Evangelistic Question-and-Answer Panel

Panel Personnel: 

Moderator—R. A. Anderson

R. K. Cemer

S. L. Folkenberg

A. C. Fearing

G. E. Vandeman

The closing panel discussion of the Min­isterial Association preceding the Gen­eral Conference session was given to an­swering questions from the floor.

Among the panel members was Walter Schubert, whose major evangelistic experi­ences have been in Latin-speaking coun­tries of the southern continent. He is able to preach in English, Spanish, and Ger­man. He is more at home, perhaps, in Spanish than he is in English, but he has done successful work for the Master in all three languages. Elder Schubert was asked: "What kind of subject would you choose as the opening subject of an evan­gelistic campaign?"

WALTER SCHUBERT: "About twelve years ago I found a statement in The Ministry of Healing, page 143, that gave me the clue: 'Christ's methods alone will give true success in reaching the people. The Saviour mingled with men as one who desired their good. He showed His sympathy for them, ministered to their needs, and won their confidence. Then He bade them, "Follow Me."' I thought to myself, if Christ did that, I will do it too. My first plan then is to minister to the needs of the people. What do the people need? Many are disillusioned with life and they want hope. Some are full of anxiety and remorse and want peace and happiness. They are sick and want health. People want a sense of belonging. They want happy homes. So I might begin with titles such as 'The Secret of Happi­ness' and 'Why Are People Unhappy?'"

MODERATOR: "Elder Fearing, what intro­ductory subjects do you use in your public meetings?"

A. C. FEARING: "Subjects that are geared to the times and the immediate concern of the people are always acceptable. However, in a war or space-thinking period, the pub­lic often grows weary of reading and see­ing and hearing the same things. Oftentimes it is wise to present something com­pletely different for a refreshing change.

"I surely would not want another man to try to work in my harness, but I prefer to use conversion themes for the first two or three weeks—subjects that will motivate a desire for heaven, salvation, and a better life. At the beginning of a series of evange­listic meetings a message that will create in the mind a deep longing to study the fasci­nating truths of Holy Scripture, is of para­mount value. Sermons on the life of Christ, His second coming, angels, the plan of sal­vation, and certain prophecies, are of vital importance. Startling and curiosity-arous­ing titles can be used for these subjects.

"I especially want my early messages to be those that allow me to use much Scrip­ture. The audience must become cognizant that I am a man of the Bible, who loves the Bible and the Christ of the Bible.

"A converted man is a teachable man. This procedure, I feel, is based on counsel from the Master Evangelist. He has never allowed this plan to fail in our evangelistic campaigns."

R. K. CEMER was next asked about the topics he considered interest building and Important at the beginning of an evange­listic campaign. He agreed that people to­day need conversion; they need an experi­ence with God to be able to appreciate pres­ent truth and to evaluate the Scriptures for its support. "Millions are wistfully looking for a better world, and the answer must be in Christ's coming kingdom and the earth made new," he said. "Our audiences must learn that a prepared people have this hope even when all around them hearts are doubtful and fearful of the future. The evangelist has the responsibility of prepar­ing men and women to know Jesus and to look forward with joy to His return. Our wonderful doctrines point the way and give authority for our preaching."

J. L. SHULER contributed a plan for lay­ing the groundwork for city evangelism in cities with a population of 100,000 and over. "The colporteur is a useful ground breaker," he said, "and his work should be­gin at least six months before the opening of our public meetings. He will supply a list of names and addresses of people who have invested in our literature, and will especially mark those who have manifested interest in religious themes.

"Church officers and members will also be helpful in supplying the names of rela­tives and friends who should be invited to our public meetings. Those who have lost interest in attending our Sabbath services are excellent potentials to build up our membership." Elder Shuler emphasized the evangelistic enlistment day to be held a few months before the actual opening of the public campaign. "This," he continued, "is the occasion for inspiring the church to answer God's call of evangelism. Merge the sermon into the formation of prayer and service bands, and appoint a time for instructing our members as to their visita­tion and personal work. Such a meeting may be made very spiritual."

