VI. The Church of God in Marion, Iowa Hope Moves to Iowa October 18, 1865 was the date of the last issue of the Hope of Israel from Waverly, Michigan. Financial problems were probably the cause of the paper's demise. On May 29, 1866, the paper was revived, published semi-monthly by the Christian Publishing Association, at Marion, Iowa. With sixteen pages per issue and a $1.50 per year subscription price, the Hope of Israel entered a new era. The President of the Christian Publishing Association, Henry E. Carver, wrote in the first issue at Marion explaining the origins of the move to Iowa. He and B.F. Snook and W.H. Brinkerhoff had been disfellowshipped from the Seventh-Day Adventist church, primarily over the visions and their interpretations of Revelation 12 and 13. And a "Church of God" had grown up in Iowa at about the same time as Cranmer and the "Church of God" in Michigan. The Iowa group was mentioned frequently by the Hope while it was issued in Michigan, showing a close inter-relationship. Samuel Everett, 1865 editor of the Hope, was from Iowa. The Iowa delegate to the Waverly Conference, possibly Everett or Kramer, was instructed by those in Iowa to urge for the continuation of the paper, and pledge support for it to be resuscitated in Michigan. But the conference decided to move the paper to Iowa, and sent the press, type and fixtures to Marion. (L.I. Rodgers reports that Cranmer sold the paper to the Iowa group.)1 The same press that had been used to publish the Messenger of Truth published the Hope of Israel in Michigan and now was transferred to Iowa.2 History of the Church of God in Iowa The development of the Church of God in Iowa is every bit as controversial as that in Michigan. An even greater thorn in the side of the Review Adventists, the group in Iowa was derisively termed "the Marion Party." Iowa Adventist History The first Sabbath Adventist church in Iowa was at Waukon in the northeastern corner of the state. This church was said to be established by James N. Andrews, who supposedly at the request of James White left Maine and settled there along with his family in 1855-56. Others who came to Iowa from the East were E.P. Butler and his son George I. Butler, J.N. Loughborough, Asa Hazelton, and Calvin Washburn. Thirty families in all settled in northeast Iowa, all Sabbath-keepers. James White had the object of spreading the Sabbath (Third Angel's Message) into the Midwest through these settlers.3 However, White reports in his Life Sketches that Andrews and Loughborough had become discouraged and quit the work. While the Whites were working in Round Grove and Green Vale, Illinois, Mrs. White had a vision. In it she learned that the brethren that had moved to Waukon, Iowa were now opponents. "Their sympathies had withdrawn from the Review office, and from the Church of God generally." Eventually they recanted and returned to the work.4 Jesse Dorcas made a lecturing tour of Iowa in the summer of 1856. In southern Iowa he lodged with David Christopher at that time. Toward the end of 1857, Moses Hull made the first sustained Adventist evangelistic work in Iowa, resulting in raising up about twenty Sabbath-keepers. By the summer of 1858, a tent was secured by the Iowa Sabbath-keepers. With the help of Adventist preacher J.H. Waggoner, little groups were raised up in several towns in southeast Iowa. Many more converts were gained in campaigns in the summer of 1859. In the autumn of 1859, a church of one hundred was organized at Knoxville, Iowa, with a Sabbath School of seventy. In 1860, a church building was erected there. Rapid growth continued into the summer of 1860, when the number of Sabbath-keepers in the state quadrupled. This was the year the Marion, Iowa church was established. According to Seventh-Day Adventist history, the first "Seventh-Day Adventist" church in Iowa was organized at Richmond with thirty-one members. In the spring of 1862, the Whites visited Iowa and spoke at the Knoxville court house. Here B.F. Snook and William H. Brinkerhoff were ordained to the ministry, soon becoming prominent leaders in the state. Snook had been a Methodist preacher, Brinkerhoff a lawyer. A meeting was held at Fairview, Iowa, January, 1863, attended by delegates from nine churches favoring organization. They formed themselves into an Iowa State Conference of Seventh-Day Adventists. J.F. Mitchell was elected chairman of a committee of four to supervise the work. Apparently, B.F. Snook became its president.5 Not all Iowa Sabbath Adventists went along with the Whites and their Seventh-Day Adventist organization. These opposers were to form the nucleus of the Iowa Church of God. Origins of the Marion, Iowa Church of God I.N. Kramer, descendant of M.N. Kramer, who was one of the founders of the Marion church, has recorded the founding of the Marion, Iowa Church of God.6 Early in 1860, Sabbath Adventist preacher Merritt E. Cornell came to Marion, Iowa, "preaching the second coming of Christ, the unconscious state of man in death, and the observance of the Sabbath day." Who sent him was not known, but his preaching, especially on the Sabbath, caused quite a stir. A "disciple minister" debated Cornell over the Sabbath issue, and was utterly confounded. The result was the organization of a "Church of Jesus Christ," composed of fifty or more members, mostly from the different churches of Marion. The church "compact," or "covenant," dated June 10, 1860, was: We the undersigned, do hereby express our wish to be associated together in Christian fellowship as the Church of Jesus Christ, at Marion, whose covenant obligation is briefly expressed in keeping the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus, taking the Bible, and the Bible alone, as our rule of faith and practice.7 As related in a letter signed by V.M. Gray, E.P. Goff and M.N. Kramer, published in the Hope of Israel, September 7, 1864, the Marion church was soon to be fraught by dissension. Nearly one and one half years after the church's organization (1862), Elder Cornell held up Ellen G. White's visions as "of equal authority, and binding forever with the Bible, and urged us to adopt their teaching also, as a rule of faith and discipline." The result was that "about one half of the Church decided to receive these volumes as valid Scripture, and drew off from us, or rather repelled us from them, denouncing us as rebels," no longer desiring to meet with the Church of Christ. The real reason for the cry for organization, the Marion Church of Christ could now perceive, was not to hold church property against impostors, but "to put the visions of Ellen G. White on the same eminence with the Bible, and secure the recognition of Elder James White as the latter-day Moses." The letter concluded, "we boldly assert that we are not rebels. We have not rebelled against the constitution which we adopted, for we stand firm on it yet. We have not rebelled against Ellen G. White, for we never endorsed her; nor have we rebelled against any of the messengers, for we never acknowledged allegiance to them; so the charge of rebellion reflects with shame on them, who have made it, they being the ones who have departed from their first position, [the Bible and the Bible alone] and have adopted a new one."8 Controversy and Confusion It was difficult for Sabbath Adventists to remain faithful to their original beliefs and not get swallowed up by the White Party. Other churches besides Marion faced the same thing. After entering a church covenant adopting "the Bible alone," a "tutoring process" began to prepare the members for a change in name and organization. In the words of Church of God historian Monroe, "Everywhere the remnant remained, there was suffering and pressure of the Adventists to accept the 'more perfect way' -- loyalty to the new General Conference, which according to Mrs. White, was God's highest authority on earth; the visions and claims for [the divine inspiration of] Mrs. White; and other non-Biblical doctrines that were beginning to show up in Seventh Day Adventism."9 Other Churches of God in Iowa After the 1860 organization of a church at Marion, churches were organized at Vinton, Iowa with 100 members and also at La Porte City and Lisbon. They were tested the same way Marion was, and the faithful associated with the Church of God of Marion. A circular letter was written calling for a conference of scattered believers, and a preliminary conference was held at Marion on November 5, 1862, where plans were made for further meetings.10 Marion Establishes Contact with Michigan The Seventh-Day Adventists at Marion, who had withdrawn from the original church, came to believe that the object of the conference at Marion was to put E.W. Shortridge as their minister. He had been one of the Marion members and was in trouble with the Seventh-Day Adventists probably because of his return to the original faith adopted by the Church of Christ. The Advent Review reported this rumor that the "rebels" were planning to put Shortridge in as minister. The Church of God at Marion had as yet no minister. All ministers that the Seventh-Day Adventists sent out had to accept the visions of Ellen G. White. Shortridge lived in Illinois some distance from Marion. A letter by an unnamed person in Michigan to Shortridge in Marion, where it was supposed he lived, found its way to him in Illinois. This opened up communication between the group at Marion and that in Michigan. The Marion people learned that they were not the first in rejecting the visions. Seventh-Day Adventists had not publicized differences so the Marion people had not heard previously of Cranmer and the Church of God people in Michigan. However, the Marion incident was too big to ignore. From this Michigan contact, Shortridge and the Marion people learned that in Michigan and other eastern states, anti-White, Sabbatarian churches were already holding state conferences and preparing to publish a paper, Hope of Israel. In the end, V.M. Gray took charge of the Sabbath meetings at Marion and was voted in as elder of the church. "Snook and Brinkerhoff Rebellion," or, "The Marion Party" It was the custom for one or more of the Seventh-Day Adventist General Conference committee to attend each of the State Conferences, reporting the proceedings in the Review. For the fall, 1864 conference in Iowa, circumstances prevented a General Conference Committee member from attending. No report came to the Review office, and no reason was given why not. In the spring of 1865, the Whites and Loughborough made a trip west to hold meetings in Illinois, Wisconsin, Iowa, and Minnesota. Snook and Brinkerhoff had just returned to Iowa from the General Conference at Battle Creek held in the spring, 1865. They spread to Iowa their discontent of the Whites and other leaders among the Iowa churches. Elder B.F. Snook had begun to have serious doubts of the divine inspiration of Ellen G. White's visions, and he wrote to Elder Ingraham in Wisconsin proposing to him that they act independently of Battle Creek in proclaiming Bible truths. At Monroe, Wisconsin, Ingraham handed the letter to James White, who saw the proposal in a postscript that Ingraham apparently overlooked, and wrote "There is rebellion in Iowa." When they traveled to Washington, Iowa, their knowledge was confirmed; they learned from R.M. Kilgore that Elders Snook and Brinkerhoff were stirring up war against the Whites.11 Apparently, the Whites had the date for the next Iowa conference changed from the fall to the summer, scheduling it for Pilot Grove, Iowa, June 30-July 2, 1865. White wrote to Snook and Brinkerhoff, notifying them that their case would be attended to there, and asked them to be present.12 Snook and Brinkerhoff, in the meantime, gathered information against Ellen G. White's visions to be used during their trial. Loughborough presided over the investigative meeting, which began June 29. He maintains that at the previous "secret" Iowa conference, Snook and Brinkerhoff had gotten themselves paid $15 a week, paid in advance quarterly. Previously, no minister had gotten over $12 a week. That is why the report had been withheld from the General Conference.13 On the other hand, Carver maintains that the Whites refused to enter into a discussion of the merits of the visions until the "rebels" had capitulated. The Whites pledged they would not leave Iowa until every point of difference was made plain, and every objection to the visions was removed. They did not live up to their pledge.14 On July 2, Snook admitted before the crowd at the conference that he had rebelled against the Battle Creek office and the Whites and that in so doing he had been serving Satan's purposes. Later both Snook and Brinkerhoff gave written confessions, which were printed in the Review, Volume XXVI, Number 8. Snook said he was "led by the wicked one," and Brinkerhoff said, "I have been deeply under the influence of Satan, and . . . have done you [Elder White] a great wrong, and wounded the cause of God." Snook had drawn his quarterly salary in advance and had spent at least half of it at home instead of working for the cause. George I. Butler was put in as State Conference President, and apparently the forces of "rebellion" were at bay.15 Ellen G. White later reported that she was inspired