Statistical Report of Seventh-day Adventist Conferences, Missions, and Institutions
By H. E. Rogers
For the Year Ending December 31, 1907 H. E. Rogers, Statistical Secretary. The statistical report for 1907 is shown herewith. This report presents great reason for gratitude for the progress made during the year. Preceding its publication many weeks were spent in corresponding with the secretaries of the fields represented, securing accurate data, and this is the reason for the delay in its issue. Unfortunately the time of publishing such reports must always be determined by the delinquency of the secretaries who are the most indifferent in furnishing the returns desired; in the present instance the manifestation of such disposition has been sufficiently demonstrated. This report is presented under three tables, as follows: First, the statistics of conferences and missions, arranged by departments, grouped by union conferences, and showing also, for the first time, several new items or lines of work; second, a comprehensive table giving information regarding our denominational institutions, under three divisions; namely, educational institutions, publishing houses, and sanitariums; and third, the leading features of our statistical reports from 1863 to 1907, inclusive. While accuracy in every detail has been sought, yet it would be unwise to claim that all of the items in these tables are correct. Hundreds of officials must be importuned, some of them many times, for reports, and upon their failure to furnish accurate data, the information which seems most reliable must be used. The compiler of these tables would highly regret the appearance of any discrepancies herein, but such may have occurred because of the range covered by the report, and the failure to secure all the data desired. The report this year shows less gain in membership in the United States than has actually been made, for the reason that many churches have been revising their records. Future reports should more nearly show the net results of each year's work. For the benefit of those who may wish in this connection a brief history of the denomination, there follows a short sketch giving some of the leading facts, as well as mention of a few of the prominent points of doctrine and polity. In addition, a general summary showing results attained during recent years, as well as a summary for the year 1907, will serve to elucidate the main features of the work of the denomination in a clearer manner than would the figures contained in the tables alone. This sketch and summary should prove of interest to those who may wish to study this work from such a view-point. The history of Seventh-day Adventists may be said to begin in the years 1845 and 1846, when a few believers in the nearness of the second coming of Christ began also to observe the seventh day of the week as the Sabbath. This was just following the great awakening on the subject of the second advent, which commanded the attention of multitudes in Europe and America in the years 1831 to 1844. An English writer of that time, Mourant Brock, a clergyman of the Church of England, described the extent of this movement in these words:— “It is not merely in Great Britain that the expectation of the near return of the Redeemer is entertained, and the voice of warning raised, but also in America, India, and on the continent of Europe. . . . In America, about three hundred ministers of the Word are thus preaching ‘the gospel of the kingdom,’ while in this country, about seven hundred of the Church of England are raising the same cry.” William Miller, of Low Hampton, N. Y., and Josiah Litch and J. V. Himes, of Boston, Mass., were leaders in the movement in America. They looked for the coming of Christ in 1844. This hope was based on the fact that the 2300 days (literal years) of Daniel’s prophecy (Dan. 8:13, 14), dating from the commandment to restore Jerusalem (Dan. 9:25), in the year 457 B.C., expired in 1844. “Then,” said the angel to Daniel, “shall the sanctuary be cleansed.” This cleansing of the sanctuary, they supposed, meant the cleansing of the earth by fire at the coming of Christ. After the passing of the time, in 1844, many believers in the advent doctrine gave up the hope of Christ’s soon coming, and others set new times. There were some, however, who reviewed the facts of history and prophecy, and who were confirmed in the belief that no mistake had been made in the date of the fulfilment of the 2300-year period of Daniel’s prophecy in 1844. They were convinced also that the advent movement, rising spontaneously in many lands, was of God. As they investigated, they found that the mistake of the Adventists had been in the event, and not in the time; that the sanctuary to be cleansed was not this earth, but the sanctuary in heaven, where Christ ministered as high priest; that this work of cleansing, according to the Levitical type, was the final work of atonement, the beginning of the preliminary judgment in heaven, which is to precede the coming of Christ, as described in the judgment scene of Dan. 7:9, 10, showing an investigative judgment sitting in heaven while events are still taking place on earth. As they studied the subject of the sanctuary and the judgment, they found the law of God, the ten commandments, to be the standard of that judgment, the same code which, written by the finger of God, was placed in the ark in the earthly sanctuary, the