines. When we see that the ‘regular lines’ are purified and refined, that they bear the mold of the God of heaven, then it will be time to endorse these lines. But when we see that message after message given by God has been received and accepted, yet no change has been made, we know that new power must be brought into the regular lines. The management of the regular lines must be entirely changed, newly organized. There must be a committee, not composed of half a dozen men, but of representatives from all lines of our work, from our publishing houses, from our educational institutions, and from our sanitariums, which have life in them, which are constantly working, constantly broadening. …
“God desires that His work shall be a rising, broadening, enlarging power. But the management of the work [p. 159] is becoming confused in itself. Not that any one wishes to be wrong or to do wrong; but the principles are wrong. These principles are so foreign to God’s principles that God cannot bless those who work upon them. What must be done is to bring in other minds. …
“God calls for a decided change. Do not wait till the conference is over, and then gather up the forces to see what can be done. Let us see what can be done now. Find out what power and intelligence there is that can be brought into the conference. Let all unite in taking hold of the work intelligently. This is what is needed.
“Every institution should have a voice in the working of the cause in which they have an interest. God wants us to come to the place where we shall be united in the work, where the whole burden will not be laid on two or three men. …
“When the cause was younger, my husband used to counsel with men who had sound judgment. The work was much smaller than it is now, but he did not feel able to manage it alone. He chose counselors from among those bearing responsibility in all parts of the work. And after counseling together, these men would go back to their work feeling a still greater responsibility to carry the work forward in right lines, to uplift, to purify, to solidify, so that the cause of God might move forward in strength.”—Ellen G. White Manuscript 43, 1901.
Strengthening the Committees
The following day, immediately after the formal opening of the conference, Mrs. White spoke at some length, and toward the close of her discourse, referred to the [p. 160] necessity of bringing about a further distribution of responsibility:
“Here are men who are standing at the head of our various institutions, of the educational interests, and of the conferences in different localities and in different States. All these are to stand as representative men, to have a voice in molding and fashioning the plans that shall be carried out. There are to be more than one or two or three men to consider the whole vast field. The work is great, and there is no one human mind that can plan for the work which needs to be done. …
“According to the light that has been given me—and just how it is to be accomplished I cannot say—greater strength must be brought into the managing force of the conference. …
“God has not put any kingly power in our ranks to control this or that branch of the work. The work has been greatly restricted by the efforts to control it in every line. Here is a vineyard presenting its barren places that have received no labor. And if one should start out to till these places in the name of the Lord, unless he should get the permission of the men in a little circle of authority, he would receive no help. But God means that His workers shall have help. If a hundred should start out on a mission to these destitute fields, crying unto God, He would open the way before them. Let me tell you, if your heart is in the work, and you have faith in God, you need not depend upon the sanction of any minister or any people; if you go right to work in the name of the Lord, in a humble way doing what you can to teach the truth, God will vindicate you. If the work had not been so restricted by an impediment here, and an impediment [p. 161] there, and on the other side an impediment, it would have gone forward in its majesty. It would have gone in weakness at first, but the God of heaven lives; the great Overseer lives. …
“There must be a renovation, a reorganization; a power and strength must be brought into the committees that are necessary.”—General Conference Bulletin, 1901, pp. 25, 26.
The Value of Union Conferences
A few days later, when it was proposed to organize the Southern field into a strong union conference, Mrs. White, in another talk before the delegates, said:
“From the light given to me by God, there should have been years ago organizations such as are now proposed. When we first met in conference, it was thought that the General Conference should extend over the whole world. But this is not in God’s order. Conferences must be organized in different localities, and it will be for the health of the different conferences to have it thus. This does not mean that we are to cut ourselves apart from one another, and be as separate atoms. Every conference is to touch every other conference, and be in harmony with every other conference. God wants us to talk for this, and He wants us to act for this. We are the people of God, who are to be separate from the world. We are to stand as representatives of sacred truth. …
“In regard to the work in the South, the arrangements which are being made for that field are in accordance with the light which has been given me. God desires the Southern field to have a conference of its own. The work there must be done on different lines from the work in any other field. The laborers there will have to work on peculiar [p. 162] lines; nevertheless the work will be done. The Southern field must be organized into a conference. …
“We want to understand that there are no gods in our [General] Conference. There are to be no kings here, and no kings in any conference that is formed. ‘All ye are brethren.’ Matt. 23:8. Let us work on the platform of humility, seeking the Lord earnestly that His light may shine into our hearts, and that the arrangements we make may be after God’s order. …
“New conferences must be formed. It was in the order of God that the union conference was organized in Australasia. The Lord God of Israel will link us all together. The organizing of new conferences is not to separate us; it is to bind us together. The conferences that are formed are to cling mightily to the Lord, so that through them He can reveal His power, making them excellent representations of fruit bearing.”—Id., pp. 68-70.
