Seventh Day Adventist Reform Movement

The Seventh Day Adventist Reform Movement is a division from the Seventh-day Adventist Church created by disagreement over proper Sabbath observance and military service during World War I.

When the German army mobilized in 1914, Seventh-day Adventists in that country had to decide whether they would serve in the military. The president of the East German Union Conference and others in council decided that conscripted Adventists would bear arms and could render service on the Sabbath in defense of their country. Though most followed their leadership in this policy, a minority felt they could not uphold what they believed was the church's original position in regard to keeping the Law of God and also serve in the military. The Seventh-day Adventist Church in Europe disfellowshipped those who refused to serve in the military.

There were about 4,000 Adventists in Germany and other parts of Europe that were disfellowshipped. Attempts at reconciliation were made at the conclusion of the war, and again in 1920 and 1922. However, it is not widely known that in 1919 this group who claimed to have been unjustly disfellowshipped had already registered their organisation in Germany and were not really seeking reconciliation with the original body, but rather that the original body join their newly formed organisation. They considered themselves as the 'remnant' and true church. The attempts at 'reconciliation' in 1920 and 1922 were unsuccessful. The Seventh Day Adventist Reform Movement was organized as a separate church from the main body of Seventh-day Adventists at Gotha, Germany, July 14-20, 1925.

The reform movement was first headquartered in Isernhagen, Germany, then later in Basel, Switzerland. After World War II, headquarters were moved to Sacramento, California. The church was incorporated in 1949. Offices are currently located in Roanoke, Virginia. The Seventh Day Adventist Reform Movement has members in over 100 countries. The Seventh Day Adventist Reform Movement has a General Conference which coordinates the work of the denomination around the world, including the various Union Conferences, Field Conferences and Missions. The Seventh Day Adventist Reform Movement has been plagued by leadership problems and rebellion. Numerous leaders have been disfellowshipped for adultery, financial dishonesty and other violations of the doctrinal teachings.

The 20th quadrennial delegation session of the General Conference will be held in Jeju, South Korea, September 19 to October 7, 2007. This is the first time the session has been held in Asia. Previous sessions have been held in Brazil (1955, 1959, 1967, 1971, 1975, 1987, 1999, 2003), Canada (1983), Germany (1925, 1928, 1931, 1963, 1991), Hungary (1934), the Netherlands (1948, 1951), Romania (1995), and the United States of America (1979).

The Reform Movement has suffered one division. Near the end of the 1940s, two parties developed, but continued together until June 6, 1952, when the party led by Carlos Kozel decided to reorganize themselves as a separate body. The main issue in this division was over the issue of adultery considering that one of the members of the General Conference at the time was secretly living with a woman. There have also been allegations made against Nicolici who was the instigator of the division and who was also accused by certain members of dishonesty with church funds and offerings. This body operates as the International Missionary Society, Seventh-Day Adventist Church, Reform Movement, and was headquartered in Germany until 2002 when the offices were moved to Los Angeles, California. Reunification of these two splinter groups have consistently failed because each expects the other group to acknowledge fault for the split in 1947, to disband, and join the other. Neither is prepared to do this and each produce propoganda literature to try to win members from each other.

Officers

President

Term	President	Nationality
1925 - 1934	Otto Welp	Germany
1934 - 1942	Willi Maas	Germany
1942 - 1948	Albert Mueller	Germany
1948 - 1951	Carlos Kozel	Argentina
1951 - 1959	Dumitru Nicolici	Romania
1959 - 1963	Andre Lavrik	Brazil
1963 - 1967	Clyde T. Stewart	Australia
1967 - 1979	Francisco Devai	Brazil
1979 - 1983	Wilhelm Volpp	Germany
1983 - 1991	João Moreno	Germany
1991 - 1995	Neville S. Brittain	Australia
1995 - 2003	Alfredo Carlos Sas	Brazil
2003 -	Duraisamy Sureshkumar	India

1st Vice-President

Term	Name	Nationality
1928 - 1931	Wilhelm Maas	Germany
1931 - 1948	vacant
1948 - 1951	Albert Mueller	Germany
1951 - 1959	Andre Lavrik	Brazil
1959 - 1963	Dumitru Nicolici	USA
1963 - 1967	Emmerich Kanyo Benedek	Brazil
1967 - 1971	Ivan W. Smith	Australia
1971 - 1979	Wilhelm Volpp	Germany
1979 - 1987	Francisco Devai Lucacin	USA
1987 - 1995	Daniel Dumitru	USA
1995 - 1997	Neville S. Brittain	Australia
1997 - 1999	vacant
1999 - 2003 -	Duraisamy Sureshkumar	India
2003 -	Davi Paes Silva	USA

Secretary

Term	Secretary	Nationality
1925 - 1934	Willi Maas	Germany
1934 - 1948	A. Rieck	Germany
1948 - 1951	Dumitru Nicolici	Romania
1951 - 1955	Clyde T. Stewart	Australia
1955 - 1963	Ivan W. Smith	USA
1963 - 1967	Alfons Balbach	Brazil
1967 - 1971	Alex Norman Macdonald	USA
1971 - 1980	Alfons Balbach	Brazil
1980 - 1987	Alex Norman Macdonald	USA
1987 - 1995	Alfredo Carlos Sas	Brazil
1995 - 1999	Davi Paes Silva	Brazil
1999 - 2001	John Garbi	USA
2001 - 2003	Benjamin Burec	USA
2003 - 2007	David Zic	Canada
2007 -	Paul Balbach	USA

General Conference Sessions

—	Year	City	Country
1.	1925	Gotha	Germany
2.	1928	Isernhagen	Germany
3.	1931	Isernhagen	Germany
4.	1934	Budapest	Hungary
5.	1948	The Hague	Netherlands
6.	1951	Zeist	Netherlands
7.	1955	Sao Paulo	Brazil
8.	1959	Sao Paulo	Brazil
9.	1963	Gross Gerau	Germany
10.	1967	Sao Paulo	Brazil
11.	1971	Brasilia	Brazil
12.	1975	Brasilia	Brazil
13.	1979	Bushkill Falls, Pennsylvania	USA
14.	1983	Puslinch, Ontario	Canada
15.	1987	Braganca Paulista	Brazil
16.	1991	Breuberg	Germany
17.	1995	Voineasa	Romania
18.	1999	Itu	Brazil
19.	2003	Itu	Brazil
20.	2007	Jeju [1]	South Korea

External links

SDARM Sites
- SDARM General Conference
Sites in Opposition to SDARM
- Information on the Seventh-day Adventist Reform Movement by Gerhard Pfandl from the Biblical Research Institute
- Appeal to Those in the Reform Movement or Those Considering Such Membership by Helmut Kramer from the Biblical Research Institute

References

The Seventh-day Adventist Encyclopedia, Review & Herald Publishing Association
History of the Seventh Day Adventist Reform Movement, Alfons Balbach, Reformation Herald Publishing Association, 1999.