What Can We Learn from the

Administrative/Authority Crisis
(1901-1903)
by Artur Stele, PhD
The Need for Reorganization
Numerical Growth
Institutional Growth

Increasingly International Church

Financial Challenges
The Need for Decentralization and Centralization at the Same Time
Dangers of “Kingly Power”
Numerical Growth

1863----3500

1900---66547 (75767 Sabbath keepers)

1900 ---1892 Churches and 437 companies
Institutional Growth

Health Institutions
Educational Institutions
Publishing Institutions
Numerous Societies and Associations
 Increasingly International Church
not a complete list

Germany-2093 British Guiana – 229

Australia -1878 Trinidad - 220
Russia -1079 Chile -160
Jamaica - 961 Lesser Antilles – 158
Great Britain – 862 Central America - 136
Sweden – 748 Finland – 60
Brazil - 697 India – 39
Norway – 683 Japan – 24
Central Europe – 674 Iceland – 18
Denmark – 626 Egypt – 10
New Zealand – 497 Palestine - 10
South Africa 425 China – 8
Argentina - 386
Financial Challenges
Although the World-wide tithe reached half a million in 1900 (510,258.97)
The office of the General Conference had a deficit at the beginning of 1901 $41,589.11
Institutions were in the business of borrowing money
In 1901 Institutional dept was $1,250,000.00
Inability to send out new Missionaries (1897-1899 no new work abroad opened)

“There is abundant means. Seventh-day Adventists have plenty of money, but it

does not all belong to the Church. That is the trouble. … And it is a question worth
asking, whether, if my money belongs to the world, whether I belong to the
church.”

Sermon of Elder A.T. JONES, March 29, 1903.

The Need for Decentralization and
Centralization at the Same Time
Mission has suffered, because all the Important Decisions needed
to be approved by the Central Office
Those with extended foreign missionary experience (Arthur G. Daniells, Ellen G. White,
William C. White, W.A. Spicer etc.) were advocating a need for change in structure

Institutions, Societies and Associations were not directly administered

by the General Conference or State Conferences, but were legally
incorporated,
and had their own governing boards/committees
 Dangers of “Kingly Power”
The Question of Authority was always in the air from the beginning

Decision making Power in the hands of few man and sometimes only one
GC Executive Committee: 1863-3
1883-5
1887-7
1889-9
1893-11
1899-13

Authoritarian Style of some Leaders. See George Butler’s

concept of Leadership and the harsh response from E. G. White
“A sick man’s mind has had a controlling power
over the General Conference Committee and
the ministers have been the shadow and echo
of Elder Butler…
Elder Butler, we think, has been in office three
years too long and now all humility and
lowliness of mind have departed from him. He
thinks his position gives him such power that
his voice is infallible.” 1888 183.1-2
“The president of the General
Conference, if he is walking in the
counsel of God, will not encourage his
brethren to look to him to define their
duty, but will direct them to the only
Source that is untainted with the errors
of humanity. He will refuse to be mind
and conscience for others...” 9MR 140.3
“The Lord is the only one upon whom we can with
safety depend, and He is accessible in every place and
to every church in the Union. To place men where God
should be placed does not honor or glorify God. Is the
president of the General Conference to be the God of
the people? Are the men at Battle Creek to be regarded
as infinite in wisdom? When the Lord shall work upon
human hearts and human intellects, principles and
practices different from this will be set before the
people. Cease ye from man.” TM 375.2
“Never should the mind of one man or
the minds of a few men be regarded as
sufficient in wisdom and power to
control the work and say what plans
shall be followed.” 13MR 192.3
Church a multidimensional Entity

[Link], Theological Entity

[Link], Physical Entity

Church, as a spiritual entity the
body of Christ

Church, as a physical entity an

organization
Church, as a spiritual entity the
Head of the Church: Jesus Christ

Church, as a physical entity the

leader: President/Executive Com.
If Christ is the Head of the Church, does He
works through the leader(s) only, or
through every member of the Body?
 IN SEARCH OF A BALANCE

Christ the Head of the One Man Leadership

Church Kingly Power
Christ the Head of the Church

A.T. Jones G.I. Butler

E.J. Waggoner GC President
W.W. Prescott 1871-1874
1880-1888
And others…

E. G. White
“O how Satan would rejoice to get in among this
people, and disorganize the work at a time when
thorough organization is essential, …
We want to hold the lines evenly, that there shall be no
breaking down of the system of regulation and order. …
We are living in a time when order, system, and unity of
action are most essential.” E. G. White SpTA03 60.2
“I learn that it is proposed by some of our
brethren to do away with the organization of
some at least of the branches of our work. No
doubt what has led them to propose this step is
that in some of our organizations the machinery
has been made so complicated as really to hinder
the work. This, however, is not an argument
against organization, but against the perversion
of it.” Unpublished Testimony. GCDB February 27, 1899 Par.
3
“The Lord has not placed any one of His human
agencies under the dictation and control of those
who are themselves but erring mortals. He has
not placed upon men the power to say, You shall
do this, and you shall not do that. But there is a
power exercised in Battle Creek that God has not
given, and He will judge those who assume this
authority. …
Far less of man’s power and authority should be
exercised toward God’s human agencies.
Brethren, leave God to rule.” TM 347.3
 James White:

