In the daily papers of various cities there
have appeared articles which represent that there is a strife
between Dr. Kellogg and Mrs. Ellen G. White as to which of them
shall be leader of the Seventh-day Adventist people. As I read
these articles I felt distressed beyond measure that anyone should
so misunderstand my work and the work of Dr. Kellogg as to publish
such misrepresentations. There has been no controversy between
Dr. Kellogg and myself as to the question of leadership. No one
has ever heard me claim the position of leader of the denomination.
I have a work of great responsibility to
do--to impart by pen and voice the instruction given me, not
alone to Seventh-day Adventists, but to the world. I have published
many books, large and small, and some of these have been translated
into several languages. This is my work--to open the Scriptures
to others as God has opened them to me.
God has not set any kingly power in the
Seventh-day Adventist Church to control the whole body or to
control any branch of the work. He has not provided that the
burden of leadership shall rest upon a few men. Responsibilities
are distributed among a large number of competent men.
Every member of the church has a voice in choosing officers of the church. The church chooses the officers of the state conferences. Delegates chosen by the state conferences choose the officers of the union conferences, and delegates chosen by the union conferences choose the officers of the General Conference. By this arrangement every conference, every institution, every church, and every individual, either directly or through representatives, has a voice in the election of the men who bear the chief responsibilities in the General Conference.