to go to Iowa and knew nothing of the rebellion until a few hours before they met its leaders at Pilot Grove. This is patently false because two weeks earlier White found out about the "Rebellion in Iowa." After the Pilot Grove meeting, the Whites visited Marion, but entered into no public vindication of the visions. To appear friendly, they stayed at the H.E. Carver house, one of the Marion Church of God people. Carver had previously been a believer in the shut-door error. Snook and Brinkerhoff were gathering evidence from early publications to disprove the divine inspiration of Ellen G. White. Carver asked Ellen G. White if she was a believer of the shut-door theory at the time of her first vision, and she said yes. White admitted to Carver that it was likely that their belief of the shut door gave "coloring to the vision" (White's own words). Yet Snook and Brinkerhoff had found in James White's 1847 pamphlet, "A Word to the Little Flock" that he maintained they had given up the shut-door belief before the vision. This is an open contradiction; one of these statements was a lie!16 On the eve of their departure from Iowa, the Whites were at the house of Brother Hare. James White, in the midst of a roomful of brethren and sisters, in a contemptuous manner stigmatized Snook as a "church pauper." This was soon reported to Snook who was convinced that White's pretended reconciliation and friendship was untrue. Carver maintains that although their group was all this time opposed to the visions, they hesitated from breaking openly with the Seventh-Day Adventists because they held to the Seventh-Day Adventist view of the Three Angels' Messages and the two-horned Beast. Brinkerhoff thoroughly investigated these subjects in the next few months and soon came out against the Seventh-Day Adventist view. Now there was nothing to hold them back. The commotion brought a public discussion between Elder Brinkerhoff, assisted by Snook, versus Elder W.S. Ingraham, assisted by Elders Sanborn and R.F. Andrews. The discussion was abruptly terminated by Ingraham who refused to continue, notwithstanding the urging of the whole Marion church for him to continue. Instead, Ingraham called a private meeting of those with his views and organized a new church outside the majority of the old church. The Church of God thus became distinct when the Seventh-Day Adventists withdrew. The meetinghouse was sold and bought by those against the visions. Its upper story was soon to be the publishing house of the Hope of Israel. More than half of the church went with the "rebels."17 Snook and Brinkerhoff's names were dropped from the Seventh-Day Adventist roll in 1866. They gathered the remnants of the now defunct Hope of Israel Cranmer party,18 and since the headquarters of the movement was at Marion, the Seventh-Day Adventists termed them the "Marion Party." Previously, in 1865, discussion in the Hope had resulted in the changing of the name to Church of God from Church of Jesus Christ. The Hope now was reissued from Marion starting May 29, 1866. Brinkerhoff became editor and Snook went out preaching. Kramer reports that Snook and Brinkerhoff had not led the Marion church to break with the Seventh-Day Adventists, for the church had broken in 1862, three to four years before the "Great Rebellion in Iowa."19 Contrary to what Seventh-Day Adventists teach, Carver shows that the Seventh-Day Adventists withdrew from the Church of God, not vice versa!20 Church Meetings and Conferences On July 14, 1866, the Marion church met to elect church officers. At this time they called themselves the "Church of God," whereas previously they had generally gone by the name "Church of Jesus Christ."21 Another conference was held at Marion in November of that year, attended by Sabbath-keepers from La Porte City, Marysville, Lisbon, Moscow, Keokuk County, and Fairfield, Iowa, as well as Keithsburg and Mt. Carroll, Illinois. Letters of correspondence were received from Wisconsin, Michigan, and the New England Sabbath-keepers. Among those present were E.W. Shortridge of the church in Maple Grove, Illinois, whose ministerial credentials were accepted.22 The Michigan Church of God met at Hartford, March 22, 1867, resolving to invite W.H. Brinkerhoff to participate in their conference, and appointing a committee of Samuel Everett, E.M. Kibbee, and Brother Wallen to drum up support for missionary work at home, and report to the "General Conference" at Marion what the Michigan brethren were doing. The "Second Annual Meeting of the Christian Publishing Association" was held at Marion, May 8, 1868. It chose B.F. Snook to be the editor of the Hope of Israel, replacing W.H. Brinkerhoff (who resided at La Porte City) who had served since 1866. Brinkerhoff's health had been failing, and the mechanical publication of the paper had previously been given over to a D.W. Hull (possibly a former Seventh Day Baptist). Jacob Brinkerhoff, apparently the younger brother to W.H. Brinkerhoff, became the "office editor" when Hull was dropped for inefficiency. Hull drifted away from the church and became a Spiritualist.23 W.H. Brinkerhoff is not heard of again until 1869, when H.E. Carver, President of the Publishing Association, wrote that the older Brinkerhoff had defected to the Universalists. This had a disastrous effect on the church at La Porte City, Iowa, where he was pastor. Another source reports that Brinkerhoff returned to teaching and law practice.24 There are also reports of meetings of the Marion and Vinton, Iowa churches on November 28, 1868, and of the Hartford church on December 5 of that year. Preaching Extent -- Even into Missouri B.F. Snook traveled for years, preaching and raising up numerous Sabbath groups. He went into southern Iowa, Illinois, and elsewhere. A.C. Long wrote a letter to the Hope office from his home in Missouri, dated July 6, 1866, requesting a visit from Snook. Apparently Snook went there, and the Church of God in Missouri thus began. Another source indicates that the Sabbath was proclaimed in Hatfield, Missouri before the Civil War. This was the home of the staunch Sabbath-keeping family of the Moores (D.P. Moore, Jasper Moore, and others), the Davises and the Ayres.25 In Horse Creek, Barton County, Missouri, J. Millard held meetings in 1866 which drew large crowds. Apparently he was a Sabbath preacher, and was unopposed by the White Party, which had not penetrated this far.26 In September of 1868, Snook and "Brother Davison" journeyed to Daviess County in Missouri, stayed at the home of William Rogers, and began meetings at the nearby Union Church, the following month. They held meetings also in Victoria, Altevista, Pattensburg, Salem, and Fairview School. Twelve new Sabbath-keepers were said to have been added. Staunch local members, including Morrison, Long and Rogers, said they had been keeping the Sabbath for many years previously.27 During the same time, a church was being organized (September 1, 1868) at Sulphur Springs, Indiana, due to the labors of Snook and Shortridge. It began with 28 members, and took the Bible alone as the rule of faith. This church immediately began a Sabbath School. J.B. Benbow was apparently its pastor. During the summer and fall of 1868, Snook was said to have preached 84 sermons in 82 days, traveling widely and organizing numerous Sabbath Schools and churches.28 Prominent Iowa Sabbatarians Iowa seems to have been the home of a number of prominent men who later became leading ministers in the Church of God (Seventh Day). Elder J.H. Nichols, grandfather of L.I. Rodgers, began preaching in La Porte City, Iowa in 1861. He was said to have been the first preacher of the Sabbath west of the Rocky Mountains, when in 1862 he preached at Santa Rosa, California. He also preached in Oregon. Nichols was frequently mentioned in the pages of the Advocate during the later years of the 1800's. When he died in 1916, it was stated that he had preached in every state of the union.29 S.W. Mentzer, later president of the Church of God General Conference, accepted the Sabbath in 1860 in Iowa, and "joined the church" in 1864. He was ordained in 1876, and died in 1927.30 Alexander F. Dugger, Sr., editor of the Bible Advocate from 1903-1909, and father of Andrew N. Dugger, began preaching as an Advent Christian minister in Simpson, Iowa, in 1867-68. He later came to accept the Sabbath and became a Church of God leader.31 Dugger is first mentioned in the Church of God paper in 1874. His first-day church had commissioned him to write a book against seventh day Sabbath-keeping, but during his research he became convinced that the Sabbath must be kept in this dispensation. Instead, he wrote a booklet for the Sabbath, called "The Bible Sabbath Defended," which came to be an important tract of the Church of God, of which Dugger became a part.32 Church of God -- Seventh-Day Adventist Controversy The schisms that rocked the Iowa Sabbath Adventist churches were also felt elsewhere, even in Michigan, the "home" of the Seventh-Day Adventists. In the fall of 1866, James White broke the silence with regard to the "Marion Party" and denounced the group strongly in the pages of the Review and Herald. The Church of God paper responded and there ensued virtual mudslinging. In 1871, Elders L.R. Long, A.C. Long, and William Rogers of Civil Bend, Daviess County, Missouri, asserted in the Church of God paper that James White had used the epithets "as ignorant as a Missouri mule," "bold slanderer," baptized liars," and such like inferring to the Church of God people.33 B.F. Snook, during his evangelistic meetings, often engaged in debates with first-day ministers, but was unsuccessful in luring Seventh-Day Adventist ministers into debates with him. Brinkerhoff likewise was rebuffed in his efforts to stir up debate.34 Two main points raised by "The Marion Party" were: 1. Ellen G. White's visions, and 2. The identity of the two-horned beast. Another point of difference concerned the Third Angel's Message. Extreme opposition to Mrs. White's visions led many to hold that there were no spiritual gifts given to Christians in the present time.35 Carver's Objections to Mrs. White In 1877, a tract, published by the Advent and Sabbath Advocate in Marion, Iowa, gave much of the history of the Marion period of the Church of God. It was called "Mrs. E.G. White's Claims to Divine Inspiration Examined," and it was written by H.E. Carver, the original president of the Christian Publishing Association which began the Hope of Israel in Iowa.36 Carver states in this work that he became "fully convinced" of the Sabbath "about 20 years ago" (1857?) in Iowa City through the preaching of J.H. Waggoner, a Sabbath Adventist preacher. He admitted that he became attached to the group of people who later became known as Seventh-Day Adventists, and did so with a full knowledge of Ellen G. White's claims to divine inspiration. Carver's previous Advent ideas (apparently he had been a Millerite) predisposed him to receive the common Sabbath Adventist theory of the Three Messages of Revelation 14 and the Two-horned Beast of Revelation 13. He was in "perfect union" with the other brethren on these main points. Faith in the visions was not then made a test of fellowship, and Carver wanted to see them vindicated. Seventh-Day Adventist historian Loughborough had stated that opposers to Ellen G. White's visions came from "those who have been reproved for defects in character, for wrong habits, or for some wrong course in their manner of life." And being thus reproved, the opposers maintained that they were not as bad as the "testimony" stated and broke off from the main body of Sabbath-keepers.37 Carver maintained that this was not the case with him. He had never used tobacco, had entirely discarded the use of pork, and was never reproved in any way by Ellen G. White, by a vision or otherwise. He long enjoyed the full confidence of both the Whites, and only by an accumulation of evidence was Carver forced to give up hope that the visions would be vindicated, and to have his confidence shaken as to the Christian integrity of the Whites. Mrs. White maintained that "I am just as dependent upon the Spirit of the Lord in relating, or writing a vision, as in having a vision." A "vision" of hers, published January 31, 1849, purported that she saw that those who stood in the present truth (Sabbath-keepers), but rejected the visions, were speaking against the Holy Spirit. Thus, the fear to commit the unpardonable sin of blasphemy against the Holy Spirit undoubtedly made many reluctant to condemn Mrs. White's visions. The Pork Question A brother and sister Curtis were intimate friends of Carver in Iowa for many years. Mrs. Curtis, long before the Whites believed pork to be injurious, tried to banish it from her table. She was a sincere believer in Ellen G. White's visions, and wrote to Mrs. White for instruction in the matter. Ellen replied: "I believe you to be in error. The Lord showed me two or three years since that the use of swine's flesh was no test. Dear sister, if it is your husband's wish to use swine's flesh, you should be perfectly free to use it." Mrs. White further stated that it was "fanatical" to "deprive yourselves of nourishing food." At the time of the 1865 Pilot Grove conference, Curtis had Mrs. White's