The 1889 General Conference and Plans for Consolidation
The campmeetings during the year of 1889 had made considerable impact in the lives of those who attended. Many people were blessed by the message presented by Jones and Waggoner. Ellen White in sermons and letters indicated that great light had come upon God’s people and it was time for them to “arise and shine,” for the earth was to be lightened with Christ’s glory. Around this time, F. H. Westphal returned to his home in Wisconsin, “and told the church that the Latter Rain had started.”As the time for the General Conference approached, Ellen White was hopeful that a change had been made and that there would be a stark difference from the Conference at Minneapolis. On October 18, the Conference began in Battle Creek and continued until November 11. As Ellen White contemplated the purpose for the gathering at the beginning of the Conference, she greatly desired that the Sabbath “be a most precious day to our souls.” Recognizing they were living “amid the perils of the last days,” she perceived that God would “not sanction sectarianism or a legal religion, which is so prevalent even among those who claim to believe present truth. Christ and His righteousness is our only hope.” During the first weekend of meetings, many bore “testimony of the blessings received during the past year, of the blessed light they had received and cherished, which was justification through faith.” This led Ellen White to declare that the “Spirit of the Lord was in our midst.”
As the meetings progressed, Ellen White was given strength to bear a pointed testimony to all those that gathered there. The “Holy Spirit” was breathed upon her as she pleaded with God that the “ministering brethren might be endowed with power from on high to carry the solemn message to all parts of the world.” Many more testimonies were given relating to the experiences of the past year. All who shared felt their experience had been “of a more spiritual character than they have had before since embracing the truth. The light of justification through faith, and that the righteousness of Christ must become our righteousness, else we cannot possibly keep the law of God, is the testimony of all who speak, and the fruit is peace, courage, joy, and harmony.”
On Sunday, October 27, Ellen White attended the eight o’clock meeting where “Elder Jones presented the Bible evidence of justification by faith.” Afterwards Ellen White spoke to the people in regard “to coming to the light and walking in the light lest darkness come upon them.” Not all were embracing the light, and thus she gave a word of warning:
Some who will gossip over the Bible subject of justification by faith, and cavil and question and throw out their objections, do not know what they are talking about. They do not know that they are placing themselves as bodies of darkness to intercept the bright rays of light which God has determined shall come to His people. And they will come; the third angel’s message is to go forth with power, filling the earth with its glory. And what is man that he can work against God? He may choose the darkness, he may love the darkness and be left enshrouded in darkness; but the message is to go forward in power, even if some refuse to advance with it.
The next morning, Ellen White spoke “with great plainness in reference to some who were attending the meeting but had given no evidence they were partakers of the Spirit and power of God in the meeting. They did not seem to discern where God was at work.” She called upon those who had been “working contrary to God for one year in a marked manner” against the “special, marked light.” She warned that “the darkness of every individual [would] be in proportion to his unbelief and his resistance and contempt of the light which God graciously sends.” Later that morning Ellen White attended the meeting conducted by Elder Jones:
There were a large number present and he presented the subject of justification by faith in a plain, distinct manner, in such marked simplicity that no one need to be in darkness, unless he has in him a decided heart of unbelief, to resist the workings of the Spirit of God. Many were fed and others seem to be amazed, as though they did not know what justification by faith really meant. Certainly the lines of truth were laid out in a distinct manner. I was glad to hear this testimony. I bore a testimony that that which I heard was the truth, and those who would walk out upon the light given would be on the Lord’s side.
The following morning, Ellen White wrote out the experiences of the meetings thus far. She expressed great joy from seeing people who had not yet heard the message “taking it in.” Yet, they were living in ominous times:
We are having most excellent meetings. The spirit that was in the meeting at Minneapolis is not here. All moves off in harmony. There is a large attendance of delegates. Our five o’clock morning meeting is well attended, and the meetings good. All the testimonies to which I have listened have been of an elevating character. They say that the past year has been the best of their life; the light shining forth from the word of God has been clear and distinct—justification by faith, Christ our righteousness. The experiences have been very interesting. …
At eight o’clock Bro. Jones speaks upon the subject of justification by faith, and great interest is manifested. There is a growth in faith and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. There are quite a number who have not had an opportunity to hear upon this subject before but they are taking it in, and are being fed with large morsels from the Lord’s table. The universal testimony from those who have spoken has been that this message of light and truth which has come to our people is just the truth for this time and wherever they go among the churches, light, and relief, and the blessing of God is sure to come in. …
We may expect at any time new and startling claims from Satan through his agents, and shall not the people of God be wide awake, shall they not become strong in the strength of the mighty one? Wise in the wisdom of God? A crisis has arrived in the government of God in which something great and decisive must be done. The delay will not be prolonged. The wrath of God will not be long withheld, justice is only to speak the word and in a moment what confusion there will be. …
Oh for the baptism of the Holy Spirit to come upon the workers that they may represent Jesus Christ in all their labors.
