SDA ORGANIZATIONAL STRUCTURE Past, Present and Future
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ANDREWS UNIVERSITY SEMINARY DOCTORAL DISSERTATION SERIES OraaiSzational Past, Present, and, Future Barry David Oliver ASIR Research Center Uu.«*y General Conference of Seventh-day Advent! ANDREWS UNIVERSITY SEMINARY DOCTORAL DISSERTATION SERIES VOLUME XV SDA ORGANIZATIONAL STRUCTURE Past, Present and Future by Barry David Oliver ANDREWS UNIVERSITY PRESS BERRIEN SPRINGS, MICHIGAN Copyright© 1989 Published September 1989 by Andrews University Press Berrien Springs, Ml 49104 ISBN 0-943872-97-9 To Julie with love iii TABLE OF CONTENTS LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS.......................................... viii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS.............................................. x INTRODUCTION.................................................. 1 Background for the Study................................ 1 Statement of Purpose.................................... 5 Delimitations and Scope ................................ 6 Methodology and Sources ................................ 7 Need for the Study and Related Literature.............. 8 Chapter I. THE NEED FOR REORGANIZATION IN THE CONTEXT OF THE EXPANDING MISSIONARY ENTERPRIZE OF THE CHURCH .......... 14 Introduction.................................. .. 14 Global Context: Colonialism and Mission.............. 16 National Context: Nationalism and Mission............ 17 Religious Context: The Gospel and Mission............ 19 Missionary Consciousness and Expansion............ 19 The Activist Style of American Mission ........ 21 A Penchant for Numerics.................. 23 Mission Theory ................................ 25 Motivation for Mission ........................ 27 Laypersons and Mission ........................ 29 The Student Volunteer Movement and Mission . 29 The Watchword of the Student Volunteer Movement.................................... 32 Denominational Structures ........................ 34 Episcopal Forms of Church Government .......... 35 Presbyterian Forms of Church Government........ 37 Congregational Forms of Church Government. 39 Seventh-day Adventist Denominational Context. 40 The Missionary Enthusiasm and Rapid Growth of the Young Chu r c h ........................ 42 The Shape of Organization: 1863-1888 .......... 46 Reasons for organization in the 1860s.... 46 The form of organization adopted in the 1860s 48 The role of Ellen G. White in organization in the 1 8 6 0 s ............................ 55 The Problem of Administrative Centralization . 57 iv Administrative centralization .............. 57 The nature of leadership.................... 62 Authority.................................. 63 Conclusion.......................................... 65 II. TOWARDS REORGANIZATION: 1888-1897 ...................... 67 Introduction ........................................ 67 Reorganization and the General Conference Session of 1888 .......................................... 69 1888-1893 ........................................... 71 Districts One to Six.............................. 71 An Experiment in South Africa .................... 73 The Auxiliary Organizations of the General Conference.............................. 82 The Role of the Auxiliary Organizations........ 82 The Control of the Auxiliary Organizations . 87 Ellen G. White and the Authority of the General Conference.................................... 91 The 1893 General Conference Session .............. 100 1894-1897 ........................................... 104 The Australasian Union.................... 104 Reluctant Concessions ............................ 106 Institutional Growth and Its Consequences ........ 110 The Role of Institutions...................... 112 The Control of Institutions.................... 112 Ellen G. White: Consolidation and Centralization . 115 Consolidation of Institutional Control............ 115 Centralization of Decision Making Authority .... 119 The Auxiliary Organizations and Centralization. 126 Conclusion.......................................... 129 III. TOWARDS REORGANIZATION: 1897-1903 ...................... 132 Introduction ........................................ 132 The 1897 General Conference Session.................. 134 1898-1900 143 The European Union................................ 143 The Financial Predicament ........................ 144 Missionary Activity .............................. 155 Stalemate........................................ 158 The 1901 General Conference Session.................. 162 The Call for Reorganization...................... 162 Session Actions .................................. 170 Missionary Expansion ............................ 176 1902: Confrontation.................................. 179 The 1903 General Conference Session.................. 182 The Integration of the Medical Work into the Conference Structure .......................... 