\ BV 652 . S6 1923 Smith, Roy Lemon, 1887- • Capturing crowds OTHER BOOKS BY THE SAME AUTHOR “The Young Christian and His Community” “Moving Pictures in the Church” ROY L. SMITH Introduction by BISHOP CHARLES BAYARD MITCHELL THE ABINGDON PRESS NEW YORK CINCINNATI Copyright, 1923, by ROY L. SMITH Printed in the United States of America First Edition printed April, 1923 Reprinted June, 1924 WITH GENUINE APPRECIATION TO Dr. Christian F. Reisner THE MAN WHO FIRST TAUGHT ME TO HOPE THAT IT COULD BE DONE Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2019 with funding from Princeton Theological Seminary Library https://archive.org/details/capturingcrowdsOOsmit CONTENTS CHAPTER PAGE Introduction . 11 PART ONE It Can Be Done . 15 I. Telling Ourselves the Truth . 23 II. Our Heaviest Bat . 33 III. Improving the Can . 41 IV. Getting Into Troy . 51 V. Making a Congregation out of a Crowd . 59 VI. Doing as the Romans Do . 68 VII. Old Wine in New Bottles . 75 PART TWO VIII. Praise Ye the Father . 89 IX. Let There Be Light . 104 X. The Charm of Color . 120 XI. Through the Eye Gate . 133 XII. Atmosphere . 145 XIII. Group Services . 164 XIV. Seasonal Services . 181 XV. The New Church Bell . 194 Appendix . 211 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS PAGE Bishop Charles Bayard Mitchell Preach¬ ing From a Boat . 25 An Easter Poster . 31 A Twenty-four Sheet Poster Board . 35 Poster Announcing Election Returns. ... 43 Armistice-Day Decorations . 47 Featuring the Picture of the Entrance.. 52 Minnesota Ministers’ Quartet Illustrated Hymn . 57 People Being Turned Away From Church 62 Some Sample Handbills . 66 Using Children in Advertising — Sample Handbill . 71 An Easter Folder Illustrating “Reason Why” Copy . 78-79 A Lenten-Service Design . 115 Florida Night Announcement . 125 Invitation to Nurses . 131 Announcement of Dramatic Service . 139 Handbill Announcing Souvenir . 149 Inside Pages of Folder Announcing Art Nights . 156-157 Millet’s “The Angelus” Posed . 162 Invitation Prepared by Street Railway Employees . 169 “The Longest Sermon Ever Preached in Minneapolis” ...- . 171 Invitation Card for School-teachers. ... 175 Small Trade Mark Design for Church. . 197 Using “ Good-Will Advertising ” With Feature Advertising . 198 Using an Appeal to Homesickness . 201 INTRODUCTION To draw a crowd is easy. To attract and hold a congregation is a more difficult accom¬ plishment, Any crank may get a crowd to hear him once, but to secure a continuous hear¬ ing on the part of an intelligent congregation is the sane and solemn aim of every conse¬ crated minister who lives only for the purpose of helping and saving his fellow men. To at¬ tain that end is a most difficult undertaking in these days. Every true preacher strives to get a hearing for his message. A crowd is no evidence of success, but empty pews may be regarded as good proof of failure in any com¬ munity where people live. The minister’s ob¬ jective is service to his community, and he val¬ ues a large hearing only as a means to that end. IIow to get a large audience in order to build a. permanent church congregation is the anx¬ iety and aim of every true minister of Christ, This book will help him. It contains sug¬ gestions that have been successful in their pragmatic results. The author is no theorist, nor does he seek to be a mere “seven-days’ wonder” in any place where he may be re¬ garded as a “passing show.” He is tremen¬ dously anxious to be a soul-winner. He seeks a hearing for his Lord and not for himself. 11 12 INTRODUCTION Every method lie employs has the definite objective of winning converts to his Saviour and permanent working members for his church. His program may change, but never his objective. He never seeks to create a mere sensation, but he does create a sensation in the interest of human welfare and personal salvation. The preacher who gives these wise suggestions to the ministry has proved him¬ self a genuine preacher, teacher, and evan¬ gelist. He builds constructively and perma¬ nently, and is never in haste to pass on to pastures new. His pastorates are long and in¬ creasingly fruitful. I heartily commend this volume to all pas¬ tors and lay-workers in the church. They will find it exceedingly suggestive and stimulating. It will inspire to originality and initiative. It should not produce a group of mere imitators. It will show how consecrated men may dare to trust their own judgment and be guided by a godly disregard for stereotyped conventionali¬ ties, in order to win the acceptance of their Lord and the following of his leadership. I gladly give this willing testimony to the value of this volume, with the hope that every pastor may read it, and with the prayer that it may prove a blessing to multitudes. Charles Bayard Mitchell. PART ONE IT CAN BE DONE The decline of the Sunday-evening service is the heart-breaking problem of earnest pas¬ tors all over the land. The few preachers who succeed in capturing crowds are being deluged with letters from other ministers, equally dili¬ gent and consecrated, who want to know the “secret.” This book is the story of a great Sunday¬ evening audience which has been built up in an average church in the face of average prob¬ lems. Some reference is made to successful methods used by other churches, but only to show that the case under study does not pre¬ sent peculiar advantages. If there is any “secret” besides hard work, the pastor has tried to tell it in these pages. No reference is made to other vital elements in the church’s work such as an extensive community pro¬ gram, internal organization, the teaching min¬ istry of the pulpit, the religious educational program, or the complete and scientific office system. These features are necessary in a working church, but the immediate concern of this discussion is the organization of a suc¬ cessful Sunday-evening service, 15 16 CAPTURING CROWDS The material is presented under two heads — principles and illustrations. Any preacher who uses the plans without mastering the prin¬ ciples upon which they are built will soon be in need of another book, but the man who understands the principles and applies them according to his own temperament and prob¬ lem will probably be able to write a better one. Part One may seem academic and abstract, but these chapters constitute the foundation for the plans described in Part Two. The “Sunday-evening problem” is due to a new so¬ cial mind which has developed since the ad¬ vent of the automobile, the moving picture, Sunday newspapers, and multiple dwellings. No preaching can hope to succeed which does not grow out of an understanding of this new psychology. This volume lays no claim to infallibility, but the author has marked confidence in the conclusions set forth. The principles have been tested on a country circuit, in a Western county-seat town, an institutional church in a great city, a university church, a semi-down- town church with a family constituency and a strictly downtown church in a vast room¬ ing-house district. They bear the best pos¬ sible indorsement : they have worked and they are working. IT CAN BE DONE 17 The plot of this story is laid in the field of Simpson Methodist Church, Minneapolis, which lias stood at the corner of Twenty- eighth Street and First Avenue, South, for forty years. The pastors have been scholarly and aggressive men who have built up a mag¬ nificent loyalty and a superb esprit de corps within the church. Simpson has long stood as one of the substantial organizations in the religious life of the city. No peculiar prob¬ lems or advantages attach to the work. Aside from a convenient location, relative to street¬ car service, the church is situated about as any other church in the city. Because of an approaching apartment house district and a rapidly developing business sec¬ tion nearby, the church was obliged to pre¬ pare itself for the time when it would be a downtown church with all the attendant prob¬ lems of such a parish. The year before launch¬ ing its popular program Simpson enjoyed a happy and profitable pastorate with a regular attendance as good as that of any church of equal membership in the city. Six hundred names appeared on the membership roll with a staff consisting of a pastor, part-time secre¬ tary, organist, and caretaker. After a little more than three years of insistent appeal to the masses according to the methods set forth 18 CAPTURING CROWDS in this volume, the membership stands over thirteen hundred, with a church school enroll¬ ing one thousand, and a staff of six full¬ time and four part-time workers. The annual budget has increased from $7,500 to $22,000 and the sanctuary has been unable to accom¬ modate the audiences for over two years. The prediction was freely made, at first, that the public would soon tire of Sensational methods” and desert the preacher as soon as curiosity was satisfied. The failure of this prediction is evident from the fact that in the middle of the fourth year crowds are larger than ever, more people are joining the church, collections are better, the church school is at the height of its prosperity, and evangelistic efforts were never more successful. The services are always evangelistic. Sel¬ dom does an evening pass when people are not urged to come forward to the altar and register a Christian decision or take fellowship with the church. No feature is ever allowed to trespass upon the sermon, which is never less than thirty minutes in length. Nearly nine hundred people have taken the hand of the pastor in seeking fellowship, and hundreds of testimonies and prayers have been voluntarily offered by the people as part of the regular worship. No visiting guests or special IT CAN BE DONE 19 speakers are allowed to interfere Avitli the invi¬ tation to penitents. Those who attend the services expect the appeal as certainly as the sermon. The morning service is as conventional and formal as one would ordinarily find in any Methodist church where the pulpit is devoted to a serious teaching ministry. While the eve¬ ning audiences have increased more than six hundred per cent, the morning audiences (always good) have nearly trebled, hundreds of people getting their first start through the evening services and gradually acquiring the “morning habit.” The sanctuary seats six hundred and fifty people with a Sunday-school annex and galleries accommodating five hun¬ dred and fifty more, yet this space is crowded, and hundreds are frequently turned away un¬ able to get seats. As many as a hundred and fifty have stood through an entire service be¬ cause even chairs were not available. An exact count is made of every audience, and the record carefully kept in the office files shows that a steady gain has been made each month over the corresponding months of the previous years. In other words, the figures show con¬ clusively that the growth is steady and sub¬ stantial and the gains permanent. The best evidence, perhaps, is the large number of new 20 CAPTURING CROWDS members found working in the Sunday school, with the women’s societies, on the official board, and wherever people accept official re¬ sponsibility. The author holds no copyright on any plan suggested, but he cannot forbear a word of earnest warning. No plan will ever succeed which is not securely rooted in hard work. No method works itself, but succeeds only when thoroughly infused with the spirit of the preacher. None of us can succeed by imitating another or by using his methods. Differences in personality make a method effective in the hands of one man and grotesque in the hands of another. The plans described herewith have served their purpose if they reveal, in any way, the possibilities of new appeals which men may appropriate and direct ac¬ cording to their own temperament. With the thought of making this discussion of the largest possible help to ministers in all types of churches, the manuscript was sub¬ mitted to a group of representative pastors and church leaders in city and country. Espe¬ cial thanks are due to the Rev. William C. Sainsbury, of Trinity Church, Saint Paul ; Dr. J. W. Holland, of First Church, Saint Paul ; the Rev. Roi B. Tibbetts, of Marshall, Min¬ nesota; the Rev. J. B. Acknian, of Monona, IT CAN BE DONE 21 Iowa; the Rev. H. J. Burgstahler, of First Church, Rochester, New York; Dr. Charles S. Van Dettum, of Bushnell, Illinois; Dr. Wil¬ liam S. Mitchell, of Calvary Church, Philadel¬ phia; Dr. C. N. Pace, of First Church, Duluth, Minnesota, and Dr. R. B. Kester, district superintendent of the Minneapolis District — all Methodist pastors; also to Dr. E. Robb Zaring, editor of the Northwestern Christian Advocate, Chicago; Dr. E. A. Roadman, of Upper Iowa University; Professor A. Z. Mann, of Hamline University; and Mr. Ralph E. Diffendorfer, of the Methodist Centenary, for reading the manuscript and offering helpful and suggestive criticism without which the book would never have been presented. Grate¬ ful appreciation is also expressed to the loyal people of churches wherein these ideas have been tried out, for their whole-hearted co¬ operation and prayerful support. CHAPTER I TELLING OURSELVES THE TRUTH The worst fooled man in all the world is the man who fools himself. It is so hard to dis¬ illusion him. He has such confidence in the man who fooled him ! The most hopeless church is the one which lias admitted, “It can't be done.1’ It is so easy, after that, to find reasons why no effort should be made. Ours is not a churchgoing generation. The “good old days” when men traveled