Edwin Sebastian Butz (1864 – July 1956) was a
Seventh-day Adventist
The Seventh-day Adventist Church is an Adventism, Adventist Protestantism, Protestant Christian denomination which is distinguished by its observance of Saturday, the Names of the days of the week#Numbered days of the week, seventh day of the ...
(SDA) missionary who was active in
Oceania
Oceania (, , ) is a region, geographical region that includes Australasia, Melanesia, Micronesia, and Polynesia. Spanning the Eastern Hemisphere, Eastern and Western Hemisphere, Western hemispheres, Oceania is estimated to have a land area of ...
and in Australia.
Missionary career
Edwin Sebastian Butz was born in 1864 in the United States.
In 1895 he came to the South Pacific with his wife Florence and daughter Alma on the third voyage of the SDA schooner ''
Pitcairn
The Pitcairn Islands (; Pitkern: '), officially the Pitcairn, Henderson, Ducie and Oeno Islands, is a group of four volcanic islands in the southern Pacific Ocean that form the sole British Overseas Territory in the Pacific Ocean. The four isl ...
''.
They served first on
Pitcairn Island
Pitcairn Island is the only inhabited island of the Pitcairn Islands, of which many inhabitants are descendants of mutineers of HMS ''Bounty''.
Geography
The island is of volcanic origin, with a rugged cliff coastline. Unlike many other ...
, then in the early days of the
Adventist mission in Tonga.
They arrived in Tonga on 29 September 1896 with Sarah and Maria Young, two nursing trainees from Pitcairn Island.
There they joined the first SDA missionaries,
Edward Hilliard
Edward Hilliard (3 April 1851 – 18 September 1936) was a Seventh-day Adventist missionary from America who worked in Australia, India and Tonga.
He was the first resident Seventh-day Adventist missionary on Tonga, and founded the Seventh-day A ...
and his wife Ida, who had arrived the previous year.
The Butz's initially had difficulty being accepted, as they were Americans and most Europeans in Tonga were British.
This was eased by Florence Butz's provision of medical services.
The Butz's tried to establish a permanent mission, but were mainly limited to working with the small ''papalagi'' (European) colony.
They made sporadic missionary efforts in the islands of
Haʻapai
Haʻapai is a group of islands, islets, reefs, and shoals in the central part of Tonga. It has a combined land area of . The Tongatapu island group lies to its south, and the Vavaʻu group lies to its north. Seventeen of the Haʻapai islands are ...
and
Tongatapu
Tongatapu is the main island of Tonga and the site of its capital, Nukualofa. It is located in Tonga's southern island group, to which it gives its name, and is the country's most populous island, with 74,611 residents (2016), 70.5% of the nation ...
.
In June 1899 the ''Pitcairn'' again visited, bringing a small prefabricated building that was used at first as a mission home and as a chapel.
After 18 months it was taken apart and rebuilt as the small
Nukuʻalofa
Nukualofa (; ) is the capital and largest city of Tonga. It is located on the north coast of the island of Tongatapu, in the country's southernmost island group.
History
First western records of Nukualofa
On 10 June 1777, British captain James ...
church, .
The Butz's were taken to
Vavaʻu
Vavau is an island group, consisting of one large island ( ʻUtu Vavaʻu) and 40 smaller ones, in Tonga. It is part of Vavaʻu District, which includes several other individual islands. According to tradition, the Maui god created both Tongata ...
on the ''Pitcairn'', since it was thought that there were too many missionaries at Nuku'alofa, but they returned after the Hilliards left later in 1899.
In 1901 Butz attended the General Conference of the Seventh-day Adventists in
Battle Creek College
Andrews University is a private Seventh-day Adventist university in Berrien Springs, Michigan. Founded in 1874 as Battle Creek College, it was the first higher education facility started by Seventh-day Adventists and is the flagship universit ...
, where he was ordained to the ministry.
In Tonga Butz recognized but failed to address the language problem. He noted that the Tongans were very interested in learning English.
Until 1905 at least half of the pupils at the Adventist schools were European, or partly European, and the lessons were given in English.
The Butz family left Tonga on 27 December 1905. In ten years Butz had baptized two Tongans and twelve Europeans.
Australia
Butz accepted an invitation to move to
Australia
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...
in 1906.
He was president of the
South Australia
South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a state in the southern central part of Australia. It covers some of the most arid parts of the country. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories ...
conference and the
Tasmania
)
, nickname =
, image_map = Tasmania in Australia.svg
, map_caption = Location of Tasmania in AustraliaCoordinates:
, subdivision_type = Country
, subdi ...
conference, then in 1914 was appointed president of the
Queensland
)
, nickname = Sunshine State
, image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg
, map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia
, subdivision_type = Country
, subdivision_name = Australia
, established_title = Before federation
, established_ ...
Conference in succession to
Charles H. Watson.
Around the end of 1915 Butz publicly criticized some of the ministers in Queensland.
He was rebuked for this by the Conference Executive Committee, but refused to apologize.
Faced with the threatened resignations of several members of the committee, Butz resigned.
Butz was later president of the
Western Australia
Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to th ...
n and North
New Zealand
New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...
conferences.
