Seventh-Day Adventist Reorganization (1901)
The Need for Change
There is a rapid growth among the
members of the church.
The president can no longer pay attention
to all the details that is happening in the
organization.
Internal problems; i.e. management
Spiritual concerns
Internationalization & globalization
Sunday Law & Religious Liberty
The civil war in the United States became an eye
opener to many as a diving chastening to show the
North Americans not only the sin of slavery but their
failure to recognize God in the United States
Constitution.
As a response to this formed National Reform
Association, seeking for a constitutional
amendment to acknowledge the United States as a
Christian nation but eventually were denied.
Switching tactics the National Reform enforced the
Sunday Law which was approved.
After the implementation of the Sunday law, the
Adventists were persecuted for working on Sunday
which makes them violators of the law.
Adventists responded by going against the Sunday
legislation, through this a new association arose the
National Religious Liberty Association.
A.T. Jones and the Religious Liberty Association
fought hard against this legislation.
Spiritual Dilemmas
George Irwin commented that Adventists were
prone to extreme on nearly everything.
At Healdsburg a fanatical objection to receiving
Sabbath School offerings cropped up, which
resulted to sharp criticisms of church leadership.
In Battle Creek, competitive sports diverted college
students from spirituality.
Some adopted views bordering on faith healing,
that people with gray hair or the physically
deformed cannot receive the seal of God.
There were also members that the sacredness of life
made it wrong to kill rodents, snakes or insects.
Moreover, E.J Wagonner asserted that all those who
keeps Gods commandments should also have the
spirit of prophecy.
People claiming to be Gods special messengers
spoke out.
- Anna Gramire - claimed to receive a vision that
God had revealed to her through a vision that
probation would close for all sinners in October of
that year.
-Anna Phillips - asserted that she was receiving
testimonies to be sent to others.
Financial Problems
Severe depression hit the United States in 1893 and
the denominational revenues declined.
Issues regarding the trips of the church leaders
around the world arose.
L.C. Chadwick, president of the International Tract
Society and a member of the Foreign Mission Board
after his conversion he quickly advanced to the
General Conference and was sent on a consultation
trip in 6 nations.
He left denominational employment after
questionable financial transactions were discovered
and became a worker for Baptists.
The church received donations in the form of
properties, but due to the decline in real estate
values they had a hard time disposing it profitably.
They met its increasing expenses by borrowing
money. Since the members believed that banks are
not safe during that time they deposited their
money in the church in form of loans.
Tithe, the leading source of revenue was not well
distributed to help the struggling part of the church.
Sabbath School Offerings, also dropped.
To maintain the projects being developed, the
General conference organized two other categories
of offerings: first-day offerings and special
Christmas offering.
The General Conference president during this
financial depression were:
O.A. Olsen - 1888
G.A. Irwin - 1897
A.G. Daniells - 1901
There was still an institutional expansion at Battle
Creek, some claimed this as giving character to the
work; but Ellen White disagreed pointing out that it
was the character of the leaders that needed
changing.
A.R. Henry and Harmon Lindsay were the ones
involved in managing the organization financially.
Olsen, the president of the General Conference was
not confident of his financial judgment that he
leaned on Henry and Lindsay.
Henry being in charge of the Review and Herald had
influenced the employees of the publishing house,
that they saw the Review as a business rather than
an instrument to promote the Adventist message.
The new Review management correct these abuses
but there was an imbalance between commercial
and church-related jobs.
I.M. Evans observed that the bulk of the business
was still with the commercial world.
Centralization of Power in the General Conference
In 1873, George I. Butler, president of the General
Conference wrote that the leadership of James &
Ellen White was incontestable because God
specifically chose them to lead. Further declared
that Adventists are bound to defer to the Whites.
On the other hand, this made the Whites nervous
because Ellen pointed the dangers of one persons
judgment controlling the minds of others and it was
improper for her husband to shoulder the
responsibilities that others should bear.
The General Conference Authority
highest authority among the Seventh-day
Adventists is found in the will of the body of that
people, as expressed in the decisions of the General
Conference when acting within its proper
jurisdiction such decisions should be submitted to
