The Bible instructor, Trudy Long, answered the telephone. After listening attentively for a few minutes, she asked, "You mean he accidentally shot himself?" In the conversation that followed, this patient Christian worker empathized with the person on the other end of the line, asking questions and expressing sympathy. Then Trudy said, "Can we come over and visit you?"
The person who called in this emergency was one of the recently baptized young people "caught" in the effective evangelistic net constructed and used by Elder Brad Thorp and his team of 22 workers in the sprawling metropolis of Vancouver, British Columbia. Not only a dynamic redemptive center, this evangelistic organization is a continuing source of spiritual nurture for those whose lives it has touched. Hundreds of phone calls, like the one Trudy Long handled, continue to come in.
The evangelistic center ("home" for the single young people on the 22-person evangelistic team) is a large residence that the British Columbia Conference purchased two years ago as a soul-winning base. Built on two and a half acres, it is located on the edge of Surrey, a suburb of the metropolis of Vancouver with its million and a half souls. In the past two years this active evangelistic organization has been responsible, through the blessings of God, for more than 150 converts—and these converts are staying faithful to the great truths of this message. Since the team remains in the area year after year, the center becomes not only an evangelistic agency but a nurturing program for those who have come to accept Christ and His truth through the center's ministry.
Recently I was able to interview Brad Thorp, evangelist for the British Columbia Conference and director of the center in Surrey.
Quigley: Brad, what is your philosophy of how evangelism ought to be done?
Thorp: I believe that we are in the most exciting era of Seventh-day Adventist evangelism. But I believe, too, that our evangelistic principles need to be adapted much more to the secular age in which we live, especially in the cities. Because of intense secularism we must take a much longer approach to evangelism than the traditional short-term program we have followed.
Quigley: Does this mean that the average convert today does not come from a Christian background but from a secular orientation?
Thorp: We do have some from a strictly secular background, but the majority of our converts still come from a "Christian" background. However, I believe that the Christian consciousness of today is far different from the Christian consciousness of 20 or 30 years ago—something much less. We may have many people still coming from a Christian background, but they are not trained in Biblical principles as their forefathers were, and in attempting to reach them with God's truth we must recognize this fact.
Quigley: There is among us at present a philosophy that we should evangelize by spending large sums of money on public meetings. Another school of thought says we should train the church members and develop many Bible study situations, then assist that situation with an evangelistic campaign. How do you see evangelism, Brad?
Thorp: Your question brings to mind two important statements:
"The Lord does not now work to bring many souls into the truth, because of the church members who have never been converted and those who were once converted but who have backslidden" (Testimonies, vol. 6, p. 371); and "The work of God in this earth can never be finished until the men and women comprising our church membership rally to the work and unite their efforts with those of ministers and church officers."—Ibid., vol. 9, p. 117.
In order for evangelism to be successful, I believe, there must be church-centered revival and a union of laity and ministry working together. Public evangelism will be only as successful as the preparatory work. Our philosophy of city evangelism must be long-term and broad enough to encompass, on a continuing basis, the seed-sowing, cultivating, and finally the reaping phase of the public evangelistic meeting. City evangelism needs to be seen as a total program—not just a reaping or lay-training program, but both, on a long-term and ongoing basis.
Quigley: It's interesting to hear you say that, because today's administrators and pastors and laymen, and perhaps the evangelists themselves, are sensing the tenuousness of the commitments made in many campaigns. Far more than we would like, some people stay in the church only a short time after the campaign before going out the back door. Would you be willing to hold a campaign in any church at any time?
Thorp; No. Very careful prework must be done before public evangelistic meetings take place; careful plans also should be laid for follow-up of the meetings. This prework should include health evangelism—cooking schools, Five-Day Plans, stress management, et cetera—using the capabilities of the local church and evangelistic team. There should also be careful cultivation of the church interest file and extensive use of community Bible classes, using the Daniel Seminars. We have had very good success using Daniel Seminars. Also our team and church members befriend people, then invite them to subsequent evangelistic meetings. Further nurturing contact is continued. We have developed a complete outline of our preparatory program that we would be happy to share with pastors or evangelists.
Quigley: That's a rather holistic concept! You see your team, then, as a training source, a reaping evangelistic thrust, and a follow-up nurturing program. It is a very complete program!
Thorp: That's right! A good illustration of this is in the next room. There we have a group of people who were baptized just a few months ago and who are now being trained in the art of personal evangelism themselves.
Quigley: What is your relationship to the six pastors in the city of Vancouver? How do you enter into training programs with them? In what ways do you cooperate so that you are one with their program and they are "on your team"?
