WHY is it so hard for some people to see the Sabbath truth? Why do people want to believe in an eternally burning hell? What are the best nights of the week on which to hold meetings? What seems to be a good worable length for a campaign?
All of us have asked these questions (many more, too!). Conducting more than seventy-five evangelistic campaigns has given me some ideas about possible answers. Sharing experiences and ideas concerning methods has always been helpful to me.
Much has been said about the length of campaigns. For the past three years most of our series have been five weeks in length. Meetings are held every night except Wednesday and Thursday. By opening and closing on Saturday there are twenty-six nights in the series. There are several advantages to such a schedule. It is short enough to allow us to hold six campaigns a year. It allows a much stronger visitation program in two ways.
1. The two open nights give ample time to visit all those who cannot be visited during the day.
2. There is time for the pastor to go into every home of those who show a real interest in the truth. This makes a stronger tie between the pastor and those who are baptized. And it gives the church members two evenings to do shopping, housework, and other things that must be done. The pro gram is concentrated enough to give good impetus for decision. We like the schedule very much.
Which Nights Are Best for Meetings?
Experience has convinced me that there is great benefit to conducting meetings on consecutive nights. We formerly held on Friday, Sunday, and Tuesday or Wednesday. The midweek meeting was the hard one in which to maintain attendance. Now if we were holding three meetings a week it would be Friday, Saturday, and Sunday; Saturday, Sunday, and Monday; or Thursday, Friday, and Saturday. By keeping the nights together we can help achieve a much better, steady attendance. Friday night is best for our people. Saturday is best for non-Adventists. You can build up a good psychological momentum over the weekend to carry you right on through the week to the break. If we hold six times a week, and we do occasionally, Thurs day would be the "off" night. It is much easier to carry the crowd from the week end with you through the early part of the week than to break early in the week and then try to pick up again later. If Monday is the "off" night it is hard to begin on Tuesday or Wednesday. We often have a larger attendance of non-Adventists on Monday than on Sunday.
When I began my work in the ministry no one ever held evangelistic meetings on Saturday night. Sunday was considered the big night. But someone (Fordyce Detamore, I believe) discovered that people would come to a meeting on Saturday night. We just completed our seventy-sixth campaign. Without one exception, Saturday has always been the best night of the week. Many people attend their own church on Sunday evening. Most people are free from binding engagements on Saturday night. Because this is the best night for attendance, I believe we should present the most important truths at that time. If the Sabbath is advertised without disguise it will draw the largest crowd during a series. People are increasingly interested in the Sabbath, and our members will make a greater effort to bring visitors to hear this message.
Which Night Is Best for the Sabbath Message?
There are some who present the Sabbath on a night of the week that is usually low in attendance. They point out that putting a vital subject on a low night will keep the attendance up. This is no doubt true. However, there is another thing to consider. Let me illustrate: If the average weekend attendance is 250, you can present the Sabbath on a week night and have a crowd of approximately 250 rather than the usual weekly attendance of 200. How ever, if you present the Sabbath on Saturday night the group may well exceed 300. We want the greatest possible number of people to hear this message. Why not present it at the time that has the greatest potential?
Order of Subjects
The order in which you present subjects should be given careful study. My convictions on this have come from our visitation program. The questions people ask and comments they make indicate how well the preacher is presenting the mes sage. Receiving many questions on a particular subject indicates that more study is needed to present that truth in a logical, clear, and convincing way.
We need to try to understand how our message will be received by one of another faith. There are two phases of the truth that illustrate this very forcefully.
1. Many other Christians have a very strong bias against the Sabbath. This is usually, if not always, centered in what they consider strong arguments against the law of God. Because of this, we present the Sabbath truth be fore we present the law. If we present the law first some people will not re turn to hear the Sabbath truth. They will not accept the truth about the law, because they are afraid of having to believe the Sabbath. When we present the Sabbath first we mention the law only in passing, with no appeal to its authority at all. The results are gratifying. As we visit in the homes long discussions about "law and grace" do not occur. When the law is presented the prejudice is gone because the Sabbath has already been established.
2. The question of immortality is of increasing interest. The rapid growth of spiritism is evident. When we approach this truth in a logical way it is rarely a problem. However, in many Bible-study lessons and evangelistic handbills the study on the millennium and spiritism often precedes the study on the nature of man. When a person believes that "the immortal soul of man" goes to either heaven or hell at death how can he accept the truth about the millennium and spiritism? He cannot. But when they learn the truth about the nature of man there is no obstacle to accepting the other two.
"And they read from the book, from the law of God, clearly; and they gave the sense, so that the people understood the reading" (Neh. 8:8; R.S.V.). The same should be said of our preaching.