That same morning, Ellen White sent a letter to Mary White expressing the same sentiments. She told her they were “having good meetings. There seems to be no dissension.” She wrote of the testimonies shared by ministers who had been blessed by the “light that came to them at Minneapolis and during the past year” and noted that “success has attended their labors during the past year as never before.” Ellen White told Mary that “thus far, not one voice of opposition is heard. Unity seems to prevail.” She did add, however, “at the same time there are a number who apparently stand where they did at Minneapolis. Oh, that God would work mightily for His people and scatter the clouds of darkness and let the sunlight of His glory in.” Although there were great blessings poured out at the morning meetings “the very ones who most need the influence of these meetings have not been present.” Opposition was still strong.
One of those who still stood where they did at Minneapolis was Uriah Smith. The October 29 edition of the Daily Bulletin printed his Sabbath sermon in which he addressed the “history and future work of Seventh-day Adventists.” He mentioned the fact that in the early work “our ministers went forth with the two great weapons of the message—the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus. They preached in a way to produce a thorough and permanent reformation of life.” Smith implicated Jones and Waggoner when he asserted that Adventist “did not adopt the methods of modern [Protestant] revivalists, and content themselves with merely giving their hearers a taste of honey and the sight of a rainbow; but they wove into their work some flashes from Sinai, to arouse the conscience, and strike the scales from blind eyes.”Clearly, Uriah Smith had not heeded Ellen White’s counsel to him the summer before.
Religious Liberty
Other issues at the 1889 General Conference were of great concern to Ellen White, including Sunday legislation in the United States and the Church’s work for religious liberty. Three years earlier, in response to the ever-increasing agitation for Sunday legislation, the Church began publishing the American Sentinel with J. H. Waggoner as editor. A. T. Jones and E. J. Waggoner took over the position as co-editors in 1887. The General Conference also appointed a Religious Liberty committee, with A. T. Jones serving as president. The purpose of this committee was to get more public exposure to the issue of religious liberty through press releases, public speaking engagements, and circulation of petitions against Sunday proposals. The committee also encouraged church members to become actively involved in the religious liberty cause and provided legal aid for those Seventh-day Adventists indicted for Sunday labor.At the 1888 General Conference in Minneapolis, and in the Battle Creek Tabernacle the following December, A. T. Jones had lectured on religious liberty, with both of his lecture series being widely distributed. Shortly thereafter Jones had stood before the Senate Committee on Education and Labor and spoken against the Blair Sunday Bill. February 22, 1889, found Jones once again before the Senate Committee, this time to testify against Blair’s proposed Constitutional amendment that would Christianize the nation’s public school system. Thankfully for Seventh-day Adventists, as well as the whole nation, both Blair bills died with the fifty-first congress.
With Jones actively at the center of the petition campaign, nearly 500,000 signatures were obtained by October 1889, requesting Congress “pass no bill in regard to the observance of the Sabbath, or Lord’s day, or any other religious or ecclesiastical institution.” Jones saw the petition drive as more than just trying to defeat Sunday legislation, but “to spread the third angel’s message, and to warn everybody against the making of the image of the beast,” for “in explaining to others the object of the petition, they are, in fact, making them acquainted with the third angel’s message.”
Even though Jones was perhaps the most active Adventist Minister in the area of religious liberty, some did not appreciate his zeal. In July of 1889, at the Battle Creek Tabernacle, the Religious Liberty Committee had been reorganized and enlarged to 110 members and was renamed the National Religious Liberty Association (NRLA). A. T. Jones was replaced as president by Captain Eldridge: both he and vice-president Dan Jones were strong opposers of Jones and Waggoner. Jones and Waggoner were placed on the editorial committee of the NRLA.
