THE
TRUTH ABOUT-
THE
ADVENTIST REFORM CHURCH
FACTS
YOU SHOULD KNOW
By
Vance Ferrell
THE
ORIGIN of the Adventist Reform Church in 1914-1925 has been
falsified. With the exception of one leader (L.R. Conradi), Seventh-day
Adventist denominational leaders DID NOT want their members to bear arms
and DID NOT approve of disfellowshipping them for doing so.
THE
GROWTH of the Adventist Reform Church has been a continual
repetition of rivalries, power splits, and sheep stealing.
THE
INTEGRITY of the Adventist Reform Church is, because of its leaders,
fatally flawed-due to the morbid over-control of the members, the misuse
of funds, the refusal to do those things the Spirit of Prophecy says to
do, and the claim that they are the "Voice of God."
THE
DOCTRINES of the Adventist Reform Church, which set them apart as
unique, contain clear-cut errors.
THE
BRANCHES of the Adventist Reform Church are multitude; yet all of
them, including the two main branches, continually squabble and oppose
each other. They claim to be the sole "Voice of God" on earth;
yet they have the same tactics, activities, overcontrol, teachings, and
errors.
CONTENTS
Preface
Introduction
Is
the Adventist Reform Church Different Today?
1
- My Contacts with the Reform Church
2
- Statement by a Former Reform Church Leader
3
- Introduction to Reform Church History Reform SDA
4
- The Reform Church as Viewed by a Former Leader in the Nicolici Branch
Early
History
Objectives,
Authority, and Activity
No
Real Difference
Other
Doctrinal Aspects
5
- The Reform Church as Viewed by a Former Leader in the Kramer Branch
Reconciliation
Meetings
I
Began Researching the Spirit of Prophecy
I
Began Attending the Seventh-day Adventist Church
Historical
Research Intensified
The
Civil War
The
1914-1917 Crisis
Box:
LA. Conradi
The
Friedensau Conference
Early
History of the Reform Church The 1934 Rift
The
1948 Split
The
1951 Completion of the Split
The
1967 Brazil Meeting
Conclusion
6
- The Special Teachings of the Reform Church
The
144,000
The
Sealing
The
Great Predicted Reformation
No
Remarriage Possible
Excessively
Long Hair
Nature
of the Shaking and Sealing
The
Voice of God
The
Revelation 18 Angel
Non-Doctrinal
Issues
PREFACE-
It
is important that you understand that this historical and doctrinal
analysis is about the Seventh-day Adventist Reform Movement, not its
members. Those who have been urged to join this organization are fine
people. Often they are scattered and lonely, while being told that they
must not associate with non-Reform Advent believers.
Frequently
they know little about the misuse of funds, political infighting, and
mutual sheep stealing conducted by the leadership of the two main
branches of the Reform. They generally know little about the power plays
and heartbreak, which have marked the history of the Reform as it split
and resplit over the years.
It
is indeed a tragedy that L.R. Conradi instigated his high-handed
disfellowshipping of faithful Seventh-day Adventists over seventy years
ago —after the General Conference in Takoma Park told him not to,
—and then when the Adventist leaders from Washington later apologized
and sought to heal the wound, the leaders of the injured brethren
refused to reunite.
Many
precious souls out in the world have not been reached, because thousands
among the people of God were turned aside from active evangelism to
sheep stealing among themselves. As you read these pages, please
remember that the innocent members of the Reform are frequently
extremely dedicated to Bible-Spirit of Prophecy principles. It is the
Reform leadership, its teachings, and tactics, which is the problem. The
members are not; they are, for the most part, very kindly folk
INTRODUCTION
Learning
that I was preparing this book, a friend walked in the door this week
and told me his story;
"I
was an Adventist medical missionary in Honduras. I preached in the
churches, gave Bible studies, and did dental work. My work also included
giving natural treatments.
"Down
there, word of what is happening travels faster than up here in the
States. And I was traveling a lot, working in the churches, raising up
new ones.
"When
a Reformista arrived, it always went the same way. He would preach
"meat, meat, meat" to the members of the local Adventist
church, meaning that they must stop eating meat. Then he would split
the church and carry off perhaps half with him. He would take them down
to the other side of town and they would build a grass hut or something
like it, and start a Reformista church.
"Then
he would go off and leave them. There they were impoverished, trying to
do the best they could, and now they had no preacher on Sabbaths,
nothing. For he had already gone to do more 'soulwinning' in the next
town.
"Pretty
soon the new Reformista church would fall to pieces, as the people would
drift away. They had nothing to keep them together. Most of them would
go out in the world; but few returned to the local Adventist church.
"That's
the way the Reform Church operates in the countryside of Central and
much of South America. The Reform Church leaders have brought a lot of
grief to the people of God."
Officially
known as the Seventh-day Adventist Reform Movement or the Adventist
Reform Church, this organization would appear to be the largest splinter
offshoot of the Seventh-day Adventist denomination.
