The Saga of the Church Manual

The central role of the Church Manual in Seventh-day Adventist Churches today makes it hard to believe that for almost 90 years, Seventh-day Adventists had no church manual. There was strong opposition in the early days to a church manual, so none was framed. The pioneers of the Seventh-day Adventist Church were adamant that their only basis of faith was the Bible. In clarion tones they declared, "We have no creed but the Bible." The servant of the Lord strongly endorsed this stand.

The Bible, and the Bible alone, is to be our creed, the sole bond of union; all who bow to this Holy Word will be in harmony. --Selected Messages, Book 1, page 416

A major decision point was reached in 1883, when the General Conference appointed an ad hoc committe to study the concept of developing a Seventh-day Adventist Church Manual. As recorded in the Review and Herald, here is what they concluded.

It is the unanimous opinion of the committee appointed to consider the matter of a Church Manual, that it would not be advisable to have a Church Manual. We consider it unnecessary because we already have surmounted the greatest difficulties connected with church organization without one; and perfect harmony exists among us on this subject. --Review and Herald, November 20, 1883.

Nevertheless, 49 years later, in 1932, the first Seventh-day Adventist Church Manual was produced. Read the section on the History behind the Church Manual.

One thing that becomes obvious in hindsight is that the pioneers of the Seventh-day Adventist Church were very perceptive as to what would likely happen if we formulated a church manual. Any Seventh-day Adventist church member who has served for any length of time on a church board or committee probably has seen some, if not all, of the following Problems in the use of the Church Manual.

The above was excerpted from Organizational Structure and Apostasy, by Colin and Russell Standish, pages 81-86.