Founding Process of the Seventh-Day Adventist Church
1 OUR BEGINNINGS
(1800-1900)
(Primary contributor to this chapter: Cindy Tutch–White Estate; footnoting is referenced in the appendix).
Much can be said about the founding process of the Seventh-day Adventist Church and the involvement of youth in that process. Joseph Bates was often called “Father Bates” for a very good reason—he was the oldest, therefore a father figure, among those early pioneers. The others were literally all youth. James White was likely the second-oldest, being in his twenties, Ellen Gould Harmon (White) was a teenager, John Nevins Andrews a junior, John Loughborough a teen, Uriah and Anne Smith were both in their early twenties, and so on went the list. By the time the movement saw needs to institutionalize and become “a church,” a legal entity and not a hodgepodge of little organizations with quasi-legal representation, these young upstarts had become mature adults with a rapidly-growing following of young and old scattered across a continent and then around the globe. By force of time alone leadership transferred from young to old, and the young began to feel like tagalongs instead of on the cutting edge. James White recognized
T h e AY S T o r Y
a need and sought to solve it in a manner he knew best how—publish. So he began a special magazine for youth called the Youth’s Instructor. The first issue appeared in 85. This was followed by a magazine for the younger set Our Little Friend in 890, with W. N. Glenn as editor. In some circles ultraconservative adults with misconceptions of leadership, authority, and mission tried to stifle any youthful creativity and involvement until God stepped in and began His own work in mysterious manners. Although primary-source material is limited, historical consensus gives the teenagers Luther Warren (4) and Harry Fenner (7) the honor of originating the first Adventist Young People’s Society in 879, conceived from a desire to help their young friends experience spiritual birth
(1800-1900)
(Primary contributor to this chapter: Cindy Tutch–White Estate; footnoting is referenced in the appendix).
Much can be said about the founding process of the Seventh-day Adventist Church and the involvement of youth in that process. Joseph Bates was often called “Father Bates” for a very good reason—he was the oldest, therefore a father figure, among those early pioneers. The others were literally all youth. James White was likely the second-oldest, being in his twenties, Ellen Gould Harmon (White) was a teenager, John Nevins Andrews a junior, John Loughborough a teen, Uriah and Anne Smith were both in their early twenties, and so on went the list. By the time the movement saw needs to institutionalize and become “a church,” a legal entity and not a hodgepodge of little organizations with quasi-legal representation, these young upstarts had become mature adults with a rapidly-growing following of young and old scattered across a continent and then around the globe. By force of time alone leadership transferred from young to old, and the young began to feel like tagalongs instead of on the cutting edge. James White recognized
T h e AY S T o r Y
a need and sought to solve it in a manner he knew best how—publish. So he began a special magazine for youth called the Youth’s Instructor. The first issue appeared in 85. This was followed by a magazine for the younger set Our Little Friend in 890, with W. N. Glenn as editor. In some circles ultraconservative adults with misconceptions of leadership, authority, and mission tried to stifle any youthful creativity and involvement until God stepped in and began His own work in mysterious manners. Although primary-source material is limited, historical consensus gives the teenagers Luther Warren (4) and Harry Fenner (7) the honor of originating the first Adventist Young People’s Society in 879, conceived from a desire to help their young friends experience spiritual birth