In the Special Supplement of the April MINISTRY the full story was given of the Denver and Washington Five-Day Plan pilot programs. Since then numerous inquiries have come to the General Conference regarding the details of this new venture. Prior to the recent Spring Council, a large representative committee met and formulated some definite recommendations to be presented at the Spring Council.
In view of the tremendous impact this program has had on the public in helping many to overcome the smoking habit, and in view of the fact that this is a church-oriented program, a number of actions were taken that not only give guidance to this project but complete support from both the General Conference and the unions in North America. The resolutions that affect the field in general are as follows:
1. That the plan for conducting pilot schools for the purpose of training personnel be continued for a period of one year, with the understanding that a minimum of one school be held in each union in the North American Division. In order to assure the success of these schools, the General Conference and the ten North American union conferences have set up a financial project whereby E. J. Folkenberg and Wayne McFarland, M.D., of the Atlantic Union will be lent to the General Conference for this program. Thus the men who have developed this Five-Day Plan over the past three years will be made available to the entire North American Division for the specific purpose of conducting training institutes for medical-ministerial teams. This step is not only welcome, but we feel that there is a definite necessity for the proper advancement of this program.
2. All details of the program, including the itinerary of the Folkenberg-McFarland team, will be under the direction of a permanent guidance and coordinating committee, which was also set up by action of the Spring Council. Members of this committee are as follows: Arthur H. Roth, chairman; J. R. Spangler, secretary; W. P. Bradley; E. J. Folkenberg; J. O. Gibson; Wayne McFarland, M.D.; Cyril Miller; J. C. Kozel; C. E. Randolph, M.D.; M. H. Reeder; J. V. Scully.
All requests for the training team and questions relative to materials and procedures should be directed to Arthur H. Roth.
3. Materials used in the Five-Day Plan are to be made available through the General Conference Temperance Department. Union and conference organizations should order directly from them. The materials and prices are as follows:
4. The Five-Day Plan is to be considered a public service of the Seventh-day Adventist Church and is to be kept distinct and separate from the regular program of public evangelism.
5. The Five-Day Plan is to be conducted only by Seventh-day Adventist medical-ministerial teams that have been approved by the union conference coordinator and the conference committee.
Many are asking about the special Five-Day Plan MINISTRY magazine. As you have noted, much of the material in this special issue was the actual reproduction of the newspaper articles appearing in the Denver and Washington papers. Knowing how valuable this material would be for use in preparing special displays for the purpose of introducing this plan to the leading citizens and various organizations in the cities we will be contacting, we printed extra copies of this issue. We would urge, however, that the magazine in its entirety not be given or shown to other than our own workers. Rather, cut out the publicity material and place this in an attractive loose-leaf binder, using special clear plastic pages. A number of articles in this magazine, which deal with the Adventist concept of medical-ministerial relationships and also our own views on our special health message, are obviously not for general public consumption.
We are cutting the price on this special issue to just twenty-five cents a single copy, or twenty cents in quantity lots. We urge you to secure your extra issues immediately before the supply is exhausted. We know that many of our men will want to take advantage of this opportunity; therefore we urge you to get your orders to us speedily.
One question repeatedly asked concerns the conducting of the Five-Day Plan on Friday evenings. The committee has given special study to this question, and in view of the fact that this is a public service program and not a regular evangelistic or religious service, we recommend that the program begin on Sunday night and close on Thursday evening.
It is our earnest desire that literally hundreds of these five-day clinics will be conducted throughout North America in the near future. And we trust that this investment in time and money may result in thousands being liberated from the enslavement of tobacco and through this liberating experience an interest be awakened in the hearts of many to know more of God's salvaging plan for the human race.
Other materials on this subject such as magazines, books, and films can be obtained from
The American Temperance Society 6840 Eastern Avenue NW. Washington 12, D.C.
J. R. S.
