The State of the General Conference
The general conference is not a church. Instead, it's a corporation that is bound to the state via a 501c3 contract.
The 501c3 contract gives an organization (mostly religious, but also charities) certain tax benefits while at the same time complying with government regulations.
Initially the 501c3 contract didn't allow for lobbying, but that was changed in December 2017, so churches can now mingle with state issues, etc. This is essentially what an "image of the beast" looks like. Donald Trump has already said that he wants to give churches more power.
If a church (under the 501c3 contract) does not obey the government they will face heavy penalties.
This is essentially what happened with COVID-19 where the general conference followed state propaganda rather than its own health reform message (and support members who were looking for a religious exemption, etc). The SDA church also received millions of dollars (was it 78 million?) to promote the vaccine. I saw this with my own eyes in the Sabbath school Bible study guide.
The question now arises: in what state is the general conference? Will they stand up for when the Sunday law comes (most likely through a climate day of rest on Sunday), or will they ignore the prophetic signs, follow the government's instructions (as they did with COVID-19), and promote a climate day of rest alongside the Sabbath.
I'm gravely concerned that it will be the latter, and I'm not the only one. In fact, Conrad Vine recently made a video on this. To watch it, please click here.
The question asked in the video is: Should we finance the general conference with our tithes or not?
From what I have seen, most conference churches are Laodicean. For example, I was in an SDA church where no one even said "the mark of the beast" from the pulpit for nearly 2 years. In fact, the only time I heard it was from a guest speaker. They have a female pastor now. All in full compliance with the conference. And I found it to be similar in other churches as well. It essentially is a "peace and safety" message without any preparation for the time of trouble (including outreach).
I have also heard of SDA churches that worship on Sunday (in Samoa I believe). How's that even possible?
I will never say to an SDA church member to "come out of her", but I will raise the question as to whether we should be a conference church or not.
You can still be part of the SDA movement without being connected to the general conference.
God has a church. It is not the great cathedral, neither is it the national establishment, neither is it the various denominations; it is the people who love God and keep His commandments. "Where two or three are gathered together in My name, there am I in the midst of them." Where Christ is, even among the humble few, this is Christ's church, for the presence of the High and Holy One who inhabiteth eternity can alone constitute a church. Where two or three are present who love and obey the commandments of God, Jesus there presides, let it be in the desolate place of the earth, in the wilderness, in the city, [or] enclosed in prison walls. The glory of God has penetrated the prison walls, flooding with glorious beams of heavenly light the darkest dungeon. His saints may suffer, but their sufferings will, like the apostles' of old, spread their faith and win souls to Christ and glorify His holy name. The bitterest opposition expressed by those who hate God's great moral standard of righteousness should not and will not shake the steadfast soul who trusts fully in God.
- Ellen White, Manuscript Releases, vol. 17, p. 81.4
That's what it means to be part of the underground church.
Further Study
SDA Remnant = Commandments + Spirit of Prophecy
And the dragon was wroth with the woman, and went to make war with the remnant of her seed, which keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ.
- Revelation 12:17 (KJV)
The General Conference is no longer considered to be the voice of God by Ellen White:
O, my very soul is drawn out in these things! Men who have not learned to submit themselves to the control and discipline of God, are not competent to train the youth, to deal with human minds. It is just as much an impossibility for them to do this work as it would be for them to make a world. That these men should stand in a sacred place, to be as the voice of God to the people, as we once believed the General Conference to be,-that is past. What we want now is a reorganization. We want to begin at the foundation, and to build upon a different principle.
- Ellen White, The General Conference Bulletin, April 3 1901
Note that there are actually two parts to the general conference, e.g. the general conference in session (representatives from all churches), and the general conference executive committee (small group of men that carry out the decisions made by the general conference in session).
At times, when a small group of men entrusted with the general management of the work have, in the name of the General Conference, sought to carry out unwise plans and to restrict God's work, I have said that I could no longer regard the voice of the General Conference, represented by these few men, as the voice of God. But this is not saying that the decisions of a General Conference composed of an assembly of duly appointed, representative men from all parts of the field should not be respected. God has ordained that the representatives of His church from all parts of the earth, when assembled in a General Conference, shall have authority. The error that some are in danger of committing is in giving to the mind and judgment of one man, or of a small group of men, the full measure of authority and influence that God has vested in His church in the judgment and voice of the General Conference assembled to plan for the prosperity and advancement of His work.
- Ellen White, Testimonies, vol. 9, p. 260.2 (1909)
Walter Veith made some really good points about the remnant, Babylon, and the SDA apostasy in this video.