Elder Shuler then commented on the use of television in evangelism and more spe­cifically on the It Is Written plan so re­cently used in Washington, D.C. "This cam­paign began September, 1957, and contin­ued into June, 1958. Elder George Vande­man's prepared films were shown each Sun­day evening at 9:00 P.M. over Station WTTG in Greater Washington and an adjacent area. Thousands of the laymen of our Washington churches responded loy­ally to the call to visit with the prepared leaflets entitled Take His Word, and W. 0. Reynolds led out in organizing this work in a most successful manner. The leaflets provided a study guide of an entirely dif­ferent approach from that which Advent­ists have used in the past, and the telecast called attention to the importance of the leaflets for home study. Later, four hun­dred laymen visited enrollees for the Take His Word course and at intervals deliv­ered several leaflets for creating interest in prophecy."

Relating that Elder Vandeman's three-week decision meetings in the D.C. Ar­mory had caught the interest of our entire membership and of those for whom such faithful preparatory work had been done, Elder Shuler highly commended this proj­ect and this type of evangelism. It should be remembered, however, that he and Elder C. A. Reeves together with Elder Vande­man held other brief series of meetings to reap the interest in the outlying areas of Washington. Their efficiency in the fol­low-up program greatly helped in prepar­ing interested people for baptism. The lo­cal pastors of the entire Washington area must continue to conserve the interest for months to come if the It Is Written pro­gram is to meet the expectations this unique project has aroused. It is a wonderful plan for harnessing our evangelistic leadership and the laymen in a challenging, soul-win­ning work in a great city.

To the question: "How did it work?" it was reported that by June about 200 souls had been baptized. The baptism of an­other hundred is anticipated by Septem­ber. Noteworthy is the interest of our lay­men who have supported these It Is Writ­ten meetings in every way suggested by their leaders. Without their help such an evangelistic experiment would not succeed.

ELDER VANDEMAN: "Some time ago the film committee of the General Conference asked that we prepare a kit for this session and for the brethren out in the confer­ences. It was felt that such a kit should de­scribe something of the It Is Written plan of evangelism, how it involves the laymen, what our ministers in various areas have thought about it, and how it has worked in the areas where we have experimented quietly with it. It seemed that a kit might be too large and bulky and expensive, so instead we have put the entire plan into a twenty-eight-page brochure called The Story of It Is Written—a New Experience in Adventist Evangelism. We want you to have one of these booklets.

"We had the privilege of having several men of experience work with us. We felt that if we could learn to combine a seed-sowing program with the reaping methods of public evangelism, adding these to the media of mass communication, the com­bination would be an encouragement to our workers throughout the field.

"This is a typical experience. Brother Shuler went into a little suburban village and made nineteen visits in the homes of interested ones on Thursday and Friday. He then held four decision meetings over the weekend, and secured from that little community thirteen decisions. If the work­ers of every little church would do that, go­ing right into the homes of those who are ready for decision, I believe God would help us to reap these precious souls who are waiting only 'to be gathered in.' "

J. L. SHULER: "For years I have prayed that God would give us some plan that Nvould help us to break through in these great metropolitan areas. I believe that God has given us a plan in It Is Written."

Earl E. Cleveland ran a campaign in Washington simultaneously with the It Is Written campaign but did not use this plan. He was asked what particular plan he had used to get his crowds, and how he laid the groundwork for his successful campaign.

E. E. CLEVELAND: "It should be kept in mind that some evangelists may not be op­erating in an area where they can benefit from a plan such as the It Is Written pro­gram we have just discussed. We are then called on to develop our own resources and trustingly depend on God's help for the harvest He has promised His consecrated, faithful workers. Our plan included a pre­paratory work of four months of literature distribution in which the laity of our re­gional group nobly participated. They helped wonderfully to make friends and to overcome some prejudice in the district where our meetings were to be held. We should remember that the tactful, prepara­tory work of a colporteur is invaluable.

