The 1943 Autumn Council, recently held at Washington, D. C., is now history. A full report of this important gathering of our leaders, the various actions passed, and the approval of the largest budget in our history will appear in the Review and Herald, the news medium of the church. But there are certain actions that vitally concern all workers. These are therefore reproduced here.
First, there is "A Call to Universal Evangelistic Advance." This solemn call, which summons every group and resource, should be most carefully and prayerfully studied by every reader of the Ministry. Our individual relationship and responsibility thereto should be clearly determined. It is a summons that calls for more than mere assent. It seeks for responsive action. Through the months to come, leaders in the various groups enumerated will make representative responses in the Ministry and will develop the various points set forth.
This call should not be permitted to become merely another set of recommendations in a familiar field. We will continue on for decades in this old world, if our present pace is not changed. The slowness of our net advance should startle us, and this solemn challenge should grip us. Readjustments of emphasis are necessary, and the advance called for is long past due. Let us remember that this is the call of the General Conference Committee in full Council session. The weight of its appeal should not be lost upon any.
A Call to Universal Evangelistic Advance
Whereas, Time is waxing late, and we are years behind the divine Schedule for the finishing of the gospel commission ; and,
Whereas, Both the Scriptures and the Spirit of prophecy writings reveal that our great evangelistic mission will be consummated amid the abnormal conditions of international upheaval, war, famine, pestilence, and perplexity, as well as restrictive developments in the political, social, and religious worlds ; and,
Whereas, These very conditions and prospects have awakened unprecedented anxiety, and a desire on the part of many in all parts of the world to know the meaning of these strange times, and to find the peace and comfort of God and His present message to mankind ; and,
Whereas, This is a time of unprecedented increase of conference funds, and of potential worker power in the number of ministerial and Bible instructor students in training for service at the home base and overseas ; therefore,
We recommend, That a universal call be sounded from this Washington Autumn Council of 1943, summoning our workers and people to arise and finish the work committed into our hands—that of the threefold message of Revelation 14; recasting our plans and readjusting our emphasis so as to make every effort bend to the one supreme purpose of completing our specific witness to mankind. To this end we solemnly call upon every group, and summon every resource of the advent movement to engage in this "all-out," continuous evangelistic advance. -To implement this great objective, we urge the following comprehensive program:
1. That we call upon our workers and people to join us in humbling ourselves before God, seeking forgiveness for our indifference and tardiness in finishing the work committed to us ; acknowledging our meagerness of spiritual power and fervor, and pleading for that enduement of the Holy Spirit which has been promised —the outpouring of the latter rain which will ripen earth's final harvest.
2. That we capitalize upon the impressive opportunity afforded by the one hundredth anniversary of the beginning of God's great judgment hour, making the centennial year, 1944, a time for special review and emphasis of the fundamentals of the advent message both among our churches and in evangelistic efforts for those not of our faith.
3. That we summon all evangelistic workers to a continuous evangelistic crusade which will compass the world field with increasing power until our commissioned task of evangelism is finished.
4. That we urge our union and local conference and mission committees to lay ever-broadening plans to compass their respective territories with evangelistic efforts in tent, hall, tabernacle, church, and open air, as well as through the radio, remembering especially the still-unentered rural sections and towns, while placing strong emphasis upon the cities and metropolitan areas, putting all possible funds and personnel into direct evangelism.
5. That we call upon all departmental workers to stress particularly the soul-winning aspect of their work, simplifying all other activities and interests that consume undue time and scatter their efforts.
6. That our Sabbath school leadership strongly encourage the recruiting of new members, the organization of branch Sabbath schools and Sunday schools, earnest personal work, and other distinctively soul-winning features, in order that the Sabbath school may be definitely evangelistic in all its service.
7. That we urge our youth in training for the ministry, Bible instructor work, and singing evangelism to set as their goal evangelism in its varied phases in home base and mission land.
8. That we ask our conferences to adhere strictly to the stipulations of the Ministerial Internship plan, that call for our interns and younger workers to be held to direct evangelism in these early years of their ministerial service.
9. That we summon our young people to a great youth-for-youth crusade to win those not of our faith, giving emphasis to this endeavor in our evangelistic efforts.
10.That we call upon our colleges and training schools throughout the world to focus their instruction upon those lines that will inspire and equip an ever-increasing army of youth for all phases of soul-winning endeavor.
11. That we summon our doctors, nurses, dentists, and medical technicians in private practice, and in our sanitariums, to join in a great medical missionary advance, with the winning of souls through the health approach as their supreme goal, and that these endeavors be closely integrated with our evangelistic efforts.
