Report of the Biennial Council of the General Conference Committee
By W. A. Spicer
Naturally the thoughts of workers in many of the far fields have turned toward this biennial council. One testimony sent in for the meeting we may present here. It came from Elder J. W. Westphal, president of the South American Union Conference, and reads as follows:— I should like to add my testimony to those given by the brethren and sisters assembled in counsel. I am of good courage in the Lord. The last year has been one of the best of my life. My faith in this message, in this Seventh-day Adventist organization as an institution of God, and in its final and speedy triumph, was never stronger. It seems to me that the present war is more significant than we are apt to think. My faith tells me that we have entered that time in the history of the message and of the world when Zephaniah's words find their application: “The great day of the Lord is near, it is near, and hasteth greatly.” The Lord has given me some precious personal experiences during the year. I never had so great a desire to serve the Lord and to work in his vineyard as I have now. I find pleasure and satisfaction in preaching the word. My heart often overflows in thanksgiving and praise. In my whole horizon I see only one reason for discouragement, and that is my own imperfections; but even these are often occasions for gratitude, for the blessings he bestows, notwithstanding my failures, tell me how great his love is toward sinners. “Bless the Lord, O my soul: and all that is within me, bless his holy name.” My wife wishes to unite in the preceding testimony. While she is weak, she cannot believe that her work is yet done. She feels the desire and burden to live to train the children for the Lord, and if time should last so long, for his work. Prayer offered for her at Lyons, Kans., two years ago improved her condition much; but of late she has been worse than she was before that time. She asks your prayers in her behalf. At the morning devotional hour this testimony was read, and earnest prayer6offered for Sister Westphal and for all the workers, especially for the wives battling with feebleness, oftentimes very much alone, while their husbands are away on service. Among the recommendations adopted are the following:— MINISTERIAL READING COURSE
Whereas, It is highly important that each of our ministers pursue a regular course of reading and study, and to this end the General Conference at its last session established a Ministerial Reading Course; and,— Whereas, Up to the present time only a little over one third of our ministers have taken this course; therefore,— Resolved, That we urge anew upon our ministers the importance of their pursuing this course regularly from year to year for at least five years; also, that for this coming year we adopt the following books: Johnson's “Ideal Ministry,” Robinson's “History of Western Europe,” “Ministry of Angels,” by I. H. Evans, and a book on the Orient, to be selected. Whereas, The development of our church school work is dependent upon the education of our church members concerning its importance; and,— Whereas, The salvation of our children and the extension of the gospel in all lands is very materially affected by the number and strength of our schools; therefore,— Resolved, That the plan which has been in effect in the North American Division Conference of observing two Sabbaths each year as Educational Days, be carried out in our churches in all lands. SABBATH SCHOOL DEPARTMENT
Whereas, The second million dollars to missions was given by our Sabbath schools in a little less than three years and one quarter; and,— Whereas, The speedy finishing of the Lord's work in the earth requires more liberal giving; therefore,— We recommend, That the new Sabbath school financial goal be, “The Third Million Dollars to Missions by the Close of 1916.” (It is understood that this gives a period of a little less than two years for the raising of the third million dollars.) We recommend, That the Sabbath School Department be authorized to prepare a Sabbath school manual dealing with all phases of this part of the work. The representatives from South America at the last General Conference suggested at that time the organization of a South American Division, and action was taken by the General Conference authorizing the committee to arrange for this at such time as might be thought advisable. The question received consideration at the council, and the following recommendations were adopted:— 1. We recommend, The organization of South America into a division conference, consisting of the South American Union Conference, the Brazilian Union Conference, and the Inca Union Mission. 2. We recommend, That the organization be very simple, providing at first for only division president and secretary-treasurer as additional laborers, and that the organization be effected on the ground. 3. To this end we hereby authorize the representatives of the South American Union Conference, the Brazilian Union Conference, and the Inca Union Mission, to meet together at such time and place as may be agreed upon, to organize a South American Division Conference. In pursuance of this action, we recommend,— 4. That the General Conference Committee on Distribution of Labor bring in a nomination for these officers. 5. That the General Conference Committee arrange for one of its members to accompany the new officers, who should leave New York December 11. NORTHERN LATIN AMERICAN FIELDS