type of the heavenly. The fourth precept of this law, they found, commanded the observance of the seventh day as the Sabbath. They found nothing in scripture commanding or authorizing the change of the Sabbath from the seventh to the first day. From the representation of the final work of the gospel, in Rev. 14:6-14, beginning with the proclamation: “The hour of his judgment is come” (in 1844), they understood that a movement was now called for, to carry to every nation and tongue a warning against following tradition, and calling men to the platform of “the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus;” that when this final message had been carried to all the world, Christ would come to reap the harvest of the earth. Thus in 1845 and 1846 a few persons in New England, formerly First-day Adventists, began to keep the seventh day, and to preach the doctrines which have built up the Seventh-day Adventist denomination, though this name was not formally adopted until October, 1860, at a conference held in Battle Creek, Mich., being the name chosen as expressive of the two prominent features of their faith and practise; namely, the observance of the seventh day of the week as the Sabbath, and a belief in the personal, visible return of the Lord as near at hand. Respecting the last-named event, however, this branch of Adventists have never set time. Their belief is that the event is “near, even at the door,” but that the day and hour have not been revealed. Three persons prominently connected with the movement which resulted in the organization of the Seventh-day Adventist denomination were Joseph Bates, James White, and Mrs. E. G. White, all of whom were, as early as 1846, observers of the seventh-day Sabbath. In 1849 their first paper appeared at Middletown, Conn. In 1855 they transferred their headquarters from Rochester, N. Y., to Battle Creek, Mich., where it remained until 1903, when it was removed to Washington, D. C., where the general headquarters is at present. By 1863 their work had grown so as to require the organization of a General Conference, which was accordingly perfected at Battle Creek, Mich., on the twenty-first of May. At that time their membership (located principally in the eastern and central parts of the United States), approximated 3,500 members, organized into 125 churches, with thirty ministers, and six local or State conferences. At the close of 1907 there were 94,048 communicants, 2,504 churches, 1,106 ordained and licensed ministers, ninety-three organized local conferences (fifty-three being in the United States), and 129 mission stations in all the world (two being in the United States). For the purposes of this sketch, no distinction is made between organized conferences and mission fields in countries outside the United States. In most cases a mission field includes several stations. The Seventh-day Adventist denomination has gained in membership about ten per cent each year; in other words, every ten years its membership throughout the world has doubled from the time of its organization in 1863. In 1873 there were 5,875 members; in 1883, 17,436; in 1893, 37,404; in 1903, 77,554; in 1907, 94,048. In 1855 their first denominational publishing house was erected in Battle Creek, Mich., from which a few books, pamphlets, and tracts, as well as two small papers, were issued, in English. At the close of 1907 they had established, in sixteen countries, twenty-three publishing houses, issuing about 1,200 books, pamphlets, and tracts (having a total of over 100,000 pages) in fifty-four of the leading languages of the world; and 109 journals in twenty-four languages, having a total of 1,300 pages,10and a combined annual subscription price of $52.16. The assets of these publishing houses were $978,894.14; and the value of the denominational literature sold during 1907 was $1,055,565.62. In addition there were over thirty printing offices doing printing work for local conferences and missions. In 1866 they erected a sanitarium in Battle Creek, Mich., for the rational treatment of disease, and the dissemination of principles of temperance and healthful living. At the close of 1907 they had sixty-three well-equipped sanitariums in different parts of the world, employing 1,596 persons specially trained in these lines. The assets of these institutions were $2,344,283.65. Six of the journals previously referred to were devoted exclusively to the subject of health and temperance. In addition to the institutions just named there were more than thirty treatment-rooms, where the principles of hydrotherapy are applied. In 1872 their first denominational missionary training-school was opened in Battle Creek, Mich. At the close of 1907 they had an educational graded system (requiring sixteen years’ work), comprising, in all countries, thirteen colleges, thirty-two academies, twenty-two intermediate schools, 458 church-schools, with assets of $1,348,332.91, and employing 921 teachers, and having a total enrolment of 13,462. In 1874 Seventh-day Adventists sent their first missionary from the United States to a foreign country. At the close of 1907 there was, outside the United States, organized work in progress in seventy-eight countries, with 127 foreign mission stations established, 692 churches organized, and 29,533 members. These mission stations are distributed as follows: In Europe, including Iceland, 30; in Africa, including British West