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The General Conference Committee Council at Gland, Switzerland

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Review and Herald Publishing Association · Takoma Park Station, Washington, D. C. · Jun 20, 1907

FromReview and Herald, Vol. 84, No. 25.

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The General Conference Committee Council at Gland, Switzerland

By William Ambrose Spicer

Third Report

Still the council faces, day by day, in its study of the fields, the divine call to bring every resource into service for the closing work. The following recommendations were passed:—
Whereas, There are in our ranks many thousands of young people for whom the most earnest and vigorous efforts should be put forth to fully instruct them in the gospel of our Lord, and lead them to give themselves to the work of the third angel’s message; and,—
Whereas, The special blessing of God has attended the efforts among our young people put forth under the fostering care of the Sabbath-school Department, until it has grown to such an extent that it is difficult for this department to give this work the attention and help which it needs; therefore,—
Resolved, That in order that this work may be properly developed, and thus an army of workers properly trained for service, a special department, with the necessary officers, be created, the same to be known as the Young People’s Department of the General Conference.
In the discussion of the action by representatives present, it was testified that the youth of the denomination in all the world are being moved by one common impulse to offer themselves for service.
The time for the next week of prayer was set for December 14-21, and the program of readings was arranged.

Growth and Organization in Europe

An action of the council in furtherdeveloping the organization of the work in Europe was discussed with deepest interest. Elder L. R. Conradi, vice-president for Europe, first spoke of the growth since the General Conference in 1901, and recommended the organization of all these fields under a general European Conference. Then, he said, there were no unions, and but seven conferences in Europe; now there are three union conferences and two union missions, with sixteen conferences and twenty-three mission fields.
From the organization of the European field into unions, a strong movement forward is seen in the work. The membership now, 14,000, is double that at the time of organizing the field. The finances have more than doubled. In the last two years $233,000 tithe has been paid, and nearly $40,000 in offerings. In the last two years 4,765 members have been taken into the churches. The spirit of prophecy had said in the beginning of the work that as the field was organized, growth would appear. Every array of statistics presented bore witness to this truth. In four years after the union organization in Great Britain, as many were added to the churches as in the twenty-three years preceding. The blessing of God has rested upon all the fields as the laborers have pressed forward, and the work has been organized. After Elder Conradi’s outline, the council discussed and adopted the following recommendations:—
Whereas, The signal blessing of God has attended the efforts that have been made to establish the cause of the third angel’s message in Europe, thereby creating many grave responsibilities to be borne; and,—
Whereas, The organization of union conferences and union mission fields has located in Europe a number of members of the General Conference Committee; and,—
Whereas, The General Conference has elected a vice-president to take the general supervision of its work in the European division of the field; therefore, we recommend the following:—
1. That the organization known as the European General Conference, organized by advice of the General Conference in 1901, be discontinued.
2. That a secretary of the European division of the General Conference, who may be a member of the General Conference Committee, be associated with the European vice-president, to assist in carrying forward the work in this vast field.
3. That the General Conference Committee appoint a subtreasurer to receive and disburse, under such arrangements as may be established, the General Conference funds of the European division of the General Conference.
4. That the vice-president and other members of the General Conference Committee in the European division meet for counsel at such times as the needs of the cause may require, and that the European members of the General Conference departmental committees be invited to meet in counsel with the European members of the General Conference Committee at least once a year.
5. That such steps be taken as may be deemed necessary to prepare the way for the organization of a Russian Union Conference at an early date.
6. That a superintendent be chosen for the Latin Union Mission field, who can give his entire time to the development of its interests.
7. That as far as possible the vice-president of the European division of the General Conference be left free from official responsibilities in local organizations, that he may have more time to attend to the larger and more general interests of the field, and visit other fields as may be arranged by the General Conference Committee.
8. That a subtreasury for the European field be provided by the General Conference, with a competent treasurer, to foster and encourage the raising of mission funds.
9. That the funds belonging to this subtreasury consist of (1) tithes of all union conference tithes; (2) all the tithes paid in mission fields in European territory not included in organized union conferences; (3) all annual offerings; (4) all First-day offerings; (5) all Sabbath-school offerings; (6) all foreign mission donations; (7) all appropriations from the General Conference for mission work in European territory.
10. That the European members of the General Conference Committee shall, at the beginning of each fiscal year, submit to the treasurer of the General Conference a detailed estimate of all prospective receipts and disbursements of such fields as require appropriations for the ensuing year.
11. That these needs be covered by appropriations by the General Conference Committee as far as the funds of the General Conference will permit.
12. That all General Conference appropriations or funds for European territory be paid through the European subtreasury.
13. That the accounts of all laborers not employed by union and local conferences in the European field, be audited by the General Conference Auditing Committee.
14. That the treasurer of the subtreasury be instructed to make monthly remittances to each field receiving support through his department, in harmony with the previous appropriations by the General Conference Committee.
15. That this subtreasury report monthly to the treasurer of the General Conference all receipts and disbursements, together with all available cash on hand.
Elder Conradi called attention to the fact that, as we look over the map of Europe, we can thank God that every country is now provided with workers, except Servia and Montenegro, and we have fifty Servians in the truth in Hungary, and hope soon to be in Servia itself. From Iceland to Mt. Ararat our line stretches, and from Portugal to Siberia. An ordained minister of the German Union is now in Turkestan, at Tashkend and Samarcand, and will soon be on to Omsk and central Siberian regions, where we have believers.