many miles to sit through a service several hours in length are past. A score of reasons might be offered to explain the change in conditions, but they would not alter the fact. It will help greatly in facing our problem candidly, to admit that multitudes are absolutely un¬ touched by the ministry of the Christian Church. By the methods now pursued can we ever hope to reach them? This problem is not peculiar to any section of the country. One of the major cities of America showed less than one third of the 23 24 CArTURING CROWDS actual church membership in either the morn¬ ing or evening service during a large part of one winter. A prosperous Iowa county sent less than ten per cent of the total population to divine worship through a period of eight weeks. The problem of the evening service is especially acute. Many churches with good morning audiences have discontinued evening services completely through lack of attendance. Others, in a desperate effort to attract a crowd, have used moving pictures, lectures, social func¬ tions, and a long list of other expedients. Many churches hold on, to save their pride, while a diminishing crowd discourages the minister and disheartens the church. The man on the outside has a variety of reasons to offer. Sometimes he says the pul¬ pit is “manacled with gold” and urges a so¬ cial gospel and vigorous attacks on the social system ; but thousands of ministers are preaching the social gospel to empty pews. Sometimes the preacher is blamed as being effeminate, emotional, or other-worldly. But the typical “man's man” does not attract su¬ perior numbers. Men did not object to the extreme emotionalism employed in selling war bonds, and the popular interest in spiritualism indicates a widespread concern in the life of the other world. There must be other reasons. c3 T3 35 Bishop Charles Bayard Mitchell preaching “beside the sea” in a Sunday afternoon service during session of the Northern Minnesota Conference. It was estimated that five thousand people attend this service on the shore of Lake Calhoun, Minneapolis. (See page 154.) CAPTURING CROWDS The man inside, on the other hand, com¬ forts himself with the fact that libraries, art galleries, lecture halls, and high-grade con¬ certs are poorly patronized also. To say that the church is in good, but deserted, company is only applying an anaesthetic to make a painful situation a bit more bearable. Let us admit the first truth : To fill the empty pew is the responsibility of the church itself. Jesus never commanded men to go to church. He commanded the church to go out into the highways and byways and find an audience. To stop expecting a good audience is to stop working for it. To stop working for a good hearing is to stop having it. Occasionally we find a preacher who seems to think that a small audience is a tribute to his scholarship. He construes empty pews as a compliment to his intellectual strength. But one does not need to be dull to be pro¬ found. Abraham Lincoln discussed the great¬ est themes of human knowledge in terms a child could understand. Jesus preached the whole message of the world’s redemption in words of one and two syllables. Crowds heard them both. Let us admit another truth : It is a matter of interest. There seems to be a comparatively slight “hunger” for the gospel among the TELLING OURSELVES THE TRUTH 27 masses — at least for what they think the gos¬ pel is. Their interest is in entertainment, bread and butter, moving pictures, golf and amusement. These things have a following be¬ cause they are interesting. Perhaps we have never presented the gospel appeal and the church services as subjects of everyday con¬ cern. If the church is ever to capture crowds, it must make its services appear interesting. One more fact must be admitted : people who do not go to church go somewhere. Walk down the street of an American city on Sun¬ day evening and notice the crowd of loiterers wandering aimlessly from one show window to another, from one street corner to another. See the hosts of young people in the parks, around ice-cream parlors, or flying along coun¬ try roads in high-powered automobiles. This great crowd is looking for a man with some¬ thing interesting to say who can say it in language they can understand. What an opportunity for the church ! A variety of expedients have been tried in the effort to stimulate church attendance. A few years ago Mr. A. G. Fegert, a Chicago newspaper man, organized the first “Go-To- Churcli Campaign.” For one Sunday the churches were filled to overflowing. In 1920 the Minneapolis Ministers’ Federation applied 28 CAPTURING CROWDS the idea to a month’s campaign, using hun¬ dreds of thousands of pieces of advertising and extensive space in the newspapers. For one month the churches were crowded, but a similar campaign the next year fell far short of the original success. It takes more than advertising to guarantee a permanent solu¬ tion. Most of our appeals have been made to a conscious religious life, but in thousands of cases no such consciousness exists. A genera¬ tion has grown up in America entirely sepa¬ rated from the church and unfamiliar with its language. Multitudes of young people, in the cities, will admit that they have not been in¬ side a church since the days of early childhood. Two young women wandered by accident into a Chicago church, and after being shown about confessed that it was the first time they had ever been inside any church building. Some appeal must be made to established interests in the lives of such people until reli¬ gious impulses can be brought to conscious¬ ness. Thousands of American families have al¬ most no time to themselves except Sunday eve¬ ning, but hundreds of thousands will get into church on Sunday evening or not at all. Hard work inclines them to late rising on Sunday TELLING OURSELVES THE TRUTH 29 morning. The churchgoing habit was aban¬ doned long ago, and now they feel them¬ selves total strangers in a religious service. The order of service which makes a powerful appeal to the regular attendant by its stateli¬ ness and dignity finds the stranger ill at ease lest he shall make some “break.” These peo¬ ple are accustomed to the street, the shop, and the playhouse, and will avoid a church service if they are compelled to go alone. No church which does not recognize this fact will ever get large numbers of such people. Modern industry has been reduced to me¬ chanical routine with all play taken out of the day’s work. There is no imagination left in the toil of thousands of machine tenders, Hucksters, filing clerks, telephone operators, etc. During their “off hours” they are looking for adventure and go where it is promised. “The average girl in my employ lives for the sake of the hours between seven- thirty and eleven o’clock at night,” said an employer re¬ cently. Knowing the nerve-racking nature of the employment, the first thought was, “Well, who wouldn’t?” When such people go out for an evening they are looking for something that will supply the thrill which their day’s work has lacked. If the church is to capture them at all, it must compete with those institutions CAPTURING CROWDS 30 which offer an appeal to the spirit of adven¬ ture. It is a great day for a church when it locates its competition. A new pastor was dis¬ cussing the problems of his parish with his “leading layman” when that good brother said, “Your keenest competition in this town is the - church.” The remark was in perfect harmony with the thinking of the community, but three weeks on the field revealed the fact that the real competition lay in the corner barber shop and the Sunday morning post office. These places kept men away from any church. There are more people in the neigh¬ borhood of the average church, city or rural, than there were at the time of its erection, but the simplest statement of the fact is the church is not getting the people. Let us stop blaming the public and examine our methods of attack. General Braddock had the pick of the Eng¬ lish army, was generously provisioned and thoroughly schooled in European warfare. IT is defeat was due to the fact that his savage enemies made war according to a system en¬ tirely new to the English soldiery. Only through the brilliant work of General Wash¬ ington, then a young colonial, was the English army saved from complete annihilation. It ^ *•'■'»*>** /I **>r< y <,».*» y« *-\tY j>jfo . ASHLAND BOULEVARD AND HARRISON STREET _ jfenftoj) i ’'What Cmv 4 Big Day With Happiness,, J This announcement, except the actual type matter, is a beautiful color piece of “off set printing,” originally designed for and used by florists. Because of the illustration of the church in the back ground it became equally valuable as a church announcement when adapted. (See page 206.) '■iUit itofti Ctjrist Wfi n'ntsrt) from % hrnti, !!«■ firoi fruit* of litem Strcaalecp.” 1 Cor. 15:211. 9:30 Sunday School SjHH-ml Easter Program of Recitation ami Snug. 10:45 Morning Preaching Sermon : '"Hie Tun Disvjples at tltcj Tomb,” Post , ar.L of Tanner’s painting in the Art Institute will Ik- distributed. ■ Musi.-: St'. Paul Choir, assisted by Mrs. DuJlie Hull .Sailer, 1 hirpis i • Baptism of Children, Reception of Members, Etc. FBKE-WILL ' SELF-DENIAL .■•OFFERING." 5:30 Fellowship Hour "Christ the Healer.” an Faster Study aided by the Mereepiieou. hum boon served by the V, W. C. A., assisted by nurses from Mary Thompson Hospital. 0:30 Epworth League Fifteen young women will tell of a trip to Hu!) House and HaUted Street Institutional Church. A live ■meeting. ' 7 : 45 Everting Preaching ORATORIO, “The Crucifixion.” Stainer. 'St. Paul •Chorus Choir, Male Quartet. Prof. H. H. William*. directing. About Myself?” ROY L. SMITH Minister, . 32 CAPTURING CROWDS was not a question of valor but of method. The church to-day, in thousands of instances, has been ambushed. It is fighting desperately according to the code of thirty years ago, but ours is a new and bewildering day when a change in tactics must be made with unpre¬ cedented haste or the loss will be serious. The conventional appeal has failed. The masses were never more desperately in need of the gospel message than to-day. Some way must be found to get a hearing and the man who finds an entrance into the hearts of the common people and learns to speak their lan¬ guage will never lack hearers, for there are millions of them. CHAPTER II OUR HEAVIEST BAT It is said that no small part of the success of Babe Ruth is due to the fact that he swings the heaviest bat ever used in professional base ball. Behind that heavy club, of course, are an eye trained to accuracy, a pair of mas¬ sive shoulders and a judgment born of years of experience. But all these advantages would be of no avail if he used a featherweight bat. A frequent reason for empty pews is the light-weight bat the preacher uses. Moving pictures, lectures on popular topics, open forums, musical features, and sensational advertising will attract crowds for a time, but they will not build up a permanent congre¬ gation of worshipers. The final test of a min¬ ister’s work is not the crowds that hear him, but the crowd that is so attached to the church that it comes to hear his successor. There is great danger of forgetting the mes¬ sage in devising the method. Any method is but the vehicle for the presentation of the mes¬ sage and must always take a subordinate 33 34 CAPTURING CROWDS place. The preacher who is passionately eager to give his people the “word of life" will find it easy to consecrate a method , but no brilliancy or novelty in the service will ever atone for the absence of a prophetic word. Tlie only permanent foundation upon which a Sunday-evening audience can be built is an earnest evangelism. Every other element in the service must be contrived to serve this end. This is our heaviest bat. Donald Hankey gave ns a fine phrase when he spoke of “the religion of the inarticulate.” By this he meant that vast tide of spiritual aspiration which is not recognized as being religious. “There’s something in me that tells me I ought to be a better man/’ says the grimy stoker. “Sometimes I get so disgusted with my useless way of living!” exclaims the girl who has been pounding the typewriter through purposeless days. “I wish you would help me find something to do that is really worth while,” pleads a girl in the midst of her filing cases. “I don’t mind my work, but I don’t seem to be doing anything for the world,” confides the salesman in a burst of confidence. Just under the surface in every human soul there is a powerful religious instinct that craves. expression. An appeal to this instinct, in language that the man of the street under- A twenty-four sheet poster board with a hand-painted poster. Twenty-two of these boards were used in the neighborhood of Simpson Church during January, February, and March. This is the dull season for poster advertising, but the best season for church purposes and the advertising company made great concessions in their rates. (See page 199.) CAPTURING CROWDS 3G stands, will find response that is spontaneous and genuine. Happy is the man who under¬ stands his own impulses, and wise indeed is the preacher who recognizes the divine origin of these yearnings and claims them for God and the Kingdom. This is evangelism of the highest order. A great part of this “inarticulate reli¬ gion’7 is finding expression, outside the church, in social service, charitable enterprise, and community uplift. The Spirit of God never has