Our Roots, Pt. 33

The organizational changes voted by the 1901 General Conference Session, at the recommendation of the special committee, were dramatic and far-reaching. They didn’t do away with any of the basic components of organization that had existed up to that point. The local conferences continued, as did the General Conference, and all of the functions of the auxiliaries. What did change was how all these units worked together.

The first change was that the decision of the 1897 General Conference Session to organize union conferences everywhere it was feasible was finally implemented—on the spot. Six new union conferences were organized during the Session. This process included deciding territorial boundaries, preparing constitutions for each union, and electing officers. To accomplish all this, the special committee set up a substantial number of subcommittees to handle the various technical details, including a Committee on Organization and a Committee on Constitutions and Plans.

The second change was that all but one of the auxiliaries were discontinued as independent entities. Instead, they were integrated into the conference structure along the South African Conference model, with each auxiliary function being represented by a “secretary,” who answered to the executive committee. In other words, they now became the integrated departments we know them as today. The one exception to this integration was the International Medical Missionary and Benevolent Association.

The third change was to the way power was handled within the General Conference. The position of President of the General Conference was eliminated. In its place the executive committee was enlarged to 25 members (six of which were to be appointed by the International Medical Missionary and Benevolent Association), and these 25 chose from among themselves a chairman who would lead the organization. At the insistence of the delegates, the executive committee chose its officers before the Session concluded. A. G. Daniells was elected as its chairman.

The fourth change was that ownership of most of the institutions that the General Conference controlled was transferred to the newly created unions. This lightened the administrative load of the General Conference and allowed decisions for these institutions to be made by individuals who were much closer to the issues. There were a few exceptions to this change, as well. These included Battle Creek College (now Andrews University) and Oakwood Industrial School (now Oakwood University). This established a pattern of school ownership which still continues; elementary schools are owned by local churches, high schools are owned by conferences, and colleges/universities are typically owned by unions, with a few exceptions where colleges and universities are owned by the General Conference.

The fifth change was less visible but no less significant; new plans were laid for how the money would flow between organizational levels. This resulted in more money being made available to fund missionary work.

The sixth major change pertained to the Mission Board. It too was brought under the control of the General Conference executive committee, but not as a department. The Mission Board continued to exist in name, but all of its members were chosen and overseen by the executive committee. The idea was to gradually phase out the Mission Board as a separate entity as the executive committee took over its functions.

During the 1901 Session Ellen White informed the leadership of Battle Creek College that she had for them the inspired instruction that the institution ought to move out of Battle Creek and into the country, where the students would not be so susceptible to the distractions of city life. This directive was immediately accepted with a vote to take such action. In the fall of 1901 the college opened the new school year in its new location, Berrien Springs, MI, under the new name of Emmanuel Missionary College.

Ellen White also gave special instruction to the Review and Herald Publishing House and the Battle Creek Sanitarium about changes that were needed in their attitudes and ways of conducting business, but in these cases the advice was ignored. These were to be sources of future distress for the Church, but everyone, including Ellen White, was happy with the nature and extent of the changes accomplished by the 1901 Session in the area of general organizational reform.

Next: Fresh Trouble