Administrative Changes
Immediate and decided steps were taken by the delegates to carry out these counsels. At the first meeting of the session a large and representative committee was chosen, and this committee studied the needs of the cause in all parts of the broad field, and brought before the conference such plans for reorganization and advancement as were agreed upon. As a result, plans of reorganization in harmony with the principles outlined through the Spirit of prophecy, were adopted and set in operation.
The most important of the changes wrought at that time were enumerated by A. G. Daniells:
“1. The organization of union conferences and union mission boards in all parts of the world where either the [p. 163] membership or the staff of workers make it advisable.
“2. The transfer of the ownership and management of all institutions and enterprises of the cause to the organizations with which they are by location directly connected.
“3. Making all the leading lines, such as the Sabbath school, educational, medical missionary, religious liberty, and publishing work, departments of the General Conference, and placing the chairmen of these departments on the General Conference Committee.
“4. Enlarging and strengthening all conference committees and mission boards by placing on them men especially qualified to represent the evangelical, educational, medical missionary, and publishing interests of the cause.
“5. Placing the responsibility of attending to the details of the work in all parts of the world, upon those who are located where the work is to be done.
“6. Arranging an organic connection or union of all the parts of our organization and field by placing on the union conference committees the presidents of local conferences who are elected by the local churches; and further by placing on the General Conference Committee the presidents of union conferences, the superintendents of union mission fields, and the chairmen of all department committees. Thus every church, every department of work, and every institution in the denomination, is represented in local and union conferences, and in the General Conference as well.”—Review and Herald, March 29, 1906.
Interrelationships
During a discussion of the principles underlying the reorganization of 1901, by the delegates assembled in the [p. 164] General Conference of 1903, W. C. White contrasted the workings of the plan of organization adopted in 1897, with the results attained through the changes made in 1901, as follows:
“We were operating then [1897-1901] under the plan of strong departmental organizations, each one seeking world-wide control. We had our General Conference; we had our International Tract Society, our International Sabbath School Association, our International Medical Missionary Association, and various lines of departments, each one seeking world-wide control in its branch of the work, and there was no ample provision made for union. There is where the complication largely came in. It was through this world-wide departmental work. What was the remedy proposed?—That every leading enterprise should be represented on the General Conference Committee, and that the field be divided so that every line of workers in every field would link their hands and hearts and interests in one community of work in that locality.”
To illustrate: “In the church we have the elders, and deacons, and librarians, and Sabbath school secretaries, and nurses. We have different lines of work in the church. They receive suggestions; they get information from any source from which they can receive it; but they meet together and counsel together as a body of workers for that locality, and then they work in that locality under the counsel of one another. That makes a unity of work. And what a contrast it is from the work when we were under the departmental management!
“In the olden day the Sabbath school held itself as independent from the church; frequently there was conflict between the church officers and the Sabbath school [p. 165] officers; the medical workers, receiving direction from headquarters, and not realizing their relation to other workers in the church, carried on their work independently. And so, while we worked under the departmental plan, there was continual confusion in the local work. But reorganization, you see, means self-government. Each individual is to become intelligent, and to be able to work in many lines of work. Each church is to become a unit, and every worker, elder, deacon, Sabbath school worker, officer, colporteur, nurse, whoever it is in that church, is to unite with the other workers in that church in planning, and then the work is to be a united work.
“So, then, we go to the conference, and the expert workers in the conference are to receive counsel from whomsoever they can receive it. They are to receive education from whomsoever is capable to give them the education. But when they come to work, instead of working, each one, from orders of a departmental head that is outside of his conference, they meet together as a company; … they counsel together; they plan together; and they prepare to go into the field. They are a unit; the whole conference is a unit in spirit and in its work.