Now, at the 1889 General Conference, and under Eldridge’s leadership, the NRLA formed and passed its by-laws, some of which were similar to the resolutions which had failed to pass at Minneapolis in 1888. Two of the by-laws were: “No literature shall be published or circulated under the name of this Society by any of its officers or members until it has been indorsed by the Executive Committee of the Association. … All matter for publication in newspapers shall be subject to the inspection and approval of the President and at least a majority of the Editorial Committee, before it is sent out by the Secretary, provided, that in the absence of the editorial quorum, the President and first Vice President may act as members of the Editorial Committee.”
This NRLA executive committee was also entertaining questions in regard to Sunday legislation, such as what to do for Sabbath keepers in the Southern states who were enduring persecution for working on Sunday. Some of the brethren were “anxious that a resolution shall be passed by the General Conference advising our Sabbathkeeping brethren liable to imprisonment and fines, to refrain from labor” on Sunday. This resolution did not pass even though some pushed for its immediate acceptance.
Ellen White’s Response
On November 4, Ellen White responded to the delegates who “seemed anxious that a resolution shall be passed.” Without mincing words, she told them that “such resolutions should not be placed before this Conference, requiring their action.” She reminded them that if the disciples had gathered for ten days earnestly praying for the descent of the Holy Spirit, they would need “twenty” days before venturing to “write out a decision for the people on this point. Much earnest prayer and nothing less than the descent of the Holy Ghost would settle these questions.” Ellen White warned that there was always “danger of going to extremes.” If a decision was made “that our people not labor on Sunday” the brethren in the Southern states would “appear to harmonize with the Sunday law” and there would be a “bowing to an idol god by those who claim to be Sabbathkeepers, there will be a yielding of principles until all is lost.” If Adventists rested “on the first day of the week in order to avoid arrests,” Ellen White mused, “would this be showing that we stand in right relation to God’s holy law?”Ellen White saw danger on both sides of the issue if a resolution were passed. She warned the brethren not to “get in the place of God before the people. Enough of this kind of work has been done. Let God work on human minds. … Leave God something to do. … Lift no burdens from God’s people that He would have them to bear. … Do not cast burdens upon any class that He would have them released from.” She told them not to let “anyone make any proud boast either by precept or example to show that he is defying the laws of the land. Make no resolutions as to what a person in different States may do, or may not do.” While men must be careful not to bow the knee to the false Sabbath “there should be no just occasion to our enemies to charge us with being lawless. … We should not feel it enjoined upon us to irritate our neighbors who idolize Sunday by making determined efforts to bring labor on that day before them purposely to exhibit an independence.”
While Ellen White urged the brethren not to pass resolutions in regard to Sabbathkeepers’ duties toward Sunday laws, she also urged that it “was time for God’s people to work as never before.” Speaking to those at the General Conference, she declared that “there are many who are at ease, who are, as it were, asleep.” Despite their understanding of prophecy regarding “the enforcement of Sunday observance,” they “sit down in calm expectation of the event, comforting themselves with the thought that God will protect His people in the day of trouble. But God will not save us if we make no effort to do the work He has committed to our charge.” A message was to be given the world:
We should diligently study the Word of God, and pray in faith that God will restrain the powers of darkness, for as yet the message has gone to comparatively few, and the world is to be lightened with its glory. The present truth—the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus—has not yet been sounded as it must be. …
While you have been allowing your minds to be diverted from the very work that God would have you do, and have been doing that which He has not called you to do, Satan has exulted. … You have neglected the testimonies that the Lord in mercy sent to incline your feet in the right path. Some of you have utterly refused these words of warning. …
I felt that if I was permitted to stand before you again I must have the presence of God with me as Moses had when he led the children of Israel through the wilderness. … I would show them that unless they were imbued with the Spirit of God they could do no good in their work. Their coldness, their lukewarmness, was an offense to God. They must walk in Christ’s light or Satan would put his blinder before their eyes and they would call light darkness and darkness light. …
Light must come to the people through agents whom God shall choose, who will give the note of warning, that none may be in ignorance of the purposes of God or the devices of Satan. At the great heart of the work Satan will use his hellish arts to the utmost. He will seek in every possible way to interpose himself between the people and God, and shut away the light that God would have come to His children. …
The Lord Jesus has been coming near to us in this conference. I thank God for the heartbreaking I have seen in the ministers’ prayer meetings. … But for some reason, the very ones who most need the influence of these meetings have not been present. The very ones who most need to drink at the fountain of life, who ought to stand in the forefront in our ranks, have not received the power that God has been willing to bestow upon them. The future will tell the results of failing to improve these precious morning meetings. …
Those who would now help souls … must themselves have on the whole armor of Christ’s righteousness; for we can never lead the people to an experience of which we are not partakers. Those who have not tasted of the rich blessing of God will make little of the blessings that others have received. The light which God is giving to His people may be slighted, refused, rejected, but it is thus treated at great peril to men’s souls. Brethren, God is working for us, and I feel deeply in earnest that not one ray of heaven-sent light may be regarded with indifference. God’s communication to man is to be appreciated and cherished. If we do not appreciate the light of heaven, it will be our condemnation; our position will be similar to that of the Jews when they rejected the Lord of life and glory.
