“Ministers,” “Men of Means,” “Brethren and Sisters,” Attention! by Arthur G. Daniells

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Washington, D. C. · Mar 23, 1905

“Ministers,” “Men of Means,” “Brethren and Sisters,” Attention!

By Arthur G. Daniells

EVERY believer in the third angel’s message should read Sister White’s appeal in this number of the REVIEW, entitled, “An Open Letter.” This letter is addressed to our brethren and sisters, and it appeals to us to promptly provide the means required to properly establish our headquarters in our new location, the capital city of this nation.

Surely those who believe that the providence of God is still directing and shaping the affairs of this cause, should take hold of this work just as this communication from the servant of the Lord directs. We should not dally; we should not permit the work to lag for want of funds. Look the situation squarely in the face.

First, it was the instruction that came through the spirit of prophecy that directed the committee on location to give Washington any consideration. The study of this place as well as of several others gave the committee personal convictions that this was the place. Thus they had double assurance that this city should be selected.

Second, from the day the vote was cast to locate here, what had before seemed to be insurmountable obstacles, were swept away. The change from the place where our headquarters had been established for half a century was made without any confusion to our work. Not a single number of either the REVIEW or the Instructor was omitted; our great bulk of mail of every sort changed routes like magic, and from the entire denomination there came one harmonious expression of approval of the location selected. In our new location every requirement fundamental to the welfare of our work was secured.

Third, we had no more than completed the arrangement of our affairs for work, when an opportunity was presented for very practical service, by the stealthy passage through the House of Representatives of a dangerous Sunday bill. After one year of vigorous opposition, which extended from Washington to every State in the Union, this bill came to grief by the adjournment of Congress without its passage through the Senate.

While this bill was pending, the ministers of Washington brought forward a proposal for a great campaign for better Sabbath (Sunday) observance. This called forth our Open Letter, which has given a prominence to the Sabbath truth in this city which it has never had before. And like the protest against the Sunday bill, this has reached out to the uttermost parts of the country.

And now we are obliged to take our stand against another measure proposed by the ministers of the District of Columbia; namely, to introduce into the public schools specific religious instruction taught from a religious text-book to be prepared by some committee of religious leaders. Our reasons for opposing this measure are clearly set forth in the protest which appears in this issue. I wish that every believer in this message could have been present when Professor Prescott read this unanswerable remonstrance to about eighty ministers of this city. A silence that could be felt prevailed, and every eye was riveted upon the speaker. These men never listened to a document of this character before. In the discussion that followed, one of the ministers present declared that to all who believed in religion as a supernatural revelation, this protest was unanswerable. The leading minister of the Baptist denomination took an open stand against the measure, and stated that he did not know of one of the ministers of his denomination who would support it. Thirty-nine voted for the measure, and twenty-two voted against it. At the close of the meeting one of the ministers present came to us and subscribed for the REVIEW for six months. Now the question goes to the people, and now we turn to the people to arouse them to the real meaning of this movement.

We should bear in mind that each one of these measures is wholly local, applying to the District of Columbia, and that we would in all probability never have met them had we not been located here. But while the measures were started here, they were designed to mold affairs throughout the nation, and for this reason our efforts to meet them have really become national. And are not these protests

the very message of warning set forth in the third angel’s message of Rev. 14: 9-12?

In view of all these considerations, who can doubt the wisdom of making the capital of this nation our headquarters? If this is right, who can justly withhold what God calls upon him to give to properly establish our work in this place? Please note the following statements in the “Open Letter” from Sister White: “Just now is the time for a deep, earnest effort to be made in Washington, the capital of our nation.” Brethren, if there is any meaning in the cause we are carrying forward in the earth, this statement is the solemn truth.

Then it is clearly stated that the gifts to establish the work here should grow “larger and larger,” that “men of means among us should bestir themselves,” that our “reputation is at stake” because “unbelievers are looking on and forming their opinions by the representations made.” O that our brethren of means could see and keenly sense the meaning, the weighty meaning, of these statements! One-thousand-dollar donations would come in by the score to place this work on vantage-ground.

Once more: “Let our ministers arouse, and fully realize the importance of the situation. Let the work in Washington become a matter of the first interest now.” Brethren in the ministry, we should give diligent heed to such statements. They mean something. This is the second time a message of this kind has come to us. Now let us as one man spring into line, and do just what we are directed to do. Experience has taught us that glorious victories follow such a course.

Finally: “Come to the front, my brethren and sisters, with your gifts and offerings. Awake to the responsibilities of the hour. We plead with the Lord to work upon minds, and to lead those who have means to realize that now is their time to help liberally in a most important crisis.”

“Ministers,” “men of means,” “brethren and sisters”! It is to these that our blessed Lord, who is ordering the battle and leading his forces, appeals for the means required to erect the necessary buildings to suitably represent and perform his work at its headquarters. Our gifts up to the present time to the Washington work amount to seventy-eight cents a member for the entire denomination. Much of this has come from foreign lands. An average of only seventy-eight cents a member is nowhere near the line of our ability.

Ministers, men of means, brethren and sisters, let us take hold of this blessed work vigorously, and meet the expectations of our Lord. Are there not twenty-five five persons who will send in one thousand dollars each? Are there not twenty-five more who will send in five hundred dollars each? We all know this can be done without distressing any one. May our divine Lord be glorified by his people at this time. A. G. DANIELLS.