Our Institutional Centers to Be Away From Congested Areas
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In Easy Access to the Cities
Let men of sound judgment be appointed, not to publish abroad
their intentions, but to search for such properties in the rural districts,
in easy access to the cities, suitable for small training schools for
workers, and where facilities may also be provided for treating the sick
and weary souls who know not the truth. Look for such places just out
from the large cities, where suitable buildings may be secured, either as
a gift from the owners, or purchased at a reasonable price by the gifts
of our people. Do not erect buildings in the noisy cities.—
Medical
Ministry, 308, 309
(1909).
Lessons From Enoch and Lot
As God’s commandment-keeping people, we must leave the cities.
As did Enoch, we must work in the cities but not dwell in them.—
Evangelism, 78, 79
(1899).
When iniquity abounds in a nation, there is always to be heard
some voice giving warning and instruction, as the voice of Lot was
heard in Sodom. Yet Lot could have preserved his family from many
evils, had he not made his home in this wicked, polluted city. All
that Lot and his family did in Sodom could have been done by them,
even if they had lived in a place some distance away from the city.
Enoch walked with God, and yet he did not live in the midst of any
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city, polluted with every kind of violence and wickedness, as did Lot
in Sodom.—
Evangelism, 79
(1903).
Churches, but Not Institutions in the Cities
Repeatedly the Lord has instructed us that we are to work the
cities from outpost centers. In these cities we are to have houses of
worship, as memorials for God, but institutions for the publication of
our literature, for the healing of the sick, and for the training of workers,
are to be established outside the cities. Especially is it important that
our youth be shielded from the temptations of city life.
It is in harmony with this instruction, that meetinghouses have
been purchased and rededicated in Washington and in Nashville, while
the publishing houses and the sanitariums at these centers have been
established away from the congested heart of the cities, as outpost