operated exclusively within the boundaries of church membership. The war revealed great spiritual capacities of humanity which the church must now capture in the name of religion, setting them to new and practical peace-time tasks. No small obligation of mod¬ ern evangelism is the revelation to men of the divine origin of this new passion for idealism and calling upon them to surrender their lives to the leadership of Jesus of Nazareth who is its unrecognized author. The pulpit has not always attended to its own business. It has done many good things but it lias not done the one thing necessary — it has not interpreted to men, in terms com¬ monly understood, the spiritual significance of some of life’s loyalties. We must use every legitimate aid in preaching the gospel, re- OUR HEAVIEST BAT 37 membering always that the Message is the fundamental purpose of the service. To omit or obscure the Message is to fail before we begin. While the church service should always be interesting, its purpose is not to entertain. The church will never be able to compete with the theater in furnishing entertainment. It will never have the money to buy talent to compete with amusement houses. It does not need to compete. To fill the church with eager-eyed, open-hearted people and then merely entertain them is to use a feather¬ weight bat. Nor is the church a popular classroom in economics and sociology. Of course the church should be first to denounce social in¬ justice, but it is not necessary that the preacher invent a cure-all for the economic mistakes of his generation. He is to preach principles upon which the organization of a new industrial order is to proceed; the scien¬ tific economist must find the method. The ap¬ peal of the church is to the common conscience which, when trained to see injustice, can be trusted to direct economic adjustments. The church is more than a lecture hall. It will stimulate a thirst for knowledge and in¬ spire men to delve for truth, but no discussion oo oo CAPTURING CROWDS of Browning or Shakespeare or modern drama will ever grip the hearts of an audience like a simple utterance on the pathway to spiritual peace. Many men know nothing about Brown¬ ing but everything about trouble. The late Dr. Frank W. Gunsaulus was rid¬ ing across the city of Chicago with a young theological student and the conversation, as might have been expected, turned upon the subject of preaching. “You will always find,” said the great preacher, “certain fundamental needs in every audience. One is a remedy for sin and another is help in trouble. Preach helpfully on these themes and you will never lack an audience.” All men will confess that they have troubles, but not all men will confess that they are sin¬ ful. They prefer to speak of their “mistakes” and apologize for their “weaknesses,” But the essential fact of sin remains and the preacher must bring his audience under con¬ viction. The man who can awaken a sense of need, and then offer a cure, with a promise of help, will find eager listeners sitting at his feet. Many men have accepted their “be¬ setting sins” as infirmities that can never be cured — as necessary evils to be endured. The pulpit must preach the “gospel of discontent,” a discontent with sin and weakness. OUR HEAVIEST BAT 39 Jesus said, “I am the Way.” He meant, “I am the way out/’ That is why the gospel is good news. Men everywhere are looking for some way out. Every father wants to hear the good news — the fathers of prodigal girls and erring hoys. Every worried mother wants to hear the good news. The worker wants to hear that life is more than enslavement to a machine. The business man wants to hear that life is more than pay rolls and labor tronbles. The betrayed girl wants to know that there is a way to come back. The stu¬ dent wants to know the answer to the ques¬ tion his textbooks have neglected — “What must I do to be saved?” The ignorant and the wise, the rich and the poor, the radical and the conservative, the native born and the alien — all the world wants to know that God is in the world working, fighting, struggling for the deliverance of men. Let it be the central purpose, therefore, of every service to present the story of “good news” in such a way that some wayworn traveler can find the pathway to peace. The theater can make people forget tlieir troubles, but the church has a cure. The psychological laboratory may diagnose the disease, but the church prescribes for the cause. It is the task of the church to catch the ear of the public and 40 CAPTURING CROWDS then tell the good news in language the com¬ mon man can understand. Though I have a scientific mind and a uni¬ versity degree in sociology and philosophy, and though I am an expert in social service and an authority on Browning, and though I use the language of the scientific laboratory so as to deceive the very elect into thinking I am a scholar, and have not a message of salva¬ tion and redemption for the man without hope, I am a misfit in the pulpit and no preacher of the gospel. CHAPTER III IMPROVING THE CAN A well-known manufacturer of talcum powder used this phrase in his advertising a few years ago: “We couldn’t improve the powder, so we tried to improve the can.” It is certain that no preacher will ever find a message which the world needs more des¬ perately than the old-fashioned gospel, but he can find a new way to present the gospel with effectiveness. The low ebb of church attendance is due, in part, to the new forms of competition of which our fathers knew nothing. Automobiles and superb country roads clamor for a share of Sunday. The Sunday newspaper has grown up among us and Sunday morning finds many men, like Zaechseus, “lost in the press.” Busi¬ ness life has been geared to higher speed. Games have been invented since the advent of the automobile which help take men away from church. Moving pictures are cheap and practically universal, and youth is attracted by bright lights and ringing laughter. A few 41 42 CAPTURING CROWDS years ago the church was almost the only open door on Sunday evening. Now there are open doors everywhere, competing strenuously for youth’s patronage. While the church has been facing a problem other institutions have been gaining in popu¬ lar favor. Just as the allies learned much of the art of war from their enemies, so perhaps it may reward us to study the mechanics by which our competitors capture crowds. One of the first things we discover is the fact that these institutions “talk in plain United States.” It would astonish many a minister to discover what a large proportion of his language, particularly his pulpit vo¬ cabulary, is absolutely unintelligible to the common man of the street. Many religious phrases and expressions once rich in meaning, have no significance to people who do not have years of religious training as a background. The lack of such training is more widespread than is generally realized. We have taken the Bible out of the public schools, dismissed the old-fashioned catechism classes, and stopped holding debates on religious questions. The kindly tolerance of to-day provides no substi¬ tute for the polemics by which our fathers were educated in religious thinking. As a consequence, much of the phraseology of the A “window card” announcing a neighborhood gathering on election night, taking advantage of the seasonal interest. More than one thousand people came to get the election returns and spend a social evening. This was not a religious service, but the program offered excellent opportunity to acquaint the crowd with the activities and services of the church. (See page 179.) 44 CAPTURING CROWDS pulpit seems unreal and stilted to common folk. The theater and the newspaper may speak bluntly or even rudely, but they always speak intelligibly. It might be an excellent postgraduate course, following the theological seminary, to go behind the counter, into the shops, upon the trucks or elsewhere in the busy walks of men, to learn the language of the plain people. We can never make our presentation effective until we have learned the language of the world in which we live. That language is not the language of the lecture hall, the scientific laboratory or the textbook. To most men psychologists, sociologists, scientists, and theo¬ logians speak in a foreign tongue. Nothing can be more disastrous if one is trying to inter¬ est plain people. It is not necessary to stoop to gutter slang, but every utterance from the pulpit should be crystal clear in its moral and religious meaning. Jesus never tried to make his hearers think he was profound. By the use of the simplest language and the most obvious illustrations lie made himself plain. He used the familiar speech of the common people to preach the gospel of redemption. Next we discover that the issues discussed on the stage are the deepest and most absorb- IMPROVING THE CAN 45 ing problems of life. A great theme may be treated in a trivial, disgusting fashion, but it remains a great theme. Sex problems have been so persistently exploited that some one has pertinently remarked, “It is about sex o’clock on the American stage.” Yet the prob¬ lem of sex is of absorbing interest to multi¬ tudes of young and old. The modern sinner is so gorgeously gowned and so bewitcliingly portrayed that the fact of sin has been eclipsed by the splendor of the sinner. On the themes of sex and love the church has a message that is clean and constructive, but such subjects have been shunned, usually, except by sensa¬ tionalists. The preacher who can handle such subjects with delicacy and sincerity will cap¬ ture the interest of crowds. What an opportunity the preacher has to deal with the great ideas and facts of life ! The newspaper man is always immersed in the annals of crime and scandal. The lawyer must spend his time with titles and disputes. The politician lives among compromises and stratagems, but for the preacher the prob¬ lems and questions of the centuries are “grist for his mill.” With the authority of divine approval he can speak on life’s most intimate relations with the word, “Thus saith the Lord!” What a betrayal of trust is the sin 4G CAPTURING CROWDS of triviality! The announcement of a subject is like a sieve : great themes draw serious crowds, trivial subjects attract only curiosity seekers. The preacher who is seeking a Sunday-eve¬ ning audience must invest his philosophical studies with life. Mr. H. G. Wells did a rare bit of preaching when he told us the story of Mr. B rifling. Doctrinal themes can be used most effectively in the morning service when seasoned church-goers are usually in the ma¬ jority, but the Sunday-evening service should deal intimately and directly with living issues. The world is hunting for happiness. By promising happiness the amusement house has attracted a multitude, only to give people a laugh. A laugh is a poor substitute for hap¬ piness when the soul is sick and the heart is faint. The tragedy of it all lies in the fact that laughter often dulls the spiritual senses until there is no appreciation of the deep needs of the soul. Meanwhile the church has achieved the reputation of being melancholy when it has only tried to be serious. “The devil has been credited with inventing the pleasures of the world which is giving him more than his due.” Cheerfulness is not frivolity. The church does not need to become shallow as it dispenses good cheer, but it must Decorations for Armistice Day. Note the rifles with flowers in the barrels, also the spider web woven over rifles and machine guns to suggest disuse. (See page 148.) 