Plans for Consolidation
Another issue at the Conference concerned the future of the Publishing Association and its relationship to the Church. On October 21, the Association’s vice-president, C. Eldridge, concluded his opening report with an appeal: “The importance of the publishing work demands your most earnest attention at this time. You should make a thorough study of the existing relations between the association and the denomination, and lay such plans as will best advance the general work.” After his presentation Eldridge appointed a Nominations Committee with E. W. Farnsworth as chair, and a Resolutions Committee, with R. A. Underwood as chair; both men opposers of Jones and Waggoner.On October 27, General Conference President O. A. Olsen gave an address on “some important matters that ought to receive the attention of this body.” He spoke of the publishing work and the need for a new organization that would “bind together the different denominational institutions and interests.” He asked, “why should not our various denominational enterprises be managed by boards, elected by the General Conference? We acknowledge the General Conference to be the highest authority recognized by God on the earth. …
“Our publishing interests and our book business are of the greatest importance. Should not these properly be under one managing board? … [W]e do feel that this body should not adjourn before some attention is given to this matter.”
Attention was quickly given to Olsen’s advice, and on the 4th of November, R. A. Underwood presented a resolution, “that we favor the present efforts to secure the consolidation of the various publishing interests of the denomination.” Remarkably, “this resolution was adopted without discussion, and the Association adjourned.”
At a meeting the next day, R. A. Underwood presented the report “on the consolidation of denominational interests.” The report was adopted that very day and reads as follows:
1. That steps be taken at once to form a corporation for the purpose of taking entire control of all our publishing interests, thus bring the work under one general management.
2. That the officers of this Association be a board of twenty-one trustees … with the power to organize themselves by electing a president. …
5. That the Stockholders of the Review and Herald Publishing House and the Pacific Press Publishing Company take into consideration the advisability of turning over all their interests to this new organization … that steps be taken as soon as possible to bring about this result.
The object of this new organization shall be:
1. To hold the title of all our denominational publishing houses and the equipments thereof.
2. To own, publish, and control the sale of all denominational books, tracts, and periodicals.
3. To secure, as far as possible, by purchase or otherwise, the plates and copyrights of all denominational books now published by our different publishing houses, or that may be written in the future. …
5. To appoint editors and managers, to take a general supervision of the work of the various offices.
In view of the fact that it may take some time to bring about, in full, this much-to-be desired result, and in order to move in that direction as far and as fast as possible, we recommend that at the first, the association assume control of all denominational publications and periodicals now published in the foreign languages … with a view to assuming entire control of all our publishing interests.
In order that no time may be lost, your Committee would further recommend that a standing Committee of twenty-one be elected by the General Conference at its present session to take this whole question into consideration, with power to act. …
Your committee would further recommend that a similar organization be effected for the purpose of controlling all our educational interests, and owning the property—thus bringing them under one general management. Also, another to control our health institutions.
That very day the Nominating Committee reported that a committee of twenty-one had been elected to “plan for the consolidation of the publishing interests.” Dan Jones was elected chair of the committee. Six meetings were held over the next few days and plans were laid for the accomplishment of their goals.