Africa, Nyassaland, German East Africa, Rhodesia, and Basutoland, 26; in Australia and Pacific Islands, 21; in China (in the provinces of Honan, Hunan, Amoy, and Kiangsu), 12; in Canada, Alaska, and Mexico, 10; in South America, 8; in India, including Burma, 8; in the West Indies, 8; in Japan and Korea, 4; total, 127. Seventh-day Adventists have no formal or written creed, but take the Bible as their rule of faith and practise. The chief points of their belief, upon which there is entire unanimity throughout the body, are as follows:—That the law of God is the divine standard of righteousness, binding upon all men; that Christ, taking on him the nature of the seed of Abraham, lived our example, died our sacrifice, was raised for our justification, and is now the only mediator for us in the heavenly sanctuary, where, through the merits of his shed blood, he ministers pardon and forgiveness of sins to all who come to God through him; that the seventh day of the week is the Sabbath; that the personal, visible coming of Christ is near at hand, and is to precede the millennium; that immersion is the proper form of baptism; that man is not by nature immortal, but receives eternal life only by faith in Christ; that the state to which man is reduced by death is one of unconsciousness; that the investigative judgment now in progress in heaven decides the eternal destiny of all men; that at the coming of Christ the living righteous will be translated, and the righteous dead resurrected, and taken to heaven, where they will remain during the millennium, during which the punishment of the wicked is determined, and that at its close Christ, with his people, returns to this earth, the wicked are resurrected, and Satan, the originator of all sin, and his followers meet their final destruction; that the earth is then to be made the fit abode of the people of God throughout the ceaseless ages, where the righteous shall evermore dwell, and sin never again mar the universe of God. The use of intoxicants or tobacco in any form is made a test of church fellowship; “higher criticism” finds no place in their ranks; they advocate the complete separation of church and state, and oppose all religious legislation; the payment of the tithe, or one tenth of the income, supplemented by offerings, is the accepted method for the support of gospel work. From the local church upward the form of organization may be stated as follows: The local church-members elect annually one or more elders, also one or more deacons and deaconesses, to look after the interests of the church locally. The churches in a State form a State or local conference, holding annual sessions, with delegates from the churches on the basis of one for every fifteen members. These delegates elect the officers of the State conference and the managing boards of all the institutions within the conference. A group of five or six State conferences compose a union conference, which holds sessions biennially, with delegates from State conferences on the basis of one for every 200 members. The presidents of State conferences are ex officio members of the executive committees of union conferences. All the union conferences in the world compose the General Conference, which holds sessions quadrennially, the unions being represented by one delegate for every 1,000 members. The presidents of union conferences are ex officio members of the executive committee of the General Conference, now numbering thirty-five members. Thus there is formed a bond which unites completely all parts of the organization, and secures unity of interest and action. Instead of there being independent organizations within the denomination for carrying on the varied lines of work, departments have been organized, which extend from the General Conference to the local church, having charge and direction of these activities, and tending further to solidify the organization and simplify effort. These departments are the publishing, medical, educational, religious liberty, Sabbath-school, Young People’s Missionary Volunteer, etc. The work of the first three is treated elsewhere. The Sabbath-school Department has a fostering interest over the Sabbath-school work of the denomination, which work was begun in 1855, and has continually developed, until in 1907 there were 3,573 organized Sabbath-schools, having a membership of 84,744, with several journals devoted to these interests. The Missionary Volunteer Department, organized in 1907, continuing the work in behalf of young people which had been in progress during recent years, is designed to foster educational and missionary work among the young people of the denomination, and will doubtless become one of the leading factors in the training and preparation of young people for active service both in home and foreign fields. At the close of 1907 there were 461 local societies, and 8,933 members, only church-members being eligible to membership in the society. The total funds contributed for the year were $11,122.60. Finding, in 1901, that the General Conference, which had previously had general supervision of the work throughout the world, could not successfully carry forward all the enterprises in hand, union conferences were organized, departments created, and responsibilities distributed to them, the General Conference since then having direct supervision of missionary operations in unorganized territory—mainly in heathen