48 CAPTURING CROWDS convince the world that it has a message of happiness which will mean joy the whole year through. One church has been called “The House of Happiness.” It has given thousands of men in that city a happiness that lasts. Let every church declare its ability to make men happy. Amusement houses are located with rare strategy. A church may be located on a back street, in the middle of the block, or wher¬ ever there is a bargain in real estate, but the theater stands where the people pass. Thea¬ ters make prodigal use of light, for brilliancy on the outside indicates cheer and happiness on the inside. The church, on the other hand, is not always sufficiently lighted to make en¬ trances and exits safe. The show house keeps its walk clean and its doors wide open when the church allows its people to wade through snow and mud to get to its doors. Ushers are always ready, the auditorium well warmed and cleaned, and the physical needs of the peo¬ ple are well cared for in the theater, while the opposite is too often true of the church. In other words, the church, which is interested in the souls of folk, must learn to be as con¬ siderate as the theater, which is interested in their money. Happy is that church whose janitor is called of God! IMPROVING THE CAN 49 Another element in the success of onr com¬ petitor is the liberal use of advertising. Every theatrical attraction is heralded in superla¬ tives, but church advertising seldom has much urgency in it. Services are held next Sunday “as usual.” Unfortunately, the church has not learned the value of good printing. Too often the work is done by the shop which gives a “reasonable price” and an abominable job. Of course the church cannot spend large sums of money as theaters do, but all advertising used should be of the finest quality. The best printing is always the cheapest. Advertising is salesmanship on paper, and if church adver¬ tising does not betray a hot heart it will not convince the non-churchgoer of the necessity of church attendance. Again, part of the success of the theater is due to the variety of appeal made to the public. Of course there is a uniformity in the serv¬ ices of the church which is inevitable, but there are numerous opportunities for introduc¬ ing variety which will enthuse an audience and make a real contribution to the spirit of worship. For there can be no real worship without interest, and variety can produce interest. One very successful preacher to Sunday-eve¬ ning audiences asserts that he always wears a 50 CAPTURING CROWDS complete change of clothes for his evening service. Even the change of a collar, a tie or a waistcoat will have value. Sunday-school classes can provide decorations. Musical fea¬ tures, special ushers, asking the audience to choose the hymns, volunteer prayers, reading the verses of a hymn instead of singing them, singing without lights, electrical effects, an- tiplional singing — all these expedients will fur¬ nish variety and help to capture the interest of a crowd. To thousands of people the Sunday-evening theater is an oasis in a week of desert dull¬ ness. If the church is to capture these crowds, it must offer some escape from monotony. If we are to go out into the highways and hedges after folk, it will mean that we frequently for¬ sake the beaten path. Can it be done without cheapness? Can the principles and devices which bring success to the theater be used by the church? The stage is a land of pretense, but the pulpit must be sincere. To escape the charge of being theatrical we must consecrate our methods to the supreme purpose of the service which is to bring men into right rela¬ tion with God. Subsequent chapters will undertake to show how the very things which have lured people away from church can be used in a reverent way to bring them back. CHAPTER IV GETTING INTO TROY The army which surrounded the ancient city of Troy stood defeated for weeks until a strategist conceived the idea of secreting a few soldiers inside a gigantic horse and thus enter¬ ing the city to open the gates to the invader. The churclp likewise, must find some way to get through the walls of prejudice, ignorance, indifference, and preoccupation, into the hearts of the people. Even to have the people in church is not enough — their hearts must be touched and their wills brought to a decision. The reader* must remember that we are deal¬ ing with the question of the Sunday-evening service. That the morning service serves its purpose well is evident by the crowds of peo¬ ple who usually attend. Our present interest is in strengthening the appeal of the church to the multitudes who do not attend church regularly and who have little interest in the call to morning worship. If the evening service is a duplicate in form of the morning worship, then we are making two appeals to the same audience. If this ap- 51 Various views of the church can be featured in the adver¬ tising. This represents one way in which a picture of an entrance can be used. Very effective on handbills, posters, and bulletins. GETTING INTO TROY 53 peal is capturing crowds for both services, then there is no reason to change. If, on the other hand, the appeal is failing, then our consecration to our calling ought to drive us to forsake the beaten paths and devise a new type of service which will reach the people. Blazing new trails is not an easy task. There is no easy ivay to preach the yospel to crowds. The preacher must be willing to spend himself to exhaustion in getting his message to the people. If the theater will spend fortunes and go to the ends of the earth to find attractions to entertain the public, can we be satisfied to do less in an effort to preach the gospel of redemption? No plan will succeed for the preacher who does not understand the mind of his audience. The discerning man will discover three char¬ acteristics in a promiscuous Sunday-evening audience. In the first place, there is an atti¬ tude of suspicion. The average outsider thinks the church is trying to compel people to believe something, and most men resent be¬ ing told what they must believe. We are all Protestants at heart. We insist upon our right to do our own thinking. In the second place, there is much discouragement in the hearts of the people. Every man sees his own worries magnified. Each one thinks his case 54 CAPTURING CROWDS is “peculiar.” In the third place, there is al¬ ways a keen interest in something new. The minister who can devise new settings for his message will make a powerful appeal to the spirit of curiosity which is strong in every man. To meet this attitude of suspicion, dis¬ couragement, and curiosity, the preacher must combine three qualities — conviction, cheerful¬ ness, and sympathy. A world-famous musician was instructing his pupils concerning their public appearances when he said, “If you want your audience to warm up, you must be hot yourself. If you want them to forget themselves, you must be on fire. If you would lire them Avitli your en¬ thusiasm, you must be consumed.” There is a tine homiletical principle in that advice. The man who is on lire Avith liis message for¬ gets many of the discriminations of dignity; and if he is consumed with his earnestness, he Avill make his audience forget. Nothing does more for an audience than en¬ thusiasm, Avhicli the ancients called “the lire of the soul.” Because the minister is the domi¬ nating personality of the service he must sup¬ ply that enthusiasm. No man can create en¬ thusiasm in his audience until lie has lost himself in the service. The quickest Avay to master a crowd is to forget oneself. GETTING INTO TROY 55 The service must be permeated by a spirit of unfeigned joy. In a world of trouble there is no more Cliristlike task than bringing cheer and hope to the heartsick and weary. Read the New Testament and see how many times Jesus exhorted his followers to be of good cheer. Joy never dies when Jesus comes near. Clean, joyous fun was never interrupted by liis approach. If the church is to do Jesus’ work, it must learn to touch men into happi¬ ness. Without sacrificing seriousness the church service should send people out, happy in heart and courageous in spirit. Nothing contributes more to the spirit of good cheer than a smile broad enough to reach from the preacher to the audience. Not an artificial, manufactured smile, but an expression of joy that rises from the fact that we have a mes¬ sage, an audience, and certain help for a com¬ mon need. Scanning the faces of the people we will see the marks of care, traces of trouble, and eyes that were recently wet with tears. To transform these sober faces into smiling countenances and to make depressed hearts into eager souls, to see men lift eyes to behold their Father — such a privilege should fill a man with such joy that he could not help smil¬ ing. Good humor is an absolute necessity in a 56 CAPTURING CROWDS popular Sunday-evening service. This does not mean that the preacher must tell anecdotes and provoke hilarious laughter. It does mean, however, that many a delightful feature can be introduced into the service with entire ap¬ propriateness which will carry people far away from the monotony of the workaday world. Musical novelties, dramatic features, lighting effects, and many other variations can be introduced into a service with splendid advantage. Applause, if it is spontaneous and hearty, is a positive contribution to the service and a help to the worshiper. It is but another way of expressing approval, and the psychologist has always insisted that ex¬ pression is the surest way of deepening impres¬ sion. A quarter of a century ago one of the great metropolitan newspapers opened a department called “Letters of the Lovelorn.7’ Any person might ask any question he wished, assured that it would be taken seriously no matter how trivial it might seem. The idea upon which the department was founded was a simple one. No matter how trivial a question may seem to us, it is not trivial to the one who asked it. Few people can endure having their worries laughed at. The church service, there¬ fore, must manifest sympathy with the worries The Minnesota Ministers’ Quartet singing “The Little Brown Church in the Wildwood,” accompanied by a chalk drawing; a very effective way of presenting the message of a song. (See page 100.) 58 CAPTURING CROWDS and problems of the people. Nothing that is causing anxiety and concern among the wor¬ shipers is too trivial to claim attention. The preacher who lifts these burdens in the course of his service need never worry about a hear¬ ing. The heart of the masses is hungry for a word of sympathy from the man who takes its problems seriously. Regardless of what may have attracted men to the house of God, if they come face to face with their own need and Christ’s power to minister to that need,' they will bless the minister and thank God for the hours they spent in “The House of Hap¬ piness.” CHAPTER V MAKING A CONGREGATION OUT OF A CROWD The purpose for which the church brings crowds together differs radically from that which governs a theater. The theatrical man¬ ager is satisfied if he can entertain. Pie does not ask the crowd to approve the ideal of his play. He may present a, play with a great moral lesson, but he does not ask the indi¬ viduals of the audience to put that lesson into life. He is satisfied if the crowd is pleased with his entertainment. The church, on the other hand, gathers a crowd for the purpose of presenting ideas and convictions in such a manner that they may be accepted and made a part of life. It seeks personal commitments and tries to organize public opinion in sup¬ port of its ideas. The difference in problem demands a differ¬ ence in program. The church which has been successful in gathering a crowd of people must take them as they are, but it cannot leave them so. It must establish a leadership and pro- 59 00 CAPTURING CROWDS yoke action. Men who have come to be enter¬ tained, or educated, or thrilled must be taught to worship together and to commit themselves to the dominant idea of the service. To estab¬ lish such control requires generalship of the highest order. The first step is to get the people at ease. The average person does not like to feel con¬ spicuous, preferring to lose himself in the crowd. Doing the thing the crowd does, he forgets himself, and it is as important that the crowd shall forget itself as that the preacher shall forget himself. Nothing produces this effect so satisfactorily as spirited singing. The better the song is known the easier it is for people to lose themselves in it. It is almost fatal to open a service with an unfamiliar hymn. Start with something that all can sing without a book. For this reason the old songs are best. The more mass action that can be secured in the early part of the service, the more readily is the leadership of the preacher established. Using the Lord’s Prayer, asking the people to rise together for singing, doing anything to secure the participation of the congregation in the service, is exceedingly valuable during the first fifteen minutes. In this day of democracy it helps much if MAKING A CONGREGATION 61 people can feel that the service belongs to them. Let the people choose the hymns. To avoid the “chilling pause” the preacher may select the first hymn, accompanying its an¬ nouncement with the invitation that some one from the congregation shall have another num¬ ber ready when the singing of the first is fin¬ ished. If a choice is not immediately forth¬ coming, the preacher should be ready, but a little friendly exhortation will stimulate the crowd to be ready the next time. Of course such a song service lacks theological unity, but it has expressed the mood of the people, which is far more important for the purpose of the meeting. A friendly greeting does much to set the peo¬ ple at ease. No one expects to be spoken to at a theater, but the church has preached friendliness so long that it is a victim of its own success and a lack of hospitality is a fault that is seldom forgiven. Ushers need careful training. No workers should be chosen with greater care. They represent the church’s first approach to the stranger. Some success¬ ful churches have picked a group of their most affable people and stationed them at the en¬ trances to serve as greeters. These same peo¬ ple should also take their places at the close of the service to invite the stranger to return. These people are being turned away from a church that seats twelve hundred. One hundred and fifty are standing up inside. MAKING A CONGREGATION 63 Banks liave discovered the advantage of dis¬ playing names of officers on the front of their desks and cages. Following this suggestion some churches have put badges on their ushers, giving their names, for the convenience of the stranger. Pews may be reserved for regular attendants in the morning service if local con¬ ditions permit, but nothing is a more serious handicap in the evening than for people to feel that there are seats into which they must not enter. The newcomer is usually anxious to take part exactly as others do. He watches the crowd to avoid blunders which will make him conspicuous. The leader of the service can do much to put strangers at ease by carefully indicating what is to be done next. After a few moments of such considerate and pains¬ taking direction the people begin to trust, assured that the leader will not permit