INGATHERING and Adventism are two entirely different words but in a sense are almost synonymous to preachers and deeply-rooted laymen. Ingathering can almost be classified, when it comes to church values and emphasis, as a doctrine. My second year in the ministry found me in a workers' meeting listening to a lovable union president who thundered out, "Get your Ingathering goal, or . . ." He didn't complete the sentence, but it didn't take much guessing to understand what he was driving at. A hurricane of emotion would be provoked if we dared attempt to dispense with this yearly campaign. Cancellation of the Ten Commandments wouldn't cause much more commotion.
Those who were children two score years ago knew what Ingathering really was like. In those days we labeled it Harvest In gathering. Fall and winter were the months for this activity. To reach our goal in those challenging years required not weeks, but months of time! We started singing bands in October and sang on through Thanks giving and Christmas and sometimes well into the new year. Like mailmen—hail, snow, and rain couldn't stop us.
Admittedly we were a rather motley group. We had no records or tape recorders. Business contacts were few and far between. Most of our money came in little dribbles of dimes, nickels, and sometimes quarters, and on rare occasions a dollar. A dollar then caused about as much jubilation as $20 now! One thing certain, we had the spirit! Before starting we usually prayed for heaven's angels to join their voices with ours. There was reason for this special request. Some dear saints who wouldn't solicit and couldn't sing insisted on getting their goal the singing band way. Off-key music still brought in the donations. Either the angels joined us in singing or we were paid to move on!
For the first few nights, how we stumbled down the uneven sidewalks, trying to read our music with flashlights. But after a month or so our memories increased, along with our repertoire.
When freezing weather set in, we bundled up like astronauts on the moon. Even then the older folks would keep moving and stamping their feet to prevent rigor mortis from setting in. My plump aunt, with her rich alto voice, joined my slim uncle, with his deep resonant bass voice. The two were the nightly hard-core musical contributors. Even though we classed ourselves as children of the light we were glad for the darkness in which to operate. Our looks and sounds were not exactly comparable to the New York Metropolitan Opera singers. In fact, we were a unique group—a peculiar people! Even the Salvation Army had a uniform look. About the only thing uniform about us was our joy and happiness. The bitter cold and small donations couldn't dampen our spirits.
We had times that bordered on hilarity, such as the night we were climaxing our work by singing lustily, "We Are Nearing Home." The final song seemed to sound the best, at least to us. We were tramping up a long hill broadcasting loudly those words "We are nearing home"! The last notes for that night faded into the crisp, cold air just as we reached the summit. There our little band stopped work for the evening, just across the street from the insane asylum, the name given to institutions for the mentally ill back in those years.
When we matched our song with the location we were convulsed with laughter. There was nothing long-faced about our activities that night!
We had our solemn, joyful moments too. A number of times our group trooped into homes, singing a song of Zion for some in valid. The reward of smiles surpassed that of silver or gold.
One time a group of teenagers were under my direction. This took place in our later musicless years when we just went from door to door soliciting. Quitting time came and I was picking up my precious cargo. One team eluded me. I circled the block several times and finally my daughter, one of the team, came running out of a stately Episcopal church with her arms waving me down to a stop.
She ran up and exclaimed, "Daddy, we were soliciting this block and saw a light on in the church so we decided to go in and Ingather them!"
When I heard this I gulped and started to say, "Why on earth did you go into a church to do Ingathering?" The urge to express that thought was smothered with admiration for these girls who were brave enough to go any place to let people know about the work of Seventh-day Adventists.
My daughter continued, "Come on in, quick. They are having a board meeting and they started asking us questions. Some we can't answer and I told them you were a minister and would be glad to explain these things!"
I found a group of about twenty-five church leaders sitting in a circle, many drinking coffee and a few smoking. For an hour and a half questions were directed to me on subjects ranging from the second coming of Christ to the state of the dead. It was one of the greatest opportunities I have had for witnessing.
Of particular interest was their repeated exclamations over the Adventists' ability to get youth out ringing doorbells for a religious cause.
Right Motivation
If Ingathering is promoted properly, it can be a great blessing to the participants and certainly a wonderful program of literature! distribution. It has its drawbacks, like any other church program. I have a suspicion that a few of our dear saints equate Ingathering with salvation. But isn't the same true of some who pay tithe?
There are cases of going over the same territory twice in order to get the goal. This certainly is to be deplored and avoided. I also know of several church membership books that were unduly swept clean in order to keep the Ingathering goal down. Concern for wayward sheep should never be tied to some financial goal.
The true goal of Ingathering should be the making of contacts and the winning of souls In reaching this goal, may I suggest the following points I follow in organizing for the greatest single missionary endeavor of this church:
1. (Thoroughly organize your church into (small action groups of ten or twelve people with leaders.
2. (Map out your territory carefully. At tempt to cover every home in your district.
3. Train your solicitors. Let them practice on one another before going out. Well-trained youth and adults make a far better impression on the public than a group of children dashing from house to house.
4. Leave literature at every home, whether you receive a donation or not. I always use appropriate doctrinal literature along with the Ingathering paper. Let every contact be a literature contact!
5. Instruct your solicitors to pray with people if the opportunity presents itself.
6. Train your workers to be on the alert for interested people. Get their names and addresses and don't forget the callbacks.
7. Send the book of the year to special donors.
8. Organize teams to make friendly, social calls on business donors six months before Ingathering time. Present them with a special book or piece of literature. This takes away the idea that every time they see an Adventist they ask for money!
9. Be enthusiastic. Your people will mimic your attitudes. If you are for it, the majority will be for it too.
10. Pray as if work doesn't count and then work as if prayer doesn't count.