letter and promised Snook a copy. James White admitted to Carver at this conference that the Whites had just downed a 200-pound porker. Strangely enough, with all this and other evidence to the contrary, Uriah Smith, an apologist for Ellen G. White, later reported that Mrs. White's visions never taught that swine's flesh was good and nourishing food.38 Mrs. White was soon to have a vision contrary to her first one concerning pork. In Spiritual Gifts, Volume 4, page 124, she claims a vision against the use of pork: "God never designed the swine to be eaten under any circumstances." Thus, "divine inspiration" was claimed for opposite doctrines. James White Counsels Breaking God's Law H.E. Carver was conscientiously opposed to Christians fighting with carnal weapons, that is, in warfare. He believed that the church should adopt the same position and urged that the question be discussed in the columns of the Advent Review. This occurred at the outbreak of the Civil War, shortly before the foundation of the Seventh-Day Adventist denomination. The Whites stated at a council in Lisbon, Iowa that the subject should not be discussed because of the danger of being destroyed by the war elements in the country for seeming to be unpatriotic. James White wrote in the Review that to engage in war would be a violation of two of God's commandments, but in case of being drafted, the government would be responsible for an individual's violation of God's commandments. In effect, he said that it was all right to break God's law! This error was so obvious that Ellen G. White had to apologize in the Review for her husband, but maintained that something had to be said on this delicate subject.39 Conscientious objection was too controversial for Mrs. White to pronounce a vision concerning it. Yet she did publish a vision purporting to foretell the outcome of the Battle of Bull Run, after it had been fought and the result was known. The Iowa Church of God brethren were firmly convinced that it was wrong for Christians to engage in warfare. During the initial phase of the Civil War, Elders B.F. Snook and J.H. Waggoner prepared a petition to the Iowa state government, asking their church be exempted as non-combatants. The petition was circulated among the brethren for signatures, and sent to the state capital. Battle Creek did not sanction this effort, terming it "fanaticism." Due to the Church of God petition, a law was enacted exempting non-combatants from bearing arms. Carver termed the non-action of the Battle Creek Seventh-Day Adventists as "cowardly." However, Uriah Smith reported that the Seventh-Day Adventist General Conference did indirectly exempt Seventh-Day Adventists by petitioning the government to exempt them through an already existing law.40 Further Objections of Carver to Mrs. White's Visions In Seventh-Day Adventist publications, it was claimed that Ellen G. White's visions were given "to correct those who should err from Bible truth." Yet to Carver, it became more and more apparent that the visions were given to correct and rebuke those who disbelieved in their divine inspiration. A friend of Carver's, Samuel Everett, protested Mrs. White's claim and was warned of the result: believe in the divine inspiration of Ellen G. White or be put out of the church. Carver reported that Elder Cornell acted very unkindly towards Everett in an attempt to force him into submission. Carver and most of the church were on Everett's side. Because of the incident, Carver refused to become a member of the Pilot Grove church. Carver did not openly break with the vision believers until after this incident, when he came to disagree with their two-horned beast interpretation. Despite the numerous contradictions he found in Mrs. White's visions, Carver did not separate himself from the White Party until doctrine forced him to do so.41 Doctrine of the Church of God at Marion Carver's 1877 pamphlet against Mrs. White was probably a reprint and revision of one published in 1871. The earlier tract was strongly refuted by James White in the June 13, 1871 Review. On the cover of Elder Carver's 1877 tract is listed the purpose of the Church of God paper, the Advent and Sabbath Advocate, as it was then called: The Advocate is devoted to the promulgation of the doctrines of the Second Advent of Christ, the Signs of the Times, The duty of mankind to observe the Bible Sabbath (the seventh day of the week) together with the other Commandments of God, The Nature of Man, his Unconscious state in Death, The End of the Wicked, The Earth restored to its original glory and condition as the future inheritance and abode of the Redeemed and the Kingdom of God, The Atonement and Redemption by Jesus Christ, The Prophecies, The Christian Life, and kindred Bible subjects.42 Further, the pamphlet lists several other Church of God tracts, offered for sale, as follows: Tracts available, and the prices, were: "The Bible Student's Assistant" .10 The Seventh Day Sabbath .09 The Second Coming of Christ .03 Moody's sermon on the Second coming of Christ .03 Who Changed the Sabbath? .02 The Sabbath for both Jew and Gentiles .01 What is the seal of God? .02 Review of J.M. Stephenson on the Sabbath Question .10 The Soul .02 Where Are the Dead? .02 Man, Mortal or immortal? .03 Man's Condition on death .04 Man, a living soul .02 The Sanctuary .10 The Saints' Inheritance .03 The Kingdom of Heaven upon Earth .20 Three Important Questions for Seventh Day Adventists to consider .10 The Testimonies of Mrs. E.G. White compared with the Bible .15 Thoughts on the First day of the Week .04 Mrs. E.G. White's Claims to Divine Inspiration Examined .18 Some of the doctrines expressed by the Church of God during the Iowa period are these: 1. In 1869, the tithing principle, called a "systematic tax," was definitely adopted at Marion.43 However, John Kiesz reports that "Tithing apparently was not much advocated and practiced in general among our people before 1881." He bases this assumption on a 1881 letter of W.C. Long in the Advocate, in favor of tithing.44 2. As early as 1866, the teaching was that the Jews would return to Palestine and become a nation once more.45 3. Apparently the Church of God was ahead of the Seventh-Day Adventists in prohibiting the use of pork. Several articles appeared in the Church of God papers as early as 1866, reporting the dangers of trichinosis and the evils of eating pork. The editor was definitely against pork. However, since the paper was free to open discussion, pro-pork articles were also allowed.46 4. As for the proper time for celebrating the "Lord's Supper," the first definite report of a yearly Passover in Marion was in 1899. According to Cranmer in 1870, the Marion Church adopted foot washing and the Lord's Supper at least once in three months.47 In the April 23, 1867 issue of the Hope of Israel appeared an article by Samuel Cronce, Mt. Carroll, Illinois, contending that the early church, to the time of Constantine, observed the Lord's Supper annually at the beginning of the 14th of Abib, and then we should now show His death until He comes, by also observing it at the beginning of the 14th. Certainly this is a strong indication that some of the Church of God people observed the annual Passover.48 Various Adventists apparently came independently to the observance of the Sabbath and/or Passover. In 1875, J.L. Boyd of Philadelphia wrote the Church of God paper, reporting that he and a group of about 175 Philadelphia Adventists learned to practice the Sabbath and the "feetwashing" accompanying the yearly recognition of the Lord's Supper. This practice began in 1845, the year following the Great Disappointment.49 5. Also in 1867, appeared an article by Thomas Hamilton stating that fermented wine is to be used in the Lord's Supper, since it was used in the drink offerings of the Old Testament, and also at the Passover. Another article refuted this.50 6. The August 27, 1867 Hope showed that the editorial position was anti-trinitarian, in opposition to the Seventh-Day Adventist teaching in favor of the Trinity doctrine.51 7. During 1868 there appeared a series of articles on the question whether the wicked dead will be resurrected or not. Some held they wouldn't, but others stated that since there was a second death, there had to be a resurrection of the wicked in order to mete out the second death penalty.52 Later History of the Marion Period Volumes of the Hope of Israel are missing from the official files between the May 4, 1869 and June 27, 1871 issues. Although not mentioned in the "official" church history of Kiesz, it appears that during this time B.F. Snook left the ministry and the editorship of the magazine. Loughborough reports that Snook became a Universalist preacher for $1,000 a year.53 With the 1871 issue, thirty year old Jacob Brinkerhoff, a relative of W.H. Brinkerhoff, became editor of the paper. H.E. Carver was still President of the Publishing Association, and the Publishing Committee was composed of N.M. Kramer, Asahel Aldrich, and V.M. Gray.54 On September 15, 1871, there was held the Second Annual Meeting of the General Conference of the Church of God at Marion. This indicates that in 1870 a General Conference had been organized. A Quarterly Meeting was also held in conjunction with this conference. On September 29, 1871, a "Conference of the Church of Christ" was held at Waverly, Michigan. Elder Gilbert Cranmer was still the leader of the work in Michigan.55 During 1868-1869, there appeared articles in the Hope written by such men as: Samuel Everett I.N. Kramer S. Davison M.A. Harris D.W. Randall M.A. Dalbey L.E. Horton J.C. Day J.H. Nichols William O. Munro J.R. Goodenough and others.56 Missouri Growth Also in 1871 there began to appear reports of A.C. Long doing missionary work in Missouri and Kansas. In 1872 he preached in Harrison and Worth counties, close to Stanberry (Gentry County).57 One meeting lasted for three weeks, and was held at the Union School House near the Moore residence in Harrison County. Six convents were added, making 23 Sabbath-keepers in the area. The Moore's reported they had been keeping the Sabbath there since 1861.58 Name Changes and Internal Disputes At the Third Annual Conference of the Church of God General Conference, reported in the March 12, 1872 issue, it was decided to change the name of the paper from the Hope of Israel to the Advent and Sabbath Advocate and Hope of Israel, because the latter was a more distinctive name that would appeal to more people. In March of 1874 the sub-title Hope of Israel was dropped altogether.59 Also at this conference the Church of God brethren heard the Seventh Day Baptist Elder V. Hull, a delegate from the American Sabbath Tract Society, give a report of the Seventh Day Baptist activity in promulgating the Sabbath. Hull lived in Welton, Clinton County, Iowa. Because of the historical and geographical proximity of the Seventh Day Baptists and the Church of God, there may have been an attempt for some sort of joint effort at this time. Indeed, Hull requested that a Church of God minister be sent to visit a group of Sabbath Adventists at Welton, Iowa. The Conference voted to send M.N. Kramer as delegate to the Seventh Day Baptist Northwestern Association, at its next meeting at Albion, Wisconsin, in June.60 In October of 1873, the paper was suspended, and not resumed until March of 1874. It appears that Brinkerhoff and the Publishing Association were at odds over something. The office property was sold, but to save the Advocate and the Church of God publishing work, Jacob Brinkerhoff sold his home and bought the office, press, and accoutrements so as to continue publishing. The Christian Publishing Association composed of Kramer, Carver, and Gray, previously the overseer of the magazine, was dissolved, although it appears in the end they approved of Brinkerhoff's buying the paper from Aldrich. They instructed Brinkerhoff to increase the paper's circulation to make it self-supporting.61 On April 5, 1874; the Marion church rented the upper floor of the church building to Brinkerhoff for the publication of the Advocate.62 Generally, the editorial policy of the Advocate remained the same as that of the Hope. In the March, 1874 issue, Brinkerhoff stated: "The editor of the Advocate does not hold himself responsible for the sentiments contained in articles written for the paper. Each writer will be responsible for his or her views of scripture. We hold ourselves responsible only for editorial selections, and comments."63 Missouri Becomes Leading Center of the Church of God Although Jacob Brinkerhoff of Marion, Iowa continued to be the editor of the Advocate until 1887, it appears that from 1874 on, the real thrust of the Church of God was carried on in Missouri rather than Iowa. Reasons for this are difficult to determine. Even today, besides the Church of God in Marion, there is little evidence of the church in Iowa. On the other hand, Missouri churches of God grew and flourished, several of which continue today. A.C. Long's Missouri Efforts Apparently, much of the Missouri growth was due to the preaching efforts of A.C. Long. In early 1874, he held three months of meetings in Harrison and Worth counties. At Martinsville, he garnered seventeen converts and began a church. In