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Ellen White insisted that after years of neglect, the church could not go on ignoring its charge to the Black race without encouraging Gods increasing displeasure. Fully aware of the confrontational content of her message, she conceded, "I know that which I now speak will bring me into conflict. This I do not covet, for the conflict has seemed to be continuous of late years; but I do not mean to live a coward or die a coward, leaving my work undone. I must follow in my Masters footsteps."

With words of authority she spoke of how God had repeatedly shown her many things in regard to the Black race. She said that "sin rests upon us as a church because we have not made great effort for the salvation of souls among the Colored people" (The Southern Work, pp. 9-18).

In the 1891 message Ellen White enunciated many of her seminal positions on the issues of Black people, the Black work, equality, and race. In it she appealed to church leaders to begin the work and seek to make up for lost time. This presentation contained principles in embryonic form that she was to continue to develop and elaborate on for more than 20 years.

When E. B. Lane preached at Edgefield Junction, Tennessee, in 1871, segregation kept African Americans and Caucasians from even sitting together in the same room (notice the far left section of the drawing is a separate room).

Early Black Adventist history, dating from the Great Disappointment to 1910, is divided by the year 1891. The period before 1891 can be called the "Inactive Period," when little work was done among Black people. The period after 1891 can be called the "Active Period," when increasing efforts were made among Black people in the South. (The Active Period is discussed in Part 3 of this series).

From the beginnings of the Adventist Church in New England and New York, the general trend of the work was westward, not southward. Before the church existed as a group or an organization, however, there were Black people who embraced the Advent teaching of the Second Coming under the preaching of William Miller. After the Great Disappointment there were Black Adventists in Northern congregations. While there was some integration, Black people associated with churches in the North according to social patterns of the region (Seventh-day Adventist Encyclopedia, p. 1192).

The Inactive Period

In spite of the fact that no other organization, religious or otherwise, was better prepared to deal with the needs of Black people than the Seventh-day Adventist Church, during this time the church established no Black work, nor did it begin any evangelistic initiatives in the South. its message contained elements that held special attraction to Blacks--offering eternal life in the world to come. as well as a better temporal existence in the present world. And the Black race was in need of a system of truth that could improve the total person--mentally, spiritually, and physically.

The Seventh-day Adventist teachings, while challenging in their unorthodoxy, were simple and clear, suited to be understood by the masses and ideal for Black people searching for direction.

The belief concerning the soon appearing of Christ to rescue His people from pain, injustice, and oppression especially appealed to Black people, who were typically victims of oppression. The biblical teachings of a weekly Sabbath rest appealed to many who were often grossly overworked. Not to be overlooked were the then-evolving health and temperance teachings, which provided a dramatic key to help address the physical needs of the Black race. Black people brought with them a spiritual fervency and commitment. in turn, the Adventist Church offered a complete and reliable system of truth.

Ellen White's speech at the General Conference Session of 1891 became the turning point in getting the Adventist Church to work for African-Americans.

Unfortunately, Black people were not to be introduced to Adventist teachings until almost a quarter century later. The period following 1865 was primarily characterized by sporadic and individual efforts of lay missionaries and ministers of primarily Southern origin. During this period Adventists made little, if any, effort to evangelize Black people. Rather, White ministers such as Elbert B. Lane (1840-1881), Sands H. Lane (1844-1906), Charles 0. Taylor (1817-1905), Robert M. Kilgore (1839-1912), Dudley M. Canright (1840-1919), and John 0. Corliss (1845-1923) conducted evangelistic meetings for Whites in various Southern cities.

Non-Adventist authors Malcolm Bull and Keith Lockhart, in their controversial book on Adventism (1989), Seeking a Sanctuary, argue that Adventist pioneers, at least after they became Seventh-day Adventists, had very little personal contact with Black people and were hesitant to associate with them. They posit that even when Adventists first began evangelization in the South in the 1870s it was not on behalf of Blacks. According to Bull and Lockhart, "Blacks ... found the church after turning up at Adventist meetings without being directly invited" (p. 194).

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