Educational

In connection with reports by the representatives of the union conferences in the United States, which were followed with interest by the European brethren, Prof. F. Griggs, chairman of the Educational Department, reviewed the outlook among our 567 schools. There are 870 teachers employed. The total assets of our schools are estimated at $1,200,000. The schools are working on the basis that the one purpose of our educational system is to prepare workers for carrying on this message.
Later the subcommittee on education presented its report, which was adopted, as follows:—
Whereas, There is a most urgent call for trained workers in both home and foreign fields; and,—
Whereas, We have hundreds of young men and women who would make valuable workers provided they had sufficient education; therefore,—
1. Resolved, That we urge upon all our union conferences throughout the world the importance of educating and enlisting in the service of our cause every consecrated young man and woman in our ranks; and that to this end they establish and maintain at least one advanced school in each union conference.
2. We recommend, That each of our union conferences establish and maintain an educational fund to assist worthy young men and women to secure an education in our advanced schools, for service.
Whereas, Experience has taught us that counsel and co-operation in all branches of our work are of great value; and,—
Whereas, There is need of a better development and more thorough organization of our educational work in the European field; therefore,—
3. Resolved, That the General Conference Committee arrange for and hold an educational convention for the European field during the summer of 1908.
4. Resolved, That we call the attention of our people all over the world to the importance of church-schools, and that we urge that such schools be established and maintained wherever consistent.
5. Resolved, That we advise the managers of our various schools to conform themselves, as far as possible, to the courses of study as outlined by the General Conference Educational Convention of 1906.
The European brethren were deeply interested in discussing the educational work. The Latin Union Training-school particularly needs fostering care, as so many youth in these Catholic lands need help to secure means to attend school. Then, too, in most of the continental countries our youth, at the very age when others in other lands are pressing into the training colleges, are here compelled to turn aside for from two to three or five years of military service. But our youth of Europe are pressing through into the work just the same. It was felt that where unions, such as the Latin, find it difficult to raise a propereducational fund, other unions ought to help.

