1917 Watchtower Bible Student Schism - A2Z.org

t o ~ r o b ~ t h h u t r o ~ a ~ To ~ prevent, ~ ) prohibir ~ k ond rrsttuin l k o Fnr
harc
of lhb Society frola pawl put fun* rrr*bt t) ~h .
Brotbtr Hlnh o&d to ritbdnw hb stat&eab eoti.fent ad under #he dwrctwn of thu Board.
U laa md tb4 otbar m ced back 8. To take ruch action u r q be ~ necCdsW ~ to.
eL*-T 'ltmdd them Inth... .& nor on rutrun my offieu of tlus Soaety from rctlng Lo
bdq on tha Bod, which would result in immediate dis- excar of the owers conferred upon him by the
mphod of the work at Bethel md the Tabernacle, because Charter and b y L of tLir Society ad by lay.
the tnajority of the workers wpdd decline to work under 4. :To take ruch adon as may be necessary to
their -anent Will the urtuesta of the Souety be rev- rohibi; ad restrain any offi~ of this
ufer la thar ha& or do thq eel< honor and preferment Lety horn dm mg of ita records, boob ..nd
When I dc+ed Broth- Brrh'r pro iti0.n to place paperrexcept witL conscat and ader the
hie~f and ~u co~ealres on the ~oarropon the con- tion of this Board
'
dition that he go to Philadelphia and "make it more +an 6.. To .take. ruch action a! my be necessary to
right," he at once tqk the opposite courre; went to Ph+- revent, prohrbit; and rutram y officer of thu
delphia and made hu statement before the congrcgatron Society from. pa+g out funds o this S~CQ to
even worse thy he had made it at first, and when I tld the Peo la Pulptt Aso&tion urce~t upon the conthat
congrcgataon of offer to .nd make it right with sat *&', the 6uectiy of tlp Board.,
them upon the conditraa that be and the others be put on The reasoa.,yvhy a rped .meetmg of a s Board .-
the Board, he did not d it Were these five brethren is Wig cal1ed.h~ the undersigned is that the Presithen
reeking the wrtfve2 the Society and ita work, or dent of the Society has undertaken, without ioj
did they hare rome other motive .
warrant, to consider that the affairs pf the Sodetg
The opposers have never ointed out a ringle instance are under the ucclusive control of hunsdf md of
wherein I have mismanagel the affairs of the Society. certain 0th- gentlemen who do not compose the
They have not ruggeated a single improvement in the Board of DireZtorr.
management peir polic~r clearly is a desire for honor
Yomr, etc, '
D. WIUGHT.
and "rule or rum"
I: F. HOSHNS
& cqnclusive proof that these conspirators, following
. A. L Rrrcan
the example ret by Brother Johnson in England, intended
R H. ma.
to urry out the threat made by one of them to Brother
Wisdom, namely. to rssort to the civil courts in their Brother Ritchie said "Had I ken elected to any office at
attempt to get control of the Society and'to tie up the Pittsburgh I would havewco~sidered myself a member of
money of the Society ro Qat the work would be hindered, the Great Company class. bee he is rtrivhg now to get
we append the following notice r m d upon Brothers the management of the Society in his boo&, u he reeking
Vur Amburgh, Pierson and myself:
to get into the Great CornDany class
Thiu whole affair has been a sad one. - It has been a
Sd *
trial u on the Bethel family. It has greatly incurrptef%
PLEME TAKE NOTICE, That the under- work krc We have wondrd why the Lord pumirted it
ri ed, being a majority of the Board of Directors
O$TEU WAICB TOW B- AND TUCT SOCQTY,
hereby call a special meeting of the Board of
Directors of the raid Society, to be held at the
St. George Hotel, Brooklyn, New York City, on
Saturday. July 38, 1917, at 3 o'clock in the afternoon
of raid day, for the purpore of transacting
the following -business:
f To take rach action as may be necessary
to revent, prohibit and rertrrin the persons now
rtylng themselvu a Board of Dkectors of this
Society from undertaking to interfere in or control
the management of its affairs u Directors.
.
ENDORSEMENT
We, the undersigned, having urefully read
the foregoing md having rompared the lettern
with the ongin4 md being personally acquainted
with the faeta, desire to express our
approval and endorsement of the actions of
Brother Rutherford in his official capacity as
President of the Watch Tower Bible and Tract
Society aa herein stated.
We believe that the evidence hereiq produced
has been uranged by the Lord for the porpose
of acquainting His dear onea with the
rubtla manner by which the Adversary has
endeavored to overthrow the work which we
ro dearly love and which k caushg the rapid
overthrow of his empire. 'Surely he has great
wrath, for he lees his timc k short Tho Lord
is for us, who can be agrirut url . .
W. E.' VAN AMBURGH
A H. MACMILLAN
W. F. HUDGINGS
Of Brooklyn Tabmocl8 and Bqhtl
D.' J. COHEN
Elder Brookfyr Co*grtgorbn
to come. He knows. This ir tlba h e of fiery trial. In
this connetion we strong15 m a d 8 r,ereadii of the
artide, Tar Horn or rafr~n9#r" rntten md published
by Brother Russell just before his death.. His
pressiotu there seem to be prophetac, and ue now hanag
fulfillment Beloved in the Lord, let us keep our hearts,
watching diligently and reein that no rodt of bittunerr
springs up against an one. fet us keep ourselves in the
lore of God, and whi< the fire burns fierce, how thar Hts
cverlas.$ng are beneath or and He will ruatah us a$,
He wdl brma through this $cry trlal everyone who is
properb exerc~scd thereby. -- purified - and made more fit for
ihe'M&tu's use.
My hurt bleeds for these brethren. I wodd that I might
help thm But they are in the handa of. the Lord, and I
my He may ded mercifully with them and that they may
ie fnlly recovered if that be Xis holy will.
And now, dear brethren, I have laced before you the facts.
I om coasdoua' of the fact that ! have done right Others
may disagree with me. I am raninded that it b only five
months until my term of office expires. I pledge p~, b the
ce of that I wi11 strive to hqld (be a~rin 01
cciety together and tee that no ambltxous pmn mdrr a
within that five months. At that time I feel sure that the
Lord will direct his dear people what course to take. I have
no ambition except to luse the Lord I have had the
blessed privilege of a lit& part in placing before the Church
Brother Russell's laat work, the Seventh Vplume of Smm
m TEE Saamvurs. I have tried' to be futhful. The Lord
is my jadgc Eddy reputation counts nothiig and this life
is not dear unto me. This has been a reason of extremely
fiery trial, but I count it a privilege to mier my hater
in doing what I beli~e to be the right &fag.
h
Let ec judge mercrfully, seeinq that no bitterness is in
our hearts. Let us be of sober mind and watch unto pn r.
The end is at hand. Above all things. let us put on Eve
which is the bond of completeness.
Praying the Lord'a blasings upon every one of you, and
uking.pour prayers in m behalf, that I may be given wisdom
and grace from on Hi K and more of the Lord's apirit to
perform Ule duties that ke has p~ced in my hand* in a faihful
Fanner. until finished, and with' much love, I beg to
remain,
Your brother and servant by His grace,
J. F. RUTXERFORD.