FOR several years there has been felt the need of increasing the efficiency of altar calls. It has been thought that dealing with those who come forward just as a group has a tendency to depersonalize their decision. Also, they often leave the hall with a feeling of being alone, for they may have no close friends within the church. I believe that the Lord has led me into a program that is cutting down on the mortality rate of new believers.
Prior to the opening of the crusade, I conduct a Friendship Clinic in the church. This course consists of five one-half hour training sessions designed to teach our members how to lead a soul to Christ. The sessions are:
1. The task and a challenge.
2. That insurance policy of yours (the assurance of salvation).
3. Playing monopoly (developing a loving church).
4. The morning after (efficient postevangelistic follow-up).
5. Encounter (actual counseling procedures).
Each class session consists of a lecture, actual demonstration and class participation, a home study assignment, and memory work. The lecture is given to the class members in mimeographed form, with certain blanks to be filled in as the lecture progresses. This serves to hold interest as well as to fasten the important points in the mind.
Following each class session, the members divide into groups of two to practice on one another the identical counseling techniques they will be using during the altar calls. This breaks the ice and begins to build their self-confidence.
As the evangelistic meetings begin and an altar call is given, the counselor's role becomes vital. As he sees someone of his own gender and approximate age coming to the front, he slips out of his seat and joins him. After the appeal is over he takes his Bible and leads his counselee in a short study (one or two minutes), seeking to confirm what the Holy Spirit has already done in his heart, and leads him in prayer.
The counselor then introduces his counselee to the first lesson of the Radiant Living Course, which is a series of studies prepared from Steps to Christ (and which the counselor has already completed as a part of his homework assignment). He makes arrangements to pick up the first lesson a day or two later and leave the second one. This he will continue all through the twelve lessons in the course, thus there is automatically structured a visit into the home of each new convert once a week for the following calendar quarter. I believe that this is one of the greatest strengths of the program.
But perhaps equally important is the fact that these new folks are being introduced to an early study of the Spirit of Prophecy, and at a very practical and helpful level. The lay activities director dis tributes the subsequent lessons to the counselors, and thus he is able to keep an accurate check on the program to make sure that each convert is adequately cared for.
I have used the counseling program in several crusades thus far and have been thrilled (as have the pastors in whose districts I have used it) with the results both short and long range.
I sincerely hope that others will try this program and make suggestions for refining it so that it will have wide use among our workers, for I feel that it has met the need in some important problem areas in my evangelism.