them to be embarrassed. When he appeals for per¬ sonal action later in the service he has the advantage of having already gained their con¬ fidence. The preacher is the autocrat of the service — he controls it from beginning to end. In many instances he uses the position tyran¬ nically, doing all the praying, all the talking and all the worshiping. The most successful 64 CAPTURING CROWDS informal service is that in which the largest number take part. Frequently an audience can be invited to contribute its own Scripture lesson — each person quoting some passage of Scripture that has been helpful. At other times the evening prayer will consist of a dozen or more short prayers from the audi¬ ence. Such features are absolutely dependent upon the ability of the leader to develop a spirit of spontaneity, but this can be greatly aided by arranging in advance with a few who can be depended upon. No man can dominate an audience who re¬ mains seated through long periods of the serv¬ ice. The wise salesman knows that he has a better chance to “sell his customer” if he re¬ mains standing instead of accepting the proffered chair. All of us remember instances when we were losing the argument until we rose to our feet and secured the advantage of the standing position. The focal point of the service is the preacher. If he takes his seat he surrenders this advantage over the crowd. The only times he can do so with safety are during the rendering of special music, the collecting of the offering or when the attention of the audience rightful lv belongs to someone else. An open-minded audience is the only one susceptible of leadership. The audience which MAKING A CONGREGATION G5 is accustomed to follow its minister will sur¬ render with ease, but the stranger audience must learn bis methods, become accustomed to liis logic, and develop trust. It is apt to suspect him of trying to force it into some un¬ comfortable dilemma. To develop the open- minded attitude the audience must be caught off its guard. It comes expecting an assault upon its reason, its opinions, its emotions, or its sensibilities and assumes a defensive atti¬ tude unconsciously. It will not be convinced if it can help itself. Therefore a flank attack must be made at a point where no defenses are built up. An audience in the play mood is in the finest state of open-mindedness. The people want to be amused, therefore they will assist in every possible way if they think the leader is trying to enter into a “game” with them. But the play mood must be developed by the preacher. This does not mean that he is to generate a spirit of frivolity. It means that the congre¬ gation must be persuaded to work together al¬ most unanimously for some common purpose. It may be in singing a hymn, in spreading the spirit of acquaintanceship, or in pitting one section of the house against another. What¬ ever can develop the play mood will be of the greatest value to the service, for the mind is MAKING A CONGREGATION 67 wide open during play — it is receptive and eager for suggestions. Impressions made at such a time sink deeply. The early part of the service should develop this attitude of open-mindedness. All argu¬ mentative and controversial questions should be held in abeyance. The service should pre¬ sent an appeal and not an argument. Every emotional aid should be used. Herein lies the value of the evangelistic singer who “pre¬ pares” the audience for the preacher. By friendly suggestion and quiet humor he breaks down reserve and suspicion. If the audience can be persuaded to do one thing with real zest at the request of the preacher, success is not far away. It encourages this spirit of open mindedness to appeal to some tender memory. Call for the selection of some hymn “that you heard them sing in the old home church.” The pul¬ pit prayer which mentions the man out of work, the troubled mother, the lonesome lad, the discouraged girl, or the tempted ones will break down the stoutest prejudice. CHAPTER VI DOING AS THE ROMANS DO There is a proverb, “When in Rome, do as the Romans do.” This is advice. But when we are in a crowd we are pretty apt to do as the crowd does. This is a fact of common experience. The man who understands how a crowd acts in given circumstances has an enormous advantage. There are a few simple principles of crowd psychology which are im¬ portant to the man who seeks to build up a Sunday-evening congregation. The crowd does not do any original think¬ ing; it accepts the ideas that are given by its leaders. Very few crowds are capable of care¬ ful reasoning even when composed of think¬ ing people. The Sunday-evening audience is not a deliberative body — it does not come to¬ gether for that purpose. Careful reasoning and didactic presentations succeed better in the morning service. In a few instances the announcement of deep, philosophical themes in which the public is temporarily interested will attract an audience that is willing to think, but this is the exception. 68 DOING AS THE ROMANS DO 69 Any idea that is to master the crowd must be supplied by the preacher. To secure mastery of the crowd for his idea, the preacher must first master the crowd for himself. This means that he must attract favorable atten¬ tion. The leader of a mob is a man who has attracted the attention of the mob and offered it an idea. This is the task of the preacher to Sunday-evening audiences. The plan of serv¬ ice makes it easy to do so, but this very ad¬ vantage is sometimes liis undoing. He has thought himself the master of the crowd merely because he has stood in front of it when the real mastery was in the possession of some restless child or the soprano visiting with the tenor. No man can capture a crowd who is not mentally alert and aware of every move¬ ment within his congregation. No man can maintain mastery over an audience who is not willing to spend his nervous energy prodigally, for the cost of leadership is excessive. In order to get control of the audience the preacher must first get attention. For this reason it is well to keep out of view of the audience until the service opens. His entrance is then in the nature of a surprise and has greater attention value. If he has varied his personal appearance by a change of garments since the morning service, this attention value 70 CAPTURING CROWDS is increased. As lie enters the pulpit lie must carry the air of assurance — he must give the impression that he knows exactly what he is going to do. If he ever seems in doubt, the crowd will refuse to follow him. If the preacher cannot be sure of himself, how can he expect the crowd to trust him? For this reason the most informal service requires the most careful planning that the leader may be ready for any emergency. Crowds tend to act as units. Every man has a horror of being made conspicuous. Even small boys will not enter a free entertainment until some lad has been found who is willing to “lead off.” Therefore in calling for volun¬ teer prayers and other participations in the service it will help greatly if some one has been coached to “break the ice.” Much spon¬ taneity can be planned. There is a strategic value in the fact that crowds act as units. It is easier to bring individual wills under con¬ trol. If a man submits to the leadership of the preacher and his first submission results in some pleasant experience, he will enter more readily into other suggestions which in¬ volve a personal decision. Therefore the first mass action that is asked for should be planned to bring some pleasure to the audi¬ ence. No action should be asked for in the DOING AS THE ROMANS DO 71 early part of the service which is liable to bring any embarrassment to any individual. A smile, a compliment, or a word of encourage¬ ment to reward the congregation for its first obedience to the leader’s suggestion will pro- Cheerful services with heart warming Pinging and a genuine welcome St Paul Methodist Church, Ashland and Harrison. Two Big Services, Sunday. March 25th, 10 45 a. m.. Cha6. L. Stelzle. former pastor of Labor Temple, New York . 7 :46 p m , Lynn Harold Hough, formerly of Baltimore and Brooklyn-a truly remarkable speaker Both men have lectured from coast . to coast Male quartet, cornetist, big chorus choir, thrilling singing by the big crowds Here’s a help to happiness1 400 SEATS - ALL FREE OF COURSE At the bottom of this handbill a blank page appeared upon which this line was printed: “I hereby certify that I have read the above announcement.” A prize of one dollar was given to the boy and another to the girl who secured the largest number of signatures. Thousands of names and addresses appeared on the returned sheets, and a packed house greeted the preacher for weeks afterward. duce this pleasant reaction. A witticism, if it is real wit, has great value at this point, for a distinct gain lias been made when the audi¬ ence is made to smile back at the preacher. But there is great danger in laughter. The first few minutes do much in determining the character of the whole evening, and an early 72 CAPTURING CROWDS laugh is apt to produce a service that is shal¬ low. A crowd thinks on the level of its most un¬ thinking element. Psychologists have esti¬ mated that the average American audience has a “sixth grade mind.” A sermon born of books is inclined to be over the heads of the people. But all people, learned and unschooled, have the same elemental emotions. An appeal to these emotions will be understood and enjoyed by all. The whole question of emotional ap¬ peal will be discussed in a later chapter, but it may be said here that all the upheavals in life are the result of great surging emotions. Reason and logic pave the way, but emotions move most men to decision. The average man knows better than he does. He seldom needs convincing. Stirring liis emotions is usually a short-cut to action. If a preacher has been able to present one idea to an audience, he has done a superb piece of work. Too many times the service scatters. The music presents one idea, the ser¬ mon another, and special features present an¬ other. The most effective service is one which hammers at one idea until it is driven deep into the hearts of the people. Every carefully arranged detail of the service should con¬ tribute to this end — sermon, music, decora- DOING AS THE ROMANS DO 73 tions, ushers, musical features, souvenirs, printed programs, etc. One of the simplest principles of crowd psychology is the fact that crowds bring crowds. A preacher who can get a crowd a few times will find it is like a schoolboy’s snowball — it will keep growing so long as he keeps pushing. The news that people were turned away for lack of room is one of the best advertisements a church can have. People like to do the popular thing. Many will stay away from an empty church who will hurry to get into a crowded one. They will cross a city to sit with a crowd when they will not cross the street to sit alone. This tendency can be utilized in our advertising by employ¬ ing such phrases as “You’ll have to come early/7 “Try to get in,” “We’ve been turning ’em away/7 “Crowds/7 “Warning, we can’t hold the back seats/7 “Come early if you want a back seat.” One church listed its seats as follows : “600 best seats, 350 second best in Sunday School Annex, 250 gallery seats, 200 can stand up. Come and take what’s left.77 Even though a big crowd is expected it is well to let the people see the partitions rise, the chairs carried in, and other expedients put into use. It is better to run the risk of disturb¬ ing a service than to chill a service with the 74 CAPTURING CROWDS sight of several hundred unoccupied seats. It has a fine effect upon a crowd to see late comers hunting for accommodations. Every man is loyal to some crowd. It may be his lodge, his fellow craftsmen, or some organization to which his family belongs. If “his crowd” is going to church, he will go whether he has a personal interest or not. This is an exceptionally valuable method of capturing crowds. Invitations extended to organized groups are usually accepted with real enthusiasm. Thousands of people can be reached by such a plan, carefully operated through an entire winter. A patient study of the locality and friendly approaches to the various groups will bring the appeal of the church to every unchurched man in the com¬ munity within a comparatively short space of time. CHAPTER VII OLD WINE IN NEW BOTTLES Men are said to avoid the church because of the emotionalism which the church has empha¬ sized, but they avoid emotionalism nowhere else. The government war loans were carried through on a tide of emotionalism never ap¬ proximated even in a Billy Sunday revival. The “demonstrations” staged at political con¬ ventions outrival anything ever seen at a reli¬ gious gathering. Emotionalism does not arouse resentment unless the appeal is clumsy and threadbare. The New Testament reveals the fact that Jesus made constant appeal to the emotions. He seldom indulged in arguments. He under¬ stood the full orchestration of the human soul and played upon emotions with the skill of a master, but he was never sentimental. He shed tears, but he did not parade his grief ; he never indulged in emotional excess in order to sway his audience; he was sympathetic, but never mawkish; he was touched by our in- lirmities, but never stooped to affectation. 