This article begins a series of exceptional importance, dealing with the huge task of financing a world movement. The organization setup, which forms the groundwork of financial plans now operative, must therefore necessarily introduce the discussion of financial provisions with which every worker should be familiar. Probably no one is better fitted to present the plan of operation than the General Conference auditor. Couched in simple, cogent language, and illustrated by helpful charts and graphs, the information here given is not only dependable, but is so broad and balanced in scope as to truly portray the world aspects of our financial system.—Editor.
The Seventh-day Adventist denomination is a constitutional, representative organization, with each church of baptized members constituting its basic unit. The churches of a contiguous section are united into a conference or mission; several conferences are grouped into a union conference; and all of the union conferences and missions in the several divisional sections of the world field compose the General Conference.
The Church.—Church membership in the Seventh-day Adventist Church is attained by the acceptance of Jesus Christ as a personal Saviour and the word of God with its distinctive teachings as the daily rule of life, and by following the Lord's example in baptism by immersion. The church members elect the necessary administrative officers of the church, which include elders, deacons, clerks, treasurers, and others as may be required. The members of the churches in a designated section also choose delegates from their own number to meet at stated periods, usually biennially, to elect officers for the local conference, to formulate or change the conference constitution and bylaws; to grant credentials and licenses to conference workers, and to plan generally for the work in the conference territory.
The Conference.—The basis of the conference organization is the church units that compose it. The conference officers are the president, the secretary, the treasurer. These officers, and such others as are elected—usually certain departmental secretaries and other able counselors—constitute the conference executive committee. This is also elected by the conference in session, and empowered to carry on the business of the organization during the interim between conference sessions. The president is the chairman of the conference committee and the active director of the organization. The secretary carries on
FIGURE I—CHURCH ORGANIZATION
The church membership elects the different officers of the church, but the direction of the activities of these officers is usually through a church board of which the officers are members. The similarity of organization throughout the Seventh-clay Adventist denomination is evident when comparison is made between churches, local conferences, union conferences, and the General Conference.
the general correspondence and keeps the conference records. And the treasurer receives and disburses the money that comes from the churches, rendering an account of the same to the executive committee and to the conference in session.
The Union Conference.—The union conference, as the name implies, is a union of several conferences. Its official personnel is similar to that of the local conferences. The union executive committee consists of its duly elected officers,—president, secretary-treasurer, and auditor,—the departmental secretaries, the presidents of the local conferences of which its territory is composed, and others as provided by its constitution. Sessions of the union conference are usually held four years apart, and the delegates to these meetings are elected or appointed by the local conferences. Among the chief reasons for the existence of the union conference are the unifying and standardizing influence which it may exert on the local organizations which compose it, and its function as advisory and counseling medium for the field and institutional work in its territory.
(The divisional organization which might logically appear here will, for reasons that will become apparent, be discussed later.)
The General Conference.—All of the union conferences, union missions, and unorganized mission territory not included in any conference or mission organization, form the several divisions and constitute the General Conference. The General Conference was one of the early steps in the establishment of the Seventh-day Adventist ecclesiastical order. In its initial development, no intermediate organizations of union conferences or divisions came between the General Conference and the local conferences. In its earlier beginning, General Conference sessions convened annually, and delegates were elected to the General Conference direct from the local fields. Later, biennial sessions were held; and finally the present quadrennial system was instituted.
Not a small part of the work of the General Conference consists in its supervision of mission-field interests, the selection and equipping of missionaries, and provision for their financial support. Formerly this missionary activity was largely under the direction of a small committee of the General Conference known as the Foreign Mission Board; but now all appointments are made directly by the General Conference Committee, after the details have been worked out by its appointed subcommittee.
The union conferences, the union missions, and the divisions of which they are a part, appoint delegates to the General Conference session for their organizations, in proportion to the church membership in their territories.