a series of meetings at Denver, Missouri, four more began the Sabbath, including S.C.B. Williams, owner of a large grist and saw mill. Williams posted an ad in the local paper stating that henceforth his mill would be closed on the Sabbath.64 Long's July 30, 1874 meeting at Denver was a "Grove Meeting," one held out of doors in a grove of trees. This was a common practice of itinerant ministers, as the trees acted as a canopy and sound shell magnifying the voice. Church of God ministers in the 1920's were still continuing this practice. Other evangelistic efforts in Missouri, such as that by W.C. Long in 1881, were done with the use of "Gospel Tents."65 Moores of Missouri Jasper Moore and his family moved from Iowa to Missouri in about 1867. In 1873 or 1874, his son Samuel (S.A.) Moore, of Harrison County, Missouri was baptized by Elder A.C. Long on one of his evangelistic campaigns. Moore claimed that "The Spirit of the Lord fell on me, and I felt the power of that Spirit so much so that I hurried over to Brother Long, and gave him my hand . . . . While this was all going on, my heart was just burning like fire. Oh, I never felt so good in my life. But that was all the Lord's work . . . .66 Chosen elder of a local church about 1879 at the age of twenty, Seth Munger, and Jasper Moore became leading Church of God ministers and officials. Moore distributed tracts, and it may have been his urging that caused A.C. Long to travel to Missouri. Long organized two churches, one in Denver, Worth County, with sixty members. Here many of the new converts had been Seventh Day Baptists, and had believed in the immortality of the soul. However, tracts from Moore convinced them otherwise. The second church Long organized was near the Moore place, with about forty members. Missouri Conferences Kramer reports that a Missouri state conference was organized in 1873. However, Kiesz reports that it was 1874. From the pages of the Advocate, it appears that the Missouri Conference, known first as the Sabbatarian Adventist Conference of Missouri, was organized on August 2, 1874, with a constitution and By-Laws. The officers were: S.C.B. Williams President A.C. Long Vice-President H.R. Perins Secretary Alistes Williams Treasurer S.C.B. Williams Jasper Moore William C. Long Executive Committee Ministers appointed to Districts were: District Number 1 W.C. Long and A.D. Leard District Number 2 A.C. Long and I.N. Rogers District Number 3 A.F. Dugger The extent of such a work in Missouri apparently never had such a counterpart in Iowa. Northern Missouri and Southern Iowa Church of God brethren had a conference near Hopkins, Missouri on October 23, 1874. The second Missouri conference was held at Pleasant Valley School House, Harrison County, Missouri on August 13, 1875. The following report was given: "Objections having been made to the name, 'Sabbatarian Adventist Church,' as adopted at our first conference, it was moved and carried that we select the scriptural name 'Church of God', and henceforth known in a church capacity by that name." Present at this conference were: A.C. and W.C. Long, A.C. Leard, Alistes Williams, R.S. Wheat, T.L. Davison, H.R. Perine, and Jasper Moore67 Missing Church History Often, the critical years of Church of God history are obscure because of missing articles of the church paper. If all the issues were extant, presumably much more would be known. As the 1936 Census of Religious Bodies reports, "The history of the church is closely connected with the history of the publication . . . ."68 I.N. Kramer of Iowa was responsible for preserving much of the early issues of the Church of God paper without which there would be very little to record. There are no issues available from late 1875 or early 1876, until April 5, 1881, when the Advocate went from semi-monthly to weekly. Some of the new names of ministers and writers appearing after 1881 were:69 N.A. Wells, R.E. Caviness, R.V. Lyon, J.A. Nugent, John Branch, G.W. Admire, W.O. Munro, and B.G. St. John. Conferences and Campmeetings What was life in the Church of God like during the 1880's? It seemed from the publications to be one consisting of going to Sabbath meetings and Sabbath Schools, campmeetings and conferences. The "Annual Conference of the Church of God" was usually held in the fall, in August or September, in conjunction with a general church campmeeting. An example is the campmeeting held at Mineral Springs, Gentry County, Missouri beginning Thursday, September 1, 1881, and continuing until Thursday, September 6. The eighth annual conference meeting was held at the same time. The Long brothers and N.A. Wells comprised the executive committee. Jacob Brinkerhoff, the editor of the Advocate from Iowa, attended this conference and reported of the prayer and social meetings and sermons. He stated that attendance rose as high as 1,200 to 1,500 people, and that the Church of God was greatly expanding in northwestern Missouri at this time. The highlight of this meeting, as all others, was the official conference meeting, conducted according to parliamentary law. President W.C. Long presided. Leading members and ministers there were: W.C. Long A.G. Long A.C. Long N.A. Wells E.L. Pierce Thomas Beckman Elisha Marshall A.C. Leard Jacob Lippincott Samuel A. Moore Jasper Moore J.W. Osborn C.T. Pierce James A. Sims T.L. Davison J.H. Nichols Ministers reported on their work and Brinkerhoff gave an overall report of the state of the work, from the Advocate office. Businesslike and devoid of human interest and real life content, the reports of these meetings give little besides who attended and who were chosen new officers. The year 1881 also saw Church of God meetings at Spring Ranch Grove, Nebraska and Hartford, Michigan. J.H. Nichols, Enoch Owens, John Sperry, and G.W. Admire were working in Nebraska, while Lemuel J. Branch reported from Michigan.70 Two Types of Ministers The Michigan meeting decided that "all who labor among us as ordained ministers must have credentials as such, and those preaching without being ordained must have license." This shows the existence of the two common types of Church of God ministers: 1. credentialed, that is ordained ministers 2. licensed, not ordained, ministers. Credentials were issued by the General Conference, and renewable from year to year. Also in the 1880's, it appears that there began the practice of holding ministerial conferences. A ministerial conference was held in Stanberry, Missouri on March 18, 1884.71 Some Kept the Passover The April 12, 1881, issue of the Advocate sets forth reasons for observing the Lord's Supper, or Passover, annually at the time of the Jewish Passover. Pro and con articles were printed on the subject, but Passover reports in the spring of that year showed that many brethren had accepted it. A group in Nebraska at Samuel Barackman's kept the Passover and footwashing on the evening after the 13th of Nisan, as did R.E. Caviness of Beckwith, Iowa, and a "Brother Davison." The May 24, 1881 issue of the Advocate contains a long article by A.F. Dugger explaining the reasons for annual observance.72 The Year 1884: General Conference Organized Copies of the Advocate are missing for the year 1883. However, the year 1884 seemed to show a decided upturn in events of the developing Church of God. For one, there was the first mention of the Church of God at Stanberry, Missouri, where a Ministerial Conference was held, March 18, 1884. Churches and members had sprouted up around Stanberry for some time previously, and it appears that by now there was a church at Stanberry.73 Church of God historian Stanley J. Kauer reports that this ministerial meeting was held March 28 to April 3. The ministers made a report, accepted by the General Conference, that the Church of God in Missouri would have unity of doctrines and practices, in agreement with the Bible and with each other. The "combined experience and judgment of ministers" would "decide what is Gospel and Bible truth, and the most successful way of getting people to obey them." Sermons during the meeting were on the following topics: "Observance of Christian Passover, and the duty of feet-washing; . . . Life and death; The kingdom; Age to come or Restitution; Baptism, . . . " and others. M.B. Moyer, Jasper Moore and D.M. Spencer preached "to improve their talents," in preparation for ordination.74 In April of 1884, Elder A.F. Dugger, then living at Fairfield, Nebraska, announced the creation and planning for a department of Sabbath School work, designed to help the young people in the church. January of 1885 saw the beginning of a Sabbath School paper, "Sabbath School Missionary," published at 50 cents a year. Seventh-Day Adventists early established a Sabbath School paper, and now the Church of God was continuing this practice.75 The 1884 Missouri campmeeting was held from August 21 to 27 at Albany, 13 miles east of Stanberry. The eleventh annual conference of the Church of God was held in conjunction with the campmeeting. It appears that a move to closer Church of God organization was well underway. President W.C. Long of the Missouri Conference urged that the church elders choose a delegate for every ten members to represent the local congregations at the conference. The ministers present, and their areas of service, shows the extant of the church at that time:76 Missouri W.C. Long, N.A. Wells, A.C. Leard, J.C. Kerns Kansas J.H. Nichols Iowa Jacob Brinkerhoff, S.W. Mentzer Michigan John Branch, L.J. Branch Indiana Brother Stahl A meeting was held at Marion, beginning September 6th, attended by all the Iowa brethren as well as the Michigan brethren returning from the Missouri Conference. An Iowa Conference, and a Constitution and By-Laws, was adopted. Elder A.C. Long was elected President, indicating he had moved from Missouri to Iowa. Next was held the "Fourth Annual Conference of the Church of God" in Michigan, October 2-6, at Irvington, in Van Buren County. Michigan finally moved to take the name Church of God, and as Kiesz later noted, 1884 was thus the year that "every local group associated with the General Conference, that had not done so previously, accepted the name of 'Church of God'."77 L.J. Branch was then President of the Michigan Conference, while other Michigan ministers were Gilbert Cranmer, M. Davoist, Thomas Howe, Elsis L. Robinson, A.N. Fisher, and John Branch. The Long brothers and I.N. Kramer visited the Michigan meeting. With these several meetings, in Missouri, Iowa and then Michigan, the subject of a more unified body was brought forth. And during the Michigan Conference, it was voted to organize a General Conference, made up of the state conferences of Michigan, Iowa, Missouri, Nebraska. The first officers were: A.C. Long President A.F. Dugger Vice-President Jacob Brinkerhoff Secretary I.N. Kramer Treasurer A.C. Long W.C. Long John Branch General Conference Committeemen It is surprising to note the full circle that the Church of God people had come to. In 1860 and 1861, they had vehemently been against any form of organization, especially that which the White Party formed at Battle Creek, with a "General Conference." Yet by 1884, they had come to form the same conference system that they previously had denounced. To be sure, there were articles in the Advocate as late as 1885 against organization. Before this, articles began appearing for organizing, written by Brinkerhoff and the Longs.78 The General Conference System As organized in 1884 (Kramer says it was 1883), the Church of God General Conference was in reality only a loose confederation. Individual churches and individuals seemed to have great liberty about many points of belief, although the 1885 session outlined 24 articles of common Church of God belief. From the start, the Hope of Israel had been open to views from both sides of controversial issues. However, now beginning with the November 15, 1887 issue, the Advent and Sabbath Advocate was published not by Jacob Brinkerhoff who had bought the press previously, but by the General Conference of the Church of God. Brinkerhoff was hired by the conference to publish the Advocate and the Missionary. The General Conference Committee was to examine all articles not in harmony with the Church of God Constitution. Apparently this "new editorial policy" did not in reality change anything, as far as article content. Controversy was still allowed. From W.H. Brinkerhoff on, articles had appeared advising strongly against the use of pork. Now, from 1885 and in following years, a number of articles appeared in favor of eating the unclean meats. A possible reason for this is that some of the brethren were so much against Seventh-Day Adventists that they become pro-pork.79 The unclean meats issue was one that has long been, and still continues to be, a dividing factor in the Church of God (Seventh Day). However, the general trend of articles on the subject of tobacco was that it was a "filthy weed." In 1874, A.C. Long noted that he and some of his converts at Denver, Missouri entered into a "solemn vow" never to engage in the "filthy habit" of tobacco. Mr. and Mrs. Williams, their sons Enoch and Amzy Williams, and Brother Moore were among the signers of the pledge.80 H.C. Blanchard Refused to Support Visions In 1877, a 43-page tract was