by all without exception, unless they can be shown
to conflict with the Word of God and the rights of
individual conscience.
The Organizations under the General Conference
(1885)
International Tract & Missionary Society
Sabbath School Association
Seventh-day Adventist Publication Association
Seventh-day Adventist Educational Society
Health Reform Institute
American Health & Temperance Society
Butler was the president of both the General
Conference and the Seventh-day Adventist
Publishing Assoc. and the Seventh-day Adventist
Educational Society
Stephen Haskell headed the Tract and Missionary
Society and Pacific Seventh-day Adventist
Publishing Assoc.
W.C. White lead the Sabbath School Assoc.
J.H. Kellogg lead the Health Reform Institute and
the American Health & Temperance Society
The European Council
Haskell toured Europe to render advice and other
assistance.
The Council drafted a constitution and set up
administrative heads to lead the three major regions
of Europe.
The European Council
From these gatherings came suggestions to the
General Conference regarding finances and workers
which simplified the task of denominational
administration in Battle Creek.
The General Conference consultation broaden from
five to seven executive committee in 1886.
General Conference Association was created as a
legal corporation to hold property and serve as the
financial arm of the denomination.
Three general secretaries joined the General
Conference administration, to supervise education,
foreign missions, and home missions.
Thorough Reorganization
Arthur G. Daniells, 43, emerged during the
reorganization; thirteen years of administrative
experience in Australia and New Zealand, where the
union conferences succeeded and quasi-
independent entities to the church departments
worked out so well.
Ellen White called a large number of leaders to meet
with her a day before the first meeting in 1901. She
reminded that the gospel and medical missionary
work should blend.
The next day began the thorough reorganization.
Daniel immediately proposed a large committee
called the Committee on Counsel, to recognize the
denomination.
A seventy-five member committee divided into
subcommittees to tackle narrower problems of the
organization.
Ellen White affirmed the God would link them all
together for the health of the church.
The second recommendation was a new General
Conference Executive Committee of twenty-five; six
of which were chosen by the Medical and
Benevolent Association and 19 members by the
session delegates.
The Foreign Mission Board was handed over to the
new Executive Committee and the Sabbath School
Association and the Religious Liberty Association
was departmentalized.
Management of the publishing house remained to
be in the hands of separate boards.
A newly formed committee took over the Tract and
Missionary Society who are in charge of the
production and distribution of denominational
literature. Thus, became a coordinating agency for
publishing plants
The new system abolished the title of president and Works Cited
vested the authority of the chief executive to the
chairman of the Executive Committee. Greenleaf, R. W. (1979). Light Bearers. Silver
Daniells became the chairman of the Executive Spring, Maryland, United States of America:
Committee, but soon opposition formed. They Pacific Press Publishing Association.
settled the issue by handing back to the delegates
the prerogative of selecting the denominational
leader who would bear the title of president.
Shape of the Church
The basic unit is the local church. The local church
comprises a group of believers who have been
organized as a church and function in their
community as the body of Christ.
Local churches in a designated area belong to the
sisterhood of churches in a local conference,
mission or field. The conference is administered by a
president, secretary, treasurer, and executive
committee elected by representatives from the local
churches at a conference session, which may be held
every three or five years.

Local conferences in a designated area belong to a

union conference. Union conferences are also
administered by a president, secretary, and
treasurer. These officers are elected by
representatives appointed for this function by the
local conferences.
Union conferences and Unions of Churches around
the world belong to the General Conference of
Seventh-day Adventists, with headquarters just
outside of Washington, D.C., United States. General
Conference sessions are held every five years, at
which time General Conference leadership is elected
and major doctrinal and business matters are
discussed by representatives from around the world.

Conclusion
The 1901 General Conference was a milestone in the
Adventist history. From trials, both internal and
external, with which Adventism struggled the
church finally produced a system that resembled the
1876 statement on authority.
The enduring quality of the reorganized church
structure and the world expansion of Adventism
that produced momentous changes are evidences of
the extraordinary success of the Great
Conference.