“Organization was designed to secure unity of

action, and as a protection from imposture. It
was never intended as a scourge to compel
obedience, but, rather, for the protection of
the people of God. Christ does not drive his
people. He calls them…
Human creeds cannot produce unity. Church
force cannot press the church into one body.
Christ never designed that human minds
should be molded for Heaven by the
influence merely of other human minds.
"The head of every man is Christ." His part is
to lead, and to mold, and to stamp his own
image upon the heirs of eternal glory
However important organization may be
for the protection of the church, and to
secure harmony of action, it must not
come in to take the disciple from the
hands of the Master.”
James White, ORGANIZATION AND DISCIPLINE, R&H
January 4, 1881
 In Words of James White

Unsanctified “Between the

Independents two extremes,
Church Force
of church
force, and
unsanctified
independence,
we find the
grand secret of
unity and
efficiency in
the ministry
and in the
church of God”
R&H Jan 4, 1881
“What we want now is a reorganization. We want
to begin at the foundation, and to build upon a
different principle.” E. G. White GCB April 3, 1901 Par. 25
“There must be a renovation, a reorganization; a power
and strength must be brought into the committees...”
E. G. White GCB April 3, 1901 Par. 37

“Now I want to say, God has not put any kingly power
in our ranks to control this or that branch of the work.
The work has been greatly restricted by the efforts to
control it in every line.” E. G. White GCB April 3, 1901 Par. 34
Key Decisions Made in 1901
1. Creation of Union Conferences/Missions as the Constituent
Bodies of the General Conference
2. Auxiliary organizations to became Departments of the
Church/GC; Unions; Local Conferences…
3. The Title “President” to be Replaced with “Chairman of the
Executive Committee
4. Executive Committee to have 25 members. Chairman to be
Chosen by the Executive Committee
“Who do you suppose has been among us since this
Conference began? Who has kept away the objectionable
features that generally appear in such a meeting? Who
has walked up and down the aisles of this Tabernacle?—
The God of heaven and his angels. And they did not come
here to tear you in pieces, but to give you right and
peaceable minds. They have been among us to work the
works of God, to keep back the powers of darkness, that
the work God designed should be done should not be
hindered. The angels of God have been working among
us.” GCB April 25, 1901 – GCB April 25, 1901
“During the General Conference the Lord
wrought mightily for His people. Every
time I think of that meeting, a sweet
solemnity comes over me, and sends a
glow of gratitude to my soul. We have
seen the stately steppings of the Lord our
Redeemer. We praise His holy name, for
He has brought deliverance to His
people.” R&H, November 26, 1901.
 1902 –Struggle for Power

1901 – 78188 Sabbath Keepers 69356 Members in organized Churches and Companies

1902 – 73522 Sabbath Keepers 67150 Members in organized Churches and Companies
“The result of the last General Conference has been the
greatest, the most terrible, sorrow of my life. No change
was made. The spirit that should have been brought into
the whole work as the result of that meeting was not
brought in because men did not receive the testimonies
of the Spirit of God. As they went to their several fields of
labor, they did not walk in the light that the Lord had
flashed upon their pathway, but carried into their work
the wrong principles that had been prevailing in the work
at Battle Creek.” 13MR 122.3
Key Decisions Made in 1903
1. All Institutions, Including the Medical Ones, to be Owned
by General Conference/Union/State Conference/Organized
Mission Field

2. Office of the President Reinstated

3. Officers Should be Elected by the

Delegates in Session
 “To the leaders in the medical missionary
work I must say that no one is to claim kingly
power over God’s heritage in the medical
missionary work.” E. G. White GCB April 10, 1903 Par. 7