12. That we encourage our laymen to make active missionary work—lay preaching, literature distribution, colporteur work, and home Bible studies—the great purpose of life and activity.
13. That we call upon our publishing houses to provide evangelistic literature, even more winsome in its appeal, in tract as well as in book and periodical form, so as to cover the earth with our literature like the leaves of autumn, and that we closely coordinate the work of the colporteur with that of the evangelist.
14. That we urge upon our workers such thoroughness of instruction and such soundness of conversion that their converts will be fully integrated into the throbbing heart of the advent movement, and losses will be reduced and gains conserved.
15. That we call upon our pastors and district leaders to so arrange their church activities as to carry forward a continuous evangelistic program through radio, press, and local efforts, closely co-ordinating their efforts with special efforts conducted by visiting evangelists, and the national radio hookup, thus gleaning the maximum fruitage of souls from all sources.
16. That we call upon our Theological Seminary to give increasing prominence to evangelistic preaching, evangelistic methods, advanced Bible instructor tech. nique, personal and pastoral methods, and denominational history and Spirit of prophecy backgrounds along with the standard basic courses in the graduate field.
17. That we plan for a strong evangelistic council to precede the next General Conference, where this program may be emphasized and perfected, thus giving further Impetus to this full-rounded evangelistic advance.
Extension of Health Evangelism Course
Second, an advance step, likewise long overdue, was taken in the voted expansion of the Health Evangelism Course, to establish an Eastern as well as a Western section. We have been altogether too slow in responding to the Spirit of prophecy call, made years ago, for this very provision and emphasis.
The cause of evangelism will be materially augmented by this helpful arrangement. Approaches will be provided which hitherto have been lacking on the part of many. And the sane, balanced training offered will forestall fads and extremes that have sometimes plagued us in. the past. Favored are our younger workers who can receive this training at the beginning of their public services. More on this will appear in the Medical Missionary section.
Whereas, The hour has manifestly come for a re-emphasis of the public-ministry methods of the Master, making the teaching of the principles of healthful living a vital part of our appointed evangelistic message, thus giving the "right arm" its rightful place in our body of public teaching, and employing it to open hearts to the presentation of other Bible truths ; and,
Whereas, It is highly desirable that there be offered more widely to all gospel workers a well-balanced health-education course which will afford a comprehensive understanding of basic health principles, avoid extremes and fads, make available authentic scientific materials which the worker can use in his health teachings, and set forth its effective co-ordination with the gospel message ; therefore,
We recommend, 1. That the special Health Evangelism Course for gospel workers, recently begun at Loma Linda, hereafter be conducted in two sections, under the joint auspices of the Medical and Educational Departments of the General Conference and the Ministerial Association, with the co-operation of the College of Medical Evangelists and the Theological Seminary ; the Western section being offered at Loma Linda, and the Eastern section at the Seminary.
1. That essentially the same curriculum be offered in the two sections, adapted to the special conditions and needs of East and West.
2. That a committee, comprised of two representatives of the Seminary faculty, two from the medical college, and the secretaries of the General Conference Medical and Educational Departments, and of the Ministerial Association, and Dr. H. W. Vollmer, who has been fostering this project, work out the details of the curriculum, select and co-ordinate instructors for the various classes in the two sections, and determine the time for the course to be offered at the Seminary and at Loma Linda. The Medical Department secretary shall be the chairman of this committee, and the boards of the medical college and the Seminary shall appoint their respective representatives.
3. That provision for a budget, together with final approval and authorization for these plans, shall be vested in the General Conference Committee.
Allotment of 1944 Ministerial Internships
Our theological students will be deeply interested in the following Autumn Council recommendations, just passed, providing for 96 ministerial internships for 1944.
We recommend, That provision be made during 1944 for 96 ministerial internships, the allotment to be made as follows :
1. That 74 interns be assigned to the several unions as follows:
Atlantic ..................... 7 Northern ................... 6
Canadian .................. 6 North Pacific ...............7
Central ..................... 6 Pacific ....................... 13
Columbia ................. 10 Southern .................. 6
Lake ......................... 8 Southwestern ............ 5
2. That 11 internships for colored workers be distributed by the General Conference Committee in counsel with the various union conferences.
3. That 11 internships be assigned to the Bureau of Home Missions for distribution by the Minority Committee in counsel with the several union conferences.
In addition, the following "Extension of Emergency Internship Plan" provides for a large number of additional internships, beyond the 96. (There were 41 of these in 1943.)
We recommend, That the emergency ministerial internship plan adopted April 19, 1943, which provides for two years' employment of theological graduates from senior colleges, be extended to apply to theological graduates of the year 1944; and further,
That the plan apply to Oakwood College theological graduates of both 1943 and 1944.