Mexico and Central America, and Cuba, Porto Rico, Haiti, and San Domingo are grouped together in our work, as the Northern Latin American Mission field. N. Z. Town, who has acted as superintendent of this widespread field, in addition to his other duties, presented the requests and needs of the fields. Actions were taken as follows:— Voted, That the request of the Central American Conference be granted, and that the conference organization be discontinued, the territory of the former conference to be constituted mission fields, as follows: The North Honduras Mission (to include British Honduras and the northern provinces of Spanish Honduras; namely, Santa Barbara, Cortes, Yoro, Atlantida, Colon, the territory of Mosquitia, and the Bay Islands) and the South Honduras Mission (comprising the remaining provinces of Honduras), these changes to go into effect Jan. 1, 1916. Voted, That the republic of Salvador be separated from the Guatemala Mission, becoming a mission field itself under a superintendent. Voted, That the request of the West Indian Union be granted, and that north and west Nicaragua be transferred to the South Honduras Mission, and that the exact boundary be fixed by the president of the West Indian Union and the superintendent of the northern Latin fields. Report of the Publishing Department
Very cheering was the report of this department, presented by the secretary, N. Z. Town. We abridge it as follows:— The work of the General Conference Publishing Department is still growing. Since 1910, the year our annual sales passed the mark of one and a half million dollars, we have had our eyes steadily set on the two-million goal. When at the end of 1912 our grand total of literature sales for the year reached $1,836,000, our hearts beat high as we considered the possibility of reaching our goal in 1913. But the total for that year was $1,869,000, $131,000 short. We began 1914 with high hopes of reaching the goal, but when the war broke out we were tempted to doubt. But our faithful field men have learned that there is no crisis with the Lord, that nothing is too hard for him, and they soon adjusted themselves to the new conditions. Some unions in the countries actually engaged in the war have sent us larger monthly summaries than for the corresponding months the year before, when there was no war. As a result of this splendid courage and perseverance, we were greatly rejoiced, when we made up the grand total for 1914, to find that it amounted to $2,109,000, a gain of $273,000 over 1912, and $240,000 over 1913. In 1890, the year that we sent our first canvasser abroad, Elder H. P. Holser in speaking of the publishing work said:— “The past few years have taught us something of the part that the art of printing will act in the closing work. The publishing work is like the proposed machine of Archimedes, except that it has the advantage of having a place to stand to move the world. But the great power of the press will be of little effect if its products are not placed in the hands of the people. This work of circulating the printed page will doubtless be one of the greatest in the closing message.” This quotation is a good illustration of the faith and confidence the men had who helped in starting our subscription book work. Excellent work was being done in 1890, but it is interesting to note that our sales during 1914 were greater than the grand total for all the forty-five years from the beginning in 1845 until 1890, when Elder Holser made these statements. During 1914 I spent five months in Europe in the interests of the publishing work. While there I attended ten local conferences and five union conferences, in which ten languages were used. In Great Britain and in the Scandinavian Union, colporteurs' institutes were held in connection with each of the meetings. In the German and Latin Unions, Brother H. Boex, the general agent, and I were able to conduct short conventions with the field agents, in connection with the union meetings. The total value of literature sales in the British Union during 1913 amounted to $71,800. The publishing house made a net gain of $5,800, of which the board gave $5,000 to the British Union for evangelical work. Their sales in 1914 were $73,000, and they were able to turn over another $5,000 to the union at the end of the year. During the past twelve years this publishing house has given $60,000 to the union. Some of the students in Great Britain have had remarkable success in earning scholarships, one young man earning his in six days. Notwithstanding that the territory in Scandinavia has been canvassed and re-canvassed until the majority of the families have from two to five of our books in their homes, the book sales are increasing year by year. Of their work during 1914, Elder J. C. Raft writes:— “In spite of the war situation, our book sales in 1914 exceeded those of 1913. The total sales in our union amounted to 334,242 kroner as against 325,533 kroner in 1913.” The Scandinavian countries adopted the good old subscription book methods right from the beginning of their work, and have followed them closely ever since. Their splendid records show the result. The Latin Union is developing a successful colporteur work. During 1913 the financial gain