In part one, we saw the main verses from Ellen G. White that seem to say “no independent ministries.” In part two, we saw many verses from Ellen G. White supporting independent ministries.
In this part three, we will examine the main verses from Ellen G. White concerning independent ministries. In fact, there are many thousands of statements from Ellen G. White supporting independent ministries, and very few statements that seem to caution against becoming independent.
The main quotes that are repeated, in full, are cited below. This is a summary of the main arguments I have found in Ellen G. White’s writings on independent ministries. This is not an exhaustive list. The three most common objections raised against independent ministries are:
- “No new organization”
- “No independent atoms”
- “Be afraid of them”
1. No new organization. Here, Ellen G. White is nowhere saying, “do not be independent.” She is saying that if the church — referring to the main body — is not preaching (1) the pillars of our faith, and (2) the truths given in 1844, then it would effectively be forming a new organization. Nowhere in this statement is Ellen G. White speaking about being independent of the General Conference.
2. No independent atoms. At the time, a Mr. Stanton was teaching that all members needed to become independent and that the General Conference should be dissolved entirely. Almost no one teaches this within independent ministries today. In this statement, Ellen G. White is not saying “do not be independent.” She is saying the whole church cannot become 100 percent dissolved, scattered into completely independent atoms with no structure at all.
The Main Arguments for Independent Ministry
1. An angel says many ought to be out of line. An angel appeared to Ellen G. White and told her that her son would be considered “out of line” — meaning outside the conference structure, or independent. The angel then said that many Seventh-day Adventists should be “out of line,” or independent.
2. Advance without asking permission. Here, Ellen G. White tells certain workers she knows to be faithful to God to move forward without asking permission from the General Conference.
3. Most of the work should be self-supporting. Here, Ellen G. White says much of the work of the church should be self-supporting. She says most believers should have their own ministry and support themselves through a trade or through ministry work.
4. Many working without salary. Ellen G. White says many Bible workers and teachers should be self-supporting, through their own trade or ministry, without receiving pay from the General Conference. She acknowledges not everyone can do this, and some workers do need to be salaried by the conference.
5. The future missionary is self-supporting; the old method of paying missionaries is being superseded. Here, Ellen G. White says the old method of paying missionaries is outdated. The new method calls for missionaries and Bible workers to be self-sufficient, earning their own living through their ministry or trade. She calls this the successful method of evangelism and Bible work going forward.
6. “Not one dollar turned aside” — be very careful. Here, Ellen G. White told self-supporting workers, in relation to the General Conference, that not even one dollar should be turned away from self-supporting work. In fact, in her time, she stated that the General Conference bore responsibility to help financially support independent ministries. She warned the General Conference to be very careful not to turn aside even one dollar from independent ministries.
7. “Pharisaism filled with regular lines” — hard to break away from the regular line, as in Jesus’s day. Ellen G. White says here that in the time of Jesus, it was hard to break away from the established religious system. Today, that “regular line” is the General Conference structure. In Jesus’s time, anyone found guilty of believing in Him would be cast out of the synagogue. Ellen G. White says the same dynamic happens today — it is just as hard to break away from established structures now as it was to break away from the religious establishment in Jesus’s day. Note: Ellen G. White is not saying here that people should leave the church. She is saying that for those whom God leads to work independently, it is just as difficult to break away from conventional salary structures and methods as it was in the days of Jesus.
8. “God forbids this line of work to be broken up.” Here, Ellen G. White gives a direct command to the General Conference and to any denominational leader: God forbids anyone from breaking up independent ministries that God Himself is leading. She says it is forbidden by God — it is unlawful for anyone to attempt to break up any independent or self-supporting worker or ministry that God is leading.
9. “The money belongs to God, not to these men; their position is not of God.” Regarding self-supporting workers, the General Conference had told them that the money from their ministry should be turned over to the conference. Ellen White responded that the money did not belong to the General Conference, and that what the General Conference and denominational leaders were doing in this matter was not of God. If something is not of God, whose influence does it reflect? Satan’s.