183 At Issue over the Presidency...................... 184 The Response of Ellen G. White to Reorganization and the Structure of the Denomination............ 201 v From Satisfaction to Despair...................... 201 Ellen G. White and the Possibility of Subsequent Structural Change.............................. 205 Conclusion ........................................ 216 IV. THE THEOLOGICAL BASIS OF REORGANIZATION................ 218 Introduction ........................................ 218 The Theological Foundations for Reorganization as Perceived by A. T. Jones and His Associates: The Christocentric Model ............. 221 A Biblical Foundation ............................ 221 Soteriology...................................... 222 Eschatology...................................... 226 Ecclesiology...................................... 227 The Theological Foundations for Reorganization as Perceived by A. G. Daniells and His Allies: The Eschatological-Missiological M o d e l ............................................ 240 Eschatology and Mission .......................... 244 Mission: Eschatology's Requirement ............ 244 "This Generation".............................. 248 Ecclesiology...................................... 253 Eccleslological Vacuum ........................ 254 Ecclesiastical Considerations.................. 259 The Ecclesiology of Ellen White................ 266 The Consequences of a Dipolar Ecclesiology . 270 Soteriology...................................... 270 C o n c l u s i o n ......................................... 271 V. THE PRINCIPLES OF REORGANIZATION........................ 274 Introduction ........................................ 274 Principles of Reorganization: the Christocentric M o d e l ............................................ 280 Organizational Starting Point .................... 281 Principles of Reorganization...................... 283 Principles of Reorganization: the Eschatological- Missiological M o d e l .............................. 291 Organizational Starting Point .................... 291 1901 and 1903: A Subtle Shift of Emphasis ........ 295 Principles of Reorganization...................... 296 Unity and Diversity............................ 296 The place of decentralization as a principle of reorganization in 1901. 298 Concern for u n i t y .......................... 300 Participation or Representation................ 303 Local conference participation.............. 303 Union conference representation ............ 307 International representation................ 308 Consensus decision making .............. 311 Authority as a Principle of Reorganization . 314 vi Simplicity and Adaptability as Principles of Reorganization.............................. 318 Conclusion ........................................ 320 VI. IMPLICATIONS FOR AN INTERNATIONAL CHURCH................ 323 Introduction ........................................ 323 Flexibility of Structural F o r m ...................... 326 A Functional Ecclesiology ........................ 327 Ellen G. White and Flexibility.................... 330 The Priority of Principle over F o r m .............. 331 Theological Awareness................................ 333 The Need for a Systematic Ecclesiology............ 333 The Need for a Hermeneutic for the Writings of Ellen G. White.............................. 336 The Seventh-day Adventist Commitment to Mission. 338 Unity in Diversity................................ 338 The Effect of the Primacy of Mission on Denominational Structures .................. 346 An Eschatological Foundation for the Mission of the Chu r c h .............................. 347 Mission and Contemporary Structure ............ 352 Conclusion.......................................... 356 VII. CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS FOR FURTHER RESEARCH . 358 SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY ........................................ 367 vii LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS EGWB-AU Ellen G. White Estate branch office, Andrews University, Berrien Springs, Michigan EGWO-DC Ellen G. White Estate office, General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists, Washington, D.C. FMB Pro Proceedings of Meetings of the Seventh-day Adventist Foreign Mission Board. After 13 February 1899, Proceedings of the Board of Trustees of the Foreign Mission Board of Seventh-day Adventists GCAr General Conference Archives, Washington, D.C. GO Bulletin General Conference Bulletin (Dailv) GCA Pro General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists, Proceedings of Meetings of the Seventh-day Adventist General Conference Association GCC Min General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists, Minutes of Meetings of the General Conference Committee IMMBA International Medical Missionary and Benevolent Association IMMBA Min Minutes of the meetings of the International