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Conference for Prayer and Counsel
Respecting Uniformity in the Testimony and Teaching of the Alliance
May 25-28, 1906

The Committee appointed by the Board to prepare a plan for a conference on the matters above stated, recommend that such a conference be held immediately before the annual Council at Nyack in the beginning of June and that as many as possible of our Alliance workers throughout the country be invited and urged to attend.

The importance of Unity upon a common basis of testimony and teaching is becoming more and more urgent and the need of prayer for the great objects which we hold in common is emphasized at this time as never before. In connection with this conference the following plan is suggested:

  1. That it shall be held for at least three days and that at least one hour each session shall be given to prayer and the rest of the time to conference respecting our Alliance testimony and teaching.
  2. That the various subjects covered by this report be introduced by a short paper not exceeding fifteen minutes and followed by five or ten minute addresses by the members of the conference.
  3. That a Committee be appointed by the conference for the purpose of carefully following the various discussions and drawing up a brief paper to be submitted to a subsequent meeting and adopted as the sense of the conference upon the matter in question.
  4. That specific subjects be taken up at the various meetings of the Council for prayer and made the subject of earnest, united, believing intercession.
  5. The following outline of subjects to be discussed is respectfully submitted as a basis for the deliberations of the proposed conference:

I. Open Questions

That the conference recognize certain matters of teaching and testimony as not with the direct province of the Alliance, but open questions about which our brethren agree to differ and hold in mutual charity their individual convictions according to their various denominational connections and previous teachings. These open questions include:

  1. Church government
  2. the subjects and modes of baptism
  3. the doctrines know as Calvinism and Arminianism
  4. Various ceremonies and practices such as feet washing, etc.

II. Our Distinctive Testimony

  1. Christ, our Saviour, always assuming that we stand unequivocally upon the Deity of Christ, His vicarious sacrifice and the necessity of regeneration through the power of the Holy Spirit.
  2. Christ, our Sanctifier, assuming the following essential points:
      a. A definite second blessing, distinct in nature, though not necessarily far removed in time, from the experience of conversion;
      b. the baptism of the Holy Ghost as a distinct experience, not merely for power for service, but for personal holiness and victory over the world and sin;
      c. the indwelling Christ in the heart of the consecrated believer as a distinct experience;
      d. sanctification by faith as a distinct gift of God’s grace to every open and surrendered soul;
      e. growth in grace and the deeper filling of the Holy Spirit as distinct from and the result of the definite experience of sanctification.

It is understood that all our Alliance officers and teachers are at liberty to present the truth of sanctification in such phases and phrases as his own convictions warrant, in general accordance with the above specifications, but with the understanding that such extreme views as are sometimes taught under the name of “eradication” or “suppression” shall not be presented in an aggressive or controversial spirit toward those who differ.

III. Divine Healing

It is understood the Alliance holds and teaches:

  1. The will of God to heal the bodies of those who trust and obey Him by His own direct power without means.
  2. The atonement of Christ for the body.
  3. The life of the risen Christ for our mortal frame received by faith.
  4. The ordinance of anointing and laying on of hands with proper recognition of the necessity of faith on the part of the individual anointed.
  5. Power over evil spirits through the name of Jesus.
  6. The disclaiming of all merit or individual power on the part of the worker and the constant recognition of the name of Jesus as the source of all supernatural power.

IV. The Lord’s Coming

  1. The Alliance holds and teaches the personal and premillennial coming of the Lord Jesus.
  2. (blotted out – unreadable)
  3. Liberty is accorded to our teachers in connection with the various opinions held about Anti-Christ, the Tribulation, the Last Week of Daniel, Rapture, etc., but with the understanding that any spirit of antagonism and strife toward those who may hold different opinions is discountenanced.

HENRY WILSON                      J.D. WILLIAMS
A.E. FUNK                                 F.H. SENFT
A.B. SIMPSON

 

Source of Information: Conference for Prayer and Counsel, 1906

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