At the time of the General Conference held in London, at which all the European fields were represented, several matters were left over for consideration at the various local conferences to be held during the summer.
The Denmark Conference
THE CITY OF BERGEN, NORWAY
The earliest of the local conferences convened at Copenhagen, Denmark, June 3-8. Sixty-four delegates represented the Danish churches. The report of the president, Elder P. A. Hansen, showed that between seventy-five and eighty persons had been baptized during the year. The financial condition had been much improved, and the prospects for the coming year were good. Brethren A. G. Daniells, N. P. Nelson, H. W. Cottrell, C. W. Flaiz, and H. Shultz were present from America. Elder Conradi also attended this meeting. Two organized churches were received into the Denmark sisterhood of churches, increasing the membership of the conference by thirty-three.
Recommendations were passed urging that a school be established for the education of the youth, and that the sale of “Christ's Object Lessons” be encouraged, to assist in this enterprise; that the denominational paper, Evangeliets Sendebud, be more widely circulated; and that the canvassing work be strengthened. A committee was appointed to revise tracts that were applicable to the needs of the field, and also to prepare new ones for circulation.
The time devoted to preaching services was divided between the native and foreign workers. Drs. N. P. Nelson and J. H. Kellogg spoke on health topics, the latter having arrived near the close of the meeting.
The Norway Conference
At the close of the Denmark meeting, the sixteenth annual meeting of the Norway Conference was held in Bethel, Christiania, June 10-15. At the opening of the conference, thirteen of the twenty-one churches were represented. A number of companies unable to send delegates sent telegrams expressing their interest in the meeting, and praying for divine guidance during the session in all its deliberations.
One encouraging feature of the work during the past year was the fact that the brethren and sisters had so liberally responded to special calls for money that the conference and tract society had been able to liquidate their debt to the publishing house.
The recommendations passed at this conference were quite similar to those of the Denmark Conference. But in addition to these, it was urged that a special effort be made to strengthen the Sabbath-school work, both by encouraging the study of the lessons and by assisting the churches in more properly organizing their Sabbath schools, and also that the church schools be increased during the year.
One recommendation will be of interest to our brethren in America:—
“Whereas, Our hearts to-day are full of gratitude to God for his wonderful deliverance in our time of great need in Norway; and as our brethren in Amer- ica and other parts of the world so nobly came to our rescue, not only with their counsel, but with what money we needed to pay the banks, and thus save the cause of God from the reproach of our enemies; therefore,—
“Resolved, That we ask our brethren who are present from America to convey our sincere thanks to our beloved brethren beyond the great Atlantic, for all the help and encouragement they have sent us in our time of need.”
The health work was not neglected at this conference. One session was devoted to the presentation of reports from the field. There are three places in Norway where medical missionary work is regularly carried on,—Christiania, where we have a water-cure establishment under the superintendency of O. J. Olsen, which is controlled by the conference, and in Bergen and Hamar, where there are treatment rooms. These are private, self-supporting undertakings, conducted in harmony with the light God has been pleased to give us on this subject.
The treasurer's report showed that during the year the conference had had an income of Kr. 713.07 more than expenses, and there was a gain in the book missions of Kr. 2,733.11, in spite of the depressing financial condition of the country. About seventy had accepted the truth in Norway during the past twelve months.
The Swedish Conference
The next to be held was the Swedish Conference, which convened in its twenty-first annual meeting, at Nyhyttan, Jarnboas, June 18-24. This is the country place where the Swedish school and farm are located. Sixty-eight delegates were present, and about two hundred brethren from all parts of Sweden. At this meeting, as also at the other gatherings on the Continent, the American delegates were present.
A resolution was adopted, that since the General Conference in America had given the plates for printing “Christ's Object Lessons,” the publishing house in Stockholm bear all the expense connected with the publishing and binding of five thousand copies of this book, and that the church members be encouraged to sell, on an average, seven copies per capita, without receiving any commission, the money thus raised to be used expressly for school and medical missionary work in Sweden.
Plans were also laid to strengthen the medical missionary work, by personal effort, by opening a health home at Örebro or some other suitable place before October 1, and by collecting means for the establishment of the health food factory in the country, and the publication and circulation of suitable health literature.
At both the Swedish and Norwegian Conferences it was decided to support the work of the conference from nine tenths of the tithe, paying one tenth of14the tithe, as well as the Sabbath-school and week-of-prayer offerings, to a general fund to be used in mission fields.
At the close of the conference year, March 31, 1902, there were twenty-eight churches in Sweden, with a total membership of 744. The year's tithe was $3,499.43; while the donations were $398.31, and the book sales $22,515.88.