10. “All means are not to be handled by one organization” — there is no regular channel through which means should pass. Ellen G. White says here that there is not only one place where tithe should go. She states clearly that the General Conference is not the only place where tithe money should be sent. She says there is no single, regular channel through which tithe money must pass — meaning the General Conference is not the only valid destination for believers’ tithe.
11. “Unsanctified power in the regular lines” — may the voices raised at the General Conference saying all money must go to Battle Creek not be heard. Ellen White says the General Conference exercised unsanctified power. They were taking money from independent workers’ earnings and forbidding self-supporting ministries from receiving help. She says, in effect, “may God grant that the voices in the General Conference saying all tithe must go to the conference not be heard.” In other words, Ellen G. White is saying that any leader within the church who insists all tithe must go exclusively to the conference needs to stop making that claim.
12. “The soul is accountable to God alone.” Ellen G. White says here that every believer is accountable to God alone regarding where they send their tithe money. She says believers are not accountable to the General Conference, but to God alone. This does not mean they cannot send their tithe to the conference — but she makes clear the conference is not the only valid channel for tithe.
13. “The circle of kings.” Because of the abuses by leaders within the General Conference — and this was even during a time when the church was, by her own account, more faithful than today — she referred to denominational leaders as “the circle of kings.” This is a term of rebuke directed at those who abused their power, who had lost sight of the love of Jesus, and who acted like worldly people abusing authority over others.
14. “God’s storehouse is devoted to God’s service” — God’s storehouse belongs to those who labor in word and doctrine. Here, Ellen G. White says tithe money belongs to all who are devoted to God’s service — not to conference workers exclusively, but to all who labor faithfully in teaching the Bible.
Below are the full quotations referenced above, in their entirety.
“My Guide said, ‘This work will be sowing seed for time and for eternity.’ And then the instruction was given, ‘The angels of the Lord will go before him. He will be accounted out of line. But many ought to be out of the lines that have been maintained to be the regular routine, and unless they themselves come into line, they will say, “The temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord are we.” Unless that temple is purified, cleansed, sanctified, God will not give them His presence in the temple of which they boast.’” (3MR 264.2)
“It is to advance without asking permission or support from those who have taken to themselves a kingly power. In the past one set of men have tried to keep in their own hands the control of all the means coming from the churches.” (SpM 174.3) “They have taken upon themselves the grave responsibility of retarding the work where the work should have been advanced. It has been left to a few supposed kindly minds to say what fields should be worked and what fields should be left unworked.” (SpM 174.3)
“Much of the work will have to be made self-supporting. There is more to do in a short time than can be done if men wait to be sent and paid for their work. A self-supporting worker is to have your encouragement.” (PH012 11.2)
“The whole church needs to be imbued with the missionary spirit; then there will be many to work unselfishly, in various ways as they can, without being salaried.” (PH012 12.1)
“The future successful missionary must himself be self-supporting and must teach his converts to earn their living.” (PH012 12.3) “The old method of supporting missionaries by a salary from America is being superseded by the saner method of self-support.” (PH012 12.4)
“My brethren, I ask you in the name of the Lord, that you be careful how you handle the donations that are made to the Southern field. Not one dollar is to be turned aside to any other field. I entreat of you to be very careful.” (8MR 202.2)
“There is danger in binding every working agency under the dictation of the conference… I was shown that they would not be helped by making themselves amenable to the conference. They had better remain as led by God, amenable to Him, to work out His plans. But this matter need not be blazed abroad.” (8MR 202.4)
“There ought to be thousands at work in the cities, laboring intelligently. Not all these workers should look to the conference for support. They should seek to make their work self-supporting. A great many can do self-supporting work, but some cannot.” (9MR 310.1)
“God’s principles are the only safe principles for us to follow. Phariseeism was filled with regular lines, but so perverted were the principles of justice that God declared, ‘Judgment is turned away backward, and justice standeth afar off: for truth is fallen in the street, and equity cannot enter. Yea, truth faileth; and he that departeth from evil maketh himself a prey’ (Isaiah 59:14-15). How true these words have proved.” (20MR 143.3)