75 CAPTURING CROWDS The church lias always used the emotional appeal. Stained-glass windows, sweet-toned organs, chants, responses, dimly lighted sanc¬ tuaries, burning tapers are all a subtle appeal to the emotions. Music is a common appeal — very few arguments were set to music. A certain iron mine in upper Michigan was said to be worked out, but a young engineer dug through a few feet of rock and uncovered vast deposits of ore untouched. The resource¬ ful minister by studying the devices used by amusement houses will discover a new field of powerful emotional appeal which can be ap¬ propriated by the pulpit with perfect pro¬ priety and powerful effect. The psychologist asserts that attention goes in waves. An unvaried appeal loses its effec¬ tiveness as it becomes familiar and stereo¬ typed. If the church can be provided with a wider variety of devices through which to make her appeal, she has gained immeasur¬ ably. Most church services have aimed to pro¬ duce the spirit of reverence and awe. Too often they have produced only soberness, arti¬ ficiality, or fatigue. Eagerness, enthusiasm, joy, and light heartedness are also religious and should be encouraged. To produce reli¬ gious moods we find at least six devices in use by purveyors of amusement which can be con- OLD WINE IN NEW BOTTLES 77 secrated to religious purposes: music, lights, color, action, surprise, and atmosphere. Music as an appeal to the emotions has been in use for centuries, but there are broad oppor¬ tunities in the world of music that have never been utilized by the church. A few years ago a violent storm of controversy raged about the violin, but this brilliant instrument lias been “converted’’ and is now a recognized con¬ tributor to religious worship. Other musical instruments are clamoring for an opportunity to serve the church. A young accordion player of rare ability was invited to play one Sunday evening and delighted liis audience with Handel’s “Largo,” “The Holy City,” and other familiar sacred numbers. At the close of the service he con¬ fessed that it was the first time he had ever been invited to play in a church, though he was a member of an aggressive church of an evangelical denomination. A group of Chi¬ cago young people in a rooming house district was deeply moved as a beautiful woman The following is a sample of “reason why” copy, showing the inside pages of a four-page folder distributed previous to the Easter evan¬ gelistic campaign. a In the Interest of Your Better Self = IT’S THE ONLY WAY OUT— If every man would play square with every other man, we would have few troubles in this world. But life never seemed so mixed up, and it often seems hard to know what the square thing is. Gradually the world is coming to see that the teachings of Jesus point the way. While wise men worry about a “cure,” the simple teachings of Jesus hold the solution. BUT IT’S EVERY MAN’S PROBLEM— Christianity aims to set men right with each other by setting them right with God Himself. A social problem is the problem of many men with wrong ideals. The cure is in changing their ideals. Christianity holds up Christ as the perfect ideal, adaptable to all men’s needs. IT’S A PERSONAL PROBLEM— The individual man must measure himself according to God’s standards. Therefore Simpson Church announces a series of personal discussions during the two weeks preceding Easter Sunday. There’s help for YOU in the subjects announced on the next page. Invest a few nights in your better self — in your soul’s development. Take time to study your relations with God. You’ll find the heart-warming singing, the special music, and the straightforward preaching a wonderful help in the solution of your problems. Bring your neighbor with you. Come the FIRST night. SIMPSON METHODIST CHURCH 28th St. and First Ave. S. Services open at 8 P. M. Serious Themes for Serious Folk Sunday, March 21st. Morning. “THE MARKS OF A CHRISTIAN.’’ Evening. Bishop Charles Bayard Mitchell will preach. Monday, March 22nd. “THE SLOWNESS OF GOD.” Tuesday, March 23rd. “A TURN TO THE RIGHT.” Wednesday, March 24th. “THE LEPROSY OF SIN.” Thursday, March 25th. “WARMING AT A COLD FIRE.” Friday, March 26th. “COUNTERFEIT CHRISTIANITY.” Sunday, March 28th — PALM SUNDAY. Morning. “THE MAN WHO COULD NOT BE TEMPTED.” Evening. “WHEN A STRONG MAN FAILED.” Monday, March 29th. “THE PATIENCE OF GOD.” Tuesday, March 30th. “A GOD OF MIGHT OR A MIGHTY GOD.” Wednesday, March 31st. “CHRIST— THE OPEN DOOR.” Thursday, April 1st. “A MAN WHO PLAYED THE FOOL.” Friday, April 2nd — GOOD FRIDAY. “A MIGHTY GOD IN THE HANDS OF MEN.” Sunday, April 4th — EASTER SUNDAY. Morning. “THE FAILURE OF DEATH.” Evening. “THE ROAD TO EMMAUS.” The Chorus Choir will render “The Story of the Cross” in connection with the evening service. Dr. D. D. Rider, directing. SI MPSON CHURCH 28th St. and First Ave. S. 80 CAPTURING CROWDS whistled imitations of birds and insects. A trumpet quartet swept an audience into en¬ thusiastic applause with “Praise Ye The Father/’ while a xylophone soloist captivated a Sunday-evening audience with MacDowell's “To a Wild Rose.” The modern theater would be helpless with¬ out lights. The exteriors are brilliantly il¬ luminated, and during the progress of the play every device of modern electric lighting is used. Many commonplace scenes have been made positively thrilling by some ingenious use of light. A brilliantly lighted entrance is good advertising, suggesting cheerfulness, merriment, and activity, all of which makes a powerful appeal to the man wearied with monotony or the youth in search of adventure. Few churches are equipped to illuminate for dramatic effects, but simple manipulations can be used to great advantage. Color is an emotional aid of which the church has made comparatively little use, though it plays a great part upon the stage. Decorations provide the best medium for the use of color, but colored lights and costumes can be used on some occasions. Color has high suggestive value and is capable of wide appli¬ cation. Purple suggests royalty, wealth, nobility. Blue suggests night, cold, mystery, OLD WINE IN NEW BOTTLES 81 fear. Bed suggests sunsets, warmth, hearth¬ stones, cheeriness. Green suggests summer and also coldness as well as jealousy, intrigue, malice, envy. White suggests purity, frank¬ ness and fearlessness. Nothing spells defeat like inaction. An audience entering a theater finds the house dimly lighted. When the hour for opening arrives the lights begin to go on, here and there, the orchestra tunes up, the footlights are turned on, the overture begins, and when the actors enter, the audience is in a state of high expectancy. From that moment on there are no waits or delays. Consider, in compari¬ son, the artlessness with which many a church service begins. The organist may or may not have played a voluntary when the preacher suddenly appears in the pulpit, perhaps com¬ ing out of the audience, turns to consult the organist about the first hymn, and, amid the buzzing of conversation, the service opens more as a rude interruption to a happy visit than as the initial chord of a great symphony of worship. Ushers interrupt the service to bring announcements to the minister, col¬ lectors are gathered at the last minute, whispered conferences between the preacher and the choirmaster settle the question of when special music is to be used, and the entire 82 CAPTURING CROWDS service seems to be arranged as it proceeds. If it arrives anywhere, it is a fortunate acci¬ dent for which no one planned and for which no one is entitled to any credit. The object of action is to produce an atti¬ tude of alertness, and alertness is another name for interest. No one contributes more at this point than the leader himself. A brisk step, decisive tone of voice, readiness in detail — all betoken the eager leader and eagerness on the part of the leader means eagerness on the part of the audience. The morning audience can be sedate and dignified, but the evening service, if it is to appeal to the multitude, must be vivacious and spirited. Nothing requires more careful study than the element of surprise. The unusual secures and holds attention. If an audience does not know exactly what to expect, its attention is all the closer, with the result that impressions are deeper. For this reason it is the habit of many successful men to print no program for their evening service. The artist is fond of “atmosphere,” by which he means an appropriate setting for his pic¬ ture. All of us are strangely susceptible to the “eternal fitness of things.” Theaters take great pains to give their performances the cor¬ rect setting, that the proper “state of mind” OLD WINE IN NEW BOTTLES 83 may be produced in the audience. The ushers are dressed in harmony with the theme, the music is chosen with great care, entrances are decorated appropriately, and the audience begins to experience the picture before it begins. The church does not need to be theat¬ rical to make use of “atmosphere.” A home- missionary service was helped by having the young women who collected the offering dressed as mountain girls. In a Gideon serv¬ ice one night the collection was taken in white pitchers, the clinking of the money and the appearance of the pitchers having the effect of greatly increasing the offering. A Chil¬ dren’s- Day collection was swelled to the record mark by having a student’s desk, with dic¬ tionary, books and lamp on the platform and appealing for funds to put a young man at the desk for the entire year. We must constantly think of the audience first, for the spirit of the audience is certain to reflect the spirit of the leader. A veteran lecturer once said: “I never allow my audi¬ ence to think I am suffering with the heat. If I seem to be uncomfortable, they are sure to be.” The minister who constantly mops his brow will soon warm up the coldest audience, but nothing will be gained. The question of dignity and sensationalism 84 CAPTURING CROWDS is easily solved. If any device is being used for its own sake, the effect on the preacher is the most marked. He will raise questions as to its fitness in his own mind which will soon be felt by the audience. If, on the other hand, he is tired with a passion to present his message and has prayed over his service until he is convinced that every element in it is dedi¬ cated to the great purpose of the meeting, he will speak with an assurance that will allay all doubts in the minds of the people. The final question upon which all decisions as to fitness or unfitness must hang is a very simple one — “What is the chief aim in this service and how will these devices promote that object f” In the following chapters will be found the description of certain services which illustrate the principles that have been discussed in the foregoing chapters. They are offered, not with the thought that they are to be imitated, for no man can use the plans of another suc¬ cessfully without careful revision. But the combinations, effects, and wide range of de¬ vices employed may stimulate other men to utilize what is at hand to capture crowds for their own message. The question of expense will probably be raised by the reader but some suggestions will be found in a later chapter OLD WINE IN NEW BOTTLES 85 which will assist in providing the necessary funds. The preacher who seriously sets out to cap¬ ture crowds finds that he grows with his con¬ gregations. As he studies the multitudes to discover an effective appeal he will learn their language, their problems, and their possibili¬ ties. As he makes compelling announcements he will be driven to make elaborate prepara¬ tion for his message, that he may keep faith with his advertising. As he uses new devices to enforce his message he will discover spir¬ itual possibilities hitherto unrecognized. As he prays over his service he will find a new evangelistic passion springing up in his own soul. More than one man has found that this type of preaching has not only saved the Sun¬ day-evening service — it has saved the preacher as well. PAET TWO CHAPTER VIII PRAISE YE THE FATHER It has been said that a man can smile in any language. It is also true that he can sing in any language. Music is a universal appeal that fits all hearts and lips. Men who do not agree with our theology can join happily in singing our songs. Every agency which appeals to the public for patronage makes some use of music. Some churches have spent considerable sums of money in an effort to secure the very best in music, but the meager audiences are dis¬ couraging to all participants in the service. Investment of more money is not the solution of the problem. Indeed, it is a serious ques¬ tion whether much has been gained when a Sunday-evening audience has been built upon the fact that people can hear the highest grade music without paying an admission price. If the Sunday-evening service is an occasion for worship, the artistry of the music must con¬ tribute to, and not usurp the place of worship. The music with which the average man is 89 90 CAPTURING CROWDS familiar is not usually the most artistic. In appealing to the crowds for a Sunday-evening audience some account must be taken of this fact. The common people want singable tunes, words with heart-appeal, and melodies that “bite into the memory.” The best song service is not necessarily the one in which the people have sung lustily, but is one in which the most people have sung with the most feel¬ ing. There is nothing better for such sing¬ ing than some of the old standard hymns which have been born of great common experi¬ ences like loneliness, heartache, trouble, despair, conviction, aspiration, etc. Nothing helps the