Proceedings of the New England Conference by A. E. Place; H. B. Tucker

Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association · Battle Creek, Mich. · Oct 28, 1902

Proceedings of the New England Conference

By A. E. Place; H. B. Tucker

The thirty-second annual session of the New England Conference was held at South Lancaster, Mass., Oct. 1–5, 1902. Nine meetings in all were held. Of the thirty-eight churches in the conference, twenty-four were represented by fifty-three delegates. The minutes of the last meeting of the previous session were called for, read, and approved.

A few remarks were made by the president concerning the importance of our consecration to the work of God.

The church at Keene, N. H., consisting of twenty members, was received into the conference by vote.

The following recommendations and resolutions were presented by the committee, and adopted:—

Whereas, The Lord has blessed the work in this conference during the past year in the sale of “Christ’s Object Lessons;” and,—

Whereas, The Testimonies have said concerning this book that the field is never exhausted, and this book should be sold for the help of our schools for years to come; therefore,—

1. (a) We would give thanks to the Lord for the success that has attended this work, and for the willing spirit he has given the people to engage in this effort; and,—

(b) We recommend, That those of our brethren and sisters who have promised to dispose of a certain number of copies to make up the quota apportioned to us as a conference, and have not yet paid for the same, double their diligence in accomplishing this work; and further,—

(c) We recommend, That continued, earnest, steady, persevering efforts be put forth to place this precious book in the homes of the people.

Whereas, We as a conference are behind in the matter of raising our proportion of the fund for paying for the material used in making “Christ’s Object Lessons,” and for the expenses of the general workers on this book and fund; therefore,—

2. Resolved, That we as a conference contribute our portion of this fund for said book, and that the amount of our apportionment be raised as soon as possible.

3. We recommend, That a series of general meetings be held among the churches of this conference, during the early part of this fall and winter, under the supervision of the conference committee, said meetings to last three or four days each, according to the judgment of those in charge. These meetings should embrace the various features of our work, and the spiritual uplifting of our people.

Whereas, We have been told through the spirit of prophecy that great good can

and should be accomplished by our camp meetings; therefore,—

4. Resolved, That we hold a camp meeting for this conference in the early part of the summer of 1903, the definite time and place for said meeting to be decided by the conference committee.

5. We recommend, That our people take up the envelope, or free circulating library, plan of supplying their neighbors with our smaller publications.

Whereas, At a council of the General Conference Committee, held at Battle Creek, Mich., Oct. 20, 1901, it was recommended that a uniform system of church accounting be employed by church treasurers; and,—

Whereas, The form of the financial church-record book, designed and recommended by said committee, is hereby approved; therefore,—

6. Resolved, That we employ the form of accounting entitled Financial Church Record, for future use in the churches of this conference.

Whereas, The spirit of prophecy has spoken definitely concerning the work of the REVIEW, The Signs of the Times, and The Sentinel, for which the providence of God has brought them into being, therefore,—

7. We recommend, That our people be encouraged to take these papers for their own special benefit, as well as to do missionary work with them among their friends and neighbors; and we would further recommend that special efforts be made to have the Atlantic Union Gleaner placed in the homes of our people.

Whereas, Our presses are running on commercial work, and,—

Whereas, Millions in our conference have not yet been supplied with the truth in printed form, therefore,—

8. Resolved, That we as officers, ministers, and people should awake to our duty as sensible business men, and as Christians, in doing our part to utilize to the full the facilities ordained of God to give the message to the world in this last generation.

9. We recommend, That the plan suggested by the president in his address, namely, that a systematic plan of giving be followed, and that slips be distributed monthly by our church elders and by the leaders of companies for the purpose of raising means for our local work, be adopted in this conference.

10. Resolved, That Sabbath-school conventions be held throughout the conference, the work to begin at an early date; and that when general meetings are held, at least one day be devoted to the Sabbath-school work.

11. We recommend, That our churches be instructed to pay their tithes to the church treasurer once a month, and that the church treasurer be instructed to forward the same as frequently to the treasurer of the conference.

12. We recommend, That we recognize the dignity and importance of the work of our canvassing missionary evangelists who have demonstrated their efficiency and devotion to the work, by issuing to them suitable credentials.

Whereas, The endowed bed at the New England Sanitarium has accomplished, under God, great good for many of our brethren and sisters,—

Whereas, The bed can still be had by this conference for the small sum of two hundred and fifty dollars for the year,—

13. We recommend, That we continue to support such a bed in this institution.

14. We recommend, That the conference committee be requested to give their special thought and consideration for the devising of some plan or plans whereby our faithful and devoted canvassers may be kept continuously in the field.

Whereas, The Lord has for years been giving definite instruction concerning the church’s obligations to instruct our children in our own schools, and,—

Whereas, We have been told that our children should be taught the principles of “Christian education,” therefore,—

15. Resolved, That our churches be encouraged to have church schools for our children when it can be done with the counsel and co-operation of the conference committee.

16. We recommend, That a committee of three be appointed by the chair to make a selection or classification of tracts to be used in our envelope plan.

17. We recommend, That all our churches make special effort to place our books and papers in the public libraries, Y. M. C. A. rooms, and libraries of Sunday schools.

18. We recommend, That we support a minister in a foreign field,— this minister to go from this conference, or if selected from another conference, then one of our ministers is to supply the vacancy.

As a result of a unanimous vote, the following officers were elected: President, A. E. Place; Secretary and Treasurer, H. B. Tucker; Secretary of Missionary Department, E. E. Miles; Secretary of Sabbath-school Department, Mrs. Viola Gustin; General Canvassing Agent, H. C. Wilcox; Conference Committee, A. E. Place, M. D. Mattson, K. C. Russell, D. B. Parmelee, H. H. Stacy; Auditor, Geo. W. Palmer; Delegates to General Conference, A. E. Place, K. C. Russell.

Credentials were granted to A. E. Place, M. D. Mattson, A. H. Clark, Geo. B. Wheeler, F. C. Gilbert, K. C. Russell, E. E. Miles. Ministerial licenses were given to D. B. Parmelee, Frederick Griggs, H. N. Sisco. Missionary licenses were given to C. E. Palmer, Mrs. M. A. Scribner, Mrs. Ella M. Wilber, A. James Clark, Herbert C. Hartwell.

A. E. PLACE, Pres., H. B. TUCKER, Sec.