printed at Marion, Iowa by the Advent and Sabbath Advocate press, entitled "The Testimonies of Mrs. Ellen G. White Compared with the Bible." Written by H.C. Blanchard, the tract records the plight of a man who refused to go along with Mrs. White's visions. Blanchard united with the Seventh-Day Adventists in 1861, covenanting to keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus. Soon afterwards, he received a license to preach. At that time he knew little of the visions, had read a few of them, and believed they were of divine origin. He did not heartily endorse the "Health Reform" visions, but said little on the subject. In 1869, he moved from Illinois to Missouri. He relates, "I did not preach the visions and health reform, but I still continued to labor with the Seventh-Day Adventists." Officials of the Kansas and Missouri Seventh-Day Adventist Conference checked up on Blanchard, discovering that he did not preach the visions nor proscribe tea, coffee, flesh meats, and pork. As a result, in 1874, Blanchard's ministerial credentials were withheld. In 1875, he was notified that they would be renewed, providing he accept the visions and Health Reform. He then turned in the credentials, preaching his views fully for 4-5 months at the Labette, Kansas church, of which he was a member. In March of 1876, Elder J.H. Cook visited the church, remaining several weeks, and condemning Blanchard's "rebellion." Most of the church sided with Blanchard, so he could not be put out. At a church business meeting, on May 13, 1876 with the advice of G.I. Butler, some fourteen members withdrew in order to conform with the Seventh-Day Adventist teaching. Blanchard continued to hold regular meetings in the Labette church, now composed of independent Sabbath-keepers. Blanchard's 1877 tract zeroes in on the Health Reform. Referring to Genesis 18:8; Isaiah 9; I Samuel 17:18 and II Samuel 17:29, he showed that the Bible is not against meat, butter, cheese and eggs, as Ellen G. White's visions purported. To Seventh-Day Adventists, the prohibition against pork was as binding as "thou shalt not steal," but Blanchard believed that pork was permissible. Whether Blanchard joined the Church of God or not is as yet unknown. Almon Hall Refutes Adventist 2,300-Day Interpretation Another tract writer during the Marion period was Almon Hall, who in 1880 published a 44-page tract, "The Command and the Weeks of Daniel 9:24-27" at the Advocate press. A native of Vermont, born in 1820 and "converted" in 1835, Hall received the Advent message of Miller prior to 1840. Shortly before October 22, 1844, he was convinced that no definite time for Christ's return could be known. After a long and careful investigation, Hall embraced the Sabbath in September, 1849, and was one of the first Sabbath-keepers in Washington County, Vermont. In 1880 his address was Transit, Sibley County, Minnesota. In his tract, Hall refuted the Millerite connection of the 70 weeks prophecy to the 2,300 days prophecy, holding that 490 years are not part of the 2,300 days, and was not sure that the 2,300 mornings and evenings should even constitute 2,300 years. Jacob Brinkerhoff on the Seventh-Day Adventists In 1884, Jacob Brinkerhoff published a 16-page tract at Marion (the third edition) entitled "The Seventh-Day Adventists and Mrs. White's Visions." It is of a rather mild tone and without caustic criticism or bitter vituperation, but simply explains why the visions are wrong. The main point Brinkerhoff emphasized was the Mrs. White's visions were of human origin. He quoted Elder White's 1868 edition of Life Incidents, noting that since 1845, Ellen had had some 100-200 visions, "the most apparent change being that of late years they have grown less frequent and more comprehensive." Thus, Brinkerhoff concluded, after keeping "the laws of health," that is, abstaining from pork, she became more healthy in mind and body, and therefore had less visions, which were the product of an unhealthy body and mind. An examination of Mrs. White's visions convinced Brinkerhoff that they corresponded to what people already believed. "For instance, for a space of several years they believed that probation for sinners ceased in 1844, and the visions taught the same thing . . . [viz.,] 'the time of their salvation is past'." Later the visions said the opposite. Another case was that of conditionalism. In 1845 or 1846, Elder George Storrs had brought to the attention of Adventists at a conference at Exeter, New Hampshire, the doctrine that the dead sleep until the resurrection. Later, Mrs. White's visions upheld this. Brinkerhoff felt that Mrs. White's visions had greatly hurt the spread of the Sabbath truth. He felt that the Whites had gotten lots of money because their people were led to believe that they were the only church and "are taught that to be saved they must be with 'the body,' that is, their organization." Seventh-Day Adventists treated their dissenters with intolerance, for "The power exercised over the people, and their treatment of dissenters," Brinkerhoff insisted, "very much resembles the Roman Catholic Church." How did Brinkerhoff explain the great growth of Seventh-Day Adventists versus the insignificance of the Church of God at this time? "Some are held with that people because of the large work they are doing, saying they must be right, or they would not be so prospered; forgetting that other bodies of professing religious people have had great prosperity, though holding and teaching gross errors." Their prosperity, Brinkerhoff believed, was not due to their being right, but because of the managing skill of James White. A final interesting comment by Brinkerhoff is his reference to a conference in western New York in the early history of Adventists, where the Whites attended. There Mrs. White had visions against certain positions the Whites opposed, but that Brinkerhoff said were correct. This must have reference to the 1848 conference at Volney, New York and William E. Arnold, who held to a yearly Passover observance and the Age-to-Come doctrine.81 Canright's Defection from Seventh-Day Adventists D.M. Canright began keeping the Sabbath in 1859 as a result of the preaching of the Whites. In 1864 he was licensed to preach by the Seventh-Day Adventists, and in 1865 ordained by James White. He soon became dissatisfied with Seventh-Day Adventists, because he "saw that he [Elder White] ruled everything, and that all greatly feared him. I saw that he was often cross and unreasonable." An incident occurred in 1867, in which Canright saw that Elder White was clearly wrong, but Mrs. White's "Testimonies" sustained him. J.N. Andrews was adamantly against White, and Canright was sympathetic to Andrews' position. But they were forced to make a written confession that they had "been blinded by Satan." Canright noted, "I saw that her revelations always favored Elder White and herself. If any dared question their course, they soon received a scathing revelation denouncing the wrath of God against them." For years in the late 1860's, the main business at major Seventh-Day Adventist meetings was the complaints of Elder White against leading ministers. Canright related that "Elder and Mrs. White ran and ruled everything with an iron hand. Not a nomination to office, not a resolution, not an item of business was even acted upon in business meetings till all had been first submitted to Elder White for his approval." Seventh Day Adventism was a fear religion, a "yoke of bondage," or "cold legalism," Canright felt, because members were cowered by White's use of the visions, to either accept them or "fear of being damned if they refuse." Canright left the Seventh-Day Adventists in 1880, was back for a time, but left them for good in 1887 when he became a Baptist minister. He notes that most of those who left them became infidels, because "the natural rebound from fanaticism and superstition is into infidelity and skepticism . . . the ripe fruit of Adventism in the years to come will be a generation of infidels."82 In her Testimonies for the Church, Ellen G. White seemed to show the corruption extant in her church, which was a cause for Canright and others withdrawing. She wrote, "The Spirit of the Lord has been dying away from the church . . . . The churches have nearly lost their spirituality and faith... I saw the dreadful fact that God's people were conformed to the world with no distinction, except in name [author's emphasis] . . . . Covetousness, selfishness, love of money and love of the world, and all through the ranks of Sabbath-keepers . . . . There is little love for one another. A selfish spirit is manifest. Discouragement has come upon the church . . . . There is but little praying . . . . Right here in this church corruption is teeming on every hand . . . . There is a deplorable lack of spirituality among our people."83 Canright on Others who left the Seventh-Day Adventists D.M. Canright's 1889 book, Seventh-Day Adventism Renounced, shows that he was not the only one to withdraw from the Seventh-Day Adventists. He records others who had also withdrawn. J.B. Cook and T.M. Preble, whose Sabbath tracts converted many to Sabbath-keeping in the 1840's, left Sabbath-keeping, as did O.R.L. Crozier. Elder B.F. Snook, a leading Sabbath Adventist minister, was in 1889 a Universalist. Elder White W.H. Brinkerhoff of Iowa had also renounced the faith. Elders Moses Hull (according to Canright the most able speaker Adventists ever had) and Shortridge had become Spiritualists. Elders Hall and Stephenson were with the "Age-to-Come" party. A.C.B. Reynolds of New York had become "a noted blasphemer." Elder H.C. Blanchard and T.J. Butler of Avilla, Missouri, had renounced the Seventh-Day Adventist doctrine. Elder L.L. Howard of Maine left them, as did H.F. Haynes of New Hampshire. Nathan Fuller of Wellsville, New York became a libertine. M.B. Czechowski went to Europe and died in disgrace. H.S. Case, Elder Cranmer and Philip Strong of Michigan all left the Seventh-Day Adventists, as did Elder J.B. Frisbie, a pioneer preacher for many years in Michigan. Others who left included Dr. Lee of Minnesota, who inaugurated work among the Swedes there; Elder A.B. Oyen, missionary to Europe and editor of their Danish paper; Elder D.B. Oviatt, for many years President of the Seventh-Day Adventist Pennsylvania Conference, who became a Baptist minister, as did Elders Rosquist and Whitelaw of Minnesota; Elder C.A. Russell of Otsego, Michigan became a Methodist; and Elders Hiram Edson and S.W. Rhodes, pioneer preachers, died cranks and a trial to the church. Those who wrote against their former church previous to Canright were: H.E. Carver H.C. Blanchard J.W. Cassady A.C. Long Jacob Brinkerhoff J.C. Day H.W. Ball J.R. Goodenough Bunch. The main reason why he and others left, Canright states, was the question of Ellen G. White's visions.84 Canright specifically mentions the Church of God with headquarters at Stanberry, Missouri who separated from Adventists because of opposing Ellen G. White's visions. He notes that "they have grown steadily, and now have thirty ministers and about six thousand believers . . . They have done a good work in exposing the fallacy of Mrs. White's inspiration."85 Extent of the Church of God on the Eve of the Stanberry Era Statistics for the Church of God for the middle 1800's have been almost impossible to locate. The first instance occurs in the report of the fall, 1886 General Conference meeting at Marion. Elder J.H. Nichols reported a membership of 75 in four churches in Kansas; Elder W.C. Long reported 440 members in 13 Missouri churches; Elder John Branch reported 365 members in 8 Michigan churches, and Jacob Brinkerhoff, 81 members, four churches in Iowa. Total was 961 members and 29 churches. At the same time, 485 copies of the Advocate were being published weekly. Receipts for the year were $1,032.38, total conversions for the year, 122, and number of ministers and licentiates, 30. Also in 1886, average salary for each minister and licentiate was $34.40 per year. Mostly the ministers had farms of their own to supplement their income.86ê VII. The Move to Stanberry It seemed inevitable that the Church of God headquarters would move to Stanberry, Missouri. The thrust of the work had long before been centered in northwestern Missouri. The building at Marion which had long been the publishing headquarters of the Advent and Sabbath Advocate was sold in 1886 for $1,200.1 And during the Fourth Annual Session of the General Conference, held at Stanberry, beginning October 28, 1887, Jacob Brinkerhoff resigned the editorship. A.C. Long immediately became the editor and publisher, beginning with the November 15th issue. The new General Conference Committee was composed of W.C. Long of Stanberry, A.C. Long of Marion, and John Branch of Wayland, Michigan. The fourth session of the General Conference, which initiated these changes, is believed to have been the first one at Stanberry.2 The General Conference had agreed to support A.C. Long financially for a year when he was appointed publisher and editor. He bought the equipment and continued to produce the paper from Marion. Because issues of the paper are missing from May of 1888 to May of 1892, it is difficult to determine the precise nature of events