This book edited by James Nix and Alberto R. Timm takes the presentations made at a special program held at Battle Creek April 12 and 13, 2013 commemorating 150 years since the formation of the General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists in May 1863-in Battle Creek.
All of the presentations drew from the history of the SDA Church which officially began in Battle Creek.
I especially enjoyed the chapter by James R. Nix which is entitled Why Battle Creek?
In this chapter he talks about some of the firsts that happened at Battle Creek for Adventists.
Officially organized in 1863, one of the main reasons for needing an organization was so there would be someone to own the Review and Herald Publishing Association—the first Adventist publisher which was in Battle Creek.
Battle Creek was the home of the world’s famous Battle Creek Sanitarium and the “Dime” Tabernacle (so named because Adventists were asked to contribute a dime a month for its construction?)
What were things really like here in the West End (where most of the Adventists lived) of Battle Creek?
The following description is excerpted from an article originally published in the Detroit News and reprinted in the Signs of the Times magazine June 8, 1891.
For two days in the week-Saturday
and Sunday-Battle Creek, Mich. Is the funniest town on earth. Let a man wander
about…in town, and then saunter out to the west end, and he will wonder, what
is the matter. From the …rush of busy salesmen, which always marks the close of
a week…to the quiet that reigns…farther west, is indeed a contrast, for the
west end is the possession of the Seventh-day Adventists and Saturday is his
Sabbath. On that day he rests from all his labors, and hallows every hour with
calm communion and a sort of irritated wonder why all other men do not think as
he does about a matter so plain…He has the Scriptures at his fingers’ end and
at his tongue’s end, too for that matter…(He) will stop in the middle of a good
meal and let his dinner get cold while he gives you proof, strong as Holy writ,
that he is right and all dissenters are wrong.
But there is …(this) about him. He
is a peaceable fellow, and …(he) is industrious and orderly…(He) has no …use for
the frivolities of the world…While he may feel…some…responsibility for the
spiritual welfare of his brother, yet he seems also to feel that he will preach
a more eloquent sermon by a daily walk of rectitude than by the most
persistence of harangues. He is as industrious as a Dunkard, as sober as a
Quaker, as thrifty as a Jew and mixes his fervency of spirit with his diligence
in business in a way that would have even satisfied the Apostle Paul. His
religion is so intense, his faith is so close to him, so much a part of the
breath he draws and the food that he eats, that he cannot be severed from it.
This book is a fascinating read which helps one understand many of the challenges that faced the early members of the Adventist church and how the church grew to become a worldwide church with members all over the world. You can learn more about this book on line, click here and I would recommend that you consider ordering a copy and read it yourself
We have nothing to fear for the future,
except as we shall forget the way the Lord has led us, and His teaching in our
past history by Ellen G White.
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