“The kingly power formerly exhibited in the

General Conference at Battle Creek is not to be
perpetuated. The publishing institution is not to
be a kingdom of itself.” E G. White GCB April 10, 1903 Par. 13
“Wherefore I will not be negligent to put
you always in remembrance of these
things, though ye know them, …In the
church of God no one is to set himself up
in kingly power and authority.” E. G. White
BTS May 1, 1903 Par. 5
Opening Prayer by C. A. Irwin at the GC Session, March 27, 1903 at the
S. D. A. Church, Oakland, Calif., 2:30 pm:
“Gracious God, Our merciful heavenly Father, we thank
thee that under circumstances of so much mercy, we
are permitted to assemble once more in the capacity of
a General Conference. … While we can see mistakes as
we look back over the past two years, that we have
done those things that have displeased the Spirit of
God in various instances, yet, thou hast not forsaken us;
thou art still our God; thou art our Father, and thou art
still inviting us to come to thee; and we would come to
thee, our Father, now, today, with full purpose of heart.
…
We would come today surrendering ourselves anew
and afresh, yielding up every will and way of our own,
so that the Lord can take us and use us as he will. …
We know that we are not sufficient for the work that
lies before us unless the Lord shall take the lead of our
minds, unless the Lord shall take charge of every mind,
unless our being is fully surrendered to thee, we will
make mistakes, and mar the precious cause of God in
our hands;
but our Father, while we have sinned and come short of
thy glory, while thou has been called to reprove us for
our wrong principles and for many things that have
displeased and grieved thy Holy Spirit, yet, dear Father,
we are so glad today, that thou art still inviting us to
come unto thee, and that if we will yield ourselves, if
we will put
away from us the wrong things that have been grievous
to thy Spirit and have turned the face of our heavenly
Father away from us in a measure, then thy face will
shine upon us; thy countenance upon us reconciled,
and, O, Father in heaven, help in the beginning of this
conference to make that sort of confession, to have that
spirit of humility of heart, that spirit of humbling
ourselves before thee –may it take possession of every
one of us…
Father in heaven, we know that we have not always done
this; we know that thou hast spoken to us times without
number through the spirit of prophecy; thou hast made
plain the path of duty before us, but we have held to our
own opinions; we have allowed ourselves to be controlled
by our own minds and judgments, and as a result, disaster
has come to portions of thy work; but, 0, our Father, is not
this the time when we shall be willing to yield up all our
own ideas and opinions when they conflict with the mind
of God, and take just what he says, and be led and guided
by that? …”
Lessons Learned:
1. Structure Serves Mission
2. You Can Have De Jure a Committee System,
but De Facto a Presidential System
3. It is Only if we have De Jure and De Facto a Committee
System that “Kingly Power” can be Avoided
4. It is of Utmost Importance to Make Sure, that Committee
Members are Trained and Provided the Opportunity to
Speak Freely, Being Guided By Christ-the Head of the Church
Lessons Learned:
5. It is Only, if the Leaders and Committee Members are
Connected to Christ, that Consensus can be Achieved. Holy
Spirit Does Not Contradict Himself
6. The Danger of “Kingly Power” Exists at All Levels of
Church Organization and Church Institutions
7. The Danger is always in the Extremes. Avoid them!
8. Decisions Can Be Changed. What is Good Today,
Maybe Not So Good Tomorrow
Lessons Learned:
9. It is Not About Decentralization or Centralization.
It is About Finding the Right Ballance

10. Struggle for Power and Theological heresies do not

contribute to the growth and well being of the Church.

11. Decisions of the General Conference, made in an

assembly of representatives from all parts of the earth,
should be respected
“At times, when a small group of men entrusted with
the general management of the work have, in the name
of the General Conference, sought to carry out unwise
plans and to restrict God’s work, I have said that I could
no longer regard the voice of the General Conference,
represented by these few men, as the voice of God. But
this is not saying that the decisions of a General
Conference composed of an assembly of duly
appointed, representative men from all parts of the
field, should not be respected.
God has ordained that the representatives of His
church from all parts of the earth, when assembled in
a General Conference, shall have authority. The error
that some are in danger of committing, is in giving to
the mind and judgment of one man, or of a small
group of men, the full measure of authority and
influence that God has vested in His church, in the
judgment and voice of the General Conference
assembled to plan for the prosperity and advancement
of His work.” GW 490.1
“Let none entertain the thought, however, that we can
dispense with organization. It has cost us much study,
and many prayers for wisdom that we know God has
answered, to erect this structure. It has been built up
by His direction, through much sacrifice and conflict.
Let none of our brethren be so deceived as to attempt
to tear it down; for you will thus bring in a condition of
things that you do not dream of. In the name of the
Lord, I declare to you that it is to stand, strengthened,
established, and settled.” E. G. White, GCB April 10, 1903 Par. 17
“We have nothing to fear for the future,
except as we shall forget the way the
Lord has led us, and His teaching in our
past history.” GCDB, February 20, 1899. Par. 16
• Materials:

Primary Sources:
*Minutes from GC meetings 1901-1903
*E.G. White Writings, R&H publications, etc.
Secondary Sources:
*Barry David Oliver, SDA Organizational Structure: Past, Present, and Future, 1989
*George R. Knight, Organizing to beat the Devil. The Development of Adventist Church Structure,
2001
*Kevin M. Burton, Centralized for Protection: George I. Butler and His Philosophy of One-Person
Leadership, 2015
*G.T. NG, The Perils of Kingly Power, 2017
*Zorislav Plantak, Ethical Analysis Of Abuses Of Power In Christian Leadership – A Case Study Of
“Kingly Power” In The Seventh-day Adventist Church, 2017