during the move from Marion to Stanberry. According to the August 12, 1963 Bible Advocate, the first issue to be printed in Stanberry was that of June 26, 1888, showing that A.C. Long did not last a year as editor at Marion. A notation in the Marion church records shows that by October 13, 1889, the Advocate had already been moved to Stanberry, and the editorship had changed to W.C. Long.3 According to S.J. Kauer, the change in editorship and office occurred in the summer of 1889. A.C. Long's health was bad, and it was thought best for him to move to a warmer climate. So W.C. Long, who lived in Stanberry, bought the equipment from his brother and moved it to Stanberry, where he began publishing the Church of God paper. "At this time -- 1889," Kauer reports, "Stanberry was the center of the rapidly growing work of the Church of God in Missouri. It was also the location of the home of W.C. Long. There seem to be the reasons for the move from Marion, Iowa."4 W.C. Long secured a building for the machinery, which was later so arranged that the upper story was used as a meeting place for the church. Another innovation was the change in the name of the paper. From Advent and Sabbath Advocate, the name was changed to Sabbath Advocate and Herald of the Advent. The paper was now issued weekly, by the General Conference of the Church of God, Stanberry, Missouri, and the General Conference Committee of A.C. and W.C. Long, and J.C. Branch.5 Steam Press Increases Activity Previously, the paper had always been published by use of a hand press. However, beginning in October of 1892, the Advocate was printed by a steam press, acquired for $130. A larger steam press was purchased in October, 1900. In the June 21, 1892 issue, Jasper Moore stated that according to W.C. Long, the Advocate office had printed 1,064,000 pages of tracts, presumably still on the hand press. With the acquisition of the steam press, the possibilities of expansion were greatly increased. The Church of God, Incorporated Legal incorporation had apparently been discussed previously, for at the 16th Annual Session of the Church of God General Conference, a committee of three, B.F. Whisler, M.A. Branch, and G.T. Rodgers, were appointed to consider the matter of incorporation. Their report in favor of legal organization was carried, and the January 2, 1900 issue of the Sabbath Advocate carried this report: "The General Conference of the Church of God is now incorporated. Articles, by-laws, etc., of incorporation will appear in the General Conference report which will be issued in pamphlet form and be ready for distribution in ten days. Price 10 cents."6 Final Change of Name of the Paper At the following annual Conference, the 17th, held at Stanberry, December 6, 1900, it was decided to change the name of the paper from Sabbath Advocate and Herald of the Coming Kingdom to Bible Advocate and Herald of the Coming Kingdom, the name that has continued to this day. N.A. Wells became editor, and W.C. Long stepped down to become office editor and business manager.7 Thus, by the turn of the century, the Church of God and the Bible Advocate had acquired much of their present form, and the seeds of further growth were already sprouting. Church of God Work To 1900 The Church of God made great strides in growth during the last years of the last century. In 1892, George Batten and Company's Directory of the Religious Press of the United States took notice of the Sabbath Advocate. It stated that the paper was an eight-page weekly published in Stanberry, Missouri, and had been established in 1865 [sic.]. Its editor then was W.C. Long and the circulation was about 1000 copies. A year's subscription was priced at $2.00. The church also published The Sabbath School Missionary, twice a month, 50 cents a year, with Edwin H. Wilbur, editor. The directory reported that this paper had been established in 1884, and had a circulation of 460.8 (It is interesting to note that by late 1969, the circulation of the Advocate had grown to only 2,225.)9 According to the Eleventh Census (1890), the "Church of God (Adventist)" had 29 churches and 647 members. One of its churches had a building seating 200, and was valued at $1,400. Also, the Church of God at this time had 19 ministers.10 In the spring of 1896, W.C. Long reported that over 100 converts had been made since the 1895 General Conference meeting.11 To show the spread and growth of the Church of God in the years just preceding 1900, the following give some evidence: Song Book Published E.G. Blackmon of Neosho, Missouri, a former Seventh-Day Adventist minister, was converted through the efforts of W.C. Long in 1886. He was a songwriter and became a leading minister in the Church of God. By January of 1893 he had prepared a church hymnal called "Songs of Truth." Most of the hymns therein, the music as well as the words, were composed by Blackmon. The new church hymnal went through several revisions and "the black book" continued to be used for many years by the Church of God. As Kiesz stated, "The songs were slanted toward truth so that our people could freely sing them, not only with the spirit but with the understanding also." Blackmon died in 1912.12 Cranmer and Branches continue in Michigan Gilbert Cranmer and the Branches in Michigan continued to be mentioned in the Advocate. In 1887, at the age of 73, Cranmer held a meeting which resulted in 22 signing a church covenant. In reporting his efforts in the Advocate, Cranmer remarked, "I would rather wear out than rust out."13 At 86, Cranmer was still hale and hearty. He died in late 1903 at the Church of God hospital and sanatorium at White Cloud, Michigan. Sanatorium at White Cloud A Church of God sanatorium was established at White Cloud, Michigan, around 1900. In accordance with the Seventh-Day Adventist practice of instituting hospitals and emphasizing bodily health and medicine, it appears that the Michigan brethren led a Church of God effort to establish a hospital. J.C. Branch became a medical doctor, and in the May 17, 1898 issue, he suggested that the Church of God build a sanatorium at White Cloud. The rest of the church seemed to support his move; the Stanberry church even subscribed the furnishing and keeping of a room in the White Cloud Hospital and Sanatorium, as it was called, known as the Stanberry Room. By September 25, 1900, the building was nearly finished, and sixty-six surgical operations had been performed. Elder Gilbert Cranmer became one of its patients and died there. Dr. J.C. Branch directed the sanatorium, assisted by two other doctors and three nurses. The April 2, 1901 issue reported that the Sanatorium was a three-story, brick building. Micropal and chemical examinations were made to determine the cause of each patient's disease. Curative treatment included dietetics, Branch reported, while the "up to date laboratory" was used to fill prescriptions for the patients, "when it is found that medicine is necessary." Vinton, Iowa; Stanberry; Hartford, Michigan; and the Nebraska and South Dakota Conferences provided money to furnish rooms in the hospital. Little is heard of the Church of God Sanatorium at White Cloud after 1900. One reason is that the Michigan Church of God drifted away from the General Conference until in 1917 most of them joined with the Seventh Day Baptists. Kiesz reports that at the turn of the century, there was a Normal School and a Sanatorium at Stanberry, which later became extinct. However, the indication is that they were not direct projects of the Church of God. The 1902 General Conference discussed the possibility of establishing a Church of God "Academy."14 Church of God member M.J. Vanderschuur reported in the October 16, 1900 issue of the opening of an orphanage or children's home at his place in Kenwood Park, Iowa.15 West Virginia Church of God In 1887 appears the first mention in the Advocate of Church of God activity in West Virginia. A Seventh-Day Adventist state meeting was held at Kanawha Station, West Virginia on May 18, 1887. The meeting was held because some Seventh-Day Adventists, such as Elder Chaffee, had refused to preach for the visions of Mrs. White, and a division was threatened. Emory Robinson and his wife, and six more, including Henry L. Lowe and wife, were put out of the Seventh-Day Adventist church for refusing to accept the visions. They were subscribers to the Advocate, and though not claiming to be Church of God members in 1887, wrote a letter commending the Advocate because "it is not always calling other commandment keepers evil names."16 Dugger, in his History of the True Church, refers to a Church of God established in Wilbur, West Virginia in 1859, by Elder J.W. Niles, who came from Erie, Pennsylvania. Derisively called "Nilesites" by their enemies, this group was said to have kept the Passover on the 14th of Nisan.17 Church of God in Oklahoma Cherokee Strip, Oklahoma was opened up for settlers in 1893. Among the early settlers were some Church of God Sabbatarians, the Wells, Websters, Hortons and Helsons. Elder J.R. Goodenough came to Oklahoma in 1896, holding services in the area, and adding new Sabbath-keepers. Elder S.S. Davison, who appeared in the Advocate of 1892 from Woodward, Iowa, moved to Oklahoma in 1899, as did the Sheffields and the Baums. During World War I the Cherokee Strip area Sabbath-keepers bought a meetinghouse from the Mennonites, as a permanent church was established. The Fairview Church of God Sabbath School is reported to be the oldest in the state, with Claremore a close runner-up. J.H. Hinds founded the latter group, when he moved to Inola in 1905, and began preaching the Church of God message. Up until 1905, the Church of God in Oklahoma was associated with the Missouri Conference. An Oklahoma Conference was formed at a meeting held on September 2 and 3, 1905 at the Golden Valley School House near Fairview, Oklahoma. Officers elected were: President C.C. Wells Vice-President Frank Miller Secretary Blanche Sheffield Treasurer Eber Davidson18 German-Speaking Brethren Church of God in Nebraska and the Dakotas The first mention in the Advocate of Church of God work in South Dakota comes in November, 1892. There it was announced that a Northwestern Nebraska and South Dakota Conference of the Church of God had been formed. A Quarterly Conference of the Church of God was held at Bonesteel, Gregory County, South Dakota on December 2, 1892. The third annual session was held, September 27, 1895 at Bassett, Nebraska. J.A. Nugent was Secretary of the conference, and it was noted that most of the members lived within 10 to 15 miles of Bassett. Bassett, Nebraska was the home of Elder A.F. Dugger, and his son A.N. Dugger. In 1896, Elder L.L. Presler was working in Nebraska, and a Brother Ellis in South Dakota. In 1898, unknown to A.F. Dugger and the other Church of God people in Bassett, Nebraska, a German-speaking Church of God was organized near Eureka, South Dakota, in the northern part of the state. A minister named Halbesleben, formerly a Free Methodist preacher in Minnesota, moved to the Dakotas, and having accepted the Sabbath, began to work among the Seventh-Day Adventists. His preaching emphasized "holiness or sanctification as a second experience, that is, another experience with God besides conversion." The result was the breaking up of a number of Seventh-Day Adventist churches in both the Dakotas, and the formation of several independent Churches of God, including Eureka. In other words, Halbesleben was pentecostal, preaching about the "baptism of the Holy Spirit." John Kiesz reports that Halbesleben was against "speaking in tongues," although some people during the sermons were "taken possession of by the Holy Spirit." This explains why John Kiesz and other Germans in the Church of God tended to be "pentecostal." Kiesz' father, Philip Kiesz was one of the first leaders in the Eureka church. For about twenty years, members met in homes for services, under the leadership of Philip Kiesz, Sr., and John Brenneise, Sr. A large group of younger people, including John Kiesz, became converted in 1910, and in 1918 a church building was erected five miles north of Eureka. Kiesz, Brenneise, Frederic Miller, George Dais, Sr., and Peter Schrenk were trustees. Later, in 1925 the church elders were Christ Kiesz and John B. Brenneise. It was not until late 1923 that the group, calling itself the Church of God, came into contact with the Stanberry General Conference. R.P. Bossert of Montana, an Advocate subscriber, sent an issue to Eureka, which opened up the way for eventual union with Stanberry. Early in the spring of 1924, Elder A.N. Dugger was invited to hold services in Eureka and council with them on doctrinal points. There were a few differences, but Eureka soon became a General Conference member, and held its first campmeeting in 1925.19 Dugger wrote of his contact with these German brethren in the March 4, 1924 Advocate. He reports his visit to a church of 100 people in Roscoe, South Dakota, who had been Sabbath-keepers and holders to the name Church of God for more than 20 years. "They did not know of anyone else holding to the faith as they, except a few small companies . . . ." Dugger reported that the church had no regular minister, but the leading brethren spoke in turn, viz., John