Meeting Changed Conditions—No. 2

The more difficult it becomes to draw a large audience to the evangelistic meetings, the more important it is to have in hand a large list of inter­ested people prior to the first meeting, as a result of adequate preparation of the field.

By John L. SHULER, Instructor in Evangelism, Theological Seminary

When one general was asked his formula for achieving victory, he said, "To get there the firstest with the mostest." The early reverses of the Allies are explained in five words, "Too little and too late." There is a lesson here for the evangelist.

The more difficult it becomes to draw a large audience to the evangelistic meetings, the more important it is to have in hand a large list of inter­ested people prior to the first meeting, as a result of adequate preparation of the field. I am con­vinced that in major efforts, where the total ex­penditures will reach five thousand dollars or more, about one tenth of the total budget should be devoted to an adequate preparation of the field. We should plan to secure a good list of interested people as a basis on which to build a successful public effort.

If people are sufficiently interested, they will make special effort to attend the meetings in the face of hindrances. If the evangelist can locate or get hold of hundreds of truly interested people before the opening lecture, his success is prac­tically assured. Why then do we not give more attention to the proper preparation of the field?

Think how much easier it is for the evangelist to build and hold the interest in his meetings and to begin to lead people to a decision, if they are already interested in the message of God before they come to the first meeting. I am not unmindful of how the advertising of the subjects, the preach­ing of the truth, the aftermeetings, and the personal work will locate interested people during the meet­ings. But the proper preparation of the field will search out some interested people who will not otherwise be found.

There are simple and practical plans for pre­paring the field which can be used without the people of the city learning about the coming meet­ings. A post office box is secured, and a business reply permit is obtained from the superintendent of mails. A double postal card, which tells about a free Bible course, is mailed or delivered to thou­sands of homes. Those who are interested in learning more about the Bible will fill in their names and addresses, and send back the proper sec­tion of the card, which requires no postage.

In one effort I prepared a series of short articles to appear on the church page for four successive Saturdays prior to the opening night. This was for the purpose of securing the names of interested people. Some of the best names secured during the entire effort were secured from these newspaper articles prior to the opening public lecture.

In our effort this fall we plan to publish short articles on the church page of three dailies for three successive Saturdays. These are written as single column articles with the following headlines supplied by us : "When Wars Will End," "A New World Coming Soon," "Hitler's Defeat Foreshadowed Centuries Ago."

In these articles we give the telephone num­ber of our evangelistic office as well as our mailing address. Many people do not like to write. They prefer to call on the telephone. We handle these names in such a way that they do not receive the first lesson of the Bible course until the first week of the meetings.

Perhaps only one of a hundred who see the evangelist's advertisements in the newspapers ever attends his meetings. Why not use some of this advertising space to actually teach the truths of the message, so as to contact those who read the notices and never attend? One evangelist who conducted an effort in a city of about fifty thou­sand used more than one thousand column inches of newspaper advertising in fifteen weeks. I do not say that he used too much space, but I do raise this question, Would it not have been better if he had used a part of that space to teach the truth to the thousands who never came to hear him? Some of these could have been led to enroll for a Bible course, and a number won to the message.

People who come to hear us today.will not search into the doctrines as people did twenty years ago. This is a radio, spoon-fed age. Most people will not "sit out" one-hour sermons night after night. We must learn to come right to the point in our sermons. It will likely be best for the average evangelist to use thirty-five to forty minute ser­mons.

This is a picture age. We should call to our aid more visual helps in presenting the message. We must be more interesting in our preaching. We should study anew how to connect our subjects in a way that will arouse more interest.

Since it does take more and more advertising to draw an audience, we should make wider use of every method of advertising, and improve the quality. There are plans and methods which will build up the week-night audiences. Special at­tention must be given to these.

In the first few meetings we should establish confidence in the Bible as the supreme authority in religion, not perhaps by preaching directly on the inspiration of the Bible, but rather by calling at­tention to the unerring fulfillment of its predictions, and other evidences which are naturally connected with the presentation. On account of the wide­spread belief in the secret rapture, it may be best not to come out directly against this idea in the early part of the meetings, but rather preach the truth in a positive way that will prepare the people to drop this error in due time.

