p. 24 | The Next General Conference by Editor

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Takoma Park Station, Washington, D. C. · Oct 3, 1912

The Next General Conference

By Editor

The question as to the location of the next General Conference was carefully considered at the recent council. Invitations were received from the citizens of Nashville, Tenn.; Springfield, Ill.; Atlanta, Ga.; and cities in other sections of the country, for the meeting to be held in those cities. These were carefully considered, and without local bias or prejudice the question was discussed in its various bearings. It seemed to the council that the next General Conference should be an occasion of earnestly seeking the Lord, and of carefully considering plans for the extension of the work. Many large problems will come before the delegates, calling for prayerful and earnest consideration. It was felt that it would be much better to hold a meeting of this character in some quiet place rather than in a large city and in connection with a great public effort. Then, too, it was felt that in behalf of the foreign delegates, the majority of whom would come by the way of the Atlantic, some meeting-place on the Atlantic seaboard would be preferable to some inland center. Of the several places in the East which were considered, it seemed to the brethren that Takoma Park, Washington, D. C., presented the largest advantages. It was therefore decided to hold the next General Conference at this place.

There was a time years ago when there existed between our publishing houses more or less a spirit of rivalry. Our offices were then engaged in commercial work, and entered the great commercial field as competitors with one another as well as with the publishing houses of the world. We are glad to say, however, that this spirit belongs to the past. Our publishing houses and those connected with them realize to-day that they are a part of a great movement; that the interests of the world-wide work are their interests; that in common with their brethren they stand for the promotion of a great cause of truth, and therefore they must labor shoulder to shoulder and heart to heart. In connection with the General Conference Committee Council, representatives of the four American publishing houses met together for counsel regarding the carrying forward of the publishing work. Brethren R. Hook and W. W. Eastman were present from the South, F. F. Byington from the International Publishing Association, and C. H. Jones and S. N. Curtiss represented the work of the Pacific Press. These brethren, together with the representatives of the Review and Herald Publishing Association, discussed many questions of mutual interest which will make for the furtherance of the work in the future.