The messenger of God has told us, "The character and the importance of our work are judged by the efforts made to bring it before the public. When these efforts are so limited, the impression is given that the message we present is not worthy of notice."—Evangelism, p. 128. The entire truth of this statement cannot be fully appreciated unless we carefully criticize and analyze our evangelistic advertising from every standpoint. It is well to remember that our main object in advertising is to make sure that our efforts to place this message before the public are in harmony with the majesty of the truth which we represent, as well as to gain the attention of the people.
In the evangelistic services conducted in Bradenton, Florida, we have tried to follow the counsel of the Spirit of prophecy by advertising our meetings in an open and representative manner. A number of efforts have been held in this section previously; therefore, Adventism is not new to the public. After studying the assigned territory, we definitely felt it was to our advantage to inform the people concerning our denominational affiliation from the very start of our work. As far as we know, this plan had never been tried here before. This method seemed to please the church membership, for many made remarks to the effect that they were so glad we were not going to keep our identity a secret.
In this section of the field, where our churches are well established, we feel we have beneted from this method of advertising. The Lord is blessing us beyond our expectations. After we had presented the Sabbath truth, our attendance did not decrease in the least but actually increased. We believe this was due to the fact that the public knew we were Seventh-day Adventists. Bradenton is a town of about 12,000 people, and our attendance for the first three or four months averaged from 350 to 45o on Sunday nights and 200 to 300 during the week. At this writing we have, been holding meetings for over twenty-two weeks, and our attendance is still excellent. Since the people knew who we were from the very beginning, our presentation of the truth and our appeals have been made stronger. The work in the homes of the people has also been greatly strengthened.
The offerings have covered all our expenses, thus making the effort entirely self-supporting. This open, frank way in advertising has also been applied in the matter of our financial budget. On Sunday evenings we prepare a slide to project on the screen, showing the people our expenses and offerings. This has a tendency to make the people feel that they are a real part of it, and must share in keeping the meeting going. Our methods of advertising are as follows :
I. NEWSPAPER.—We found that the best form of advertising in this town is the newspaper. Everyone reads the daily paper. Therefore they cannot help seeing our displays. We have used large advertisements consistently week by week. We used only three different handbills and felt that we could have dispensed with those, except for the first one. In our newspaper advertisements we used many cuts and always requested a twelve-point border. This made our advertisements, stand out above all other religious ads.
2. POSTCARDS.—In a small town it is possible to mail printed postcards to all telephone subscribers. Thus we reach the better class of people. We secured a number of regular postcard headings made especially for postcards from the Cobb Shinn Cut Service, 725 Union Street, Indianapolis, Indiana. The nominal cost of $1.50 for each cut more than pays for itself in a short time. Naturally one must adapt these cuts to evangelistic use, but this company handles many useful cuts for the evangelist's work.
3. SOUND CAR.—We converted a station wagon into an effective mobile sound unit. Two neat placards on each side gave the name of our evangelistic party, the location, and the time of meetings. This was lighted at night and made an attractive sound car. A loud-speaking system was used, between the playing of records, to announce our meetings. This was an effective and inexpensive way of advertising. In using a station wagon in this manner, it is well to install a police generator to give the battery ample charge. The music that is used must be of a high type, or the public will receive the wrong impression of the meetings.
4. WINDOW CARES.—The attractive window cards that we purchased from the Religious Arts Company of Islip, New York, represented money well spent. (See advertisement in each issue.—EnrroR.) These colorful display cards, placed in central locations, helped much in attracting the public to our meetings.
5. SPECIAL INVITATIONS.—These invitations were printed on cards similar to those used for wedding announcements. They were sent to friends, relatives, and former Adventists before the meetings began. The cards left over were sent to doctors, lawyers. and businessmen of the city. In this small town we used five hundred announcements.
Other ways of advertising were used, but we found the foregoing methods to be the best for this particular compaign. Naturally, the forms of advertising must be adapted to the locality in which an evangelist is working.
It is well to keep ever in mind that after advertising our meetings in various ways, the Spirit of God must work, or all methods combined avail little or nothing. The mechanics of our meetings must be secondary to the work of the Holy Spirit. We are to seek God's blessing above all else.