Our Roots, Pt. 25

When the 1893 General Conference Session failed to recommend broad organizational reforms the leaders in Australasia decided to enact some changes for themselves. W. C. White, who was the district superintendent for Australasia, had a plan for creating an intermediate level of Church government between the local and General conferences—the Union Conference. In developing this plan he was following Olsen’s intention of having the district superintendents take on much of the responsibility then resting with the General Conference President, but he pushed the idea somewhat further than what Olsen had in mind.

What White was envisioning went beyond an administrative assignment of territory. His plan called for local conferences to join together in a regional constituency with its own constitution, officers, and executive committee. Put another way, the difference between Olsen’s plan and White’s plan was that under Olsen’s plan the power came from the General Conference down to the regional district, whereas in White’s plan the power came up from the members through the congregations and conferences to make a self-ruled region.

In 1893 W. C. White invited Olsen to visit Australia and preside over the meeting where his plan would be enacted. Olsen was wary of this innovation, but he went. On January 19, 1894 the proposed constitution was accepted and the Australasian Union Conference was created. W. C. White was chosen and its president and A. G. Daniells as its vice president. It had an executive committee of nine.

The General Conference executive committee reacted to the creation of the Australasian Union by setting limits on the purposes of the meetings of its other districts. On April 17, 1894 an executive committee subcommittee tasked with defining the authority of district meetings declared that those meetings were for Bible study and making plans to implement in their districts the overall plans that had been made by the General Conference. It was made quite clear that they were absolutely not to make any plans not conceptually approved by the General Conference.

The 1895 General Conference Session eased these restrictions somewhat. That Session voted the creation of district executive boards to be composed of the district superintendent, the local conference presidents, and representatives of the local mission boards. These boards were given a very specific and limited list of issues which they were authorized to deal with. While this arrangement did shift a greater amount of decision making to the regional level it was still a case of the General Conference administering downward rather than letting constituents join together in self-rule of their regions.

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