ADVENTISM began in a rural setting. From its inception the Christian home and country living have been stressed. But after a few decades specific instruction came for us to hasten the work in the cities. The Lord indicated that ministers would be given special talents for evangelizing populous cities where teams of workers should undertake a well-organized work in which trained laymen would assist in house-to-house visiting and Bible work.
The importance of the work of women also received detailed emphasis. During this era dedicated young womanhood came to the front, and Bible instructors became skilled in leading families into the message. Young ministers associated with city meetings spent most of their time studying the Bible with interested inquirers.
The strength of our work in the cities may speak for the success of the plan God had in mind. During this era many a city, large and small, raised up its first memorial to the Advent faith by building a modest church. This accomplished, the evangelist would then hasten to another city, taking with him an experienced worker or two, and perhaps leaving another worker behind to establish the new Sabbathkeepers.
Emphasis on Personal Workers
We were next instructed that New York City in particular, and the cities of New England should become an object lesson for evangelizing the cities of the world. The preparing of suitable literature was urged, and the training of more colporteurs who would prepare the field the public evangelist was to enter. An army of colporteur wives were to follow up their husbands' seed sowing by giving readings in the homes. From the beginning of our message, the preaching of the Word was always associated with a group of personal workers. Newly organized churches trained young men and women to assist in other campaigns. Some of the women, though no longer in their twenties and thirties, distinguished themselves as well-informed Bible instructors who, when the need was urgent, were public evangelists in their own right. Singing evangelists were later supplied; frequently a musically-minded woman, often a Bible instructor, would lead out in the music.
Modern Methods in Our Cities
Some of our earlier methods in public evangelism would hardly fill today's needs. The evangelist must now give much study to the many counterattractions that tend to keep the public away from his lectures. Besides, we are facing a new world in which women must work outside the home. City living requires more than one salary, and many a mother, after an eight-hour workday, hastily shops in the neighborhood market to provide the family supper, after which the laundry receives attention, and the next day's lunches are prepared. Therefore, evenings for Bible study simply do not fit into such a program. The time consumed in transportation to and from work is another problem that has disturbed the rhythm of an evening series of Bible studies by the home teacher. We might also include congested housing conditions with television in almost every home. Nevertheless, city dwellers must hear God's last warning message, and so the church faces the problem of finding the best methods to alert the people.
Evangelists continue experimenting with musical and educational features designed to attract, as well as to relax, those who attend their meetings. Hectic living produces confused thinking. Single women, and those from broken homes perhaps, often shop around to find something that will provide a change from the monotony of their daily work. Innovators and charlatans make such lonely souls their prey, while the more religiously inclined follow up every type of church revival, too often failing to come to Christian maturity. When such people become acquainted with our work, the Bible instructor must spend much time brushing away the doctrinal confusions before the message can sink into the mind.
Visiting the New York Center
Recently the writer joined the New York Center staff on Times Square where intensive public evangelism is in progress the year around. We conducted a ministers' Monday class for the Andrews University, trained a group of laymen on Sabbath afternoons, and held weekly instruction periods for the staff members. Pastor Joseph Barnes, who has been evangelizing in New York City for about ten years, is at present the director, evangelist, and pastor of the Center. Each is a super responsibility, because this institution, covering six floors, represents more than evangelism. It houses the conference Book and Bible House, a branch office of the General Conference Department of Public Affairs, some doctors' offices, a print shop, a number of rented apartments for workers, and a few accommodations for transients and missionaries. There is a dearth of personal workers. We were impressed with the fact that each worker in the evangelistic team must carry some added responsibilities for operating the plant itself. The Bible instructor is also the pastor's secretary, and other workers carry extra assignments.
The Central Reading Room
At our city centers the reading room, opened daily to the public, performs a service leading into a more thorough Bible work. Some good retired people seek the religious knowledge they have neglected in the past. The reading room can also attract the idle and less desirable types. Evangelism at such a center is a full-time, seven-days-a-week task, requiring endless counseling with some who must be brought into step with Christians who may help them to lead better-poised lives.
Sunday Evening Fellowship Hour
Aside from the occasion following the Sabbath service, when the pastor-evangelist and his associates meet Adventists and non-Adventists for a half hour in the downstairs Fellowship Hall, the regular Sunday gathering is a wonderful opportunity for becoming acquainted with visitors. Usually these people first attend the evangelistic service at 4:30 p.m. in the main auditorium. At the close of this lecture the public is invited to visit with the Center staff in a social setting. At this time a simple snack supper at a nominal cost provides the opportunity for visiting together in groups. The work ers and their lay assistants soon spot new faces and make the visitors acquainted with others. Attractive tables with appetizing food draw many lonely souls into a profitable fellowship. Next follows a stimulating half-hour question period with the evangelist and his doctor associate at their best. A model kitchen is then displayed on the rostrum, where a doctor's wife, who is a registered nurse and a trained nutritionist, demonstrates the science of healthful cookery. This fellowship hour is a most relaxing event, affording many delightful contacts, and interesting men as well as women. It is definitely a soul-winning occasion. Behind the doors of the roomy Center kitchen, many volunteers, some not yet Adventists, joyfully function.
Changing Methods in Evangelism
The personalities of our cities are continually changing. Too often these changes are not for the better. Prophecy portends that the cities of earth will rapidly become more degraded. The problems with which our city workers must contend are staggering. Unless God rolls a great burden on the hearts of dedicated evangelists, who else would be willing to face the problems found in working for these masses? But when He does cause an evangelist to feel the weight of lost souls, nothing can prevent him from working for the people of these too-often neglected cities.
In a metropolis such as New York, we might venture to estimate that every sixth person we meet in its crowds speaks English, and that usually with a decided overseas accent. The rest may represent almost every nation, race, and language in the world. These people have not yet been assimilated into the American way of life. But this is just one of the many problems of a large city. Daily the worker meets crowds of people on whose faces are revealed dissipation, frustration, and futility. Adventism cannot ignore the fact that these people are also God's children who must hear His last warning message. Hopeless as the task may appear at times, some workers must labor in these areas. The promise that there are many human jewels scattered throughout the rubble of vice and corruption who will receive the message, gives city workers the grace to continue their confining and arduous tasks.
Although the trend today is for workers to accept calls to less strenuous fields, the reward of service in earth's great cities amply compensates for their sacrifices. There is power in the message of the evangelist. The message does not change, although it has to be adapted to the peoples and the circumstances. These cities present a challenge for which all heaven is ready to provide the answer.
Many young ministers in training should look cityward for their future task. It is in our schools that the vision for city evangelism should be presented and its spirit caught. There a much stronger emphasis could be given regarding this field of labor. It has been suggested that experienced evangelists should frequently visit our institutions of learning, keeping the needs of the cities before our future ministry.
New methods must speedily be devised by experienced and ingenious workers. A stimulating fellowship of city evangelists might well give special study to successful city evangelism, which is still one of the greatest problems our denomination has to solve.
