Fifty-six thousand Seventh-day Adventists in North America are not Sabbath school members! This appalling number is equivalent to the total constituency of more than four great union conferences (Atlantic, Canadian, Central, and Northern).
This startling situation assumes the proportion of a major tragedy when it is recalled that the Sabbath school is the greatest holding agency of the denomination, that the great majority of those dropped by apostasy are non-Sabbath school members, and that our apostasies are reaching alarming heights. By way of illustration, during the first quarter of 1943, 1,920 souls Were added by baptism and profession in North America, while 992 were dropped by apostasy. In other words, for every two added, one was dropped.
One way to add to our net additions is to make fewer subtractions. Benjamin Franklin said, "A penny saved is a penny earned." Similarly, a church member saved is a church member gained. Little is gained in numbers, in satisfaction, or in dollars and cents by adding a soul to the church, only to have a soul lost. We should win many more by public evangelism. We must also hold them, and one excellent way to do it is by increasing Sabbath school attendance and membership.
Every candidate for baptism should be enrolled as a member of the Sabbath school before the rite of baptism is administered. These candidates come from churches in which it is not customary for adults to attend Sunday school. They must therefore be converted not only on the Sabbath question but on the Sabbath school question. The logical time for conversion on both questions is before baptism. Yet the records declare that approximately one out of four persons baptized is not a Sabbath school member at the time of baptism. That evangelist or pastor who enrolls his new converts in a Sabbath school class of which he himself may be the teacher, is welding an effective link in the chain that will bind souls to the church.
It has been proved that a concerted, earnest effort to enroll missing church members in the Sabbath school produces results, and at the cost of little time to our ministry. In the city of Boston, sixty church members have been added to the Sabbath school membership. The pastor of this large church meets With the Sabbath school council committee. He encourages the use of a three-color card index, which easily reveals who the missing are. The council divides these among the Sabbath school classes for personal work, or they are assigned to volunteers by the superintendent during the Sabbath school service. The pastor preaches a Sabbath sermon on the importance of Sabbath school membership, closing with an appeal for new members. Announcements are frequently made in the church service, calling attention to the blessings received in Sabbath school. The pastor, in the course of his regular visitation, encourages the missing ones to attend, or to enroll in the home division. Conditions are improved in the school itself, such as the place of meeting, the leadership, and the program.
With a minimum of effort and maximum results, the pastor may build up his flock in the holy faith. Unless such an effort is made, a great many will be missing not only from Sabbath school but also from the church, and from the kingdom of God. These souls are precious to the church and to the Lord. In dollars and cents the cost of winning them to the message is enormous. Someone has estimated that the average cost of winning one person in North America is about $2,000.
If these men and women and young people were precious when they were utter strangers to us, and we expended so much time and money upon them then, surely they are more precious after making their decision for the truth. Certainly God expects us to do something more to save them!
The Power of Example
In this work of building up Sabbath school attendance, example is more powerful than precept. The presence or absence of the conference worker during the Sabbath school hour speaks volumes.' The pastor or visiting speaker who habitually comes in at the close or near the close of Sabbath school, preaches a silent yet effective sermon against Sabbath school attendance.
The great majority of our workers, happily, are faithful. But one unfaithful steward can undo more than five faithful ones can repair. It is a sad circumstance that many of our missing members are conference workers.
Some workers are preaching too often on the Sabbath. Surely it is an injustice to expect any minister to preach at so, many places in one day that he cannot attend Sabbath school. The minister of the gospel not only has temptations but is the special object of the tempter's devices. If anyone needs the blessings and the holding power of God in his soul more than others, it is the minister.
One of our slogans is, "Every member of the church a member of the Sabbath school." Does not this include the minister? The apostle Paul, writing to a minister, said, "Be thou an example of the believers." Paul was an example of what he wanted others to be. Each of us should be the same—the conference president, treasurer, and secretary, the minister, minister's wife, Bible instructor, and teacher. The messenger of the Lord makes clear that reformatory movements must begin with the ministry—begin at the top and work down. I therefore earnestly urge a reformation of regular and punctual Sabbath school attendance among our workers.
Personally, I cannot bring myself to ask someone else to do what I am unwilling to do myself. How can we be consistent or successful in encouraging others to attend Sabbath school when we ourselves are absent ? If we will first lead the way and encourage our people by precept, they will follow. God help us, as workers in this closing gospel movement, to be as well as to do.