"When the church itself is being spiritu­ally prepared by our pastors, results are never disappointing. Our members entered heartily into the work that rested heavily upon me and our pastors. We held an all-night prayer meeting before we began. It was my first; I assure you it will not be my last. I believe that the success of the Washington campaign can be mainly at­tributed to the all-night prayer meeting."

MODERATOR: "There is another question that comes to us, a very important one; one that perhaps concerns North American evangelism mainly. What about identify­ing ourselves? Are we wise or unwise to do that? Brother Vandeman, perhaps you could give us just a word or two on that."

G. E. VANDEMAN: "I feel we have come to the time when we can tactfully identify ourselves and greatly increase our effec­tiveness in reaching thinking people throughout the world. On our It Is Writ­ten program Seventh-day Adventists are definitely identified at the end of each film.

"It Is Written is actually an experiment in which our leading brethren try to meet some of the frustrations and problems that our evangelists have been facing in getting audiences and holding them. The brethren asked me to participate in this experi­mentation to reach the masses in a preparatory program before public evangelism actually strikes. Then when we preach in a public auditorium we can preach to men and women who have already been some­what indoctrinated in our message before they ever attend a public meeting.

"On these programs there is clear iden­tification. And throughout the series Sev­enth-day Adventists are occasionally men­tioned. The Sabbath is taught, tactfully to be sure, and as interestingly as we know how to present it. We have discovered that such teaching does not dissipate an audience, especially since it goes into the home and there is no fear of people seeing them come to a meeting. In fact, we have discovered the heads of three large Prot­estant denominations have been watching It Is Written in Washington. We have twenty-five ministers from twenty-five dif­ferent denominations taking the Take His Word Bible course. A Presbyterian min­ister canceled his prayer meeting the other night to attend a baptismal class and a teacher in a Catholic university has been attending the baptismal class. Evidently, telling men and women who we are does not hinder if the message gets into the home first.

"There are tactful ways to identify our­selves. Some years ago Brother Eckenroth wrote up a very tactful paragraph describ­ing the work he was representing in a cer­tain city. He presented it as a continuation of the great revival, begun in the days of St. Paul and the Reformation, stating that this work had now spread to some seven hundred countries and islands, and that the Seventh-day Adventist churches of that area brought him to that city. That is an ap­pealing way of doing it. It does not create prejudice, but turns the attention away from Adventist doctrine to what Advent­ists are doing."

MODERATOR: "We are Conscious, of course, that there would be places in cer­tain areas of the world where revealing our identity would be a little more difficult. Brother Folkenberg, we are glad to have you with us. He comes to us from Califor­nia and is a successful evangelist. Please give us a word as to what you feel would help in maintaining an audience."

S. L. FOLKENBERG: "I have before me a quotation from Evangelism, page 129: 'Workers with clear minds are needed to devise methods for reaching the people.' God has given us minds, brethren, and He expects us to use them, to think up new and wonderful ways with which to grip the hearts of the people. This It Is Written program is one example of it. Four years ago when we brought you the black-light demonstration, that also was an example of it. All of these things are to be used to rouse the interest of the people in the gos­pel. To those who do not have a large corps of workers, and have to carry on their evan­gelistic program alone, I would like to give this suggestion. In the first place, don't be afraid to try something new. Just because you are alone, don't sit on your hands and say: 'I can't preach the gospel.' We have found out that we can have a wonderful service without a song leader, and an ex­cellent service without a song service. Make it purely a lecture program if you wish. Have quiet music while the people are gathering. The effort that I have just fin­ished and from which we are now reaping the harvest, is the first effort where I have had live music.

"In fact, if a little boy who used to sit on the front row thought Elder Detamore was wired for sound, he should see me! I have buttons, and gadgets, and wires con­nected with me or in front of me to make this evangelistic program work smoothly. When we step out by faith and use the tal­ents the Lord has given to us, and lie awake nights if necessary, thinking up new ways to proclaim this wonderful message, God will answer our prayers and reward our efforts.