B.; Jacob A.; Henry A. and Daniel B. Brenneise; Christes and Philip Kiesz; Jacob Dais; and John Schrenk. The older pioneer members were Johannes Brenneise, Philip Kiesz, Fred K. Miller, George Dais, and Peter Schrenk. They were said to believe that Jesus was the Son of God (and not God himself), a Wednesday crucifixion, Sabbath resurrection, the 1,000 year reign on the earth, unconscious state of the dead, destruction of the wicked, and other doctrines similar to the Church of God. They wanted the Church of God General Conference to recognize them as one of its churches, but Dugger wanted to wait a while in order for them to thoroughly understand what the church believed.20 Brenneise and Christ Kiesz preached in Alberta, Manitoba and British Columbia, as well as several states. Thus it was that the Church of God contained many German-speaking members. Soon after 1925, a German Bible Advocate was started, with Christ Kiesz editor, and Bossert, Brenneise, and John Kiesz contributing editors. Kulm, Alfred, and Cleveland, North Dakota and Fellon and Glasgow, Montana, were prime mission fields. North Dakota Church of God Possibly even before the 1898 establishment of the Eureka, South Dakota Church of God, William Halbesleben established a church about twenty miles south of Kulm, North Dakota. About twelve or fourteen families began keeping the Sabbath, meeting in various homes. The Schlenker family, and the Moldenhauers later, were among the members. The Henry Schlenkers later moved to Alfred, where a church developed. Alfred, North Dakota, was also the home of a Seventh Day Baptist church.21 Parkston, South Dakota -- Independent Church of God The Church of God General Conference, organized in 1883-84, never contained all the Sabbath-keeping churches of God. One of the independent groups was at Parkston, South Dakota. Some of these members later moved to form the Lodi, California, Church of God. About 1876, a group of German immigrants from Russia began keeping the Sabbath at Parkston, South Dakota. They formed a congregation called the "Seventh Day Church of God." Its first elder was Henry Baumbach, who was succeeded by his son John. In 1908, a portion of this German church left South Dakota for Lodi, California. There, Henry Baumbach, Jr., served as elder for more than twenty years. The Lodi church was torn by dissensions through its years. In 1960 two factions of the church united. Elder Leo Merriam became pastor, Claude Ellis assisting. John Brenneise and Joseph Reuscher were also elders at this time. Besides the doctrines of the Sabbath, Ten Commandments, Water Baptism, and Salvation through Christ alone, the main element of the Lodi's doctrine was local autonomy. Charles Monroe reports that the Lodi church never has been part of any conference, and was a "free" church.22 It has been reported that "The church is not subject to any national organization, but is governed strictly by local autonomy with every qualified member having equal voice and vote. The importance of brotherly love is stressed at all times."23 Elder Merriam stated that in the new earth, God's people will be governed by Christ. "Until that time, however, a democracy is the only form of government that will succeed in a church, if the people are to be free, happy, and get along together."24 "Getting along together," or rather, the lack of it, has been one of the recurring themes in Church of God history. The independent nature of Church of God Sabbatarians has resulted in one schism and division after another, and at the turn of the century, this issue begins to take on major significance. Church of God in Oregon, Louisiana and Pennsylvania Also previous to 1900, the Church of God had expanded its message into far reaching areas from the Stanberry headquarters. On October 25, 1894, the Second Annual Meeting of the Church of God in Louisiana was held at Hope Villa. B.F. Purdham, B.C. Causey, and H.G. Roberts were on the Executive Committee. An H.W. Barnes, former Seventh-Day Adventist minister, had started a work in Salem, Oregon in the spring of 1884. By the fall of 1894, an Oregon Conference of the Church of God was held in the Cole School House, Linn County. Some of the Pacific Coast ministers were Elders: R.H. Sherrill H.M. Anderson J.H. Sperry J.W. Beatty C.E. Whisler W.L. Raymond A Pennsylvania Church of God meeting was held, November 1 and 2, 1895, at Geneva, Crawford County, Pennsylvania, presided over by William M. Darrow. J.W. Niles of Edinboro, Pennsylvania and Brother Wing of Blockville, New York were expected to preach during the meeting.25 Ministers, Circa 1900 Contributing editors of the Advocate in 1895 were listed as: S.S. Davison A.F. Dugger A.C. Long Jacob Brinkerhoff. These were four important Church of God ministers of this period. In 1896, there were these Church of God ministers working in scattered parts of the country: L.L. Presler Nebraska L.J. Branch Michigan Jacob Wilbur Arkansas R.H. Sherrill Oregon A.F. Dugger Bassett, Nebraska M.B. Ellis South Dakota J.C. Bartlett Missouri and Iowa Church of God credentialed ministers in 1899 were: W.C. Long A.C. Long A.C. Leard Jasper Moore D.M. Spencer Z.V. Black E.G. Blackmon Jacob Wilbur N.A. Wells S.S. Davison R.E. Caviness S.W. Mentzer E.S. Sheffield J.R. Goodenough L.L. Presler Hiram Ward A.F. Dugger J.A. Nugent J.T. Johnson H.P. Peck S. Pope M.B. Ellis J.C. Branch,M.D. L.J. Branch M.S. Carlisle M.A. Branch W.H. Sloan L.A. Wing J.W. Niles Hiram Harris J.W. Sperry H.T. Whitehall F.C. Pixley F.P. Kennedy James Shingleton Levi Watkins Gilbert Cranmer M.J. Vanderschuur J.W. Beatty S.P. Loop A.P. Bacon R.H. Sherrill L.J. Herriman In the year 1900, A.C. Long, perhaps the leading Church of God minister since the 1870's, died of brain fever at his home in Brownsdale, Missouri. A Church of God member since the 1860's, Long was born in Perry County, Pennsylvania, September 15, 1846. Previous to his taking over the press in Iowa (1887), Long preached for several months in San Francisco and other points on the Pacific Coast. After he relinquished the editorship due to ill health, he again went to the Pacific Coast for a time. Also in 1900 Michael W. Unzicker (1873-1956) was ordained. The December 18, 1900 issue of the Bible Advocate, the first with the new name, listed Newman A. Wells as editor, W.C. Long as office editor and business manager, and A.F. Dugger, S.S. Davison, J.R. Goodenough and J.C. Branch as contributing editors.26 Team of Wells and W.C. Long Newman A. Wells (1848-1923), who was editor of the Advocate in 1900, had moved to Maysville (Marysville?), Missouri in 1865. In the early 1870's he became a Baptist. However, in the autumn of 1878, he heard the Sabbath preached and united with the Church of God. Along with Elder W.C. Long, he held meetings in northwestern Missouri for about ten years. They preached in churches and school houses in the winter, and in tents during the summer. Wells preached in Missouri, Iowa, Kansas, Nebraska, Michigan and Louisville, Kentucky.27ê VIII. Independent Church of God Splits: 1905 From the incorporation of the General Conference of the Church of God in 1900 to the first major problem of division within the church covered a time period of only five years. Although official reports, such as the United States Census of Religious Bodies, took note of the Church of God division in 1905, the Church of God historians Kiesz and Kauer do not directly mention the event. Neither apparently did the pages of the Bible Advocate. The Schism of 1905 -- Unattached Congregations It is not unusual for Church of God members today to remember the 1933 division of the Stanberry, Missouri, and Salem, West Virginia churches. Seemingly they know little or nothing about the major division of 1905. They give the picture that before 1933, the Church of God was fairly well united. However, the census reports reveal otherwise. Because of its roots in the Adventist Movement, the official name of the Church of God at that time was "Church of God (Adventist)." According to the 1936 Census of Religious Bodies, in 1905 a number of churches withdrew from the Church of God (Adventist), "on the ground that the general conference assumed too great authority. They are in entire accord with the Church of God in doctrine and policy except that they reject the principle of a central representative conference and rely wholly upon the efforts of the individual church and its members. They are, however, associated or affiliated to a certain extent; and a publishing house at Stanberry, Missouri issues the Bible Banner to represent the views and work of their churches."1 In the 1906 Census, these churches were registered under the name, "Churches of God (Adventist), Unattached Congregations," and had almost as many members as the main body. Yet this independent body is not mentioned in the following censuses, of 1916, 1926, and 1936. The reason given in the 1936 Census was that "if any of these churches existed in 1936, 1926, or 1916, they were probably included among the independent churches or merged with other Adventist bodies." Therefore, between 1906 and 1916, the loose association of these independent Churches of God probably fell apart; some joined the General Conference, some joined other Sabbath churches, and others remained "free." (Note: Please refer to the Census Reports listed in Volume II of this book. See Appendix for ordering.) The 1906 Census shows that the "Unattached Congregations" numbered 10 churches and 257 members, while the regular conference body had 10 churches and 354 members. The independents were concentrated mostly in Michigan, with lesser numbers in Missouri, Oklahoma, and Illinois. Iowa and Nebraska remained "loyal" to Stanberry. One of the dissenters, a Church of God leader in 1903 and 1905, was J.R. Goodenough of Oklahoma. He was denied ministerial credentials in 1908 because of his "attitude against the General Conference."2 It is significant to note that the 1906 combined figures are less than those of 1890, showing that apparently the division had seriously weakened the progress of Church of God growth. As for the main body, the Church of God (Adventist), the 1906 Census reported the following: "The membership of the denomination is scattered over a large part of the United States, not merely as a result of removal from the chief centers of the denomination, but by the addition of individuals who, accepting the general principle of the observance of the seventh day and faith in the second coming of Christ, declined to join the main body of Seventh-day Adventists or withdrew from it. In a few cases such individuals have formed independent local bodies not identified ecclesiastically with the Church of God, and yet somewhat affiliated with it." In 1906, the church had "no organized missionary work." However, resident ministers were conducting evangelistic services outside their parishes, and the conference employed two general missionaries.3 Seeds of The Division -- Politics and Disputes The General Conference met in December of 1903 and appointed Elder A.F. Dugger as editor of the Bible Advocate. Contributing editors were: L.J. Branch, S.S. Davison, J.R. Goodenough, J.C. Branch W.C. Long continued as Office Editor and Business Manager. The former editor, N.A. Wells, continued as a minister, living in Palisade, Colorado in 1905. However, Long had apparently gained opponents to his position. He had been publishing The Owl (Stanberry's local newspaper) using the Advocate press. He was accused of using Conference money to operate this paper, which he owned. At the 32nd Annual Missouri Conference of the Church of God, held on September 8-9, 1905 at Gentry, an exception was taken with regard to W.C. Long being granted renewal of his ministerial credentials. He was retained on condition that he justify himself of the mismanagement of funds charges. Later, on December 7-11, the conference met again to discuss Long's case, after which Long was asked to resign, and apparently later was disfellowshipped. Elder A.F. Dugger became both editor and manager. New General Conference officers were: S.W. Mentzer President Jasper Moore Vice-President G.T. Rodgers Secretary W.A. Cure Treasurer H.T. Whitehall L.L. Presler D.P. Moore General Conference M.B. Ellis Executive Committee White Cloud and the other Michigan churches were greatly stirred by the issue of the departure of W.C. Long. It appears that his being fired from the editorship of the paper sparked the beginning of an independent revolt against the Church of God General Conference. Another issue may have been a resolution adopted during the 1905 Conference sessions: the church reaffirmed its belief in tithes and offerings as the Bible means of supporting the work. Also, it was recommended that each state's tithes be sent to the State Conference treasurer, who in turn would pay a tithe of the state tithes to the General Conference treasurer.4 An internal power struggle and a drive to enforce tithing and make the General Conference stronger: these appear to be the key issues which precipitated the 1905 division. Seventh-Day Adventist Splits Produce Independent Sabbatarians During the early years of the 1900's, it appears that many Seventh-Day Adventists left that church over disagreement with Ellen G. White's