Ellen White on Church Welfare, - how would she view ADRA of today?

[Sojourner]

I found this interesting quote from Ellen White where she addresses the issue of how the Seventh-day Adventist Church should approach giving people in the local community welfare assistance. She draws a direct parallel with the Salvation Army work in this area and appears to suggest that Adventists should encourage the Salvation Army in what they are doing yet that the SDA should be focused on what God is calling them to do, which I am only guessing she means to spread the “three angels message”?

 

 

In modern times, ADRA appear to be not unlike the Salvation Army at all, or at least that is how its run in Australia, ADRA run Opportunity Shops selling donated goods and bring people welfare assistance in terms of food and clothing and so forth as a ministry. Under the ADRA banner SDA churches are serving meals for the poor on a regular basis. Clearly they are openly “imitating and falling in with” the methods used by the Salvation Army.

 

 

From my side of the fence I have seen firsthand what happened to the Salvation Army when it focused fully on this area, people in Australia think it’s a great charity and are often surprised to realize that it is a Christian church, most people think it to be largely a welfare organization. As time moved on it also became heavily focused on Political Correctness which separated it IMO from the Gospel which is not something churches can or should be politically correct about.

 

 

Still I support the idea of giving people welfare assistance where practical, especially when those people are fellow church members, yet also in cases where people from the community simply need some help. Is doing that moving the church in a direction away from what Ellen White had suggested, or is the SDA simply evolving as time goes on and feels led by God to do this work?

 

 

Thoughts?

 

Though Ellen White continually held up the challenge of taking the gospel to those “however fallen, however dishonored and debased,”⁴⁹ she clearly strove for perspective: “The Lord has marked out our way of working. As a people we are not to imitate and fall in with Salvation Army methods. This is not the work that the Lord has given us to do. Neither is it our work to condemn them and speak harsh words against them. There are precious, self-sacrificing souls in the Salvation Army. . . . The Salvation Army workers are trying to save the neglected, downtrodden ones. Discourage them not. Let them do that class of work by their own methods and in their own way. But the Lord has plainly pointed out the work that Seventh-day Adventists are to do.”⁵⁰

 

http://www.whiteestate.org/books/mol/Chapt20.html

[rudywoofs (Pam)]

if the whole context of the EGW quote is read, it would be noted that she was writing in 1899 to John Harvey Kellogg, Superintendent of the Battle Creek Sanitarium.  While I'm not certain the reason for her writing to him, she did write the following:  

 

  "Through them Satan tries to sow in the church the seeds of jealousy, dishonesty, criticism, and accusing. Thus he tries to corrupt the other members of the church. The disposition that has mastered them from childhood, that led them to break away from all restraint and brought them down to degradation, still controls them. They are reported to be rescued, but too often time shows that the work done for them did not make them submissive children of God. At every supposed slight, resentful feelings rise. They cherish bitterness, wrath, malice. By their words and spirit they show that they have not been born again. Their tendencies are downward, tending to sensuality. They are untrustworthy, unthankful, unholy. Thus it is with all who have not been soundly converted. Every one of these marred characters,untransformed, becomes an efficient worker for Satan, creating dissension and strife."

 

 

That would be in contrast to the Salvation Army's 1899 predilection of going to saloons to try and convince people to come to their meetings, and thus making nuisances of themselves to the police, as well as conditionally giving meals and shelter to the hapless - they had to do one of two things:  either work in exchange for food/shelter, or listen to a sermon. 

Here's the rest of the quote:  

"...But the Lord has plainly pointed out the work that Seventh-day Adventists are to do. Camp meetings and tent meetings are to be held. The truth for this time is to be proclaimed. A decided testimony is to be borne. And the discourses are to be so simple that children can understand them."

 

 

Here's a fascinating SA 1899 report:  https://archive.org/stream/salvationarmyinu00boot/salvationarmyinu00boot_djvu.txt

[Gregory Matthews]

In the time of EGW, the denomination was developing.  Our education, medical, publishing and mission work was just beginning.  At that point in development it was reasonable to suggest that efforts should be centered  on growing the church and its developing mission and ministry.

 

Today we have some 18 million members.  Some of our institutions have matured and fully developed.  It would be reasonable at this point in time for EGW to suggest that we focus on new and different methods of accomplishing mission and ministry to include, perhaps, some forms that previously she had not wanted us to do.