p. 102 | Tenth Annual Report of the N. Y. and Pa. Conference

Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association · Battle Creek, Mich. · Sep 12, 1871

Tenth Annual Report of the N. Y. and Pa. Conference.

By John Nevins Andrews; R. F. Cottrell

CONFERENCE convened at the encampment near Kirkville, N. Y., Aug. 9, 1871. Twenty-four churches were represented by twenty-seven delegates, and three by letter. Three new churches (unorganized) were received to the Conference with their delegates, making in all thirty churches with thirty delegates present.

Bro. Littlejohn and all brethren present in good standing were invited to take part in the deliberations.

The Secretary’s report of last session was called for and read. It was voted that the chairman, Bro. J. N. Andrews, appoint the committees. The following were appointed: On Settlement, H. Hilliard, Delos Green, L. R. Chapel, P. Z. Kinne, Wm. Coats, and J. M. Lindsay; on Resolutions, W. H. Littlejohn, R. F. Cottrell, and S. B. Whitney; on Nominations, Hiram Edson, Henry Hilliard, and C. O. Taylor.

Reports from ministers and licentiates being called for, brief reports were made by the following brethren: R. F. Cottrell, S. B. Whitney, C. O. Taylor, H. Edson, F. Wheeler, W. W. Stebbins, H. H. Wilcox, A. Ross, C. B. Reynolds, W. H. Wild, J. N. Andrews, and sister S. A. H. Lindsey.

Remarks were made by Brn. Littlejohn and Andrews, showing the inutility, from the experience of the past, of entering upon a course of lectures immediately following a camp-meeting, in the same place. The effort at Oneida, N. Y., and others in the West were cited as examples.

The credentials of the following ministers were renewed: C. O. Taylor, S. B. Whitney, J. N. Andrews, R. F. Cottrell, H. Edson, and F. Wheeler; also those of David Arnold as a local preacher.

A committee of five, namely, J. M. Lindsay, C. A. Osgood, S. B. Craig, H. Brown, and D. C. Phillips, was appointed to examine the cases of those who have heretofore held licenses from the Conference, and recommend those for ordination who, in their judgment, should be ordained and receive full credentials. The committee reported on the case of Bro. Chas. B. Reynolds, and, on their recommendation, it was decided to renew his license, leaving it with the Executive Committee to recommend his ordination, at the end of four months, should this be their judgment.

Licenses were given to W. W. Stebbins, H. H. Wilcox, and sister S. A. H. Lindsey; and the cases of W. H. Wild, Bro. A. Ross and wife, and sister E. M. Hicks, were referred to the Executive Committee.

The Committee on Resolutions reported the following, which were unanimously adopted:

1. That we express our gratitude to God for the light which has shone upon our pathway from the prophetic Scriptures relative to the near advent of our Redeemer, and to the final establishment of his kingdom in our earth; also, that we have seen the excellence of the law of God, and have been led to obey all its precepts; and in especial manner do we thank him that he has connected the Spirit of prophecy with the final message of warning to mankind.

2. That we acknowledge our obligation to God for the sacred truths which he has given us, and that we pledge ourselves to him, and to each other, that we will be faithful in living in obedience to them ourselves, and in doing what lies in our power to lead others also to obey.

3. That we express our thankfulness to God for the prosperous condition of our institutions at Battle Creek, and that we express the earnest desire that the same efficient management, which, under God’s blessing, has been attended with such prosperity, may still be continued there.

4. That we assume the responsibility of collecting for the Publishing Association and paying what is due to it within the bounds of our Conference for the REVIEW, Health Reformer, and Instructor.

5. That we invite those who feel impressed with the conviction that they should become laborers in this work to make known their cases to the Conference Committee; and that we recommend to their favorable consideration the cases of those who have real Christian experience and a just sense of the sacredness of the work.

6. That we appropriate $200.00 from our fund in hand, and $300.00 from that in the hands of the Publishing Association. [To what the $500 was appropriated, the report does not say.—Ed.]

7. That we amend our constitution by inserting in Art. 2, Sec. 4, after the words, “To audit and settle accounts with ministers and others in the employ of the Conference,” the following words, viz.: “In connection with a committee of six lay brethren, to be appointed by the Conference at each session thereof.”

8. That we change the beginning of our Conference year from the first of October to the first of August in each year.

The following officers were elected for the ensuing year: President, P. Z. Kinne, of Kirkville, N. Y.; other members of the Executive Committee, E. B. Gaskill and Harmon Lindsay, of Olcott, N. Y.; Secretary, S. B. Whitney, of Keene, Essex Co., N. Y.; Treasurer, A. M. Green. [Will Bro. Green give his address through the REVIEW?]

The Auditing Committee reported, and their report was accepted.

The following persons were chosen as a camp-meeting committee: Buel L. Whitney, Samuel Abbey, John Parmalee, A. M. Green, J. M. Lindsay, Daniel Bowe, and C. W. Lindsay.

To Buel L. Whitney, of Malone, Franklin Co., N. Y., was committed the oversight of the work of collecting the dues on our periodicals, and to Harmon Lindsay, of Olcott, Niagara Co., N. Y., that of raising means for the Health Institute.

Votes of thanks were passed to our camp-meeting committee, and to the liberal gentleman on whose grounds our meeting was held.

Voted, To publish our proceedings in the REVIEW.

Adjourned without day.

J. N. ANDREWS, Pres.

R. F. COTTRELL, Sec.