“It is as hard today to break away from the regular lines as it was in Christ’s day. We have had great light. Let us not become narrow. Let us break the bonds which bind us. Christ is the source of all true growth, the maintainer of all life. By His Holy Spirit He communicates heavenly principles and furnishes spiritual life.” (20MR 143.5)
“But understand that this is not meant to hinder any individual worker from entering any place to which he is directed by the Spirit of God to do house-to-house work.” (14MR 48.1)
“It has been presented to me for years that my tithe was to be appropriated by myself to aid the white and colored ministers who were neglected and did not receive sufficient properly to support their families…. This was to be my special work, and I have done this in a number of cases.” (2MR 99.3)
“Some cases have been kept before me for years, and I have supplied their needs from the tithe, as God has instructed me to do. And if any person shall say to me, Sister White, will you appropriate my tithe where you know it is most needed, I shall say, Yes, I will; and I have done so.” (2MR 100.1)
“But for years there have now and then been persons who have lost confidence in the appropriation of the tithe, who have placed their tithe in my hands, and said that if I did not take it they would themselves appropriate it to the families of the most needy ministers they could find. I have taken the money, given a receipt for it, and told them how it was appropriated.” (2MR 100.2)
“The Lord must be given an opportunity to show men their duty and to work upon their minds. No one is to bind himself to serve under the direction of any human being; for the Lord himself will call men, as of old he called the humble fishermen, and will himself give them the education he desires them to have. He will call men from the plow and from other occupations, to give the last note of warning to perishing souls. There are many ways in which to work for the Master, and the great Teacher will open the understanding of these workers, enabling them to see wondrous things in his word.” (SpM 308.4)
“The leaders among God’s people are to guard against the danger of condemning the methods of individual workers who are led by the Lord to do a special work that but few are fitted to do. Let brethren in responsibility be slow to criticize movements that are not in perfect harmony with their methods of labor. Let them never suppose that every plan should reflect their own personality. Let them not fear to trust another’s methods; for by withholding their confidence from a brother laborer who, with humility and consecrated zeal, is doing a special work in God’s appointed way, they are retarding the advancement of the Lord’s cause.” (9T 259.1)
“There are men whose character and life testify to the fact that they are false prophets and deceivers. These we are not to hear or tolerate… Men can become just as were the Pharisees—wide-awake to condemn the greatest Teacher that the world ever knew… There are those who are today doing the very same things…
“These men who presume to judge others should take a little broader view and say, Suppose the statements of others do not agree with our ideas; shall we for this pronounce them heresy? Shall we, uninspired men, take the responsibility of placing our stakes, and saying, This shall not appear in print?… Will we ever realize that the consciences of men are not given into our command? If you have appointed committees to do the work which has been going on for years in Battle Creek, dismiss them; and remember that God, the infinite God, has not placed men in any such positions as they occupied at Minneapolis, and have occupied since then. I feel deeply over this matter of men being conscience for their fellowmen.” (Ibid., 294-295)
“To conference presidents, and men in responsible places, I bear this message: Break the bands and fetters that have been placed upon God’s people. To you the word is spoken, ‘Break every yoke.’ Unless you cease the work of making man amenable to man, unless you become humble in heart, and yourselves learn the way of the Lord as little children, the Lord will divorce you from His work.” (Ibid., 480-481)
“A great many of the difficulties that have come into our work in California and elsewhere have come in through a misunderstanding on the part of men in official positions concerning their individual responsibility in the matter of controlling and ruling their fellow laborers. Men entrusted with responsibilities have supposed that their official position embraced very much more than was ever thought of by those who placed them in office, and serious difficulties arose as the result. But here is what the leader should not do: ‘But he is not appointed to order and command the Lord’s laborers. The Lord is over His heritage. He will lead His people if they will be led of the Lord in the place of assuming a power God has not given them.’” (Ibid.)
