Origin of Our Bible Work

Along with the development of our early colporteur ministry during the late seven­ties and early eighties, came the need for training more workers. The colporteur was not just a book agent; he considered himself a mis­sionary. The wives of these "canvassers," as they were often referred to, shared the mission­ary zeal of their husbands. Indeed, a burden for the spreading of our literature had by then be­come a part of the warp and woof of Advent­ism. One would find whole families locating in a new community for the sole purpose of reach­ing the people of that area with the message of a soon-coming Christ.

But our constituency, mostly humble farmers and day laborers, were anxious to learn the best methods for their missionary work, and we next learn of a new order of things in the con­ducting of the 1883 camp meetings. Instead of the usual sermons three times a day, there was zealous instruction in missionary work, and especially in the giving of Bible readings. The colporteur's needs urged such a program, and in addition our leaders now felt that our church members should be well taught in the doctrines that had made us a special people. In fact, they feared that the coming Sabbath and spiritism issues might find too many unprepared to de­fend Bible truth.

The conviction that we should thoroughly in­struct our believers in doctrine was growing in every section of the country. It required a pa­triarchal type like S. N. Haskell to become the father of this Bible reading idea in our denom­ination. After meditating on the needs of the work on European soil, where the work of the Waldenses was definitely brought to his atten­tion, in 1882 their missionary work of earlier centuries began to shape new ideas for our own work.

Then, too, Europe, with its state churches, presented different problems to our public evan­gelism from those in America. The needs for a more personal ministry in the homes of the people seemed to be the only alternative for reaching Europe's more conservative types. Furthermore, our message was not as popular as it was in America. It now became impera­tive for our leaders to study new plans for reaching the people on our continent. New prejudices against Adventism suggested the im­mediate need for a more personalized ministry.

It was the camp meetings that provided the right occasions for the gathering of the saints. In a letter to Jennie Owen McClelland, dated April 6, 1936, W. C. White wrote:

"During the camp meetings which I attended with my mother, Ellen White, during the autumn of 1879 and the spring of 1880, Sister White said to our min­isters regarding camp meeting work that there ought to be less preaching and more teaching. It was some time before this made any serious impression upon Elder Haskell's mind, but in the spring of 1880, at the Hanford camp meeting, Mother repeated this in such an emphatic way that Elder Haskell was thor­oughly aroused, and after thinking the matter over, he invited me LW. C. White] one morning to go with him in the grain field nearby for a season of prayer. He said he could not quite understand what Sister White meant, and we talked the matter over and then prayed about it. Finally he said he would try it and see what he could do, and one forenoon meeting in the big tent he started in asking questions on leading fea­tures of our faith and asking the brethren to look up the texts that he cited, and read them.

"When the meeting had proceeded this way for per­haps half an hour, it began to rain, and when it came time for the meeting to close it was raining exceed­ingly hard and no one desired to leave the tent. So Elder Haskell extended his Bible studies until the meeting had continued nearly two hours. The people seemed delighted with the instruction and with the method in which it was given, and they asked that other studies be conducted in the same manner, and thus as far as I know, the Bible reading work in which Elder Haskell led out and others enthusiastically joined in, was begun."

We learn that our leaders were now giving special attention to instructing the constituency, and bringing into real life our Bible reading plan. The ten-thirty hour in the forenoon was set aside at the camp meetings, and within a few months the Bible reading plan was work­ing in various sections of the country. This soon became the daily program at all these camps, and was met with great enthusiasm on the part of both leaders and laity. We have al­ready referred to this new plan which was called "fireside preaching."

In the Signs of May 57, 1883, we are told that these Bible readings promised to accom­plish more than the tent meetings. Because of meager means and equipment and a scarcity of workers, tent meetings could be held in but a few places at a time. But our churches were calling for public meetings, generally connected with our camp meetings. Therefore, the colpor­teurs were now encouraged in their missionary activities. They were to remember that when tents failed, Bible readings would still produce an encouraging fruitage for the message.

California Camp Meeting a Turning Point

The Lemoore, California, camp meeting in May, 1883, marked the beginning of the Bible reading development as a project. The immedi­ate need seemed to be to instruct our believers soundly in the Spirit of prophecy. So our leading ministers began to show aptitude in prepar­ing a Bible study. In those days they used about iso texts for each study ! The study was lengthy, because the many assaults of the enemy had to be met thoroughly. But our believers were equal to their large dosage, and entered into the plan with great interest. A wave of Bible reading zeal seized the encampment, and learning to give Bible readings was the big fea­ture of the day.

The plan was built to include the colporteurs as well as the flock at large. Prospective "can­vassers" were drawn from the ranks of the lay­men, both men and women. Mrs. White was present at this camp meeting, and gave her hearty endorsement to the Bible reading plan.

The Los Angeles gathering followed on the heels of the Lemoore camp meeting. The breth­ren had brought cheering reports of the success of the Bible reading plan at the Lemoore,camp meeting, and now our Los Angeles believers were not to be left behind in such a worthy project. Again there was a profound enthusi­asm for the plan of studying the Bible person­ally. In fact, there came a request at the Le­moore camp meeting to have the prepared Bible reading on the Spirit of prophecy made avail­able for general distribution in the churches by having it printed.

Equal enthusiasm for Bible readings pre­vailed at the San Jose camp meeting. We read of this gathering in the Signs, September 20, 1883. Power attended the study of the Word at the regular ten-thirty morning Bible study. The meeting sent ' our colporteurs into the field afire with the message. One interesting record suggests that a Sister McClure (wife of N. C. McClure, a licensed minister) was to do home visiting for the purpose of holding Bible read­ings. This type of worker was referred to as one of the "helps" mentioned by Paul in Corin­thians. But we also learn that William Ings and M. C. Israel were to visit the churches and to help establish the saints in the most holy faith. Step by step the Bible reading plan was claiming its promoters.

At the Upper Columbia camp meeting a month later these Bible readings developed a new link in the chain of our missionary organ­ization. A Brother William Russell was in­structed to lead out, should we say, in the ca­pacity of a home missionary and Sabbath school secretary. During the following year he was charged to visit every Seventh-day Adventist family in the conference for the express pur­pose of indoctrinating and establishing our be­lievers. Community Bible classes were to be conducted in many sections, and Bible readings were to be given in hundreds of homes. Inci­dentally, Brother Russell's new mission was to be tied in with the Sabbath school work.