“Then we go to the union conference, and we have the same condition. Every branch of the work is represented on the union conference committee. When the union conference committee comes together for counsel, every branch is represented,—publishing, educational, medical, Sabbath school, religious liberty; these are all branches. What is the head? What is the body? you may say, the heart? Why, the evangelical work is the work of the conferences, and all these branches are auxiliary to the evangelical work; so far they are parts of the body.
[p. 166]
“Then you pass from the union conference to the General Conference, and in the General Conference Committee you have all the departments represented. All meet together in counsel; plans are made; and these are carried out by all members of the committee. …
“An appeal has been made to hold to the principles presented to us two years ago. In harmony with those principles, it was agreed that all departmental organizations should be effected by the General Conference Committee, and that those departmental organizations should be advisory to the committee, and not executive.
“Now we come up to this year, and we have a proposition from the publishing brethren that this publishing department be constituted differently, and that it be so constituted that it can work without reference to the General Conference Committee. We have a proposition from the educational committee that its department be constituted in a different way, so that it may stand more as an independent, self-governing, world-wide department.
“It seems to me that we must watch this thing, and that we … should bear in mind that the remedy for our confusion is not to come through the organizing of strong departments, and giving them independent—yes, largely independent—authority to operate throughout the world; but the remedy for our confusion is to strengthen the union in every locality, strengthen it in my individual heart, strengthen it in my church, strengthen it in my conference, strengthen it in my union conference. …
“The following is an extract from a letter written [by Sister White] in 1902: ‘The division of the General Conference into district union conferences was God’s arrangement. In the work of the Lord in these last days there [p. 167] should be no Jerusalem centers, no kingly power. And the work in the different countries is not to be tied up by contracts to the work centering in Battle Creek, for this is not God’s plan. Brethren are to counsel together; for we are just as much under the control of God in one part of His vineyard as in another. Brethren are to be one in heart and soul, even as Christ and the Father are one.’
“I want to suggest, brethren, that there can be kingly power exercised in a departmental organization just as much as in a General Conference organization. And when you get two or three kings operating in the same territory, you are a lot worse off than when you have one. …
“I will read further: ‘The kingly power formerly exhibited in the General Conference at Battle Creek is not to be perpetuated. The publishing institution is not to be a kingdom of itself. It is essential that the principles that govern in General Conference affairs shall be maintained in the managements of the publishing work and the sanitarium work. [I understand that the principle referred to is the organization of the work into union conferences.] No one is to consider that the branch of the work with which he is connected is of vastly more importance than other branches.’ ”
“Jerusalem centers are referred to. Brethren, does not that mean … that we are to make the Sabbath school work strong in every union conference? that we are to make the educational work strong in every union conference? that we are to make the publishing work strong in every union conference? that we are to make the medical missionary work strong in every union conference?”—General Conference Bulletin, 1903, pp. 157, 158.
[p. 168]
A Statement and a Review
The changes in administrative affairs brought about through the reorganization of 1901 were clearly outlined in a formal statement issued by the General Conference Committee in 1906. In this document the entire field of reorganization is carefully reviewed, and the principles underlying gospel order are emphasized anew. To quote:
“It is now time for our people to get a clear understanding of just what the called-for reorganization was, and just what response has been made to that call. First of all, we wish to state very clearly that the call that came to us at the General Conference of 1901 to re-organize was not a call to dis-organize. Nor was it a call to abandon the original purpose and general plan of organization adopted by the pioneers of this cause. We accept the assurance that has been given us through the Spirit of prophecy, that the Lord led and guided the leaders of this cause who were called to form the original plans of organization for this world-wide movement which we are carrying forward.
“Instead of being counseled at the 1901 conference to abandon the primary purpose and essential features of our original plan of organization, we were instructed to adjust and develop the details of this plan in harmony with the growth and development of our cause. This is a most important consideration at this time. It is one that should be very clearly understood by our people.
“Another important question is, What response did the General Conference make to the instruction given? Did it carry out the suggestions? and is it still doing so? or has it repudiated the work of reform and reorganization entered upon at that time? This can easily be determined [p. 169] by a careful study of the instruction given by the Spirit of prophecy, and the changes made by the General Conference at the time, and by its history since. The information required on these points can be obtained in the issues of the General Conference Bulletin of 1901 and 1903, and the report of the session for 1905.