visions. Some of them remained independent, and some united with the Church of God. In 1907, R.K. Walker (1880-1970) of Bates, Oklahoma, became convinced of the Sabbath through a Seventh-Day Adventist. He was baptized into the Seventh-Day Adventist church in 1911. However, because he did not endorse "The Testimonies for the Church," Walker withdrew from the church (or was disfellowshipped) along with Lee Eyler and J.W. Rich. This caused the Seventh-Day Adventist church there to disband. The "cast outs," as they termed themselves, rented a hall near Alderson, and Walker joined Elders Eyler and Rich, with others, in printing an anti-Seventh-Day Adventist paper, The Gathering Call. Other ministers present at a week's campmeeting in Alderson were W.F. Talbert and a Mr. Gregory of Claremore. The next summer's meeting (1912 or 1913) was attended by Walker, Eyler, Rich, Talbert, Hartshorne, A.F. Ballenger, A.T. Jones, G.G. Rupert, J.M. Rodriguez (a well-educated preacher from Mexico), and J.J. Jobe: 27 ministers in all, cast out of the Seventh-Day Adventist church. Here it was decided to make Ballenger editor of the paper, which was moved to Riverside, California. The Gathering Call continued for many years to be a forum for anti-Seventh-Day Adventist information. Rich later died, Eyler went back into his law business, and Talbert went into the Church of God. In 1920, R.K. Walker moved to Finley, Oklahoma, and soon met Elder M.W. Unzicker at Sardis, Oklahoma. This was the first Church of God man he had met. At the behest of Walker, Unzicker held meetings at Finley, and baptized Frank Walker, son of R.K. Walker. Unzicker invited R.K. Walker to be a Church of God evangelist for the Oklahoma Conference, and Walker began his first meeting for the Church of God on May 19, 1923. Frank Walker began preaching at Crowder, Oklahoma in 1924. In 1987, Elder Frank Walker was independent and still publishing a paper, Hope of Israel, from St. Maries, Idaho.5 It is interesting that the Walkers, Rupert and Rich held to "Anglo-Israel" beliefs. So did an Elder Ziegler, who put out a paper, The Torch of Israel, published in Washington, D.C. Ziegler tried unsuccessfully to work with Eyler. G.G. Rupert established his own paper, the Remnant of Israel, published in Britton, Oklahoma, beginning in 1915. Rupert, a former Seventh-Day Adventist minister, taught and practiced the keeping of all the annual sabbaths, or holy days. He also had a form of "British Israelism," in which he identified the United States as Ephraim in Bible prophecy. Rupert's article on the holy days was printed in the Bible Advocate in 1913, and two of Rupert's most popular books were the Yellow Peril and Inspired History of the Nations. Additional information on G.G. Rupert is given in our paper on his movement. Other independent Sabbatarian magazines of the period include The Evangel of Hope, Joplin, Missouri; The Shining Light, Almira, New York; The Mispah, Enid, Oklahoma; and Religious Liberty, Washington D.C. G.G. Rupert noted that the cause of so many independent Sabbath groups was their "desire for liberty which older organizations [had] not granted their teachers."6 Further analysis of these periodicals, if available, will shed more light on the extent and beliefs of these independent groups. A most interesting enigma is the reason why the Bible Banner, the magazine of the Unattached Congregations, was published at Stanberry. Another is the question of exactly what were the doctrinal differences, if any, separating the groups. Result of the 1905 Division -- Losses to the Church of God A pamphlet published by Dr. J.C. Branch, "Correspondence Relative to the Michigan Conference, Church of God and Seventh Day Baptist," (c. 1919) shows that the end result of the conflict over W.C. Long was the defection of a large number of the Michigan Church of God to the Seventh Day Baptists. Adelbert Branch's pamphlet, "The Backward Look," published in 1937, gives much the same story. The Church of God in Michigan apparently did not grow at all in the latter years of the 1800's. The older leaders, such as Cranmer and the Branches, were growing old and it seems that the cause was languishing, about ready to die out. Adelbert Branch of White Cloud, Michigan attended the Stanberry General Conference as a delegate from the Michigan Conference for two years early after the turn of the century. He became dissatisfied with the General Conference, and the 1905 Long case apparently was the straw that broke the camel's back. The Branches led the Michigan Conference to vote to withdraw support and membership in the General Conference. The independent stance in this period of the Michigan Church of God is shown by the notice in the Advocate of 1915 that the semi-annual meeting of the "Sabbath-keepers' Association of Michigan" would be held at Battle Creek in November. Adelbert Branch of White Cloud was the President, and O.J. Davis of Battle Creek was Secretary. The wordage used showed that the Michigan people did not want to refer to themselves as "Church of God," being tied to Stanberry. J.C. Branch was Michigan Conference President in 1916.7 The Michigan Church of God continued as independent until 1917. At the 57th Annual Conference of the Michigan Church of God, held September 27-30 at White Cloud, it was voted to merge with the Seventh Day Baptists, and take their name. Thus it was that the Michigan Church of God, and especially the Branches, largely switched to the Seventh Day Baptists. The churches of White Cloud, Bangor, and Kalkaska County completely went in with the Seventh Day Baptists.8 Dugger Tries to Revive Michigan Church of God To fully report the history of the Michigan split, it is necessary here to continue the story further, into the time when A.N. Dugger, son of A.F. Dugger, was editor of the Advocate. Dugger tried desperately to revive the Michigan Church of God. One year after the 1917 defection, Dugger came to Michigan, gathered some remnants of the Church of God there that had not gone in with the Seventh Day Baptists, and held a Conference, which was labeled the 57th Annual Conference of the Church of God in Michigan. Thus it was that the original Michigan Conference was organized in 1860 (57 years previous to the 57th Conference in 1917), and not in 1861, as some sources state. The second 57th Conference, in 1918, was the basis used for numbering by the renewed Michigan Church of God, so that at the present, it appears, fallaciously, that counting backward, the Michigan Conference was organized in 1861. Dugger's 57th Conference, held October 4-7 at Toquin (near Bangor), Michigan resulted in the election of: Elder M.C. Pennell President and State Evangelist Elder L.A. Munger Vice-President G.L. Hart Secretary and Treasurer Jim Sternamen, G.L. Hart L.A. Munger Executive Committee Other ministers credentialed by the Conference were: G.W. Sarber W.F. Morse E.L. Trowbridge Lewis Buchtel The conference resolved "that the Church of God in Michigan awaken to greater zeal, and put forth renewed effort in sending out the gospel message of warning to the tens of thousands now living . . . ." Further, firm solidarity was affirmed with the General Conference, as well as for paying tithes to G.L. Hart of Covert, Michigan, the state treasurer. Disputes and Counter Charges In the pages of the Bible Advocate, Dugger reported the second 57th Conference as if it had been the only legitimate one. He further reported that the 1918 Seventh Day Baptist General Conference had voted unanimously to join the "Federation of Churches in America" (the body of Protestant churches which later became the National Council of Churches), one clause of the Federations's platform was purported to state that Sunday observance should be enforced by Civil Law. Dugger further maintained that two Seventh Day Baptist churches, at White Cloud and Bangor, had opposed the union with the Federal Council, and encouraged them to come out of their false church. According to Dugger, the Bangor, Seventh Day Baptist church did so, organizing a Church of God there, and several of the White Cloud Seventh Day Baptists placed their membership in the Bangor Church of God. Further, three credentialed Seventh Day Baptist ministers joined the Michigan Conference of the Church of God, and would preach in Michigan and northern Indiana.9 J.C. Branch disputed Dugger's facts, saying the three ministers had been given Church of God credentials before the dissolution of the White Cloud Church of God, and Pennell was at first with the Seventh Day Baptists, before enticed by a bigger money offer from Dugger. J.C. Branch's remarks were published in the Evangel of Hope and Bible Banner, the opposition paper to the Bible Advocate.10 Dugger apparently refused to print Branch's challenges to his side of the story, stating that the Advocate must not be the scene of "strife and contention." He said that several had left the Church-of-God-turned-Seventh-Day-Baptist church at White Cloud and united with the Church of God General Conference before Dugger came to Michigan; and they had in fact asked him to come. Dugger maintained that the Seventh Day Baptists were downgrading the doctrine of the Second Coming of Christ, and some of their ministers were preaching about the Immortal Soul, Ever Burning Hell, and Going to Heaven, which obviated the necessity of Christ's coming. Pennell thought by being with the Seventh Day Baptists that he could reach more people by preaching in the field, but they, knowing he would not preach the Immortal Soul and like doctrines, muzzled him, and he had to reaffirm his original stand with the Church of God. Dugger stated with authority: "The Lord is in the message of the Church of God, and it is going to go to Michigan in power, as well as to every other corner of the globe. It is the true doctrine of Jehovah, and the Almighty is in the move, and no power under heaven can stay his hand. It has got to go, and regardless of every obstacle it is going to go."11 Dr. J.C. Branch maintained that some Seventh Day Baptist ministers did preach of the coming of Christ and Restitution, and that he continued to be able to preach the same doctrines that he had preached in the Church of God. Branch asserted that Dugger was wrong in stating what the Seventh Day Baptists actually believed. Legacy of the Independent Churches of God Pennell and the revived Michigan Church of God did apparently prevent total collapse of the work in that state. But the Branch defection to the Seventh Day Baptists seemed to stifle any Church of God progress in the area. The 1926 Census reported only two churches and 20 members of the Church of God Michigan.12 Independent Sabbatarians, terming themselves the Church of God, continued to exist down throughout the history of the Seventh Day Church of God, draining its strength and preventing real growth. Additional splits and feeble attempts at union were a continual problem, and one that did not begin in 1933, but long before. The Conference system, with election of officers and some "local autonomy," seemed to be a faulty one for the governing of the church. Robert A. Barnes, a Church of God evangelist since the 1920's, still working in Oregon in the early 1970's, summed up the Church of God problem: "When someone asks me the address of the headquarters of the Church of God, I have to ask them, 'Which one?'"13 The Division in Retrospect In an editorial in the May 19, 1925 Advocate, Dugger gave a backward glance at the reasons for the period of division. He labels the era of 1905-1910 and earlier as the "period of debate," through which the church had now passed: The Church of God has a message today that must go, and is going to the world, and there is not power under heaven that can, or will stop the onward move. For many years in the past we have spent much time talking and discussing openly many Bible themes of importance . . . . Many people have been thus benefitted, and the church through this long course has truly received much light and discarded error, but there was no forward advancement made, not much effort put forth to reach out into new fields with the gospel . . . but the periodicals were used to discuss pro and con important issues before us, [and] others not so important . . . . Brethren of local churches also took up the same discussions, and divided on different sides taking issue with one another. Fifteen and twenty years ago [1905-10] some churches were broken up and scattered while the same topics that caused the contention were still freely put forth through the Bible Advocate just to please some one that made the request. . . . [But now] we have through this period of debate truly arrived at the blessed truth . . . . And we do not have time to stop and longer contend with one another over some certain doctrinal point . . . . Our ranks will never again be disrupted by taking issue through our papers on debatable questions, and thus spreading contention and strife . . . . We have something more to do . . . we have a definite message of salvation to carry out to the Lost: a warning of coming destruction and its terrible consequences to sin and sinners . . . .14 Ironically, it was scarcely eight years after this statement that "debatable questions" were again to split the Church of God.ê