The Vinita daily chieftain. [volume] (Vinita, Indian Territory [Okla.]) 1902-1913, 1912-01-27
ADVENTIST MEET
At KEENE TEXAS

Keene. Tex. Jan. PA unique and
interesting conference will meet here
on February :, which will bring Sew
enth-day Adventist ministers and lay
men together from the states of Ar
kansas, Oklahoma, Texas and New
Mexico, and will continue for ten days.
This will be the fifth biennial session
of the Southwestern Union Conference
of Seventh-day Adventists, a body of
Sabbath-keeping Christians of whom
there are about 5000 in the territory
of this conference. There are $50
churches in the conference, divided in
to five local or state conferences.
The delegates have been elected up
on the basis of one for every fifty COM
municants. Besides these regular del
egates, there will be a number of del
egates ex-officio. These will be presi-
dents of the state conferences and the
officials of the union. Elder G. f. Wat
son, of Kenne, Texas. is the president
of the Union Conference, and Elder C.
e. Smith is the secretary-treasurer
In connection with the meetings of
the conference, several other associa-
tions and denominational corporations
will hold their legal meetings.
The sessions of the conference will
be held every day at 9 a. M, and at
2:S0 p. m. Every morning at 11:00
o'clock and evening at 700 prominent
lecturers from different parts of the
United States will speak on a variety
of subjects. One of these speakers
will be DR.. A. G. Daniels, of Washing
ton, d. c., president of the general
conference of Seyenth-day Adventists.
Doctor Daniels has just returned from
an extensive trip through Russia, Aus
tria, Turkey, and other European
countries. Other lecturers who will
be present will be Elder w. T. Knox, of
Washington, D. c., treasurer of the
general conference of Seventh-day Ad-
ventists; Elder G. B. Thompson, of
Washington, D. c., secretary Of the
Sabbath school department of the gen
eral conference of Seventh-day Ad-
ventists; and Elder N. z. Town, of
Washington. D. c., assistant secretary
of the publishing department of the
general conference of Seventh-day Ad-
ventists.
While Seventh-day Adventists have
had an organized existence for only a
little over sixty years, beginning about
1845 with only handful of believers
and but few ministers, with practically
no institutions or organization of any
kind. they have, nevertheless, had re-
markable growth. Today they are a
united, organized body of over 100000
believers, supporting 4,346 evangelis-
tic laborers, and contributing annually
for evangelistic work over $2,000,000;
operating 1888 colleges, publishing
houses, and sanitariums, and 594 pri-
mary schools, with total denomination
al assets of over $10,000,000 employing
3,91S institutional helpers; selling an
nually over $1,5O0,000 worth of denom
national literature. which is issued in
67 languages, in the form of 1878
books, pamphlets, or tracts, and 126
periodicals.
The total value of church buildings,
and primary or church schools,
amounts to $1,S96,79 The total
amount of all funds raised by the de-
nomination in 1910 was, $2,223,767.
The average amount of funds raised
per capita was $21.27. The number of
countries in which Seventh-day Ad
ventists are operating missionary en-
terprises is stated by the government
census report on religious bodies to
be forty-five, with 126 stations. This
report also indicates that they have
2S4 American missionaries and 1,10S
native helpers, or a total of 1892 lab
orers in foreign fields. The report says
of these interesting people: THE high
est averages for distinctively mission
work, both home and foreign, are for
Seventh-day Adventists." (Vol. l,
page 1867. This is stated upon a COM
parison of the work done by Seventh
day Adventists with the work of all
other Protestant churches in the Unit
ed States. 1t is shown that the total
membership of all other Protestant de-
nominations give yearly naverage of
$1.0S per member, of which Ga cents
is for home work and "A cents for for
eign work, and that in 1910 Seventh
day Adventists gave for foreign mis-
sions s6.5S, and for home missions
$2.11, thus making a total per capita
for Seventh-day Adventists in the
United States of $3.50.
rFha urort of Savanfh-dav Adventisfs