How come that you, a union conference departmental secretary, conduct a public evangelistic campaign each year?" This is a question that I am often asked, and the following are the reasons I give for my annual sorties into the field of public evangelism:
- I have a conviction that by virtue of ordination to the gospel ministry I must preach the gospel to a perishing world.
- I feel that strength is added to my promotion of coordinated evangelism if I am personally involved in this type of program.
- I like to keep my evangelistic sword sharpened against the day when I may again have the privilege of serving as a full-time public evangelist.
- A man engaged in administrative or departmental work finds it difficult to carry on a continuous successful program of personal evangelism because he must travel. A short intensive series of meetings at least once each year enables the one engaged in promotional or administrative work to keep in touch with evangelism and evangelistic methods.
Usually my evangelistic efforts are of not more than three weeks' duration and are always associated with a school of lay evangelism for the training of ministers and lay people.
For the first few series of such meetings I discovered that the end result of the series of public meetings in actual souls won was somewhat disappointing in spite of the fact that all meetings would be well attended. The local pastor would have difficulty in holding "my" audience. I gave careful study to this carry-over problem and now work to a somewhat set formula which, with the blessing of God, is producing results. At least six months before the public meetings begin I spend a weekend with the church or churches that are to be associated -with the effort. During this weekend ministers and members are made aware of their total involvement in the proposed evangelistic effort from field preparation to baptisms. From this time until the public meetings begin, a weekly class in lay evangelism is conducted by the local pastors, and the churches engage upon an intensive program of visitation among non-Adventist neighbors and friends.
Phase two of the plan begins with public meetings being held almost each night for short lightning efforts. During this time some six hours of instruction in lay evangelism are given each weekend.
From the beginning of the first public meeting we are preparing the audience for the change of speakers that will occur when I must leave the district and the local pastor will lead out in the weekly Bible-marking class. I am introduced to the audience immediately following a brief welcome. I then outline the program that will be followed for the next two or three weeks, and state the purpose of the meetings, suggesting that some questions may arise in the minds of the listeners and that we have made provision for the answering of questions at each meeting. The usual question-box plan is then explained. It is here that I first introduce the local man who will be continuing the series after my departure. I usually say something like this: "We have right here in ____________ [name of town] a mighty man in understanding and explaining the Scriptures. I am happy to introduce to you Pastor __________ , who will be answering our questions each night."
The reason for this approach is no doubt obvious. The local pastor in the estimation of the audience is well established as an authority on the Word, in preparation for his take over of the evangelistic effort.
To further assure the local man of a good attendance at his weekly public meeting, we leave the introduction of the Bible Marking Plan and its free Bible or book offer until the night of my final lecture.
It is interesting, if a little disappointing, to note that regardless of the fact that my public meetings are only a part of a larger training program, the results of which should continue to be reaped until the task is finished, nevertheless some seem to be more interested in knowing how many souls we baptize each year from such efforts. At the time of rendering this report it is too early to assess the results for the current year, but Rex Robinson, the district pastor for MacKay, North Queensland, where we conducted this program in 1964, reports that baptisms in his district (population 20,000) for 1964 were 63 souls, some 40 more than for any previous year.