"I think, fellow workers, that on this matter of advertising we are too prone to copy one another. I have come to the con­clusion that handbills are relatively unim­portant in getting people to come out to meetings. If you think back to the last Gen­eral Conference session, we had one side of our hall displaying the different handbills of our evangelists. What impressed me as I looked at them was the tremendous sameness of these bills. The atomic bomb was going off on one side of the handbill and the picture of the evangelist in a very dra­matic pose was spread on the other side. Evangelist So-and-So advertised himself as a world-renowned lecturer. Brethren, surely there are better ways of presenting our in­vitations to the public.

"We have gone so far as to send out our announcements without using a name on them and letting the message itself bring the people, and we have found it very successful. Now, how to inject a little personal touch into our advertising. Brother Deta­more mentioned the plan of the wedding-type invitation that he found very success­ful. We had the same experience. For our more recent series we incorporated some­thing we had never used before. We were fortunate to be in a church where we have ten doctors, and we combed their patient lists for names. A formal invitation was sent out in a hand-addressed double en­velope by first-class mail. Down in the cor­ner we put these words: 'With the compliments of Dr. _______ .' His patients received 

this invitation from the doctor, as it were. There was a large number of patients and this friendly advertisement did give a tre­mendous personal touch. We were greatly privileged in being allowed to use the doc­tors' patient lists. When we evangelize later on in New York we will not have a situa­tion like that. We may have to spend a few months in experimentation on the best kind of advertising to reach the masses of that metropolis. These cities are not easily stirred."

MODERATOR: "But what type of adver­tising would you recommend if you were presenting 'The Nature of Man' or 'The Condition of Man in Death'?"

S. L. FOLKENBERG: "Let me mention a very successful title for the 'State of the Dead.' I usually play it up some five or six lectures beforehand. My title was lifted out of the Signs of the Times, based on an article that appeared several years ago from the pen of a brother down in Panama—'What to Do When Dead.' "

MODERATOR: "Thank you, and by the way, I should mention that the Folkenberg brothers are beginning at the New York Center in just a few months. I am sure that it will be a very interesting team and they will do a great work right in the heart of that great metropolis. Let us remember them, brethren, for this is a difficult mis­sion. And let us remember all our brethren who are carrying a heavy evangelistic load. Brother Detamore, just give us a word as to how you would begin a campaign."

F. W. DETAMORE: "Everything we use re­volves around somebody. We found the Folkenberg plan of the formal invitation with a very neat ticket is by far the best. We picked that up last General Conference, and then I took a trip out to visit them in California and it was well worth the trip. That is the only plan we have found that hasn't failed anywhere. We cannot use radio in our work because we move faster than radio. In our type of work we cannot build up a friendly audience in advance. We rely on the church members. We do not feel that in short campaigns we should spend much money in large advertising; perhaps just a third of a page in the news­paper. I think if our evangelists actually checked their advertising results, they would find that they are wasting a lot of money on the newspapers. That is the rea­son we have cut out almost all newspaper advertising except for the first week. Now we are giving the people rewards. We en­courage them to bring others by offering a reward, such as a Bible."

MODERATOR: "We are going to close soon, and I will give each one of the panel mem­bers about half a minute if they would like to say something quickly."

WALTER SCHUBERT: "My prayer, breth­ren, is that I will not have a horse-and­buggy concept in this twentieth century. This is a glorious age of opportunity for evangelism. Let us thank God, brethren and sisters, that we are privileged to live in such a time as this. Let us study, plan, and devise methods to reach the people where they are. We must do something out of the common course of things; we must arrest their attention.

"I think the most important single thing that we as pastors need to bear in mind is that the decks must be cleared for action in evangelism. Do this by laying some re­sponsibility on others; let the deacons take care of leaky downspouts, and have receptionists take care of special affairs like farewells, and wreaths, and showers of dif­ferent types; have a church business clerk who will take care of all ordinary business matters such as where to get a carpenter and how much we should pay for paint. Let the church elders serve in every capacity where they can. If you have board meetings after the evangelistic meeting at night, that will save a lot of time, and it will also bring the people out to the meeting. If it is late, folks don't talk so long. By properly organ­izing your work and laying the responsibil­ity on others, you will find time to hold evangelistic meetings."