For example, in view of the wrong interpreta­tion so commonly placed on the seventieth week of Daniel 9, in connection with a so-called seven-year period of tribulation between the secret rap­ture and the revelation, should we not take up the seventy weeks in about the third week of our meet­ings and show the true application? This will help prepare the people to let go of the secret rapture, and in due course accept the real truth.

When existing conditions make it difficult to get the people to attend the week-night lectures of a public effort, it becomes increasingly impor­tant to enroll these people in a home course of Bible lessons on the doctrines to fill in the gap of instruction which comes when their attendance is limited to the Sunday night meetings. I am convinced that a wider use of Bible course lessons in the homes of the interested in connection with our public meetings will increase the results.

One evangelist tells me that ninety per cent of all those who complete the Bible course in con­nection with his meetings are baptized during his effort. Lylon H. Lindbeck says in the South American Bulletin (first quarter, 1944): "We have learned from experience that from one third to one half of those who complete the course even­tually become baptized church members."

It is increasingly evident that a Bible course with twenty-six or twenty-eight lessons is usually too long for the evangelist to use for the interested in his meetings, if he wishes to get results in bap­tisms within a §pace of fifteen or seventeen weeks.

In view of this, I have prepared for my efforts a streamlined Bible course for busy people. It con­sists of eighteen lessons, which deal with the following: Daniel 2, How to Understand the Bible, Heaven, The Three Steps to Heaven, Signs of the Times, The Millennium, The Two Laws, The Sab­bath, Change of the Sabbath, Tithing, Hell, The Importance of Obedience, Healthful Living, The State of the Dead, The True Church, The Spirit of Prophecy, Christian Standards, Baptism. This enables the people to complete the course during a fifteen or sixteen week series of meetings.

I use a large (No. so) envelope, across the face of which is printed this message : "This envelope contains a valuable free offer for you. Please take the envelope home and read the contents carefully tonight or tomorrow. Read the letter of instruc­tion first."

In this envelope we place a copy of the first Bible lesson on Daniel 2 ; the test paper pertaining to this lesson; a letter giving full instruction concerning our plan of home Bible study ; a self-ad­dressed envelope for the individual to use in returning his first test paper ; a self-addressed postal card on which to report having read the lesson through, in case he prefers to take the Bible course by the reading method rather than filling out the test papers; a small folder advertising the Bible lec­tures during the first week; and a notice to tune in every Sunday on a certain radio station for a half-hour broadcast dealing with these Bible lessons.

On the opening night of the meetings, after the sermon, these envelopes are given to all the people as they leave the meeting. At every succeeding meeting this envelope is presented to every person who is at the meeting for the first time.

It will be seen that this procedure secures a maxi­mum number of enrollees for a home study of the Bible doctrines from those who attend the evange­listic meetings.

The people are urged to tune in to the radio station on the next Sunday, when they will be told over the air just how to fill in the required answers on this first test paper. The result is that scores of people will be ready at the given hour on the following Sunday with their test papers and pen­cils in hand, and will fill in the answers as they are given over the air. This helps many to get started on the lessons who otherwise would never begin.

The practice of giving the required answers is not continued beyond the second lesson. But a lesson is taken up and explained each Sunday in this half-hour broadcast. Since people tire of one voice over the air, or of mere preaching, we use a dialogue method, with three or four people taking part, asking the evangelist certain questions. The an­swers are designed to bring out all the points cov­ered by the printed Bible lesson, which these listeners have in their hands as the broadcast is being made. This kind of broadcast becomes a real Bible school of the air.

The broadcast stimulates the people to complete at least one lesson a week and to continue the study of the Bible lessons from week to week. It arouses much interest in the Bible lessons on the part of others who listen but who do not attend the meetings, with the result that many of them also enroll for this streamlined Bible course. I believe this is one way to make the radio count for much in our public efforts.


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By John L. SHULER, Instructor in Evangelism, Theological Seminary

November 1944

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