congregational singing like the leadership of a small group of instruments. Such an orchestra does not need to rehearse the hymns and can be assembled with com¬ parative ease. No song service can be expected to run it¬ self ; it requires as careful study and planning as the sermon. Underneath every musical service which makes a popular appeal lie three important facts: (1) Men like to sing. (2) _ • They sing best what they know best. (3 ) They want some part in the choice of what they shall sing. Every man likes to do his own singing. The few exceptions only prove this rule. Men who PRAISE YE THE FATHER 91 tremble in terror at the thought of singing alone will utterly lose themselves in song when singing with a crowd. No amount of special music can take the place of spirited singing on the part of the congregation itself. Ex- pressional opportunities are too scarce in the average service to make limited use of the singing of the people. People like to sing songs which they know so well that they do not need to refer to the printed page. But most men do not hear church music frequently enough to fix it in their memory. No enthusiastic singing can be developed in a congregation until there is some familiarity with the words and music. It is better, therefore, to use fewer hymns and burn these into the memory of the people than to try to familiarize them with a large number of tunes. Not more than one “new” song should be introduced in one evening if it can be avoided. Music teachers insist upon an uplifted chin as an essential for good sing¬ ing. No audience can sing with eyes glued to the page. Stereopticon slides or any other de¬ vice that will help them to memorize the words and sing with uplifted heads are great aids. A combination of light, color, and music is to be found in illustrated songs. Many of the mission boards are ready to supply slides for 92 CAPTURING CROWDS familiar hymns which are high grade in every respect. The writer secured five photographs of his own church, using one for each verse of the hymn, “I Love Thy Church, O God.” The people enjoyed this hymn particularly. Eight beautiful photographs of scenes about Min¬ neapolis were secured through one of the news¬ papers and two were used to illustrate each verse of “ America.” The local interest gave these slides double value. Two or three such hymns purchased each winter will soon give any church a good library which can be used for many occasions other than the services of worship. Reading the words from the screen and watching the pictures helps to fix such hymns in their minds. The children of the Sunday school have memorized some of the best of our old hymns in this easy fashion. Using an illustrated hymn each Sunday eve¬ ning for a period of weeks becomes quite a feature and is anticipated by the people. People enjoy a song service in which they have the opportunity to choose the hymns. The “community song leader” with his “song sheet” is deluged with requests when time comes to choose the next number. The leader of the church song service can use his hymn book in the same way and soon find the favorites of the crowd. It has frequently been PRAISE YE THE FATHER 93 asserted that the so-called “evangelistic songs’’ serve the interests of such a service best, but experience has shown that an audience will enter into the singing of the noble old hymns of Christian experience with as much zest as the popular airs. The test of such singing is not its boisterousness but its heartfulness. Once these great hymns have been stamped on the memory of the people they become a daily bulwark of strength against temptation and despair. One of the mistakes made by too many churches is the “sin of monotony.” We have used the organ, piano, chorus, the quartet with excellent effect, sometimes adding a violin, but there is a world of music which has never served the purposes of worship. There are scores of sweet-toned instruments which are ready to serve the church and the hour of wor¬ ship. The flute, clarionet, trumpet, trombone, mandolin, bells, guitar, French horn, ’cello, and even the rowdy saxophone are capable of beautiful tones which can add greatly to a service. An old-fashioned accordion, in the hands of skillful musician, worked wonders with one Sunday-evening audience as the “Hallelujah Chorus” and “Onward, Christian Soldiers !” came pealing from its bellows. Amateur bands and orchestras are organ- 94 CAPTURING CROWDS ized in almost every community and will usually give tlieir services without charge. No audience will ever sing “Onward, Christian Soldiers!” or “The Battle Hymn of the Re¬ public” as when led by a band or orchestra. The music in public schools is such a high grade that children’s choruses, liigh-school glee clubs, quartets, orchestras and mandolin clubs provide the best music the community offers. Colleges and universities have a wealth of such material which is usually at the disposal of the minister for occasional services without cost. Lyceum and Chautau¬ qua companies are frequently willing to give assistance on Sunday evening in return for hotel expenses over Sunday. These musical novelties have a double value — they lend interest to the service and have rare advertising value. Children who are proficient on instruments are always attrac¬ tive, for the sweet winsomeness of a little child will add charm to any service. The public schools can furnish information as to where to find such talented children. The Scotch are verv fond of Robert Burns and usually celebrate liis birthday. A “Scotch Night” was arranged one winter on the Sun¬ day evening nearest to the date of his birth¬ day. Every Scot in the city was invited to be PRAISE YE THE FATHER 95 present. A Scotch entertainer was persuaded to lead the singing and the old Scotch hymns were featured. A soprano and a tenor sang Scotch solos and a band of bagpipers was secured to play the opening concert, offertory, and postlude. They came dressed in kilts, Tam O’Shanters and plaids, their gorgeous appearance and stirring music making an im¬ pression that the people will never forget. The announcement of the “Pipers Band” was suffi¬ cient to attract such a crowd that standing room was at a premium. The climax of the service came when a Scotchman read Burns’ “Cotter’s Saturday Night” and the pastor spoke on “Family Religion.” An effective accompaniment for the pulpit prayer is a combination of organ and violin. An intercessory hymn is played very softly, the violin being muted, during the prayer. The sensitive minister will soon discover that the phrases of his prayer are fitting into the rhythm of the hymn. The music must be so faint as to be scarcely heard and the prayer full of tender appeals and suggestions. Such a combination, using the hymn “O Love That Wilt Not Let Me Go,” is exceptionally good. By closing with the Lord’s prayer in which the congregation joins, the music ceases with¬ out breaking in the midst of a phrase. 96 CAPTURING CROWDS A quartet of stringed instruments from the Minneapolis Symphony Orchestra was secured to assist in a service of song. The idea of the service was the blending of the ancient psalms and the modern hymns. The fundamental religious emotions such as faith, joy, confes¬ sion, humility, prayer, etc., were illustrated, first by a psalm and then by a hymn. The psalm was read with all the emotional and dramatic expression possible. Then the simi¬ larity of the hymn and the psalm as expres¬ sions of religious experience was explained and the hymn was rendered, either by the instruments, a vocal quartet, soloists or by the congregation. All hymns were chosen from the church hymnal that the audience might be able to quickly find the particular number and follow the words as they were being sung. Inasmuch as the entire evening was given over to this service ample time was available to cover the theme. The prelude, offertory, and postlude were rendered by the quartet. The psalms, hymns, quartets, soloists, choirs, and prayers made a service which had such marked religious value as well as artistic merit that the appeal was almost irresistible. A most effective musical service is one known as the “song sermon.” The theme must PRAISE YE THE FATHER 97 have a wide appeal around which are grouped familiar hymns and gospel songs. The entire evening is devoted to the service and every item of the program is blended so as to give a strong impression of unity. Such themes as “Songsi of the Homeland/’ “Songs for the Tempted/’ “Songs for the Discouraged/’ “One More Day’s Work for Jesus/’ “Songs for the Blind/’ “The Patriot’s Songs/’ “Songs From the Sanctuary/’ etc., have great possibilities. The best idea of such a service can be gained from a minute description of two which have been used to excellent advantage on many occasions. “Songs for the Lonely” was the theme and inasmuch as most people have known loneli¬ ness at one time or another the announcement was very attractive. The prelude and proces¬ sional were used in the customary manner, and at the close of the invocation the pastor began to speak, commenting upon loneliness as a common experience and reminding the audience that it did its most deadly work in the night time. As he spoke a beautiful sunset was sketched in chalk on an immense easel set up on the platform, and the audience was asked to sing “Day is Dying in the West,” while the drawing was being completed. When the hymn was finished he spoke of a man’s 98 CAPTURING CROWDS instinctive hunger for mother, and began to read “Backward, turn backward, 0 Time, in jmur flight, Make me a child again, just for to-night !” • while the organist played “Come, Thou Fount of Every Blessing/’ as an accompaniment. There are two ways through loneliness — the way of the coward and the way of courage, the way of despair and the way of faith. Illustrat¬ ing this theme, a tenor sang “The Wayside Cross,” while a male quartet from a distant room echoed the chorus. The audience was then asked to repeat the twenty-third psalm, “a psalm born of loneliness.” The scripture was followed by a prayer, the evening an¬ nouncements, and the collection. Then came an introduction of the idea that every man is a child of God, and as such need not fear lone¬ liness. “The Child of the King” was sung by a baritone, followed by “Oh Then to the Rock Let Me Fly” by the congregation. Confidence in loneliness was illustrated by “Jesus, Lover of My Soul,” sung as a duet. Instances of the loneliness of Jesus were recited as the organ and violin played, very softly, “The Rosary.” The strength of Jesus for lonely people was expressed in the hymn, “ I heard the voice of Jesus say, Come unto me and rest/’ PRAISE YE THE FATHER 99 sung by a trio of girls from a distant gallery. Other men have faced loneliness and found a song therein as in the case of Henley’s “In- victus” which was recited with a musical ac¬ companiment. As the rousing lines of the poem concluded the tenor sang the closing strains of “I Know That My Redeemer Livetli,” and with a brief exhortation to take the companionship of Jesus as a safeguard against loneliness, the service closed with the hymn “Go Forward, Christian Soldier,” sung by the congregation. “My Mother’s Songs” was first used in con¬ nection with a Mother’s Day service, but is appropriate any time. The service opened as usual and the theme was introduced by the hymn, “Love Divine, All Loves Excelling.” Mother and love are synonymous. For one hour the audience was invited to go back to the scenes of childhood and study the sources of mother’s love and patience. She is seen first reading her Bible in the lamplight and two men sing as a duet, “My Mother’s Bible,” while a cartoonist sketches an old family Bible with spectacles atop. Next she is seen on her way to prayer meeting, and the audi¬ ence is asked to sing “Sweet Hour of Prayer.” The church entered so intimately into her life and was so much the center of her interest that 100 CAPTURING CROWDS “The Little Brown Church in the Wildwood” sung by a male quartet brought many tears. She found in her Bible, her prayer life, and her church, the strength and cheer that sent her singing all the day such songs as “Beulah Land,” sung by the audience with great spirit. Though mother was never a conspicuous woman, she did the humble duties with faith¬ fulness like the lower lights along the shore and “Let the Lower Lights Be Burning” was sung by the quartet, illustrated by the artist. As the years came on mother’s faith was said to be an outworn superstition and we wandered away in spite of her prayers. “I Have a Saviour, He’s Pleading in Glory,” sung by the choir, represented her spirit and faith. What man could forget? But the story of neglect is told in the song, “Tell Mother I’ll Be There,” sung by a baritone. The service closed with the congregation singing, “Coining Home.” Such services provide opportunity for using every musical organization within the church, thus securing the widest possible variety. On the other hand any pastor who has a pianist and one soloist can work out his own program. If some gifted young person can be persuaded to illustrate the hymns with chalk drawings as they are being sung, added interest is PRAISE YE THE FATHER 101 gained. The success of such a service depends upon two things : (1) an assembly of hymns, poems, solos, and exhortations all bearing upon one idea, and (2) such careful team work between the preacher and the musicians that there shall be no break. A “cue sheet,” indi¬ cating exactly where each