1814-1865

Note the official statement:
“The denomination of Christians calling themselves Seventh-day Adventist, taking the Bible as their rule of faith and practice are unanimous in their views that its teachings are contrary to the spirit and practice of war, hence they have ever been conscientiously opposed to bearing arms.” Letter to Austin Blair, Governor of Michigan, August 3, 1864, (Signed) John Byington, J. N. Loughborough, Geo. W. Amadon, General Conference Committee.

1914

Exactly fifty years later however, a change took place as church leaders in Europe, under the political pressures of WWI, yielded to government demands and committed its young men to military service.

Here, in part, is their official statement – note the change in position:
“Most honorable Lord General and Minister of War, August 4, 1914:
“…While we stand on the funda­mentals of the Holy Scriptures, and seek to fulfill the precepts of Christendom, keeping the Rest Day (Saturday) that God established in the begin­ning, by endeavoring to put aside all work on that day, still in these times of stress, we have bound ourselves together in defense of the ‘Fatherland,’ and under these circum­stances we will also bear arms on Saturday (Sabbath)….” (Signed) “H. F. Schubert, President”

Shortly after the above official statement was made to the government, approximately 2% of Adventist members in more than 14 European countries were disfellowshipped from the church for their open opposition to war and there support of pacifism. In some countries, entire congregations and their elders, within just one week, found themselves deprived of church membership because of their stand on the war question and the Sabbath.

1920-1922

After the war, while hoping to recon­ciliation with former brethren, they found it necessary to organized in order to legally hold their collective recourses and support dis­fellowshipped ministers and workers. Since many had been members of the International Missionary and Tract Society of the Seventh-day Adventist Church,they originally organized in 1919 in Germany as Internationale Missionnsgesellshaft der Siebententags Adventisten Alte seit 1844 (International Missionary Society of Seventh-day Adventists old movement standing firm since 1844). When all efforts failed in both 1920 and 1922 to reintegrate on issues related to non-participation in war, and when they discovered that a reform movement within the church had been prophesied, the latter part of the original name was changed to Reform Movement. Thus the name: International Missionary Society Seventh-day Adventist Church Reform Movement.

1925

In July 1925, brief, basic Principles of Faith were formally compiled by representatives from around the world during a Reform Movement General Conference meeting in Gotha, Germany. With new enthusiasm, the Reform Movement spread rapidly into many countries in Africa, Latin America, and Asia.

1936

Then, in April 1936, the German government closed down and confiscated all property belonging to the International Missionary Society, whose members subsequently suffered persecution, imprisonment, exile, loss of property and even death: many leaders and young men of the International Missionary Society died as martyrs in concentration camps, some having been denounced and even betrayed by members and even leaders of the Seventh-day Adventist Church.

1951

After World War II, the Reform Movement again grew rapidly around the world. But during General Conference delegates’ meetings held in Holland, on May 21, 1951, the acting Secretary of the General Conference, Dimitru Nicolici, a Romanian-born Australian, objected to certain procedures and left the assembly with 10 other delegates and an interpreter. Within a few days, this group set up a separate Reform Movement and retained the 1949 U.S. registration, which had eliminated the name International Missionary Society. Testimony from eyewitnesses to this incident and official delegates’ minutes are on record. Attempts to reintegrate that movement failed in 1952, 1968, and 1993.