“We here give a brief but complete summary of the counsel given to the General Conference, and the changes made in response thereto. The following are the changes called for:
“1. ‘What we want now is a reorganization.’
“2. ‘We want to begin at the foundation, and to build upon a different principle.’
“3. ‘This work must be carried on in a very different manner to what it has been in the past years.’
“4. ‘God has not put any kingly power in our ranks to control this or that branch of the work. The work has been greatly retarded by the efforts to control it in every line.’
“5. ‘There are to be more than one or two or three men to consider the whole vast field. The work is great, and there is no one human mind that can plan for the work which needs to be done.’
“6. ‘Greater strength must be brought into the managing force of the conference.’
“7. ‘Men who are standing at the head of our various institutions, of the educational interests, and of the conferences in different localities and in different States,’ are to ‘stand as representative men, to have a voice in molding and fashioning the plans that shall be carried out.’
“8. ‘When we first met in conference, it was thought that the General Conference should extend over the whole [p. 170] world. But this is not God’s order. Conferences must be organized in different localities, and it will be for the health of the different conferences to have it thus.’
“9. ‘This does not mean that we are to cut ourselves apart from one another, and be as separate atoms. Every conference is to touch every other conference, and be in harmony with every other conference.’
“10. ‘New conferences must be formed. It was in the order of God that the union conference was organized in Australasia. The Lord God of Israel will link us all together. The organizing of new conferences is not to separate us; it is to bind us together.’
“Any one who will read the addresses given by Sister White as recorded in the General Conference Bulletin of 1901, will see that the quotations given above cover the whole range of suggestions made concerning reorganization. And from a careful study of these quotations any one will readily see what the wrongs were, and the course to be taken to correct them.
“There were too few men connected with the administrative affairs of the cause. This resulted in centralizing responsibility, control, and management in a narrower circle than was demanded for the rapid, strong, and efficient development of the work throughout the world. And this naturally forced the few in charge of affairs to assume authority which is called kingly. The remedy pointed out was to bring greater strength—more men of experience and talent—into the management of the work. And this was to be done by organizing more conferences, especially union conferences, throughout the world, thus distributing the responsibilities centered in a few headquarters. The placing of responsibilities and interests in [p. 171] local fields upon those located where the work is to be done, lessens the tendency for a few to assume undue authority.
“This is the reorganization called for at the 1901 conference. Now we may ask, Did the General Conference reorganize in harmony with these suggestions? And has it adhered to the changes made? The following facts* will answer:
[*As this statement was prepared in 1906, the figures are in harmony with the denominational statistics of that year. The years that have followed have witnessed remarkable progress in the further distribution of responsibility.]
“1. Before that conference closed, the General Conference Committee was increased from thirteen to twenty-five. It has since been increased to thirty-two.† The members now represent the field in all parts of the world, as well as all the leading departments of our work. The chairmen of the Sabbath school, educational, medical, religious liberty, publishing, and foreign departments are all members of the General Conference Committee.
[†The Year Book for 1938 shows nearly 200 members of the General Conference Committee, more than half of whom are permanently stationed in fields outside of North America.]
“2. Before the close of that conference, steps were taken to organize five union conferences in the United States, and one in Europe, increasing the number from two to eight. Seven more have since been added, making the present number fifteen.‡ These conferences are located in the United States, Canada, Europe, South Africa, South America, and Australasia. These new conferences have added about one hundred and forty persons to the administrative staff of this cause.
[‡Increased to 69 union conferences and union missions by the close of the year 1937.]
“3. Since the conference of 1901, thirty or more local conferences, and many local mission boards, have been [p. 172] organized in all lands. These have added some three hundred and fifty more persons to our managing force.
“4. Besides these regular organizations, there are the department committees in charge of the leading phases of the work. The Sabbath school has ten members; the educational, twenty-two; the medical, twenty-two; the publishing, twenty-one; the religious liberty, ten; and the foreign, seven; or a total of ninety-two members.
“Thus there have been many new conferences, and departments, and local mission boards organized. In this way the managing force has been strengthened by the addition of over five hundred of the most experienced and capable persons that could be selected.
“5. In addition to this, five colleges have been added to the twelve then operating; twenty-eight academies and intermediate schools have been started in addition to the four then in operation; and thirty-six sanitariums and treatment-room establishments have been opened and added to the nineteen that previously had been established. These institutions have added many more to the administrative staff of this work.
