EDUCATIONAL DEPARTMENT OF THE GENERAL CONFERENCE by J. M. Kellogg; P. T. Magan

Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association · Battle Creek, Mich. · May 28, 1901

EDUCATIONAL DEPARTMENT OF THE GENERAL CONFERENCE.

By J. M. Kellogg; P. T. Magan

At the last General Conference the idea prevailed that men engaged in different branches of the work should become members of the General Conference Committee, so as to give as wide a representation as possible to the various lines of usefulness of which the Third Angel’s Message is composed.

The General Conference Committee has been divided into departments, each department having a separate and distinct sphere of work. The matter of education has received a great deal of attention, and a department has been constituted, consisting of the following members: J. H. Kellogg (chairman), E. A. Sutherland, Frederick Griggs, David Paulson, A. T. Jones, W. W. Prescott, and P. T. Magan (secretary). The General Conference Committee as a whole, formulated certain recommendations, the same to be a basis of operation and policy for the Educational Department. These are as follows:—

1. That the Educational Department is to act as a committee of reference in relation to educational matters.

2. That the Educational Department is to act as an intermediary between the different schools in adjusting matters of difference, and promoting the interests of the several schools.

3. That the Educational Department is to assist in an advisory way in supplying properly qualified teachers for the different schools.

4. That the Educational Department is to suggest plans for promoting and properly representing the educational work at the camp-meetings and other large gatherings.

5. That the Educational Department is to act as a book committee in relation to the different school- and text-books, providing for the writing of books by suitable authors, and planning for the introduction of suitable books into our schools.

6. The Educational Department is to take the general supervision in an advisory way of Battle Creek College when it shall be organized as a missionary training school, and is to assist in the organization of the school.

7. The Educational Department is to provide and develop the church and Conference schools in all fields.

It is the earnest wish of all the members of the committee to do all in their power to promote the general welfare of our educational work all over the field. The committee has no desire to act in an arbitrary manner, or to interfere in the internal affairs of the various local colleges, academies, and other educational institutions, but rather to originate lines of educational thought, and work to stimulate a general interest in this most important branch of the message, and to assist all the colleges, academies, and industrial schools in their work, by helping them to secure good teachers, by providing for the writing of useful text-books, and by such other general means as may seem necessary from time to time.

The Department has held several meetings, and has passed a number of important actions.

A general plan for an educational journal is being considered, and definite announcements concerning the same will be made as soon as this plan can be perfected, and as soon as it has been agreed to by all parties interested.

The Department is also planning to hold a special summer school and institute at Gull Lake, near Battle Creek, Mich. The summer school will probably open about the first of July, and will last ten weeks. It will close with a special institute for the teachers of our colleges, academies, industrial schools, and those who have taken part

in the work of teaching in our church schools. It is the desire of the Department to make this summer school and institute of the greatest possible benefit, and a number of our leading teachers and workers from all over the field are being invited to compose a faculty for the same. Family tents will be provided, free of cost, for the accommodation of all who wish to attend. There will be no charge for tuition. A special committee, consisting of the following-named persons, has been appointed to take charge of this summer school and institute:—

Prof. E. A. Sutherland (chairman), Dr. S. P. S. Edwards, Prof. Frederick Griggs, Elder A. G. Daniells, Dr. Lillian Eshelman, Miss M. B. DeGraw, and Prof. H. R. Salisbury. This committee will make full announcements, giving complete details in regard to the work, at a later date.

J. M. KELLOGG, Chairman.

P. T. MAGAN, Secretary.