There has been much theological discussion, with many references to Ellen White, on the issue of forming parachurches in the face of apostasy, perceived or real, in the Seventh-day Adventist Church. I would like to make some comments on this topic.

What is a Parachurch?

The term parachurch appears lately to have been popularized by one Conrad Vine. It has become a hotly debated topic, with many “he said” and “he didn’t say” articles. Here is a summary of a sermon by the aforementioned in which he outlines what he means by a parachurch. This quotation is taken from a transcribing of a video recording of his speech in which he outlines what he means by it:

And put there, if the GC supports future mandates over the consciences of members. That’s an important caveat. If the GC, in the future, supports future mandates over the consciences of mandates, I think we are well within our rights to establish a parachurch movement within the Adventist church. And what is that? A parachurch movement would be a gathering of a lay conference of laity. They gather. They maybe “incorporates”. They return their Tithes that new “laiency” that covers the whole of the North American Division and then that committee allocates that Tithe to conferences who are faithful to Scripture. And that way, the conferences that go woke will go broke. Very simple. And the members will determine where that Tithe goes based on fidelity to Scripture and whether they are willing to contend for the faith that has been passed on to us. [1]

What is clear from the above is that he is suggesting—not necessarily proposing in the present context—an alternative method of administering church and disbursing the tithe.

Quotes that come to mind from Ellen G White on this subject include the following:

We cannot now step off the foundation that God has established. We cannot now enter into any new organization; for this would mean apostasy from the truth [2].

This statement alone would seem to refute any notion of creating some new church organization. Again, there are more detailed articles elsewhere on changing our structure including how tithe is distributed. As I understand the theology of tithing, the money is not ours, but God’s. Even if the leaders were to spend it exclusively on attending brothels, we are still to give it and God will hold the leaders accountable for what they do with it—if not in this life, then certainly in the next [3].

Been There, Done That

In all candor, I sympathize with what is being suggested here, but at the same time I am appalled by the logic of it. I have, in the past, actually been involved on a small scale of doing what is being described here. Frustrated with the precipitous decline of church standards and promotion of celebration worship in my home Division during the 1980s and 90s—conditions that resulted from widespread acceptance of the unscriptural teachings of Desmond Ford and his followers—some friends and I attempted to form our own little “parachurch.” Although we did not take a stand on the use of tithe, we wanted our little church to be free of Conference oversight and not to have a Conference-appointed pastor. Similar “parachurches” were established elsewhere.

The Proof of the Pudding

Our little “parachurch” lasted all of three months. I won’t go into the details of how it collapsed, but want to make mention that none of the “parachurches” that were established in my country survived. The track record here of such experiments in structural independence comports with Ellen White’s advice that God is not for them.

I know that the Lord loves His church. It is not to be disorganized or broken up into independent atoms. There is not the least consistency in this; there is not the least evidence that such a thing will be. Those who shall heed this false message and try to leaven others will be deceived and prepared to receive advanced delusions, and they will come to nought [4].

The phrase “they will come to nought” makes it clear what their destiny will be. There is a saying, “The proof of the pudding lies in the eating.” That is, if a theory is born out in practice, it must be a valid theory. While Ellen White was a prophet, and therefore her advice is above theory, it is proof of the validity of her prophetic gift that no parachurch here has survived—and it is reasonable to extrapolate, based on her prophetic gift, that no parachurch anywhere will survive.

Emotion Over Logic

Because we were frustrated with our local Adventist situation at the time, with the unmitigated promotion of alternate theologies and worship styles, we let the emotion of frustration cancel the logic of Ellen White’s counsel. I would appeal to those considering the forming of parachurches to consider these points:

Much of being a Seventh-day Adventist that follows the counsels of Ellen White is counter-intuitive. Her advice that the tithe is God’s and should be given regardless of leaders’ actions [5] is counter-intuitive. The concept from her writings that the SDA church will spend most of its existence in complete spiritual sleep, yet will still achieve corporate victory in the end, is also counter-intuitive [6].

The very concept of the cross is counter-intuitive. Christ had the power to obliterate His enemies as they heaped the most horrible abuse on Him, committed the most despicable treachery to Him (it was His very people that He had sustained for millennia that were doing this), and inflicted on Him the worst torture known to mankind. Yet He submitted Himself to all this abuse and carried out His Father’s will by allowing them to do this and to die for humanity’s sins. In addition, after His resurrection He gave these people another three and a half years’ grace in which to repent as a nation, then a further 36 years in which to repent as individuals [7]. All of this is counter-intuitive.

What may seem to be the right steps to us, as humans, often fails to comport with the inspired narrative. In addition, frustration is a nagging emotion that often leads to ill-considered actions. In each case I have seen, or heard of, the call for parachurches has come from people frustrated with the actions of denominational leadership. But sometimes that frustration comes from perceived bad actions by leaders rather than real ones.

I consider much of the fuss made by some Adventists about the vaccines and vaccine mandates to be based more on uninspired opinions than on solid Bible and Spirit of Prophecy evidence. Ellen White is clear that the religious liberty issues in the end- times are just that—religious issues. A search of Ellen White’s writings on the term “freedom of conscience” yields only results in connection with Rome and the fallen Protestant churches enacting religious laws. Laws designed to protect the public from communicable diseases are not the focus here. However, even if the bad actions alleged on the part of church officials are real, such as celebration worship, we are still counselled to be patient, to do our part to correct the evils we see in the church [8], and to recognize that the ultimate cleansing of the church will take place in the Lord’s timing, not ours [9].

REFERENCES

1. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1GhCStBWQDs&ab_channel=ScottRitsema-BeltofTruth (starting 1 minute and 9 seconds into the video)

2. Ellen G. White, Selected Messages, vol. 2, p. 390 (italics supplied).

3. https://advindicate.com/articles/draft1-9ek5h-yyxsc-xjn22-6c4dg-3l78d-sg8my-glmmn

4. White, Selected Messages, vol. 2, pp. 68-69.

5. https://advindicate.com/articles/draft1-9ek5h-yyxsc-xjn22-6c4dg-3l78d-sg8my-glmmn

6. White, Christ’s Object Lessons, p. 406.

7. ----The Great Controversy, pp. 27-28.

8. ----Testimonies, vol. 9, p. 249; Sermons and Talks, vol. 2, p. 75.

9. ----Christ’s Object Lessons, p. 70.

Tony Rigden, a former atheist/deist, came into the Seventh-day Adventist Church in 1980 as the result of a miraculous conversion and the reading of the book The Great Controversy by Ellen G White. He has since been a regular Sabbath School teacher, very part-time lay preacher, elder and briefly head elder. Formerly an electronics technician and computer programmer, Tony is currently still part-time programming but mostly retired. Former hobbies included diving and private flying. Currently he is a volunteer guard (train conductor) for one of New Zealand's leading vintage railways.