The Church Manual Dilemma

Abstract

Pioneers rejected the Seventh-day Adventist Church Manual in 1883, fearing it would replace biblical guidance with human-made regulations. Today’s manual raises critical questions: Has the church traded scriptural authority for a theological synthesis? Does capitalizing “Fundamental Beliefs” transform a descriptive guide into a prescriptive creed that risks apostasy—replacing direct biblical interpretation with organizational doctrine?

This exploration traces the manual’s evolution, exposing the tension between institutional structure and spiritual authenticity.

When the Church Manual was proposed for the first time, in 1883, our pioneers rejected it. What was their reasoning for rejecting it? Today we have a Church Manual in place, and the question is, are the reasonings of our pioneers for rejecting the Church Manual still relevant today, or has our church grown up beyond the proposed principles?

For several years, in the 1880s, a few people had been trying to push the need for a Church Manual. Thus, a Church Manual was written and proposed at the 22nd General Conference session. On November 9, 1883, a committee of 13 people was appointed to review the proposal. After discussing the matter, the committee unanimously decided that it was not desirable to have a Church Manual. Their statement read:

The committee appointed to consider the matter of the Church Manual, made in substance the following report :—

It is the unanimous judgment of committee that it would not be advisable to have a Church Manual. We consider it unnecessary because we have already surmounted the greatest difficulties connected with church organization without one; and perfect harmony exists among us on this subject. It would seem to many like a step toward the formation of a creed, or a discipline, other than the Bible, something we have always been opposed to as a denomination. If we had one, we fear many, especially those commencing to preach, would study it to obtain guidance in religious matters, rather than to seek for it in the Bible, and from the loadings of the Spirit of God, which would tend to their hindrance in genuine religious experience and in knowledge of the mind of the Spirit. It was in taking similar steps that other bodies of Christians first began to lose their simplicity and become formal and spiritually lifeless. Why should we imitate them? The committee feel, in short, that our tendency should be in the direction of simplicity and close conformity to the Bible, rather than in elaborately defining every point in church management and church ordinances. {RH Nov. 20. 1883, str. 733}

After the statement was submitted to the Conference for discussion, a unanimous decision was made to reject the Church Manual. The President of the General Conference, George Ide Butler, wrote a public statement as an article in the Review and Herald under the title “No Church Manual”, in which he wrote the following:

The Bible contains our creed and discipline. It thoroughly furnishes the man of God unto all good works. What it has not revealed relative to church organization and management, the duties of officers and ministers, and kindred subjects, should not be strictly defined and drawn out into minute specifications for the sake of uniformity, but rather be left to individual judgment under the guidance of the Holy Spirit. Had it been best to have a book of directions of this sort, the Spirit would doubtless have gone further, and left one on record with the stamp of inspiration upon it. {RH Nov. 27. 1883, str. 745}

The Current Dilemma

Are these given principles applicable to today’s church manual? Is our current Church Manual regulating anything in regards to faith and discipline? On Page 67 of our Manual, the following reason for discipline is written:

Denial of faith in the fundamentals of the gospel and in the Fundamental Beliefs of the Church or teaching doctrines contrary to the same. {SDA Church Manual, 20th edition, Revised 2022, p. 67}

Does our current Church Manual violate our Protestant rule that the Bible is our only rule of faith and discipline? It is a matter of interpretation of this point. What is referenced by “fundamentals of the gospel” and “the Fundamental Beliefs of the Church”? Is it the Bible or some other source than the Bible? It seems like when they capitalized “Fundamental Beliefs of the Church” they were referencing the official document the Fundamental Beliefs. If this is the case, then we as Seventh-day Adventists do not have the Bible as our only rule of faith and discipline. Because the Fundamental Beliefs is not the Bible itself, rather it is a particular theological synthesis of what is generally thought the Bible teaches. Therefore, the beliefs and faith of its own members are not judged against the rule of Scriptures, rather against the rule of a particular theological synthesis.

On the other hand, if the “fundamental beliefs of the Church” refer to the basic foundational teaching of the Scriptures, then it is reasonable that our members should be disciplined against the rule of those basic foundational teachings of the Scriptures. Meaning, if someone’s faith is not meeting the plain “thus saith the Lord”, and is teaching contrary to it, the Bible should hold rule of discipline.

Historical Development

The need for a church manual was recognized as the church grew rapidly in the early 20th century. In 1931, the General Conference Committee voted to publish a Church Manual, which was prepared by J. L. McElhany and officially published in 1932. This manual aimed to set forth and preserve the denominational practices and governance structures that had developed over the years, reflecting the church’s increasing complexity and growth. ¹²³⁴

The reason for which the members may be disfellowshipped, stated as following:

Loss of faith in the fundamentals of the gospel and the cardinal teachings of the church, or teaching doctrines contrary to the same. {SDA Church Manual, 1932, p. 99}

Clearly, the statement references the foundational teachings of the Scriptures. The clause in question remained in the manual until 2010, when it was revised to read as follows:

Denial of faith in the fundamentals of the gospel and in the fundamental beliefs of the Church or teaching doctrines contrary to the same. {SDA Church Manual, 2010, p. 61}

Once again, the phrase “the fundamental beliefs” [lower case] is open to interpretation. Does it refer to the broad, basic foundational teachings of the Scriptures, or does it now point to the document titled Fundamental Beliefs as adopted in 2010?

The most recent edition [2022] of the Church Manual capitalizes “Fundamental Beliefs of the Church.” This subtle change has significant implications in practice. One of our pioneers captured this idea well in the following words:

The first step of apostasy is to get up a creed, telling us what we shall believe. The second is to make that creed a test of fellowship. The third is to try members by that creed. The fourth is to denounce as heretics those who do not believe that creed. And fifth, to commence persecution against such. I plead that we are not patterning after the churches in any unwarrantable sense in the step proposed. {John N. Loughborough, Review and Herald, Oct. 8, 1861}

If our current rule of faith is no longer the plain “Thus saith the LORD” but rather a specific theological synthesis defined as “the Fundamental Beliefs,” then our pioneers would urge us “not to pattern after the churches in any unwarrantable sense in the steps [to apostasy] proposed.”

Reference to some edition of Church Manuals

• 1931 (p. 99)
• 1951 (p. 224)
• 1981 (p. 247)
• 1986 (p. 162)
• 1990 (p. 160)
• 1995 (p. 169)
• 2000, 16th Edition (p. 184)
• 2005, 17th Edition (p. 194)
• 2010, 18th Edition (p. 61)
• 2015, 19th Edition (p. 62)
• 2022, 20th Edition (p. 67)

Further Read

Some people believe that the General Conference is a voice of God in regards to the questions of faith and conscience. This false perception originates in the misrepresenting Ellen White’s quotation in regards to the authority of General Conference General Assembly. See the SDA General Conference as the voice of God. TLDR: The quote is referring to the authority of planning “the prosperity and advancement of God’s work”, and not about the faith. God has His voice in regards to the faith - it is the Bible.