160 YEARS
O
OF GOD’S LEADING COMPILED BY MERLE POIRIER
1830s 1831 • William Miller begins to preach 1833 • Falling of the stars 1839 • Joshua Himes begins to proclaim the Second Advent imminent
First Review building
1842 • First vision given to William Foy • James White begins to preach
1850s
1844 • The Great Disappointment • Rachel Oakes Preston introduces the Sabbath truth • Hiram Edson introduces the sanctuary truth • Ellen Harmon has her first vision at age 17
1849 • The Present Truth first published • Death of William Miller • Issue of first Advent hymnbook
The Present Truth, 1849
Early hymnals
40
ADVENTIST REVIEW
|
MAY 2023
Second Advent Review and Sabbath Herald, 1850
1852 • W ashington handpress is purchased in Rochester, New York • F irst issue of The Youth’s Instructor
1848 • First general meeting of Sabbathkeepers is held at Rocky Hill, Connecticut
Washington handpress
1850 • F irst issue of Second Advent Review and Sabbath Herald, James White, first editor
1845 • Ellen Harmon has sanctuary and new earth visions • J oseph Bates begins to keep the Sabbath
1847 • Sabbath vision given to Ellen White
tist Archives; Ashlee Chism, research center manager for Adventist Archives for carefully reading and fact-checking; James Nix and the Ellen G. White Estate, who years ago compiled important Adventist dates; the Youth Department, which at some point created a time line called “The Great Advent Movement”; Benjamin Baker, who has an extensive and comprehensive listing of all things related to Black Adventists (blacksdahistory.org); the Women’s Ministries Depart-
ment, which compiled a list of notable Adventist women; the Education Department, which created a time line of Adventist colleges and schools and events meaningful to educators; as well as a number of Adventist websites that took the time to outline their history. We hope you enjoy this “walk” through Adventism. By its end one should find themselves praising God, for only He could sustain a movement like this despite the circumstances.
William Miller
1840s
1846 • J ames White and Ellen Harmon marry
We are told this is the first attempt to create a church time line that isn’t simply topical. This meant placing layer upon layer of information that touched on multiple aspects of Adventism: evangelism, world growth, people of note, theology, education, and more. We must tip our hats to those who have cared for Adventist history in the past, because it’s a result of their diligence that we could even make such an attempt. Special thanks to David Trim, director of Adven-
n May 21, 2023, we celebrate the 160th anniversary of the organized Seventh-day Adventist Church. It seemed appropriate to lay out a time line that demonstrates the fragile beginnings that, like a seed responding to rain, expanded and exploded to become what we know today as a worldwide movement. This time line attempts to be comprehensive, but we will readily admit that many events and milestones are not here. It’s not because they are unimportant, but rather because there is not enough space.
1853 • F irst regular Sabbath Schools organized •M artha Byington starts first Adventist church school, Buck’s Bridge, New York •H aving liberated himself from slavery in the southern United States and becoming a Sabbathkeeping Adventist in the northern United States, John W. West begins a ministry in Peterboro, New York
James White
1858 • E llen White has great controversy vision 1859 • “ Systematic Benevolence” plan of funding adopted
1860 • The name “Seventh-day Adventist” adopted 1861 • Churches first formally organized; Michigan Conference is the first conference organized • James White serves as editor of the Review • The Civil War begins 1863 • The Seventh-day Adventist Church is officially established with the organization of a General Conference with 20 delegates from six conferences • John Byington is elected as first president of the General Conference • Ellen White has vision on health reform
1854 • J . N. Loughborough and M. E. Cornell conduct first tent meeting in Battle Creek • First sale of denominational literature 1855 • J ames and Ellen White move to Battle Creek, Michigan, taking the publishing work with them •U riah Smith becomes second editor of the Review • F irst building built for the Review and Herald Publishing Association
1860s
Ellen White
ADVENTISTREVIEW.ORG
1864 • Second General Conference Session, Battle Creek, Michigan • Seventh-day Adventists are recognized as holding noncombatant views • Uriah Smith is again editor of the Review • F irst Adventist church in Canada organized, Westbury, Quebec • Hannah More becomes first Adventist woman to plant churches on West African coast
J. N. Andrews
Sarah Lindsey
Western Reform Health Institute
1865 • Third General Conference Session, Battle Creek, Michigan • James White is voted as second General Conference president • General Conference approves the first outreach among African Americans • F irst health publication, a series of pamphlets entitled Health: or How to Live • The Civil War ends 1866 • Publication of journal Health Reformer • F irst health institution, the Western Health Reform Institute, opens in Battle Creek, Michigan (forerunner of Battle Creek Sanitarium) • Fourth General Conference Session, Battle Creek, Michigan 1867 • Fifth General Conference (GC) Session, Battle Creek, Michigan • J. N. Andrews is voted as third GC president • Michał Czechowski organizes a group of converts in Tramelan, Switzerland 1868 • F irst general camp meeting held at Wright, Michigan • Sixth GC Session, Battle Creek, Michigan • Delegates vote to open the mission work in California 1869 • Seventh GC Session, Battle Creek, Michigan • James White is voted as fourth GC president • J. N. Andrews serves as third editor of the Review • The Vigilant Missionary Society (forerunner of the tract and missionary societies) is organized by a group of four women in South Lancaster, Massachusetts • Sarah Lindsey becomes first Adventist woman licensed as a minister by a local conference
MAY 2023
|
ADVENTIST REVIEW
41