Last month we considered some of the fundamental principles underlying our approach to the public in our evangelistic work. Surely the day has come for the church to arise to new heights, and to proceed with an evangelistic fervor never before experienced among us. Every department of the church, every segment of our organization, every voice within the church, should unite to go forth to the world With the Advent message. Let the evangelist set the pace; let the pastor-evangelist, the laymen, the colporteur evangelist, and those in every position and responsibility unite to proclaim the message with new vigor and power. Trite, staid, outworn resolutions, passed at succeeding councils of the church will accomplish little unless the energy, zeal, and passion required to execute those resolutions is exercised.
NEW DAY FOR EVANGELISM.—For a new day in Seventh-day Adventist evangelism to dawn, there must be born new approaches. Spirit-filled men need a fresh outpouring of power from on high. There must be a new concept of the value of a lost soul. A new urgency must grip our ranks concerning the times and their meaning. There must be a new spirit of toil and sacrifice. There must be a new, overflowing of- mutual love for one another and for a perishing world. A tireless and relentless restlessness must grip our whole life. In other words, in order to have a new day in evangelism we need a new vision. God needs men newly endowed with heavenly power. In short, God seeks for renewed men to measure up to the task. Our greatest weakness lies within ourselves.
Fresh Evangelistic Preaching
To begin with, the whole tenor of our evangelistic preaching should take on a new freshness and vitality. When we think of organizing for an evangelistic campaign we almost instinctively launch forth with such standard subjects as Daniel 2 or heaven. Usually we go along in a certain mold, yielding only occasionally to slight deviations. We have become static in our thinking. By sheer repetition, as we go from place to place, our message tends to become merely a thing to be recited anew. We launch forth proclaiming the prophecies, establishing point after point until our positions are unanswerable. We proclaim doctrine and prepare the way for the Sabbath question by spending a number of nights erecting an airtight premise of law and legalism. Thus many essential heart-warming and soul-stirring messages are entirely avoided, and are never touched upon except in an incidental way. But this phase may well be discussed fully in a future article.
When we identify our program as Seventh-day Adventist we can launch freely into an entirely new approach to the public. By preaching powerfully and earnestly on the wonderful theme of Christ, our opponents are held in check. Then the hearts of the people are won, and the conscience made alert to receive other precious truths. We must awaken the mind by first melting the heart. It is important that we do this first. All too frequently we do not consider the following:
"When truth is held as truth only by the conscience, when the heart is not stimulated and made receptive, only the mind is affected. But when the truth is received as truth by the heart, it has passed through the conscience, and has captivated the soul with its pure principles. It is placed in the heart by the Holy Spirit, who reveals its beauty to the mind, that its transforming power may be seen in the character."—Review and Herald, Feb. 14, 1899.
"More people than we think are longing to find the way to Christ. Those who preach the last message of mercy should bear in mind that Christ is to be exalted as the sinner's refuge. Some ministers think that it is not necessary to preach repentance and faith; they take it for granted that their hearers are acquainted with the gospel, and that matters of a different nature must be presented to hold their attention. But many people are sadly ignorant in regard to the plan of salvation; they need more instruction upon this all-important subject than upon any other.
"Theoretical discourses are essential, that people may see the chain of truth, link after link, uniting in a perfect whole; but no discourse should ever be preached without presenting Christ and Him crucified as the foundation of the gospel. Ministers would reach more hearts if they would dwell more upon practical godliness. . . .
"There is a marrow and fatness in the gospel. Jesus is the living center of everything. Put Christ into every sermon."--Evangelism, pp. 585, 186.
CREATING GOOD WILL.—By identifying our program and preaching the name of Christ boldly, we have before us every prospect of creating good will, winning the hearts of the people, and lessening the intensity of the opposition. This fact has been proved over and over again, not only in one section of the field, but in Catholic communities, in small cities and metropolitan areas, in the North and in the South, in the East and in the West.
Beginning the Procedure
How shall we proceed to inaugurate such a program? What are the steps to be taken? How should the matter be presented to the public? To these questions we probably cannot give the perfect answer, but we can draw from some vital experiences to show how it has been done to a gratifying degree of success.
Since I adopted this method of approach years ago, not one single challenge to debate has been received from our enemies, even when in personal conflict in the very center and home city of E. B. Jones, one of our most vehement contemporary critics. Furthermore, the attendance did not decrease after the Sabbath presentation, but actually grew, and the baptisms were greatly increased. I might well site from the correspondence of other men who are presently experiencing the same result. Let us attempt to follow through the procedure of launching such a campaign.
FIRST STEP: In beginning a metropolitan effort we first meet with our several church boards in a combined or union session. The support of the combined boards is asked for, and it has been enthusiastically given in every occasion that it has been my privilege to present it. In smaller communities where there is only one church the problem is greatly simplified, of course.