Thorp: I view my relationship to the pastors as one of assisting them in their local programs. We are here to help the pastors in their evangelistic efforts with our Bible instructors and programs and to strengthen their local programs. Our work could not be a success without the pastors' active participation.
Quigley: I understand that you have 22 persons here on your staff. This is almost mind-boggling to me. Does the conference pay them a monthly salary?
Thorp: No. The majority of these workers are here on a volunteer basis. We supply room and board and a minimum amount of money every month to meet their travel expenses. They are responsible for meeting their own personal needs.
We have a one-year training program designed to prepare a person to be a thoroughly trained Bible instructor. This course includes eight classes, such as Field School of Evangelism, Personal Evangelism, Daniel Seminars, Factors of Church Growth, and also extensive field training. We invite both lay people and ministers to participate in this program.
I believe that as ministers we need to challenge our people to spend time gaining experience in the science of soul winning. We spend two or three years training a man to be a carpenter or a plumber, yet we think we can train a person to be a Bible instructor in one or two weeks! As a church we need to invest money, time, expertise, and effort in developing an army of properly trained Bible instructors to meet the challenge of the cities. But it will take time and a willingness to let these dedicated people do the programs arid develop their skills.
Quigley: Brad, tell us something about a typical day in the life of the evangelistic center.
Thorp: We have worship at five minutes to eight in the morning, followed by breakast. By 9:00 A.M. we have finished our home duties, and at ten o'clock we begin classes. Classes end at noon or 12:30. At 1:30 P.M. we have prayer bands and name organization.
Quigley: Prayer bands and what kind of organization?
Thorp: Name organization.
Quigley: Is this the organization of visitation?
Thorp: That's right. Pastor Gordon Smedley, one of our team members, is responsible for our field training program. He meets with our group at one-thirty each afternoon. If someone needs names to visit or help in handling a situation, this is the time we deal with that. At 2:00 P.M. we have our midday meal, and by 3:00 P.M. we are out in the field. From 3:00 P.M. until 9:30 or 10:00 P.M. we are doing field work—giving Bible studies, conducting Daniel Seminars, health programs, or evangelistic meetings. That's a typical day for us.
Quigley: Would you comment on the Daniel Seminar as preparation for a major evangelistic crusade?
Thorp: The Daniel Seminar is one of the most effective tools we have for thorough evangelistic preparation. I'm thrilled with it. Probably 40 to 50 percent of our baptismal candidates are from our Daniel Seminars. I would strongly urge and encourage anyone to use the Daniel Seminars. It's an excellent program and can be used very effectively.
Quigley: I've noticed that the city of Vancouver is very large and complex. How do you organize the task of reaching this great metropolis?
Thorp: City evangelism is the greatest challenge we face as Adventists. I believe that the cities demand an evangelistic approach that is much more than a one- or two-year program. In Vancouver we have six churches and ten major socioeconomic areas. It is our goal to establish in every major area of the city subteams of workers who can concentrate their full-time activities in the evangelistic outreach for that area. In time we want to develop health food stores/restaurants in each of these areas, as well as several health spas.
Then, as the evangelist, I go throughout the metropolitan area on a rotating basis, draw two or three of these areas together, and hold a major evangelistic series to reap that interest developed by the Bible instructors. I believe the Lord wants us to develop ten subteams that can literally go door-to-door and know the spiritual state of every home in the city.
Quigley: That is a rather ambitious undertaking. Do you envision ten centers like yours here?
Thorp: Very much so. I believe that is what the Lord wants. In the center ought to be a home where workers can live part time. And connected with it should be a simple health-food store and restaurant. In some areas there might also be a small Adventist health spa. Then that little center becomes the evangelistic base for that area. The workers for these subcenters would be based in a larger outpost located in the country outside the city. Maybe I am looking way off into the future, but I hope and pray that the Lord will soon give us at least 100 full-time workers for metropolitan Vancouver! We need an army of people in this city to do the work that needs to be done.
Quigley: Well, you already have 22 people, or 22 percent of that goal; it doesn't seem that your objective is an unreachable one.
Thorp: I believe we can reach it. And I believe that we need to be committed to long-term programs of evangelism so the cities can be thoroughly worked.
Quigley: I think you are on target. Now, in terms of persons actually baptized over the next five years, have you projected some kind of a goal for which you are praying and working?
Thorp: I believe that the effectiveness of our evangelistic outreach is in direct proportion to our number of effective Bible instructors. And I do not see any reason why a Bible instructor, thoroughly trained, cannot win ten people a year.
Quigley: I notice that you are placing great stress on establishing converts so that they stay with the church. You know, of course, that among Adventists criticism is leveled at evangelism; that many people come into the church but the majority of them go out some time after the meeting closes.