FIGURE 2—REPRESENTATION AND SUPERVISION
This chart shows in a limited way the flow of representation and the election of officers and leaders from the individual member through the church, local conference, and union conference to the General Conference organization and its divisions ; and the return flow of supervision and direction in matters of administration and policy, from the General Conference and its divisions to the union conference, from the union to the local conference, then to the church, and finally back to the individual member. Although the division organization operates in many respects as a distinct link in the chain of administration between the union conference and the General Conference, yet in reality in the exchange of workers, promotions of policies, etc., the division is the General Conference operating in the designated territory.
These representatives at the quadrennial sessions elect officers for the General Conference, and outline the controlling policies for the world organization. The officers of the General Conference consist of the president, the vice-presidents for the general and division fields, the secretary and his associates, the treasurer and the undertreasurer.
The General Conference Committee, which is also elected at the regular sessions, includes the aforenamed administrative officers and their associates and assistants, the General Conference departmental secretaries and associates, and certain leaders in institutional and general work. The presidents of union conferences and union missions are ex-officio members of the General Conference Committee. The full General Conference Committee numbers approximately two hundred members; but provision is made in the bylaws whereby a working quorum of seven members, including a General Conference officer, may transact business in harmony with the plans outlined by the larger committee or the General Conference session. The members of the General Conference Committee at the headquarters office in Washington constitute what is known as the minority committee, which holds regular meetings each Monday and Thursday for the transaction of business and the current supervision of the world work.
At least once each year a more or less full meeting of the General Conference Committee is held, at which time major matters of administration are considered and policies formulated. The general yearly session of the committee, commonly known as the Autumn Council, addresses itself to world problems and policies, particularly so at the biennial meeting which is held midway between General Conference sessions. At the Autumn Council, as far as is consistent, representatives are present from the divisions and mission fields, and matters pertaining to their interests are studied. The finances of the General Conference are reviewed at the autumn meeting, and the following year's budgets authorized for the world field. In the late spring, there is usually a smaller meeting, not denominated a council, which deals with lesser problems, and chiefly with North American worker assignments.
The General Conference is the highest organization in the administration of the worldwide work of Seventh-day Adventists. The General Conference in session, and the Executive Committee between sessions, is recognized as the highest authority, under God, in the church.
Division Organizations.—To facilitate the administration of its work in the major geographical sections of the world, the General Conference has separated its territory into a number of divisions. These divisions are not distinct, self-governing organizations as are the local and union conferences, but are subsections of the General Conference, each presided over by a vice-president of the 'General Conference for the respective division, and staffed by officers elected in the General Conference session for that purpose. Division monies' are General Conference funds. The Executive Committee which supervises the various division interests is a part of the General Conference Committee, operating in division territory and working out the general policies of the denomination. The vice-president of the General Conference for a certain section is recognized as president of that division; the secretary, treasurer, and departmental staff elected by the General Conference for a division are General Conference representatives functioning in their several capacities in that part of the field. In the case of the North American Division, the General Conference Committee itself serves as the division committee.
The General Conference is, at the present time, operated in divisions as follows:
Australasian Division
Central European Division (Sections I and II)
China Division
Far Eastern Division
Inter-American Division
North American Division
Northern European Division
South American Division
Southern African Division
Southern Asia Division
Southern European Division
The Australasian, the North American, and the European Divisions are considered as home bases, each having mission territory for which it is largely responsible in supplying workers and funds for their support.
Representation and Direction.—The government of the Seventh-day Adventist denomination is by representation. Churches elect delegates to the sessions of the conference, which selects the administrative officers and agents for the local field. The local conference chooses its representatives to the sessions of the union conference, where union administrators are elected. The union in turn and the division in which it is located send delegates to the General Conference sessions, at which the officers and directors of the world field are chosen, and general policies formulated.
After the operating policies and plans for denominational work have been adopted in General Conference session or by the General Conference Committee, these are passed back for execution to the divisions and unions; from the unions to the local conferences; and from the conferences to the churches, and on to the members as far as their interests are affected.
To be concluded in April
