Seventh-day Adventist church organization was set up so the churches in a state combined to form a state conference, adopting a constitution to regulate their action. All the ministers in the State, were, by virtue of their office, members of the state conference, and each church was entitled to delegates according to its membership. At each annual meeting an executive committee of three was elected by vote of the delegates, of whom the president of the conference was chairman. This committee had supervision of all the ministerial and religious work of the conference between the yearly meetings, and appointed the delegates to the General Conference (Yearbook, 1884). By 1888 there were ten Seventh-day Adventist churches in Arkansas. These were Brentwood, Cincinnati, Hilltop (Harrison), Hindsville, Little Rock, Malvern, Mount Pleasant, Siloam Springs, Springdale, and Star of the West. In May 1888, an organizational meeting was held in Springdale for the purpose of establishing a state conference (Butler, 1888). The Arkansas Conference was officially organized by the General Conference on May 21, 1888, with ten churches and 226 members (GC Session, 1888). The conference organization consisted of a president, a secretary, and a treasurer, plus a small committee. For several years, the president was the only regular employee (Beeler, 1996).
Citations
(1884). Yearbook of the Seventh-day Adventist Denomination. Washington, D. C.: Review and Herald Publishing Association, pp. 9, 11.
(1888). Transcription of Minutes of General Conference Sessions. pp. 370, 371.
Beeler, Charles R. (1996). A History of Seventh-day Adventists in Arkansas and Louisiana 1888-1996. Keene: Arkansas-Louisiana Conference of Seventh-day Adventists.
Butler, G. I. (1888, Apr. 10). Review and Herald, p. 240.
How it all Began 