Arthur Grosvenor Daniells

Arthur Grosvenor Daniells (1858–1935), commonly known as A. G. Daniells, was a Seventh-day Adventist minister and administrator, most notably the longest serving president of the General Conference.

Biography

Born in Iowa, he was the son of a Union Army physician and surgeon who died in the American Civil War. At the age of 10 he was converted to the Seventh-day Adventist faith, and in 1875 entered Battle Creek College (now Andrews University), remaining only one year because of ill health. After he and his wife taught in public schools for one year, he received a call to the ministry. Feeling timid and unprepared, he hesitated, but after praying earnestly, he came under conviction. He began his ministry in 1878 with Robert M. Kilgore in Texas. He was then secretary to James and Ellen White for one year, and later an evangelist in Iowa.

In 1886 he was called as pioneer missionary to New Zealand, and remained in the South Pacific for 14 years. From 1889 to 1891 he was president of the New Zealand Conference and from 1892 to 1895 of the Australian Conference. When Ellen White went to Australia in 1891, he became closely associated with her. On the formation of the Central Australian Conference in 1895, he became its first president. Later he was president of the Australasian Union Conference.

He assumed the presidency of the General Conference in 1901 at a difficult period in the history of the church, but he met with ability financial and organizational problems and the task of moving the headquarters of the denomination to Washington, D.C. He traveled extensively on all continents, convinced of the necessity of getting his information firsthand. The reforms and reorganization that took place during his period of office led to great expansion of the church throughout the world. In 1922 he was not reelected as General Conference president and replaced by William A. Spicer. In his retirement Daniells formed the Seventh-day Adventist Ministerial Association and Ministry Magazine.

Books

* "The Worldwide Progress of the Advent Message" (1904)
* "The World War : Its Relation to the Eastern Question and Armageddon" (1917)
* "A World in Perplexity" (1918)
* "Christ Our Righteousness" (1926), multiple reprints
* " [http://www.whiteestate.org/books/agp/agptoc.html The Abiding Gift of Prophecy] " (1936) online at the Ellen G. White Estate website ( [http://www.adventistarchives.org/doc_info.asp?DocID=42255 Adventist Archives version] DjVu)

See also

* History of the Seventh-day Adventist Church
* General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists
* Seventh-day Adventist Church