AN UNPRECEDENTED interest in the study of the book of Daniel is manifest among the members of the Lacombe church, on the campus of Canadian Union College in Alberta, Canada. Ten different groups meet once each week on different evenings and on Sabbath afternoon to study a portion of the prophetic book.
This interest can be traced to an initial decision early in the year to devote one entire Sabbath to the study of the book of Daniel. Sabbath school, church service, and the entire after noon of February 16 was set aside for such study. Weeks before the designated date church members were reminded each Sabbath of the importance of preparing for the day devoted to the study of the prophecies of Daniel.
A number of church members responded to the call of the pastor to help make visual aids needed in order to clarify the truths being presented.
A sanctuary model, made to scale and following the color pattern of the tabernacle built by Moses in the wilderness, was made by one of our members. Another member embroidered the inner covering of the sanctuary with purple, blue, and scarlet, and overlaid it with gold and silver cherubims following the directions given in the Scriptures. Large charts and maps to help explain the different prophecies were drawn by two more of our members.
In order to facilitate attendance at the afternoon meetings, the church social activity leader arranged for a potluck dinner. Ten pages of notes on the book of Daniel were mimeographed to be passed out to everyone attending the seminar. Interest was increased in the afternoon presentation by having one of the members dress in replicas of the garments of the high priest.
The nearly 1,000 attending (including a Protestant minister) listened intently to the four prophecies of Daniel as they were explained one after the other. Many remarked that they had never seen so many people stay so long, not even at camp meetings. After the pastor finished this comprehensive overview of the book of Daniel, Avery Dick ended the high day by presenting slides of ancient Babylon, Medo-Persia, Greece, and Rome. At the conclusion of the Sabbath seminar, since it was after sundown, the Adventist Book Center mobile unit offered books on Daniel 1 and the sanctuary.
Capitalizing on this interest, we decided to hold prayer meetings each evening of the week as well as on Sabbath afternoons. Members were encouraged to choose the evening that best suited their schedule to attend prayer meeting and restudy the book of Daniel in depth. Seven members were chosen to lead out in these studies and met once a week for a teachers' class.
We are convinced that there is no better time for such studies than now, for "when the books of Daniel and Revelation are better understood, believers will have an entirely different religious experience."--Testimonies to Ministers, p. 114.