lands—and acting only in an advisory capacity in fields where union and local organizations have been effected. Associations for the holding of property belonging to the denomination have been formed in nearly every country in which operations are carried forward. The officers of these associations are in most cases the officers of the conferences over which their jurisdiction extends, and the constituent members are generally the delegates composing the conference in its sessions. The association in a State usually holds in trust all the property for the local churches, while associations formed for union conferences hold property of a more general character. At the close of 1907 there were eighty local conference associations, twelve union conference associations, and three associations operating for the General Conference, making ninety-five legal associations organized in harmony with the laws of the various States and countries in which the denomination is working. The material facilities employed at the time this work was organized in 1863 did not exceed, it is estimated, $25,000, a per capita of $7.15. At the close of 1907, there was invested in 153 institutions, as shown by Table No. 2, $4,549,923.94; there were 1,172 church edifices, having a seating capacity of 180,576 persons, and valued at $1,331,330.85; an additional investment of $121,586.76 in church-school equipment, and an investment of $1,278,803.74 in general organizations of various kinds, tract societies, etc., making a grand total investment of $7,281,645.29, a per capita of $77.42. These figures are recorded not in any spirit of boasting, but only to indicate what has been accomplished thus far, through the blessing of God, to prepare facilities for the more rapid and extensive proclamation of the gospel message. The following summary gives separately for the United States and all other countries combined, the leading facts regarding membership, funds (including the entire amount of funds raised under the three general heads of tithes,—devoted to the support of ministers,—offerings for foreign mission work, and offerings for various lines of home mission work), and laborers at the close of 1907:—There were in the United States 64,515 members, who paid, during 1907,11$790,095.56 tithes (a per capita of $12.25); $211,643.65 foreign mission offerings; and $310,823.60 for home missions, a per capita of $8.08. Total funds raised in the United States, $1,312,562.81, a per capita of $20.34. In this territory there were 2,106 evangelistic laborers, which number, as related to the membership in the United States, is as 1 to 30, or related to the entire membership, as 1 to 44. The gain in membership in this territory for ten years was 34.52 per cent. There were outside the United States at the close of 1907, 29,533 members, who paid in tithes during the year $274,657.87, a per capita of $9.30; and offerings for foreign missions, $52,679.51, and home missions, $64,817.93, a per capita of $3.98. Total funds raised outside the United States, $392,154.31, a per capita of $13.28. In territory outside the United States there were 1,481 evangelistic laborers, which number as related to the membership outside the United States is as 1 to 19, or related to the entire membership, as 1 to 63. The gain in membership in this territory for ten years was 248.35 per cent. The total funds of the denomination in all the world contributed for evangelistic work during 1907 was $1,704,718.12, a per capita for the entire membership (94,048) of $18.13. The entire number of evangelistic laborers in the world, 3,587, as related to the entire membership, is as 1 to 26. The grand total tithes and foreign mission offerings from 1863 to 1907 approximate fourteen million dollars. In addition there were, in 1907, the following laborers in institutional lines: Teachers in denominational colleges and academies, 415; teachers in church-schools, 506; employed in the preparation of denominational literature, 466; employed in sanitarium and other philanthropic work, 1,596; making a total of 2,983 laborers in denominational institutions; or a grand total of 6,570 evangelistic and institutional laborers, which number as related to the entire membership, stands as 1 to 14. The gain in membership in all the world from 1897 to 1907 was 66.64 per cent, while the gain for the ten years preceding was 118.40 per cent. Reasons for the rapid growth of this work are not hard to understand in the light of the foregoing figures, indicating that every fourteenth member is engaged in continuous, active service to advance this special message, and that for the support of these laborers and this work there is contributed annually a sum equal to $18.13 for every communicant in the entire world. The greatest reason for growth, however, is that the blessing of the Lord has attended this work from its very small, humble beginning a little over sixty years ago. Were it not for this, human efforts would avail but little, and the movement would, ere this, have come to naught. But the One who has guided the movement thus far, will certainly erelong bring it to a glorious consummation. This is the hope which cheers the hearts of all believers in this message the world over, brightens their labor, leads them to consecrate their means, and devote their lives to the finishing of this blessed message of the soon-coming Saviour. Washington, D. C., U. S. A.,
August 14, 1908.