Camp Meeting Bible Work

CAMP meeting is a season of refreshing for the minister and Bible instructor as well as for the laity. But the camp meeting, more than any other occasion, requires the spiritual serv­ices of our workers. Much of their time, how­ever, is taken up with duties of a less ministerial nature. Too often the lodging and feeding of our believers crowd out the true spiritual min­istries so many need and have come to camp meeting to receive. Without this spiritual min­istry both workers and believers may return home disappointed because this need has not been met. When we count this loss to the lay­men, the camp meeting may in the lives of some lose its true appeal. After all, the Lord ministers to them through our ministry.

It is during the camp meeting that workers live very close to the people. We would not merely convey the idea of the location of their lodging; it is far more the closeness of a spir­itual fellowship. Each camp meeting draws many new believers, and to these hungry souls the camp meeting objectives and blessings must be interpreted by our ministerial workers. The Bible instructor helps to initiate those new in the faith to the program as well as to the sources of spiritual blessing. While all meet­ings have been planned for our members, some meetings are indispensable to them at this stage of their Christian experience. In fact, it is the ministerial family of their home church and the church Bible instructor who can best guide them to truly profit by their first camp meet­ing.

The Bible instructor's routine program dur­ing camp meeting may absorb her time and strength without the responsibility of shepherd­ing new believers; but this must be done by someone, and they are more responsive to her efforts than to those of laymen. This will keep the Bible instructor busy. At times her atten­tion may have to be divided by more than one responsibility. It is then that her feelings must be well under control; cheerfulness, calmness of manner, and courteous service will be called for every hour of the day. "Serving tables" will be interspersed with ministerial duties, but these added responsibilities are not without special blessings to the worker. So the variety of her camp meeting program, while hardly of a vacation nature, does supply by-products of faithful service recognized by the Master, and the peace of an enriched Christian experience.

Receiving a Personal Refreshing

The greatest objective of the camp meeting is perhaps that of helping our believers to re­turn to their homes with renewed confidence the message. Next, we aim to give the flock an enlarged vision of assisting the home church in the task of evangelism for this hour of history. Most of our gatherings accomplish well this purpose. But while the workers center their at­tention on helping the laymen, they must al­ways be conscious of their own need of grace and reviving. No pressure of work should cause them to neglect themselves. There is great need of a continuous infilling of the Spirit if we are to minister to the flock acceptably.

The Bible instructor also needs the spiritual uplift of the early morning devotional meeting. She should lend the influence of her personal example to the Sabbath school and those planned meetings that bring a definite response or witness from the membership. Here we meet struggling members who come to camp meeting to learn from the leaders and from their fellow Christians. As we move among the constituency, encouraging the disheartened, strengthening the weakening hands, and lifting the eyes of worldlings upward, it will mean much to each person we serve.

In the apostles' day Lydia of Thyatira found time to attend Paul's prayer band by the river­side. One wonders if there she made contacts that soon necessitated the organizing of a church that first met in her home. To the alert Bible instructor the annual camp meeting will provide added opportunities for Bible and per­sonal work. We, with many others, deplore the trend that ties down our skilled Bible instruc­tors to routine tasks, which in themselves are very important to our people but which could be accomplished by laymen who are not as busy with the essential spiritual responsibilities of the flock. Lay sisters would be willing to assist us if we would take the time to teach them.

Here we wish to cautiously venture a sugges­tion: While the Martha type of Bible instructor is much needed at camp meeting, the Lydia and Priscilla type—teaching and establishing new believers in the gospel message—must not de­cline in our ranks. Perhaps in the organizing and managing of worker personnel in the fu­ture this problem might receive a little closer study. Today we are not as hard pressed for helpers to manage lodges and cafeterias as in the earlier days of our work, and while we are studying to make our camp meetings profitable and spiritual seasons for all who attend, we would be happy to see the services of the Bible instructor used more effectively. Until our con­ference leadership opens the way for this, how­ever, our Bible instructors will work with the management to make the camp meeting an en­joyable feast for all who attend. The point here is that we should be alert to give the greatest ef­ficiency to God's work, and the Bible instructor is one of the team who leads in making the camp meeting all God expects it to be.