of the Gland publishing house was 8,800 francs, of which 6,700 were gained from the work in Spain.7 In giving a report of the colporteur work in Spain, at the Latin Union meeting, July, 1914, Brother John L. Brown, the general agent, said:— “During the eleven months preceding our annual conference, our colporteurs in Spain sold $9,200 worth of literature, a gain of 150 per cent over the previous year. One young man sold and delivered $1,000 worth of books in five months.” During 1914 the colporteurs in Spain delivered 50,000 pesetas' ($10,000) worth of books. When the war broke out, the work in the German unions was well organized under the direction of Brother H. Boex, the general agent, and 23 field agents, with nearly 1,000 colporteurs. There is probably no other country in the world where our colporteur work has aroused more prejudice and attracted more attention from the government than in Germany. In ten different places Brother Boex had been called to appear at court to defend our books and colporteur work where the authorities had prohibited the circulation of our books. But there is one encouraging and rather amusing side to this. The priest or minister who enters the complaint, and the lawyers, judges, etc., connected with the case, must all read the books from cover to cover to point out the page, paragraph, and line where the errors are found. Notwithstanding opposition, ways are found for keeping the publications going out continually. In our conventions with the German field agents we gave careful study to the advantages of our regular subscription book methods. Nearly all were convinced that they could do more if they were to adopt these methods, and decided to do so; but just after our meetings closed, when they were beginning to put into practice what they had learned, the war came and upset their plans. The sale of large subscription books has fallen off, but they are having splendid success with their periodicals, having adapted the contents to the war conditions. Their missionary paper, the Herold der Wahrheit, has a regular subscription list of 70,800, the largest list of any paper published by the denomination. The total monthly circulation of this paper is nearly 200,000 copies. The Hamburg Publishing House is splendidly equipped with six large cylinder presses, and is publishing literature in twenty different languages. A fine new building has just been completed in Hamburg, to accommodate the growth of the work. The Australasian publishing house, notwithstanding the unsettling war conditions, has had a good year, issuing publications to the value of $115,000. From the recent reports in the REVIEW, all are familiar with the remarkable success our colporteurs have had in the Philippine Islands. During 1914 they prepared on their little job press and sold $6,400 worth of literature, and scores of people are rejoicing in the truth as a result of this work. Land has now been bought and money provided to build and equip the much-needed printing plant for that field. At the recent division meeting, the entire colporteur work in the Asiatic field was reorganized on the commission basis, and we are already hearing good reports of the results. The Chinese paper stands second in the denomination in the number circulated. There is probably no other field in the world with so great possibilities for our literature work as the Orient. Plans are to be considered here for placing a strong, experienced man in that field, to assist our brethren in equipping their plants, preparing literature, and perfecting still further the organization of their colporteur work. During the past two years the Brazil Publishing House has issued editions of “Home and Health,” “The Coming King,” and “Patriarchs and Prophets” in the Portuguese language. During the first six months of this year the sales of this publishing house amounted to $9,000, a gain of 128 per cent over the year before. They have their goal set at $20,000 for the year. The South American Union is still doing an excellent work with our large Spanish subscription books. They have felt very much the loss of Brother E. M. Trummer, their general agent, who returned to the States to attend school; but they are pushing vigorously ahead with the help they have. Their sales amount to about $30,000 each year. In Mexico our literature work has suffered very much from the revolution. As the other Spanish fields around the Gulf of Mexico were using the Mexican paper, they have also suffered seriously, as for six months at a time the Mexican publishing house has been unable to send out the periodicals to the workers. When the Carranza forces cut the railway line between Mexico City and Vera Cruz in the early part of this year, Brethren J. A. P. Green and W. F. Meyers were cut off from Mexico City, not being able even to get mail through. They were able to reach Vera Cruz, and from there Brother Green wired to the Mission Board, asking that a telegram be sent to his wife, in Mexico City, telling her that he was safe. Elder Caviness wired back that they in Mexico City were safe, and the Mission Board wired Brother Green that his family was all right. Instead of sitting down and bemoaning his fate, Brother Green wired for two prospectuses for “The Coming King,” in Spanish, and also sent a telegram for a quantity of books to be sent by post, in care of the American