The 1905 Session Opens
Elder Daniells took Ellen White onto the platform with the group of ministers who were to open the important session. A spirit of solemnity pervaded the assembly as they gathered in the large tent pitched near the new college building. Many had the feeling that this would be “one of the most important gatherings of God's people ever assembled on the earth” (The Review and Herald, May 18, 1905). For days almost everyone had been praying that the meeting might be attended by the power of the Holy Spirit and that there might be given to the work such an impetus as to hasten the message to all parts of the earth and bring an end to the long controversy between truth and error. The report is that “the Lord did not disappoint His people.”— Ibid.5BIO 401.5
Elders Loughborough and Farnsworth led in the opening prayers, and then the meeting took an unexpected turn. “No special business was transacted,” but rather “the presence and power of the Lord filled all hearts, and the time was devoted to a praise service, in which many expressed their confidence in the speedy triumph of the message.”— Ibid.5BIO 402.1
In that morning meeting Ellen White addressed the session. She emphasized the need of repentance and humiliation before God and one another. In this last day of the great day of atonement it is time to make sure that every sin is confessed and forgiven. She urged that “all through this meeting should be heard voices proclaiming, ‘He has pardoned my transgressions, He has made me clean from my unrighteousness.’ ‘Clear the King's highway’ is the word to us now. ‘Gather out the stones, that a path may be made clear for the Holy Spirit to go through our midst, that the blessing of God may come to us in this conference. Depart from iniquity, and the Lord will make your feet to stand upon high and holy ground.’”— Ibid. She told of how the night before in vision she seemed to be giving that message.5BIO 402.2
In her address she pointed out that: 5BIO 402.3
Some pass over their wrongdoings, or, if they have confessions to make, they think that they will not confess, because to do this would lessen the confidence that their brethren have in them. God wants us to look to Him, and to Him alone, and have everything straight between our souls and God. We need to seek the Lord with all our hearts, that we may find Him; we need to come into close relation with the cross of Calvary.... If you have confessed your sins, if you have planted your feet on vantage ground, and are sorry for your sins, so sorry that you will not repeat them, you will receive pardon.— Ibid.
In the afternoon the conference moved into its regular business proceedings. Elder Daniells was pleased to report that the General Conference departments were operating very successfully. These were: Education, Publishing, Religious Liberty, Sabbath School, and Young People's. Earlier he had expressed the urgency of organizing a Medical Department and also a Home Foreign Department to care for the increasing number of believers in the United States who preferred to worship in languages of their homelands.5BIO 402.4
In 1901, when the General Conference departments were arranged for, the medical work of the church was strong, but dominated by Dr. John Harvey Kellogg. In the four years since, a change had come. The medical work was veering off in independence; it was clear that there should be a Medical Department in the General Conference. This matter would come up for early consideration.5BIO 403.1
At the opening of the Friday-evening service Elder Daniells remarked that the camp seemed to be a holy and sacred place. There was rejoicing that the counsel to hold a conference in the open air had been followed. Sabbath morning dawned a “perfect day of rest.” At the eleven-o'clock service Ellen White, although 77, spoke to a packed tent with “old-time clearness and power.” Using Philippians 2:1-11 as her text, she urged church members not to be on the negative side but on the affirmative side with God. His word to His people “‘Advance! Forward! pressing together unto victory.’” She urged that the words of His people should “‘be of a character to comfort and bless,’” and that Christ's followers should begin to educate their voices “‘to speak kindly and pleasantly.’” She pointed out that “‘there is a heaven to win and there is a hell to shun.’”—The Review and Herald, May 18, 1905 (see The Desire of Ages, 636).5BIO 403.2
At the ministerial institute, which was held each day at eleven o'clock, many valuable papers were read. Some noted how refreshing it was “at this meeting to see and hear the work of the gospel ministry given the place which God has ordained that it should fill” (The Review and Herald, May 25, 1905).5BIO 403.3
On several evenings during the conference large meetings were also held in downtown Washington in the Pythian Temple. Elders Conradi, Gilbert, and Prescott presented topics of interest to the general public. Elder Conradi told of his experiences in Russia.5BIO 403.4
Arrangements were made also for a delegation from the session to call on President Theodore Roosevelt to pay him the church's respects and to express to him the denomination's views and attitude toward civil government (Ibid.). The delegation of twenty ministers reported a satisfactory and profitable interview with the President. He expressed his appreciation for a parchment bearing an address from the session. He read it carefully while the delegation was there. The public press carried a copy of the message, which appeared also on the cover of the June 1 Review and Herald.5BIO 403.5