Open-Air Meeting Plans
By R.S. Fries
Our plan is to secure a location in the center of town, getting a lot between two buildings, and putting up a cellotex, or building board, front about nine feet high. This will be painted to represent an old castle wall. Over the keystone archway will be the words, "Bible Chautauqua." The entrance will be about seven feet wide. A large square of cellotex will close this opening during the daytime. At night it will be moved back to supporting posts eight feet from the entrance. This will prevent passers-by from looking in at the audience. It will also provide a background for our book display and stereopticon stand. The seats can be made of planks which can be rented from the lumber yard. We will have a regular platform. On each side will be canvas-covered rooms. one for the workers and the other for the piano and the choir. The piano will be placed under cover every night. The back of the lot is, of course, boarded up.
An entire equipment of this character can be secured for less than the freight charges for hauling tents to the lot. The small expense of starting these efforts will be borne by different people in the conference who believe in an aggressive evangelistic program. In some cases the cost can be borne by the local church. I am planning to hold such an effort myself in a town only nine miles from the conference office. I will take with me a young canvasser, who is a theological graduate and a good speaker, as my assistant. A church member will give him board and room, and I will go into the field and raise money to pay him a few dollars a week.
One of our young internes in the northwestern part of the State has an interest in three towns not far apart, so we have suggested that he get an old automobile and fix it up as a "church on wheels." A man who is interested in our message, but not yet baptized, is financing him for this purpose. This young minister plans to hold meetings in the three different towns on week nights and on Sunday afternoons, developing an interest in each one. I am satisfied that before the end of the year he will have increased his present church membership from less than forty to more than a hundred. I have always found that one can raise money for aggressive evangelistic work when funds cannot be secured for any other purpose.
We are putting our home missionary and Missionary Volunteer men out in open-air work this summer. I am also urging our ministers to get out in street work in a campaign to retain the Eighteenth Amendment. I will soon start this work in Nevada.
These are just a few of our plans, and of course they are still in the preliminary stage. Our courage in the Lord is good. This statement is an encouragement to me: "In the last extremity, before this work shall close, thousands will be cheerfully laid upon the altar. Men and women will feel it a blessed privilege to share in the work of preparing souls to stand in the great day of God, and they will give hundreds as readily as dollars are given now." This is from an appeal written by Mrs. E. G. White from Basel, Switzerland, in 1886, and published in the brown loose-leaf leaflet No. 10, page 2.
Nevada. Iowa.
Utilizing the Press
By B. M. Heald
A vast field of opportunity lies before our workers in using the newspapers more fully to advance the cause of truth. A few fundamental principles govern such publicity work, and these should be carefully observed. First of all, we must be sincere in our relation to the public. It is essential to be perfectly frank with the press. So we entertain news editors and reporters in our home, where we talk over every phase of our truth with them. We, in turn, take an active interest in the uplift agencies of the community. The press appreciates this local interest. As a result, during the last three months, in the newspapers of Peekskill fifty running feet of single-column material has appeared regarding our work.
If we expect reciprocation, we must do something worthwhile for the neighborhood. If we expect to receive, we must give—of our life, our time, our talents, and our whole-hearted service. The press will always be interested in that which partakes of the nature of community service, and this opens the way for our message. It is essential that we make our message effective in the life of the community. For example: It is one thing to preach about the last-day famine, and quite another to feed the hungry in these last days.
The press will always be interested in unselfish sympathy for the struggles of the poor in our community. We can rightfully be opportunists. Where there is no interest, we must create an interest. Besides holding hall and tent meetings, we can carry on active service for the poor—broadcasting, organizing Penny-a-Dish cafeterias, and other such activities.
The papers of Westchester County, New York, --said to be the richest county in the United States,—are interested in our "In-as-Much" service at our Sabbath meetings. About three hundred articles of clothing have been given out since March of this year. At the door of the church a large basket is placed, over which appears the sign "Unto Me." Each Sabbath this basket is more than filled with food for the hungry. The press is interested in feeding the hungry. And when we lead in this, they are more interested in reporting our sermons.
We are broadcasting our Sabbath morning services over two stations each week. The newspapers are interested in this "Advent Church of the Air." Our "Bible League and Travel Club" is also of public interest, and so they report it. "The Good Book Club" is another group in which they are interested. We have opened our private library of several hundred books for use as a semipublic library. By appointment, young people can come and spend the afternoon reading. Our musical ensemble is also of public interest. The special music broadcast at the Sabbath morning service interests the press.
We should never fail to, express, our appreciation for the support of the press. A public vote of thanks at some large gathering is always in order. And there may be times when the popularity of our news items will increase the circulation of the newspaper. This we should not forget. By our many worth-while activities we can cause the press to look to us more for news regarding our work and our message.
Another good work in which our ministers may well interest themselves, is giving publicity through the press to lectures before assemblies in various schools and colleges. I have spoken on a number of such occasions, and the influence of the addresses reaches the homes of the students. Over a hundred letters of appreciation have been received. The press has made mention of these letters, which gives publicity to our work. As we make contacts with the public through the press, the radio, and the platform, let us sincerely pray that God will give us a rich harvest of souls as a result.
Peekskill. N. Y.
Should We Join Local Ministerial Associations?
BY J. L. Shuler
In several places where I have attempted to secure the use of a theater for Sunday evangelistic meetings, the managers have told me that they would not rent the theater to any minister unless the request came from one who was a member of the ministers' association of that city. They also stated that in case the request was from a pastor belonging to the association, there would be no charge except a few dollars for the cost of lights. Now, in these instances, if our minister in that city had been a member of the ministers' association, he could have made the request for the use of the theater, and buildings which ordinarily rent for $100 a night would have been placed at our disposal for just a few dollars. I know of cases where theaters seating from 1,200 to 1,500 may be secured in this way at a cost of $7 for each Sunday night.
In the city where I am now located, the radio station gives the churches one-half hour each Sunday for a sermon over the air. The secretary of the ministerial association assigns this half hour each Sunday to the various pastors in turn. By becoming a member of the association, we get our turn at this half hour along with the other churches.
This same city also happens to be the capital of the State, and it is left with the ministerial association to send the different pastors to open the senate and the house with prayer. By becoming members of the association, we are assigned our turn in appearing before the house and the senate. These opportunities help to bring our cause prominently before the people. These are some of the benefits which accrue to the cause by membership in the local ministerial association.
Raleigh. N. C.