consul. Brethren Green and Meyers sold several hundred dollars' worth of books while shut up in Vera Cruz. One of the names which Brother Green secured in his prospectus was that of General Carranza. This is the kind of spirit that makes our book work succeed, even in war times. During the past summer I spent three months on a trip through Central America, Porto Rico, and Cuba, largely in the interests of the publishing work. In Central America we have done practically nothing with our literature, but as a result of my visit I am glad to report that we now have Brother John L. Brown, an experienced man, in Salvador, and C. F. Innis in Guatemala. We hope to send Brother Henry Brown to southern Honduras, and two successful young men from Cuba will go to northern Honduras about the beginning of the new year. In Cuba and Porto Rico our canvassers have had remarkable success. The sales in Cuba during the first nine months of this year amounted to $10,000. One young native Cuban delivered over $1,500 worth of books during that time. Since 1909 the colporteurs in Porto Rico have delivered $25,000 worth of literature in that field. The excellent report for the North American Division, by Elder W. W. Eastman, has encouraged us all. Our publishing houses in this country have shown a commendable determination to keep pace with the rapidly developing events of the world, and to prepare literature adapted to the changed conditions. When the war broke out, both the Pacific Press and the Southern Publishing Association published a tract on Armageddon. Each of these tracts had a large circulation. The Review and Herald also at once brought out a War Extra, which has had a sale of nearly one and a half million copies. Speaking of this Extra, Brother D. W. Reavis says: “September 2 was a red-letter day in the history of our publishing work. On that day, just twenty days from the date of the announcement of the issuing of the REVIEW War Extra, the orders for it totaled 1,000,000 copies.” Within one hour from the time we read the news in the morning papers that Turkey had entered the war, editors were assigned subjects for the Eastern Question Extra, the artist was looking up the cuts, fifteen tons of paper were ordered for the job, and the Missionary Department was preparing a missionary letter to send out to the tract societies telling them it was coming. The sales of this Extra have also nearly reached the one-and-a-half-million mark. Oct. 2, 1914, a few of the workers at Takoma Park met to consider the advisability of publishing a small book treating on the war. It was voted in this meeting to publish “The World's Crisis,” and men were appointed to prepare the matter. On the seventeenth of October, only two weeks from the time the book was planned, the proof pages of this new book were placed on my desk. When it was ready for distribution, its sales were rapid; 275,000 copies having been sold since January 1. The importance of having literature dealing with the live issues of the day is further emphasized by the large circulation which our brethren are giving the pamphlet “The Vatican and the War,” recently published by the Southern Publishing Association. Seventy-five thousand copies of this book have been sold. At the General Conference in 1909, the following action was taken:— “Resolved, That we move forward with all possible haste in the work of selecting and training general agents and field missionary agents, and of placing them where they are most needed, until all the fields of the world are thoroughly manned for handling the circulation of literature.” The Publishing Department is still trying to carry out this recommendation. During the past two years the following bookmen and publishing house men have been sent to new fields: Brother H. Stacey, of Australia, to Japan; A. Mountain and H. Blunden, of Australia, to China; G. C. Jenks, of Arkansas, to South Africa; H. A. Robinson, of Cuba, to Spain; C. F. Innis, of Arizona, to Cuba and Guatemala; John L. Brown, of Spain, to Salvador; Forest Wilson, of Ohio, to Cuba; C. C. Hall, of the Pacific Press, to Japan; B. R. Owen, of Loma Linda, to Korea; H. E. Meyer, of Kansas, to Mexico; H. L. Heaton, of Lacombe, Alberta, to Hawaii; H. E. Holst, of Ohio, to Jamaica; A. G. Nelson, of Takoma Park, to Punta Arenas, Patagonia. Recently four have gone from Australia to India, and two to China. At present we also have calls from several8foreign fields for thoroughly trained men. With the more complete organization of our work in the world-wide field, with the continued, steady growth in the home field, with the tremendous possibilities before us in the Orient, with the rapidly growing work in the Latin American and Spanish fields, and with the spirit of faith and courage with which our field men are grappling the problems brought on by the war, the outlook never was brighter for this branch of the work than at the present time; and we firmly believe that notwithstanding the changed conditions, we shall continue to see our literature work grow from year to year. A chart upon the wall at the back of the pulpit illustrated graphically the remarkable growth of the publishing work during the denominational history. (Can be obtained from Review and Herald.) Since the last report Elder C. M. Snow and family joined the council, on their way to Australia. Further report must wait for another issue.