Study of the Fields

One of the most important features of the council has been the study of the fields and work. It is the first time the little army of workers in Europe, amid the victories and perplexities of their fields, have had opportunity to meet in General Conference Committee council.
When the German Union began its report, twenty-one conference presidents and superintendents of missions or departments lined the platform. Their reports are not yet completed. In 1898, Elder Conradi said the first German conference was organized. Now there are nine fully organized conferences, which means the addition of a new conference every year. Each conference pays a second tithe for missions, and not a conference has a debt. There are 8,600 members in the German Union, amid a population of 300,000,000. Their tithes for 1906 were, in round numbers, $80,000, and the gifts, $20,000.
Of the German-Swiss Conference, Elder H. F. Schuberth reported an increase of over $1,000 in the last year’s tithe, and told how their work among the recesses of the Alpine valleys and mountains suggested the prophet’s description of the sending of many hunters to hunt out the people amid the rocks and caves.
Elder J. T. Boettcher, of the South German field, reported religious freedom, as regards public meetings, in Wurtemberg. In Baden they are free to hold a meeting under cover—even an umbrella over the heads out of doors meets the law. Nearly all the religious papers have tried to put our work down and stir up oppression, but in vain. In Bavaria for a long time meetings had to be held secretly. Brethren were repeatedly fined for attending meetings. There he learned to speak low so as not to attract the attention of police. But now, as the brethren have petitioned and prayed for years, liberty to meet has just been granted. At the first meeting afterward, a church elder writes, the believers sang a hymn and prayed, things before forbidden, and then their hearts were so full that they sang again and prayed again, and rejoiced together at the mercies of the Lord. But in this conference canvassers sold $16,074 worth of books in 1906, and seventy-three members were added to the church in the first quarter of 1907.
Elder H. J. Loebsack reported for the East Russian Conference, which stretches down through the Caucasus to the Persian border. Several times the field of which this is a part was divided. “Every time we divided the conference into smaller and more workable divisions,” he said, “we had at the end of the year following as many believers in each division as we had before in both together.” “At first we did not like dividing and losing territory,” he said, “but now we believe in dividing up the work and going at it systematically.” In 1906 in his field there have been baptized eighty-five, mostly Russians. They have twenty-two churches, German, Russian, and Cossack. They are with us in the message to all the world. As he showed to a Cossack church pictures from the REVIEW, views of India and Africa, and spoke of workers laying down their lives for the truth, his Cossack translator wept, and the entire congregation wept, and all desire to do everything possible to send the message onward. These stern-looking Cossacks are loyal Seventh-day Adventists.
Sabbath, May 18, the second Sabbath of the council, was a blessed day. Elder R. C. Porter spoke Friday evening, referring to providential workings to hold back the elements of oppression to allow the sealing message to go forward. Sabbath morning Elder Irwin spoke from 2 Kings 5:26: “Is it a time to receive money, and to receive garments, and olive yards, and vineyards, and sheep, and oxen, and men servants, and maid servants?” Not for this world, but for the world to come, God’s people must now live. In the afternoon Elder G. B. Thompson spoke on the supreme necessity of receiving the Holy Spirit, the gift that comes with the yielding up of every sin and the surrender of all to God, as we ask in faith for the enduement of power for service. The entire council and congregation joined in a consecration service. The presence and power of the Holy Spirit were realized in a blessed measure.
In the hour between five and six o’clock Brother Fant, of Italy, related his experience. As a priest in Rome he was rebuked for liberal tendencies and was cast out. Losing confidence in the only religion he knew, he was practically an atheist, but longed for rest of soul. Often at Florence he looked at the beautiful Arno River, and thought what a quiet rest he might find in its depths. But he cried out for the God who made the world to reveal himself to him. Then a Protestant tract led him toward the light. He bought a Bible, and returned to Rome, studying with the Baptists and Methodists and others. He was helped, but still sought for certainty and rest. A young man brought him to Brother Everson, of our mission in Rome, and there he found “the Christ of prophecy.” The study of prophetic truth made the Bible a new book, and now he is laboring in the message. At Turin and Monasterollo he has found souls now awaiting baptism. He said: “Once dead, I am now alive; once in chains, now free; once a slave, now a son of God,—why should I not praise God?”
W. A. SPICER, Secretary.