“Position does not give a man kingly authority. The meekness of Christ is a wonderful lesson given to the fallen world. Learning this meekness from the great Teacher, the worker will become Christlike.” (Ibid., 298-299)
“Some have entertained the idea that because the school at Madison is not owned by a conference organization, those who are in charge of the school should not be permitted to call upon our people for the means that is greatly needed to carry on their work. This idea needs to be corrected. In the distribution of the money that comes into the Lord’s treasury, you are entitled to a portion just as verily as are those connected with other needy enterprises that are carried forward in harmony with the Lord’s instruction.” (Spalding-Magan Collection, 411)
“The Lord does not set limits about his workers in some lines as men are wont to set. In their work, Brethren Magan and Sutherland have been hindered unnecessarily. Means have been withheld from them because in the organization and management of the Madison school, it was not placed under the control of the conference. But the reasons why this school was not owned and controlled by the conference have not been duly considered… The Lord does not require that the educational work at Madison shall be changed all about before it can receive the hearty support of our people. The work that has been done there is approved of God.” (Special Testimonies, Series B, No. 11, 31-32)
“The work that has been done there is approved of God, and He forbids that this line of work shall be broken up.” (Ibid., May 7, 1907)
Paradise Valley: “Talked with Sister White regarding attitude of General Conference toward us. Mrs. Sara McEnterfer and Lillian present. Told Sister White that the administration held we had no right to go and get money unless we were owned by the conference. She replied: ‘You are doing double what they are. Take all the donations you can get. The money belongs to the Lord and not to these men. The position they take is not of God. The Southern Union Conference is not to own or control you. You cannot turn things over to them.’” Why? “Because when things were turned over to them, they forced people to go against their conscience and not follow the counsels.”
May 14, 1907: “I talked to her [E. G. White] about the General Conference position that concerns non-conference owned institutions should have no money. She answered: ‘Daniells and those with him are taking a position on this matter that is not of God.’”
When efforts were made to urge writers to return to the conference or publishing house all of the profits derived from their writing, Sister White counseled: “The Lord has made us individually His stewards. We each hold a solemn responsibility to invest this means ourselves…
“While it is not your own property that you are handling, yet you are made responsible for its wise investment, for its use or abuse. God does not lay upon you the burden of asking the conference or any counsel of men whether you shall use your means as you see fit to advance the work of God in destitute towns and cities, and impoverished localities.” (Pamphlets in the Concordance, vol. 2, 467)
“All the means are not to be handled by one agency or organization… To those in our conferences who have felt that they had authority to forbid the gathering of means in certain territory I now say: This matter has been presented to me again and again. I now bear my testimony in the name of the Lord to those whom it concerns. Wherever you are, withhold your forbiddings. The work of God is not to be thus trammeled… This wonderful burden of responsibility which some suppose God has placed upon them with their official position, has never been laid upon them.” (Spalding-Magan Collection, 421-422) “The Lord has not specified any regular channel through which means should pass.” (Ibid., 498)
“In regard to the colored work in the South, that field has been and is still being robbed of the means that should come to the workers of that field. The Lord has not specified any regular channel through which means should pass.” (Spalding and Magan Collection, 498)
“Pharisaism in the Christian world today is not extinct. The Lord desires to break up the course of precision which has become so firmly established, which has hindered instead of advancing his work. He desires his people to remember that here is a large space over which the light of present truth is to be shed. Divine wisdom must have abundant room in which to work. It is to advance without asking permission or support from those who have taken to themselves a kingly power. In the past one set of men have tried to keep in their own hands the control of all the means coming from the churches, and have used this means in a most disproportionate manner, erecting expensive buildings where such large buildings were unnecessary and uncalled for, and leaving needy places without help or encouragement.
“They have taken upon themselves the grave responsibility of retarding the work where the work should have been advanced. It has been left to a few supposed kindly minds to say what… For years the same routine, the same ‘regular way’ of working has been followed, and God’s work has been greatly hindered. The narrow plans that have been followed by those who did not have clear, sanctified judgment has resulted in a showing that is not approved by God.
“God calls for a revival and a reformation. The ‘regular lines’ have not done the work which God desires to see accomplished. Let revival and reformation make constant changes. Something has been done in this line, but let not the work stop here. No! Let every yoke be broken. Let men awaken to the realization that they have an individual responsibility.
