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Ordaining Leaders
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May 15  Ordaining Leaders

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That thou shouldest set in order the things that are wanting, and ordain elders in every city, as I had appointed thee. Titus 1:5.

By 1851 the problems among the growing Sabbatarian congregations led the Whites to believe that the movement required their personal presence from time to time to correct abuses. The next few years would see their reports in the Reveiw with such titles as "Our Tour East." During their journeys the Whites repeatedly dealt with fanaticism and church order at the congregational level. At a conference in Medford, Massachusetts, in late 1851, for example, James stated that "the burden of the meeting was Chruch Order, pointing out the errors of S. Smith, H. W. Allen, and the importence of church action [withdrawing fellowship] as to the course of some brethren."

At various locations on the same tour White reported disfellowshipping one who had "fallen a victim to the bewiching power of spiritualism," of rebuking fanaticism and "opposing spirits," and of speaking about "gospel order and perfect union among the bretheren, especially those who preach the Word."

The 1851 eastern tour is also significant since accounts of it provide our first information on the appointment of officers at the local church level. Thus we read that in one meeting "a committee of seven was chosen (see Acts 6) to attend to the wants of the poor."

Earlier that year the Reveiw reported for the first time an ordination in Sabbatarian ranks. In July  "Bro. [Washington] Morse was set apart by the laying on of hands, to the administration of the ordinances of God's house. The Holy Ghost witnessed by the gift of tongues, and solemn manifestations of the presence and power of God. The place was awful, yet glorious."

By 1852 the Sabbatarians had come to see themselves less as a "scattered flock" and more as a church. And with a reinterpretation of the shut door they began to recognize that they had a larger mission beyond the realm of Millerism. Such realizations would add their weight in pressing the Sabbatarians toward a more substantial organization.

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Lord, day by day as we read and meditate we see Your church gradually waking up to its larger responsibilities. Help us to regard that waking up not only as something that happened 150 years ago, but as an event that needs to take place in our personal lives as You progressively guide us as individuals.
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