A. G. Daniells

A. G. Daniells
A. G. Daniells
Born	September 28, 1858 West Union, Iowa
Died	March 22, 1935 (aged 76) Glendale Sanitarium, Glendale, CA
Occupation	President of the General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists, Author, Minister/Preacher
Predecessor	George A. Irwin
Successor	William Ambrose Spicer
Spouse(s)	Mary Ellen (Hoyt)

Arthur Grosvenor Daniells (September 28, 1858 – April 18, 1935) ^[1] was a Seventh-day Adventist minister and administrator, most notably the longest serving president of the General Conference.^[2] He began to work for the church in Texas in 1878 with Robert M. Kilgore and also served as secretary to James and Ellen White for one year, and later worked as an evangelist.^[1] In 1886 he was called to New Zealand,^[3] and was one of the pioneers of the Seventh-day Adventist Church in the South Pacific. Daniells had astounding success through his dynamic preaching and on October 15, 1887, he opened the first Seventh-day Adventist church in New Zealand at Ponsonby.^{[4] [5]} While there he served as president of the New Zealand Conference (1889 to 1891), and of the Australia Conference (1892 to 1895). Later, he became the president of the Australasia Union Conference before becoming president of the General Conference in 1901 and served as president until 1922.^[6]

Biography

Born in Iowa, he was the son of a Union Army physician and surgeon who died in the American Civil War. At the age of 10 he was converted to the Seventh-day Adventist faith being baptized by pastor George Butler,^[7] and in 1875 entered Battle Creek College (now Andrews University), remaining only one year because of ill health. After he and his wife taught in public schools for one year, he received a call to the ministry. Feeling timid and unprepared, he hesitated, but after praying earnestly, he came under conviction. He began his ministry in 1878 with Robert M. Kilgore in Texas. He was then secretary to James and Ellen White for one year, and later an evangelist in Iowa.^[1]

In 1886 he was called as pioneer missionary to New Zealand, and remained in the South Pacific for 14 years. From 1889 to 1891 he was president of the New Zealand Conference and from 1892 to 1895 of the Australian Conference. When Ellen White went to Australia in 1891, he became closely associated with her. On the formation of the Central Australian Conference in 1895, he became its first president. In 1897, the Australasian Union Conference was organized.^[1] This was the first of a new level of church government. Daniells served as its first president. This allowed all the organizations of the church in the South Pacific to have regional oversight. Up to this point, the General Conference at Battle Creek had such oversight. When Daniells returned to North America, he led the church in developing this new level of church government as a matter of policy.^[8]

He assumed the presidency of the General Conference in 1901 at a difficult period in the history of the church, but he met with ability financial and organizational problems and the task of moving the headquarters of the denomination to Washington, D.C. He traveled extensively on all continents,^[1] convinced of the necessity of getting his information firsthand. The reforms and reorganization that took place during his period of office led to great expansion of the church throughout the world. In 1922 he was not reelected as General Conference president and replaced by William A. Spicer. In his retirement Daniells formed the Seventh-day Adventist Ministerial Association and Ministry magazine.

Books

• The Worldwide Progress of the Advent Message (1904)
• The World War : Its Relation to the Eastern Question and Armageddon (1917)
• Daniels, A. G. (1918). A World in Perplexity. Takoma Park, Washington, D. C.: Review and Herald Publishing Association. p. 128.
• Daniels, A. G. (1926). Christ Our Righteousness. Takoma Park, Washington, D. C.: Review and Herald Publishing Association. p. 128. ISBN 978-0-8280-0482-4.
• The Abiding Gift of Prophecy (1936) online at the Ellen G. White Estate website (Adventist Archives version DjVu)
• McArthur, Benjamin (2016). A. G. Daniells: Shaper of Twentieth-Century Adventism. Nampa, Idaho: Pacific Press Publishing Association. p. 464. ISBN 9780816358809.

See also

• General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists
• Seventh-day Adventist Church
• Seventh-day Adventist theology
• Seventh-day Adventist eschatology
• History of the Seventh-day Adventist Church

References

1. Magan, Percy T. (April 18, 1935). "Life Sketch of Arthur Grosvenor Daniells" (PDF). Review and Herald. Takoma Park, Washington, D. C.: Review and Herald Publishing Association. 112 (16): 2. Retrieved June 7, 2011.
2. "Officers of the General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists" (PDF). 147th Annual Statistical Report, 2009. Silver Spring, Maryland: General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists: 3. Retrieved June 8, 2011. Daniells was President for 21 years. The next longest serving was for 14 years. The average length served was 9 years.
3. Daniells, A. G. (October 5, 1886). "Notice to the Iowa Tract Society" (PDF). Review and Herald. Battle Creek, Michigan: Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association. 63 (39): 16. Retrieved June 8, 2011.
4. Seventh-day Adventist Church South Pacific | New Zealand
5. See In and Out of the World: Seventh-day Adventists in New Zealand, ed. Harry Ballis, 1985
6. "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2010-06-01. Retrieved 2010-09-25.
7. Iglesia Adventista del Séptimo Día (1994). Nuestra Herencia: Curso de Historia denominacional (1st ed.). Buenos Aires: Asociación Casa Editora Sudamericana. pp. 155, 156. ISBN 950-573-388-7.
8. Mace, J. W. (Mrs.) (December 29, 1938). "Pioneer Days in Home Missionary Work" (PDF). Review and Herald. Takoma Park, Washington, D.C.: Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association. 115 (51): 13. Retrieved June 8, 2011.