“6. In addition to this work of organizing, the natural work of distribution or decentralization has followed. All the institutions formerly held by the General Conference have been transferred to the union conferences in which they are located. And all the details of administration that can be pressed back upon union and local conferences and mission boards, are distributed; so that at the present time the General Conference does not own or manage a single institution in all the world.
“It is very doubtful whether any delegate at the 1901 conference had any true conception, at the time, of the [p. 173] marvelous changes that were to follow the simple steps then taken in harmony with the counsel given. These changes have given new life and strength to our organized work in all lands. We have proved that the distribution of administrative responsibilities, and the transfer of the ownership and management of institutions from the General to union and local conferences, does not mean disorganization. We have proved that all these changes do not ‘cut ourselves apart from one another,’ and make us separate, independent atoms. On the contrary, they unify and bind together. This is the testimony borne by scores of men bearing official responsibilities in all parts of our great field.
“According to these facts, all of which can be fully confirmed by official documents, the General Conference has been steadily and resolutely working away from a ‘centralized order of things,’ to an administrative policy that is as wide as the world—one that establishes local ownership and control of institutional properties, and full administrative responsibility in all departments of the work.
“We wish here to express our appreciation of the counsel given by the Spirit of prophecy to reorganize. No mistake was made in that counsel. The great benefits that have come from decentralization, from distributing responsibilities in harmony with the counsel given at the 1901 conference, have been seen and felt in our cause from the headquarters to the remotest conference and mission station in the great field of our operations. It has been a pleasure to the General Conference Committee and other committees and boards that have taken part in this work, to arrange and adjust the administrative affairs of this [p. 174] cause in harmony with the counsel given. And the transfer of financial responsibilities and many details of the work to others, has brought great relief to the General Conference Committee, and has made it possible to give more attention to general interests.”—A Statement, published by the General Conference Committee, May, 1906, pp. 19-24.
A Recognition of Reforms Effected
In view of the serious conditions which were so clearly pointed out through the Lord’s messenger in connection with the opening of the session of the General Conference of 1901, and the clear call for marked changes, even to the effecting of a reorganization of the General Conference work, it is cheering to note that the changes which were made and the steps that were taken were recognized by Mrs. White as being in harmony with the Lord’s will for His people. She referred to this subsequently on several occasions. In one instance, in a personal testimony of reproof to one of our workers who was following a course which was unjustifiable because of a failure to recognize the reforms that had taken place, she wrote:
“Your course would have been the course to be pursued if no change had been made in the General Conference. But a change has been made, and many more changes will be made and great developments will be seen. No issues are to be forced. … It hurts me to think that you are using words which I wrote prior to the conference. Since the conference great changes have been made. …
“A terribly unjust course has been pursued in the past. A want of principle has been revealed. But in pity to His people, God has brought about changes. … The course [p. 175] of action which before the conference might have been a necessity, is no longer necessary; for the Lord Himself interposed to set things in order. He has given His Holy Spirit. I am confident that He will set in order the matters that seem to be moving wrong.”—Ellen G. White Letter 54,1901. (Italics mine.)
Reorganization, Not a New Organization
At some length, there has been pointed out in this chapter the steps which were taken to bring about the reorganization of the work of the General Conference called for in 1901. The counsel given was earnestly studied and followed, and assurance was given that the changes made were pleasing to God. As a result, great blessings have come to the advancing work of Seventh-day Adventists.
Nevertheless, there have been some, from time to time, who have made the charge that the messages of counsel and warning sent by God to guard His church, constituted a notice of rejection and doom of the church, and that the call for reorganization was in reality an appeal for a new organization—the establishment of an entirely new order. While the facts in the case indicate that such a conclusion is entirely without justification, it is of interest to note the following words penned by Mrs. White in 1905, in a manuscript bearing title of “Steadfast Unto the End:”
“The Lord has declared that the history of the past shall be rehearsed as we enter upon the closing work. Every truth that He has given for these last days is to be proclaimed to the world. Every pillar that He has established is to be strengthened. We cannot now step off the [p. 176] foundation that God has established. We cannot now enter into any new organization; for this would mean apostasy from the truth.”—Ellen G. White Manuscript 129, 1905.