Here is noted the first spontaneous effect of such an evangelistic proposal. Recently, in one of our major metropolitan areas where such a combined meeting of church boards was held, the laymen were most outspoken in their praise, and immediately their whole support was thrown behind the program. Unity immediately became the keynote. Now they could freely intermingle with the people. They did not need to feel embarrassed when questions were asked. They rallied nobly to the financial call, and their evangelistic investment was made generously and eagerly. Our people generally are tired of the monotonous methods we have been using over and over again.
It is in this meeting that the plan is outlined for the laymen to be trained visitors, not handbill distributors, and to help tangibly in the actual soul-winning program. In this way the pattern is again followed out in practical application:
"There are those who have some experience who should, with every effort they make in dying churches as well as in new places, select young men or men of mature age to assist in the work. Thus they will be oh-. taming knowledge by interesting themselves in personal effort, and scores of helpers will be fitting for usefulness as Bible readers, as canvassers, and as visitors in the families."—Evangelism, p. 470.
Here is a vital field of co-operation between laymen and the gospel preacher-evangelist. By co-operative action, bringing laymen, youth, and colporteurs all together in service, a real army is thus developed. In this board meeting we outline the entire general plan of the effort, including its pre-effort advertising. This leads to the second step.
SECOND STEP: The unified plan is then presented to the church or churches as a whole. The members are told the same story as that given to the board. Their talents are called for, their financial support is pledged, and their participation in the visiting is encouraged. The response to this approach on the part of the church is electrifying. Any worker who tries it enthusiastically will be amazed how thrilled S.D.A.'s are at being relieved of the cloud of subterfuge. The integrating of the laymen into the evangelistic program is another subject, and will be dealt with later. The enthusiastic support of the church is a vital necessity in any successful evangelistic program.
THIRD STEP: We now distribute blanks to our church members, to fill out, giving the names and addresses of their business and professional friends, members of their family who are not Adventists, names of youth not baptized, and former Adventists they might know. These blanks are generally distributed six weeks or more before the effort begins. Here is an excellent source of hundreds of names.
FOURTH STEP: At this point all the pre-effort advertising machinery is put into motion. If a radio program is possible, it is started at least four or six weeks in advance of the effort. Newspaper articles or paid news stories are put into the papers inviting people to write in for literature or for the correspondence course. Newspaper ads appear two weeks ahead of time with coupons for people to cut out and mail in for reserved seats. Billboard posters and window cards are also used.
A pre-effort handbill is mailed out to the prominent people in the city and to those names supplied by the church members, as outlined in step three. A card is sent along with this hand, bill for the people to mail back requesting reserved seats for the opening meeting. Telephone numbers are also given so people may phone for tickets instead of writing for them. Through a combination of radio announcements, pre-effort newspaper ads, and pre-effort handbills, hundreds upon hundreds of requests can be obtained. A few days before the effort begins, special invitations are mailed out in addition to the other material. On the pre-effort advertising in the newspaper, handbills, and radio, this statement appears in small type, and at the end of the radio program:
"This program is one unit of the world's greatest effort to carry the name of Christ to all the people of earth in one generation! Considered by many to be the greatest co-operative missionary movement since the days of St. Paul. Already over 86o languages and dialects used in over 400 countries and islands! This unit is presented in [city] to encourage a systematic study of the Bible. Hundreds of thousands of Christians throughout the world support this great program. Over [number] churches in [State] are federated together. The Seventh-day Adventist churches of [city] are happy to have the privilege of bringing you [name of evangelist]."
A statement such as this gives the people the idea of the bigness of our movement, and that we are not an insignificant cult. By advertising weeks in advance our enemies can work too, of course, but while they are doing their worst, we are going along sweetly talking and writing about Jesus, His love, His hope, His salvation. Curiosity itself will work in our behalf, and the greater the opposition the greater the chance for success. This one thing is true : We have not presented any objectionable features, and they cannot attack us on that vulnerable point of "deception," "sheepstealers," etc. Next month we shall deal with the preparation of the field as relates to other ministers not of our faith.
FIFTH STEP: The statement suggested in step four is used in the newspaper ads and in subsequent handbills. Under this plan we have never failed to get a full house and to maintain interest to the very end of the effort. (If the evangelist loses his crowd after the first night, it obviously is not the fault of the advertising.) Now the evangelist completes the organization of his team, distributes responsibilities, and plans for the first meeting with all its complex details. This is a discussion of such importance it must be taken up in a future article.
Many may ask, "But what of those people who will not knowingly come to a Seventh-day Adventist meeting?" The advantages and disadvantages of this plan will be taken up after our discussion next month.