During this same time the delegates officially approved a plan to divide North America into six divisions, assigning a member of the General Conference Executive Committee to give special attention and supervision to each. The Conference’s Plans Committee also recommended replacing separate organizations—such as the Sabbath School Association, Health and Temperance Association, Tract and Missionary Society, and the Educational Society—with a secretary in each conference who would promote that particular line of work. This individual would be a member of the General Conference Committee as well. After three days of discussion, and with the delegates divided on the wisdom of such a plan, the Plans Committee requested that its recommendation be withdrawn, and the conference voted to strike out the entire discussion from its records.
Dispite the failure of this resolution, advances were made in passing other resolutions that had failed to pass during the 1888 General Conference. Those who had been seeking to silence the message and the messengers were gaining greater control of the church organization, which would affect the direction of the entire church. Based on Ellen White’s initial reports, the 1889 Conference has been looked upon as a great turning point; but we might rightly ask, in which direction?
A Warning of What Lay Ahead
Ellen White had seen great revivals taking place across the country as a result of the message presented by Jones, Waggoner, and herself, and yet she had grave cause for concern. Opposition still ran high among many brethren in leading positions. On October 31, 1889, Ellen White had an interview with “Brethren Nicola and Morrison,” and it “was not pleasant.” They still did not see their true condition or that “their spirit at Minneapolis was not the spirit of Jesus Christ.” They justified “their course in everything”:I had no satisfaction whatever in this interview. If the flock of God is entrusted to such men, may the Lord pity His poor, poor people, the sheep of His pasture, and enlighten them and save them from being molded by the spirit and influence of these men of dark unbelief.
After they left I felt that there had been a funeral in the house. My heart was as heavy as lead. Oh, what a work of death can individual influence exert upon souls who are starving for the light of life and do not know where to go for the knowledge they should have! The table loaded with the manna of heaven is set before them, but they will not eat it.
These men were leaders in the work, men that were deciding the direction the church would take, and yet men that were turning away from the light sent from heaven. Before the close of the Conference, Ellen White gave a warning of the danger that lay ahead because of the plans that were being speedily laid for the control of the work, and this under the guidance of those who were in opposition to the message sent of God:
To The General Conference: Dear Brethren—I have presented before you matters which the Lord has shown me, and I have a warning to give to this body now assembled in Battle Creek. You are in danger from the fact that plans may be formed, ways may be devised, propositions may be followed that mean, not success, but defeat. I dare not let this Conference close, and those assembled return to their homes, without bidding you to consider carefully every proposition that has been presented. Look well to every plan that has been proposed, and give not your Yea and Amen hastily, as I have heard from the lips of some men whose understanding is beclouded, and they know not what is the character of the sentiments and propositions they are saying Amen to. Be not carried away with proposals that appear innocent, when their end is disaster and a forfeiture of the favor of God. …
Let not men exalt themselves, and seek to carry through their ideas without the cooperation and sanction of the people of God. Your strong spirit, your loud, contemptuous speeches are out of harmony with Christ and his ways. … God has seen you smiting with the fist of wickedness. You must bear the divine credentials before you make decided movements to shape the working of God’s cause. … But He despises your fierce spirit, he is grieved with the hardness of your heart. …
I know that a work must be done for the people, or many will not be prepared to receive the light of the angel sent down from heaven to lighten the whole earth with his glory. Do not think that you will be found as vessels unto honor in the time of the latter rain, to receive the glory of God, if you are lifting up your souls unto vanity, speaking perverse things, in secret cherishing roots of bitterness brought from the conference at Minneapolis. The frown of God will certainly be upon every soul who cherishes and nurtures these roots of dissension, and possesses a spirit so unlike the Spirit of Christ.
As her letter came to an end, Ellen White made a prediction of what the end result would be if they failed to come into the unity of the faith. Signs were being fulfilled all around them, both in the world and in the church, telling them that Jesus was longing to come. Her words ought to cause us to tremble as we find ourselves living over 120 years after these statements were made:
There has been a departure from God among us, and the zealous work of repentance and return to our first love essential to restoration to God and regeneration of heart has not yet been done. Infidelity to God has been making its inroads in our ranks; for it is the fashion to depart from Christ, and give place to skepticism. The cry of the heart has been, “We will not have this man to reign over us.” Baal, Baal, is the choice. The religion of many among us will be the religion of apostate Israel, because they love their own way, and forsake the way of the Lord. The true religion, the only religion of the Bible, that teaches forgiveness through the merits of a crucified and risen Saviour, that advocates righteousness by the faith of the Son of God, has been slighted, spoken against, ridiculed. It has been denounced as leading to enthusiasm and fanaticism. Take it back while it is not too late for wrongs to be righted; for you have sinned against God. … What kind of a future is before us, if we shall fail to come into the unity of the faith?