For several years in the early 1920s he was preceptor and teacher of Bible and Physiology at
Avondale College
Avondale College is a state coeducational secondary school located in the central Auckland, New Zealand, suburb of Avondale. With a roll of students from Years 9–13 (ages 12–18), it is the third largest secondary school in New Zealand.
...
.
The Butz’s retired to Melbourne.
On 14 February 1929 Pastor and Mrs. Edwin S. Butz touched at Pitcairn on the passenger liner ''Remuera I'', bound from
Wellington
Wellington ( mi, Te Whanganui-a-Tara or ) is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the second-largest city in New Zealand by me ...
to
Southampton
Southampton () is a port city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. It is located approximately south-west of London and west of Portsmouth. The city forms part of the South Hampshire built-up area, which also covers Po ...
, after a 34-year absence.
Edwin Butz died in July 1956 and Florence Butz in March 1957.
See also
*
General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists
The General Conference Corporation of Seventh-day Adventists is the governing organization of the Seventh-day Adventist Church. Its headquarters is located in Silver Spring, Maryland and oversees the church in directing its various divisions and ...
*
Seventh-day Adventist Church
The Seventh-day Adventist Church is an Adventist Protestant Christian denomination which is distinguished by its observance of Saturday, the seventh day of the week in the Christian (Gregorian) and the Hebrew calendar, as the Sabbath, and ...
*
Ellen G. White
Ellen Gould White (née Harmon; November 26, 1827 – July 16, 1915) was an American woman author and co-founder of the Seventh-day Adventist Church. Along with other Adventist leaders such as Joseph Bates and her husband James White, she wa ...
*
Adventist
Adventism is a branch of Protestant Christianity that believes in the imminent Second Coming (or the "Second Advent") of Jesus Christ. It originated in the 1830s in the United States during the Second Great Awakening when Baptist preacher Wil ...
*
Seventh-day Adventist eschatology
The Seventh-day Adventist Church holds a unique system of eschatology, eschatological (or Eschatology, end-times) beliefs. Adventist eschatology, which is based on a historicism (Christianity), historicist interpretation of prophecy, is characteri ...
*
Seventh-day Adventist theology
The theology of the Seventh-day Adventist Church resembles that of Protestant Christianity, combining elements from Lutheran, Wesleyan-Arminian, and Anabaptist branches of Protestantism. Adventists believe in the infallibility of Scripture and tea ...
*
Seventh-day Adventist worship
The Seventh-day Adventist Church is an Adventist Protestant Christian denomination which is distinguished by its observance of Saturday, the seventh day of the week in the Christian (Gregorian) and the Hebrew calendar, as the Sabbath, and ...
*
History of the Seventh-day Adventist Church
The Seventh-day Adventist Church had its roots in the Millerite movement of the 1830s to the 1840s, during the period of the Second Great Awakening, and was officially founded in 1863. Prominent figures in the early church included Hiram Edson, ...
*
28 fundamental beliefs
The Seventh-day Adventist Church is an Adventist Protestant Christian denomination which is distinguished by its observance of Saturday, the seventh day of the week in the Christian (Gregorian) and the Hebrew calendar, as the Sabbath, and i ...
* ''
Questions on Doctrine
''Seventh-day Adventists Answer Questions on Doctrine'' (generally known by the shortened title ''Questions on Doctrine'', abbreviated ''QOD'') is a book published by the Seventh-day Adventist Church in 1957 to help explain Adventism to conserva ...
''
*
Teachings of Ellen White#End times
*
Inspiration of Ellen White
Most Seventh-day Adventists believe church co-founder Ellen G. White (1827–1915) was inspired by God as a prophet, today understood as a manifestation of the New Testament "gift of prophecy," as described in the official beliefs of the church. ...
*
Prophecy in the Seventh-day Adventist Church
Seventh-day Adventists believe that Ellen G. White, one of the church's co-founders, was a prophetess, understood today as an expression of the New Testament spiritual gift of prophecy.
Seventh-day Adventist believe that White had the spiritual gi ...
*
Investigative judgment
The investigative judgment, or pre-Advent Judgment (or, more accurately the pre-Second Advent Judgment), is a unique Seventh-day Adventist doctrine, which asserts that the divine judgment of professed Christians has been in progress since 1844. It ...
*
Pillars
A column or pillar in architecture and structural engineering is a structural element that transmits, through compression (physical), compression, the weight of the structure above to other structural elements below. In other words, a column i ...
*
Seventh-day Adventist Church Pioneers
The Seventh-day Adventist Church pioneers were members of Seventh-day Adventist Church, part of the group of Millerites, who came together after the Great Disappointment across the United States and formed the Seventh-day Adventist Church. In 186 ...
References
Sources
*
*
*
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Butz, Edwin Sebastian
1864 births
1956 deaths
Seventh-day Adventist missionaries in Australia
American Seventh-day Adventist missionaries
Seventh-day Adventist missionaries in Tonga
American expatriates in Australia
Seventh-day Adventist missionaries in the Pitcairn Islands
American expatriates in Tonga
American expatriates in the Pitcairn Islands
American Seventh-day Adventists