A consummate administrator; a man of committees and budgets; A. G. Daniells was also a man of passion. At the turn of the twentieth century; the Seventh-day Adventist Church and the nation found themselves entering a new world—one requiring multi level; specialized administration. America had become a major player on the world stage and was becoming predominantly urban. New ways of thinking were demanded if Adventism was to fulfill its commission to take an end-time gospel to a rapidly changing world. In 1901; during this crucial moment in the development of the Seventh-day Adventist Church; Arthur Grosvenor Daniells was elected president of the General Conference; and Adventism desperately needed his gifts of leadership. In the manner of many effective administrators; Daniells possessed quiet; often underappreciated qualities: a capacity for work—the hard unrelenting labor of chairing endless committees; daily attending to copious amounts of correspondence; traveling across the country and across oceans; the ability to discern danger or opportunity in situations where others might see only confusion; the maturity to let others rail at him without responding in kind; a self-confidence tempered by an awareness of his limitations and need for advice; an unwavering loyalty to Ellen G. White; and above all; a commitment to his vision of an Adventist presence throughout the world. He engineered sweeping structural reforms in 1901 and 1903; and influenced the general shape of the denomination for that century and beyond. Decisions made; precedents set; budgets allocated; personnel appointed; and goals envisioned over the next two decades with Daniells at the helm created the modern Adventist Church. Daniells was undoubtedly one of Seventh-day Adventism’s greatest administrators; and McArthur delivers a fascinating biography of this spiritual giant.