When we are united in the unity for which Christ prayed, this long controversy which has been kept up through Satanic agency, will end, and we shall not see men framing plans after the order of the world, because they have not spiritual eyesight to discern spiritual things. …
Let us not longer bow down to the idol of men’s opinions, no longer be slaves to any shameful lust, no longer bring a polluted offering to the Lord, a sin stained soul, which is represented by the offerings of the Moabites and Amorites.
O, shall not repentance take the place of unbelief and rebellion. Or shall this state of impenitence and blindness continue until it shall be said unto us, as to the cities that spurned the offered mercies of Christ in the days of his ministry, ‘Woe unto thee, Chorazin! Woe unto thee, Bethsaida! …
Realizing what was taking place at the headquarters of the church, Ellen White warned that if nothing changed, Baal worship would be the choice. It would be a direct result of rejecting the very message God had sent from heaven—the result of calling light darkness and darkness light. Ellen White knew that Baal worship took in much more then just bowing down to carved idols. Multitudes with “no outward shrine” have a “wrong conception of God and His attributes, and are as truly serving a false god as were the worshipers of Baal.” The message that Jones and Waggoner were presenting was one of total dependence on the righteousness of Christ. Baal worship was a “wavering between dependence upon the righteousness of Christ, and dependence upon your own righteousness.” Thus Baal worship was self-worship; the result of making an idol out of man’s opinions. Ellen White warned that Baal worship would be the result of the plans being laid for the operation of the church organization that were after the world’s order and not after God’s order: “the very course men will take who are now in office.”
In the months ahead Ellen White would have much to say about the plans that had been laid at the 1889 General Conference. Rather than being the turning point for good, they resulted in a confederacy being formed to stand between the people and the message sent from heaven. Well might she say; “The men in responsible positions have disappointed Jesus. They have refused precious blessings. … The knowledge they should receive of God that they might be a light and blessing to others, they refuse to accept, and thus become channels of darkness. The Spirit of God is grieved.” Several months later, Ellen White said that God had “a blessing for us” at the 1889 General Conference, but sadly, “there was no reception.”
Ministerial Institute
Plans were made at the 1889 Conference to hold a Bible-school for ministers held in Battle Creek from November 6 through March 25, 1890. This 20 week Bible-school, which was to be entirely separate from the College, grew out of the Ministerial Institute held from January 17 to March 28, 1889, where A. T. Jones had been lead instructor. The new program endeavored to avoid “long courses” that Ellen White had said were not necessary when workers were so urgently needed in the field. W. W. Prescott was elected principal and given the task of drawing up the curriculum for the intensive course in which he, Uriah Smith, A. T. Jones and E. J. Waggoner would be the main instructors.Prescott announced that this 20 week intensive program was equivalent to a two year program with a “four studies” course each year. Classes were to include: Ancient History, Bible Doctrines, Civil Government, Greek or Hebrew, Church Government, Logic, Evidences of Christianity, and Church History, among others. Classes for laymen were also held in conjunction with the school for ministers, some of the early morning meetings being combined. The program grew to 157 students in regular attendance, but attendance at the combined meetings swelled to over 300.
Ellen White was still in Battle Creek during the Ministerial Institute, although she certainly had not planned to remain away from home for so long when she left California to go to the 1888 General Conference in Minneapolis. Although she was not scheduled to teach any classes, she became actively involved, especially during the last two months of the Institute. Traveling to various conferences and general meetings in nearby churches also kept her very busy. Furthermore, she prepared books for publication, including Testimony No. 33, much of which related to the Minneapolis episode, and Testimonies for the Church, volume 5, which was comprised of Testimony numbers 31 through 33. She then began working on expanding Spirit of Prophecy volume 1, which would become Patriarchs and Prophets, and started her work on the Life of Christ, which would eventually be published in 1898 under the title, The Desire of Ages.
While Ellen White’s work definitely kept her busy, the most laborious task was constantly battling those in leadership positions. That battle was soon to reach even greater proportions: as Waggoner began to present on the subject of the nature of Christ, and the subject of the two covenants at the Ministerial Institute. Another time of crisis had come.