BATTLE CREEK | AdventAI

Seventh-Day Adventist Publishing Association · Battle Creek, Mich. · Thursday, February 5, 1880

FromAdvent Review and Sabbath Herald, Vol. 55, No. 6

BATTLE CREEK.

For some days past, the General Conference Committee, all the members of which are now in Battle Creek, have been holding important deliberations touching the interests of the cause in Europe, on the Pacific coast, and in other parts of the great harvest field.

Among the localities to which it seemed necessary to give some attention, that the interests of the cause might be advanced, and a better state of prosperity secured, not the least prominent was this city, where are located such important interests as the publishing work, the Sanitarium and the College. For a long time the church has not been provided with proper officers to look after the great variety of matters that need attention in this large church, which has an ever changing but increasing membership.

Accordingly on the evening of Feb. 1, on the recommendation of the committee, the church elected Eld. C. W. Stone as an additional elder, and voted that Prof. S. Brownsberger, already acting as an elder, should be ordained, and that Brn. W. C. Sisley and L. Graves be elected and ordained additional deacons. The ordination of the parties was then attended to, which gives the church three elders and three deacons. The occasion was one of interest.

The committee have forcibly set forth on various occasions the principles by which those who come to reside in Battle Creek should be governed. They should be guardians of the institutions located here, in which all our people have an interest, and they should place themselves in such a relation to the General Conference that its officers can control the influences, so far as they are embraced within the church, which shall surround these institutions. This will certainly commend itself to the good judgment of every friend of the work here.

The following pledge drawn up by the elders of the church, and designed to be an embodiment of these principles, was indorsed by an almost unanimous rising vote of the church at the meeting above referred to:—

PLEDGE OF THE CHURCH AT BATTLE CREEK, AND OTHERS, TO THE GENERAL CONFERENCE OF S. D. ADVENTISTS.

“Whereas, there are located at Battle Creek, Mich., most important institutions connected with the cause of present truth, of such a nature as to call in people from all parts of the country, thus bringing special and sacred responsibilities upon the church in this place, and

“Whereas, These institutions are objects of care and solicitude to the General Conference of our people, and must be more or less affected by the influences surrounding them; therefore

“Resolved, That we, the undersigned, members of the church, and other Sabbath-keepers residing in the city of Battle Creek, deem it just and right to make to the General Conference the following pledge:—

“1. We acknowledge the paramount importance of maintaining, at all hazards, and at all cost, the right influence here at the head of the work,—an influence which shall stand for the right, and keep this important post against the insidious attacks of our wily foe. And we pledge ourselves to try to cherish this spirit, and to frown down everything of an opposite nature.

“2. We acknowledge the correctness of the principles now entertained by S. D. Adventists on the subject of Leadership; namely, that the General Conference, aided by the counsel of those whom we believe the Lord has chosen to lead out in this work from its very commencement, and by the spirit of prophecy graciously manifested among us, is the highest authority ordained by the Lord in his church, and that the action and advice of this authority, in all matters of expediency and discipline, should be received and respected by all this people. And we pledge ourselves, on these principles, to stand by and stay up the hands of those who are called to lead out and bear responsibilities in this cause, and to bring ourselves into strict Scriptural discipline in the work of the Lord. And every act of rebellion against these principles shall be promptly discountenanced and immediately corrected, so far as in our power to correct it.

“3. We acknowledge that the chief troubles in the church arise from a failure to heed the testimonies to the church; and this failure comes from neglecting to study them till we can imbibe their spirit, and so feel the force of their teaching; and we are assured that where the testimonies are lived out, the intangible and undefinable spirit of perversity and opposition which has stood in the way of the work here, cannot live. We therefore pledge ourselves to study carefully the testimonies, and deal faithfully with our own souls in regard to their teaching.

“4. Whenever we fail to carry out the foregoing pledges, either from an incurable spirit of opposition, or from an inexcusable spirit of carelessness, stupor, and lukewarmness, so that our influence is in the way of the advancement of the cause, and prejudicial to the interests of any of the institutions that are or shall be located here, this fact being decided by the General Conference Committee, we pledge ourselves, further, to relieve the cause from our presence by removing from the place; for the work of God is high and holy, and must not be marred by unconsecrated hands, nor be embarrassed by the opposition of rebellious hearts, nor be hindered by dead weights.”

Most of the members of the church have already attached their names to the foregoing pledge. All are expected to sign it. And not only the members of the church, but all Sabbath-keepers who come to reside for a longer or shorter time in the place. We believe it right that they should do this. And the church will expect that all who come here in the future to unite with this church, or to identify themselves with us as Sabbath-keepers for a time, will subscribe to these principles by signing this paper. And those whose feelings are so out of harmony with the best interests of the work here that they cannot cheerfully take their stand on principles which under our circumstances are so eminently just and proper, are not wanted in our midst.