Thorp: In the two and one-half years that we've worked in Vancouver we have lost only four or five individuals.
Quigley: You mean of the 150 you have baptized only four or five have later slipped away?
Thorp: Correct—and some of these are still reasonably close to us.
Quigley: Now let me get this straight, Brad. Are you telling me that you have followed through on the experience of these 150 people you have baptized to the extent that you can know today, as we are talking here, that only four or five have left the church?
Thorp: Yes.
Quigley: That is marvelous!
Thorp: It is a thrilling thing to me to see people coming into the church and then becoming solidly established and involved in the program. Each Bible instructor has his or her own little parish of converts and interests to work with, so there begins to develop in each church a nucleus of excited, deeply committed people who are finding expression for their new relation ship with Christ.
Quigley: Brad, I recognize that your philosophy of evangelism is for long-range work and that you don't have much confidence in the "hit-and-run" type of campaign. Please comment on this.
Thorp: I believe that there is a very real place for short-term reaping meetings. I have no criticism of the short series as long as it is used for reaping purposes—in churches where a large core of people are taking Bible studies or in a strong Adventist institutional community. But if, as a church, we are really going to address ourselves to the challenge of city evangelism, which is the greatest challenge we face today, then we must approach the cities on more than a short-term projection of planning. We have a war to win, not just a battle to fight. And in order to win this war we have to lay a foundation of long-term, permanent evangelistic pro grams in each city.
Vancouver is typical of many cities throughout North America. We have approximately one and a half million people, including large ethnic groups. I believe the only way for us to do thorough work in training church members for evangelism, in establishing strong spiritual nurturing programs, in establishing long-range health and Bible ministries in the city—to truly minister to the needs of the city—is to commit ourselves to a long-term strategy of permanent, ongoing evangelistic outreach, utilizing companies of well-trained workers. And when we do this, Ellen White has said the result will be the setting in operation of a mighty movement such as we have not yet witnessed. This is the latter rain harvest we are all looking for.
Quigley: You mentioned to me earlier five principles of city evangelism. Please give me your philosophy on those as we close this interview.
Thorp: I believe that five key principles must be followed to implement long-term city evangelism. Number one is that evangelistic outreach must be accompanied by church-centered revival and reformation. Revival often takes time to implement within our churches, and true revival must find expression in outreach or it will die. Therefore, revival, reformation, and evangelism must go hand in hand. Revival prepares the way for evangelism, while evangelism encourages and fosters revival. New members are often the greatest catalyst for revival and reformation within the church, for as older members see enthusiastic new members coming in, they catch the fire and begin to become involved. In order for this to have its full effect evangelism and revival must be carried forward on a long-term basis.
Second, there must be a union of ministry and laity. We must train the laity and then allow them to work. One of the hardest things for ministers to do is to step back and let a lay person get up, stumble through a few seminars, give a few Bible studies and maybe have some trouble with them—but that's the only way he will learn and catch the joy of soul winning. We must be willing to step out of the limelight and to allow the laity to become involved. This is the only way we can harness the army of the church.
Third, there must be a union of medical and gospel evangelism. We must have a constant, ongoing partnership between these two ministries. We must effectively use the right arm of the gospel to proclaim to the world the holistic message God has given us. Only then will either ministry be complete and fully accomplish what God has intended.
The fourth principle is the union of the conference-paid, ordained ministry with a volunteer company of workers. This involves a real commitment on the part of the team leadership, but it is a vital concept that was found in the heart of Christ's ministry. Jesus spent far more time with the twelve than He did with the multitude. He instructed and trained them, but they also did preparatory work for Him and assisted Him in His large public meetings. Jesus combined both ministry to His team and to the multitude. And by this apprenticeship method He prepared them to become dynamic leaders of the Christian church. If we are going to be successful in our ministry and evangelism, we must also prepare a team effectively to work and reach others.
Fifth, city evangelism must be connected with the country outpost. The Spirit of Prophecy speaks of essentially three types of outposts from which to work the cities. One outpost center is in the inner city as a site from which to hold meetings. A second outpost center is in an isolated location and is primarily for intensive training of the evangelistic team. The third outpost center is in a rural area with easy access to the city to provide workers with the advantage of living in a quiet rural location and yet of being intensely involved in the grind and thrust of city evangelism. Alternating between the quietness of the country and the pressure of the city is vital for the health and morale of a team of workers. The outpost should never be regarded as an abandonment of the city but rather as an important tool to utilize effectively more workers to minister to the city.
These five simple principles are special tools that God has given us to reach the cities. We are trying to implement them here in the Vancouver area, and God has promised that as we do so, His mighty work will be victoriously accomplished.