“The present showing is sufficient to prove to all who have the true missionary spirit that the ‘regular lines’ may prove a failure and a snare. God helping his people, the circle of kings who dared to take such great responsibilities shall never again exercise their unsanctified power in the so-called ‘regular lines.’” (Spalding and Magan Collection, 174-175)
“Shall the ‘regular lines,’ which say that every mind shall be controlled by two or three minds at Battle Creek, continue to bear sway? The Macedonian cry is coming from every quarter. Shall men go to the ‘regular lines’ to see whether they will be permitted to labor, or shall they go out and work as best they can, depending on their own abilities and on the help of the Lord, beginning in a humble way and creating an interest in the truth in places in which nothing has been done to give the warning message?…
“Young men, go forth into the places to which you are directed by the Spirit of the Lord. Work with your hands, that you may be self-supporting, and as you have opportunity, proclaim the message of warning. The Lord has blessed the work that J.E. White has tried to do in the South. God grant that the voices which have been so quickly raised to say that all the money invested in the work must go through the appointed channel at Battle Creek, shall not be heard.
“The people to whom God has given his means are amenable to him alone. It is their privilege to give direct aid and assistance to missions. It is because of the misappropriation of means that the Southern field has no better showing than it has today…
“I have to say, my brother, that I have no desire to see the work in the South moving forward in the old, regular lines. When I see how strongly the idea prevails that the methods of handling our books in the past shall be retained, because what has been must be, I have no heart to advise that former customs shall continue.” (Spalding and Magan Collection, 176-177)
“The tithe should go to those who labor in word and doctrine, be they men or women.” (Evangelism, 492)
“There are only two places in the world where we can deposit our treasures—in God’s storehouse or in Satan’s, and all that is not devoted to Christ’s service is counted on Satan’s side and goes to strengthen his cause.” (Testimonies, vol. 6, 447)
“Brethren Sutherland and Magan should be encouraged to solicit means for the support of their work. It is the privilege of these brethren to receive gifts from any of our people whom the Lord impresses to help. They should have means—God’s means—with which to work… Our people are to be encouraged to give of their means to this work which is preparing students in a sensible and creditable way to go forth into neglected fields to proclaim the soon coming of Christ.” (Spalding and Magan Collection, 422)
“None are to be hindered from bearing the message of present truth to the world. Let the workers receive their directions from God. When the Holy Spirit impresses a believer to do a certain work for God, leave the matter to Him and the Lord. I am instructed to say to you, Break every yoke that would prevent the message from going forth with power to the cities. This work of proclaiming the truth in the cities will take means, but it will also bring in means. A much greater work would have been done if men had not been so zealous to watch and hinder some who were seeking to obtain means from the people to carry forward the work of the Lord.” (Spalding and Magan Collection, 435)
“God has not appointed any man guide, nor made any man conscience for another; therefore let human hands be withheld from restraining his servants who feel the burden to enter his vineyard to labor. Let God work with his own chosen agents by his Holy Spirit. No human being is to sit in judgment upon his brother. Neither are any to feel that they can handle roughly the precious pearls for which Christ gave His life. The pearl, the precious human pearl, was found by Christ. Let man be warned; be careful how you treat the Lord’s ‘peculiar treasure.’ All discourtesy, all pain, all neglect, which these souls suffer at your hands, is charged against you as inflicted upon Jesus Christ. They are not to be treated in a lordly, commanding manner. Laws and rules are being made at the centers of the work that will soon be broken into atoms. Men are not to dictate. It is not for those in places of authority to employ all their powers to sustain some, while others are cast down, ignored, forsaken, and left to perish.
“But it is the duty of the leaders to lend a helping hand to all who are in need. Let each work in the line which God may indicate to him by His Holy Spirit. The soul is accountable to God alone. Who can say how many avenues of light have been closed by arrangements which the Lord has not advised nor instituted? The Lord does not ask permission of those in responsible positions when He wishes to use certain ones as His agents for the promulgation of truth. But He will use whom He will use. He will pass by men who have not followed his counsel, men who feel capable and sufficient to work in their own wisdom; and he will use others who are thought by these supposedly wise ones to be wholly incompetent. Many who have some talent think that they are necessary to the cause of God. Let them beware lest they stretch themselves beyond their measure.” (RH, July 23, 1895)
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