Yet,
in reality, over the years it has undergone a remarkable number of
split-offs within itself. The largest started in 1948 and climaxed in
1951, when the main body split right down the middle.
Many
people refer to it by the name, the German Reform Church, because it
largely began in Germany and many of its top leaders down through the
years have been of German extraction.
Its
members call themselves "reformers, " and they refer to the
General Conference-based denomination (the one headquartered in Silver
Spring, Maryland) as the "apostate church." To avoid
confusion, throughout this study, “Adventist Church" will refer
to the large denomination; "Reform Church" will refer to
either or both branches of the Seventh-day Adventist Reform Movement.
Both branches teach and practice essentially the same things. Two other
terms which will be used,
“Adventists" and "Reformers," are
self-explanatory.
The
first section in this study details my own experiences with the Reform
Church, an organization which I never united with. Most of the following
sections were prepared by three former leaders in the Reform Church, all
of which were highly placed in one or the other of its two main
branches.
One
of these two branches is the Nicollci branch. From the early 1950s
onward, its world headquarters was in Sacramento, then in Los Angeles,
then in New Jersey, and today in Virginia. It calls itself the
Seventh-day Adventist Reform Movement. Its quarterly publication is the
"Reformation Herald. " Its pioneering leader was D. Nicolici.
The
other of the two main branches, commonly referred to as the Kramer
branch, is headquartered in Speele, Germany (pronounced "Speel-eh").
Its U.S. branch was located in Sacramento for a time; but, while leaving
behind a large congregation in Sacramento in the mid -1950s, it was
moved to Colorado, where it is still located. Also calling itself the
Seventh-day Adventist Reform Movement, in later years, it took the
official name, International Missionary Society of Seventh-day Adventists,
Reformation Movement. Its U.S. leader was Oscar Kramer.
Both
of Oscar's sons pled for reform, without effect; then they left the
church, researched into its history, and prepared analyses. One is
printed in this present book. The other (The Seventh-day Adventist
Reform Movement) was published in 1988 by the Biblical Research
Institute in Silver Spring, Maryland.
IS
THE ADVENTIST REFORMED CHURCH DIFFERENT TODAY?
In
this book, we discuss the origins, history, activities, and teachings of
the Reform Church. However, someone might say:
"Yes,
the past may have been a problem. The origins were not as claimed; the
history has indeed been sordid; the activities have been rife with
over-control, mutual animosities, and sheep stealing; and the teachings
were riddled with error -yet everything is different today!
"The
Reform Church today -that is, the branch I am in (not the other
one)---is different than back then. It has none of those problems."
I
was told that a couple days ago by a prominent Advent believer who
recently joined one of the two main branches of the Reform Church. So I
immediately contacted a former headquarters leader of the Reform
Church, and asked him what the condition of the two branches of the
Reform Church are right now-at the end of 1997. This is an individual
who has maintained very close contact with both for nearly half a century.
I
asked him, "What about the erroneous teachings? Have they been
corrected?"
His
reply: "The doctrines of the Reform Church have not changed one
whit. The church still makes the same claims it did years ago."
I
asked him, "Well, what about the hyper-management tactics and the
dwarfing effects they have on the members?"
He
answered, "The organizational over-control of church members is
the same as it has always been. And the members are stagnant as a
result. They do little more than attend meetings."
"Well,
then," I inquired, "what about the activities, the
rivalries, mismanagement, and the sole Focus on proselytization of
Advent believers which used to take place?"
"The
methods are exactly what they were before. The sheep stealing, by each
branch, from the other and from the Adventist denomination continues
apace, with no efforts to bring non-Adventists to the truth."
"But
what about the schools? Surely, they must have their own schools by
now/"
"We
are nearly to the end of the century, and they still have not
established their own schools! They have one school in Brazil; in the
U.S., they have seminars for Bible workers, -and that is about it. No
church schools, other than an occasional one. They still send their
children to public schools. The leaders, who are always wealthier,
sometimes send their children to Adventist schools, all the while
denouncing the Adventist Church as apostate and warning their members to
have nothing to do with it."
“And
what about the military?"
"Throughout
the world, the Reform Church is doing today just as it did in World War
II in Europe: They officially declare that their men do not take part in
war -are not drafted, do not carry arms, nor fight and kill. While,
unofficially, the Reform ministers are taught to watch for their young
men who are nearing draft age. Then they tell them not to be baptized
until after they have served their time in the army. When they get out
if they come back to the church, -they are baptized. In other words,
their young men serve in the military just as does everyone else in the
country; except that the Reform Church does not baptize them until they
come out.
"Both
in their camp meetings and publications, the Reform Church presents
itself as something it is not. This is unfortunate; for, entering it,
Advent believers find it is far from what they expected. "
Continue Part 1 |