feature is to come, together with the exact words that introduce the number is absolutely essential. Such a “cue sheet” should be in the hand of each per¬ son who participates in any wav. Outside soloists and operatic music are not so useful in such a service as home talent and familiar gospel hymns. The whole object is to produce a spiritual mood and not to render an artistic performance. Music can be made to appeal to two of the strongest instincts — the love of the beautiful and the spirit of curiosity. Mandolin clubs, orchestras, bands, glee clubs, negro choirs and soloists, instrumental combinations and child musicians are available in almost every community. No performer makes a finer appeal to an audience than a child, and whistlers, violinists, pianists, soloists and readers are common among children and any school teacher can help to find them. Musicians of foreign birth have unusual advertising value, and if their music is accept- 102 CAPTURING CROWDS able their contribution is considerable. Scotch singers and pipers can be found frequently. College communities will usually furnish a wealth of material. Representatives of the Negro race appear to excellent advantage in connection with Lincoln’s Birthday and Memorial Sunday. Rural churches can use Victrolas with records made by some of the famous Jubilee Singers. Trading choirs be¬ tween churches in the same or neighboring towns adds interest to the service and develops an esprit de corps among the singers. The type of music to be presented is a simpler problem than most men think. All organizations have patriotic selections which are acceptable, and a scanning of their reper¬ toire will reveal many serious numbers that can be used to excellent advantage. The 151st Field Artillery Band appeared in Simpson Church, Minneapolis, on one occasion and used concert numbers for a prelude and Tosti’s “Good-bye” for a postlude. Nothing could have been more appropriate. Many very tine organizations can be secured without expense if assured that their music is appropriate. When special groups are invited to visit the Sunday-evening service additional advantage can be gained by asking them to supply some musical number. These organizations fre- PRAISE YE THE FATHER 103 quently have bands, quartets, glee clubs, or¬ chestras, or soloists of real merit. If the musical ability is less than that of profes¬ sionals the lack is fully compensated in addi¬ tional interest developed from the conscious¬ ness that the visitors are making some contri¬ bution to the service. Workmen like to hear their fellow workmen perform in such serv¬ ices. The musical ability of such organiza¬ tions is frequently surprising. The police band of Minneapolis is one of the best musical organizations the writer has ever used. The men came gladly and the chief of police later declared that it was the first time his band had ever been invited to play in a church. It will help in arranging such features if the preacher will remember that his first object is not to get music but to get folks . When bands and orchestras are used they can be asked to furnish a brief opening con¬ cert, an offertory, and a postlude. This takes the place of the usual organ numbers — leav¬ ing room for the anthems or other special vocal numbers without using more than the usual amount of time. CHAPTER IX LET THERE BE LIGHT The superior values of light have been only slightly realized by the church, though lodges have used dimly lighted halls, colored lights, and electrical effects to great advantage in their ceremonials, and the theater depends upon the manipulation of illumination for some of its most impressive effects. It is not necessary to spend large sums of money on electrical equipment and a trained electrician, for any liigh-school boy, interested in elec¬ tricity, will take great delight in working out all necessary details, and full directions for constructing the devices referred to in this chapter will be found in the Appendix. Lights have a special use in the evening serv¬ ice because darkness furnishes contrast. A spotlight brings the object under the light into sharpest relief ; all attention is focused on one illuminated spot. It is another form of italics. Illuminated objects, such as stars, crosses, pic¬ tures, etc., are burned into the memory, to¬ gether with all words and actions which ac- 104 LET THERE BE LIGHT 105 company the illumination. Light is one of the best attention arresters known to science. So long as the eye is not pained it will involun¬ tarily turn to the brightest spot in the range of vision. Lights in different colors and degrees of intensity suggest different ideas. The gradual dimming of lights has the effect of quieting an audience, producing awe and arousing ex¬ pectancy until attention is riveted on any word or action that accompanies the change in illumination. There is little chance to stir emotions or affect judgments until attention has been secured. Gestures, climaxes, facial expressions, etc., are efforts to secure atten¬ tion, and manipulation of lights is but an¬ other. It is another form of gesturing and one of the most effective. A plan that combines the appeal of sea¬ sonal interest and lights has been used with great effect on the Sunday nearest to New Year’s. The advertising announced “The House of a, Thousand Candles.” Handbills, pulpit announcement and direct-by-mail adver¬ tising urged the people to see “one thousand lighted candles.” Small Christmas candles were set on the wainscoting, door frames, altar rail, pulpit, and all accessible places, at inter¬ vals of about six inches. Larger candles were 106 CAPTURING CROWDS used over the organ, and wherever it was nec¬ essary that they should remain burning throughout the evening. People coining to the service were presented with small tapers at the door. The candles were purchased through a ten-cent store at a very low price following the Christmas season. The service began and continued as usual for about ten minutes. As the passing of the old year was likened to the burning out of a candle, young men, stationed at points of vantage, began lighting the candles about the room. When they began to glow the electric lights were turned out, leaving the house il¬ luminated solely by candles. The choir sang “Send Out Thy Light/’ by Gounod, at the close of which the ushers came forward, each carry¬ ing an unliglited candle. As they grouped themselves before the altar a light was taken from the pulpit by which they lighted their candles, the pastor’s comment emphasizing the value of the “light” that proceeds from the Christian pulpit. As the choir sang the first verse of “Lead, Kindly Light,” the ushers passed the lighted candles to those persons sit¬ ting in the ends of the pews, who, in turn, passed the light on to those sitting next to them. Within a few seconds the whole audi¬ torium was ablaze with light from the little LET THERE BE LIGHT 107 tapers, A thousand candles were used in the decorations and another thousand were burn¬ ing in the hands of the audience. When the tapers were lighted the audience was asked to stand, thus avoiding any danger of melted wax dropping on clothing. The song service used such songs as, “Send the Light,” “Let the Lower Lights Be Burning,” etc. As a closing number the audience was asked to sing, “Brighten the Corner Where You Are,” and everyone held his candle aloft and kept time with it on the chorus. The beau¬ tiful appearance of a thousand moving candles must be seen to be appreciated. As the song closed the candles were extinguished and prayer was offered, concluding with the Lord’s Prayer, during which the electric lights were turned on. The candles about the auditorium were extinguished by the young men during the offertory period, leaving only the lights upon the altar and the organ. People enter into such a service as into a game, and when a thousand people have waved lighted candles, sung heartily and bowed their heads in prayer all under the leadership of the preacher, their hearts are pretty well opened to any appeal he may make. Very little suspicion or antag¬ onism can survive the service. The “candle-lighting service” is capable of 108 CAPTURING CROWDS many variations. On one occasion the lights were all turned out, leaving the house in abso¬ lute darkness. From a side room there came a tiny child bearing a lighted candle. As he approached the altar the ushers came forward to meet him, taking their lights from his candle. This symbolism of the coming of the Christ-cliild with the light of the gospel can be made very effective. On another occasion the lights were all extinguished and the “dark¬ ness” of the world into which Jesus came was the theme for an effective comment, in the midst of which a tiny girl appeared, coming from a side gallery with a lighted candle. The candle, representing the light of the first Christian century, was placed on a table near the pulpit at the foot of a great cross. As the pastor spoke, briefly characterizing the vari¬ ous centuries, more candles were brought to the pulpit by children, each a little larger than the preceding child until the twentieth candle was brought forward by a full-grown man, the twenty candles forming a semicircle at the base of the cross. During the assembling of the candles with its accompaniment of com¬ ment, the organist was playing “Faith of Our Fathers!” “How Firm a Foundation,” and other old hymns of faith. When the twentieth candle was in place she suddenly LET THERE BE LIGHT 109 broke into the triumphant strains of “In the Cross of Christ I Glory. v ’ When the hymn was well begun the cross began to glow, first dimly and then more brightly until with the closing of the hymn it shone in glorious brilliancy. The audience was thrilled beyond words to describe and rose to sing the song with almost apostolic enthusiasm. This form of symbol¬ ism can be used appropriately at any season of the year. Various combinations of music aiid lights have been used. During the lighting of the candles on one occasion a violin played “Just a Song at Twilight,” and on another occasion a tenor sang “One Sweetly Solemn Thought.” A little child singing “Lead, Kindly Light,” moved an audience to tears. During the pause just before the lighting of the candles, when the lights are out, the organist can play, “ ’Tis Midnight, and on Olives’ Brow” with great effectiveness. The music for such an occasion should be very soft and plaintive with a strong sentimental coloring. The speaker should avoid all nervous gesturing or loud tones. Restraint must characterize every movement of the service. The assistance of a stereopti- con spotlight is valuable in the midst of the period when the candles are lighted. A solo¬ ist in vestments, singing in a soft colored light, 110 CAPTURING CROWDS either red or blue, will be listened to with wonderful attention. The song should be the simplest and most appealing it is possible to find. Some old hymn or gospel song is better than any classical number. The candle-lighting service has the advan¬ tage of using a large number of individuals who become interested in the service as a re¬ sult. The novelty, beauty, and seasonal inter¬ est all conspire to attract a crowd. In one such service the ushers estimated that nearly five hundred people kept their candle ends as souvenirs of the service instead of dropping them into the collection plate as suggested. A Good-Friday service had been planned for a noon theater meeting. Bishop Charles Bay¬ ard Mitchell had preached a winsome sermon on the power of the cross and retired to his seat without pronouncing a benediction. With his closing words the organist began playing “There Is a Fountain Filled With Blood.” The ministers seated upon the stage took up the tune, the congregation joining, and as the verse proceeded the house lights be¬ gan going out. When all was dark curtains at the back of the stage were parted and a great cross appeared, glowing first a dull pink and finally a brilliant red until it became the very color of blood. At the close of the second LET THERE BE LIGHT 111 verse the organ began playing the prelude for “Open the Gates of the Temple.’’ Back in the distance a baritone was heard singing, at first faintly, but gradually coining nearer. As the singer’s words became distinct a dark blue light began to appear upon the stage and as the climax of the song was reached in the words, “I Know that my Redeemer Liveth,” the white lights flooded the stage, the house lights came back in a blaze of beauty, and the audience in a full tide of religious fervor re¬ ceived the benediction. They had heard that song many times, but the dawning light sug¬ gestive of the resurrection morning with the final climacteric burst of song had swept them into a religious mood which made the song live with a new meaning. Roberts Park Methodist Church, Indian¬ apolis, has made a beautiful feature of “hymns with the cross.” The house lights are all turned out and the choir sings a hymn with no light but the illuminated cross. The evening prayer follows the hymn and the spirit of awe and reverence produced is wonderful. Colored lights in the cross provide added variety and fitness in some instances, such as red lights with “There Is a Fountain Filled With Blood” ; blue lights with “ ?Tis Midnight, and on Olives’ Brow” ; green lights with “From 112 CAPTURING CROWDS Greenland's Icy Mountain/’ etc. Transpar¬ encies can be made up easily and cheaply with the use of celluloid such as is used in the manu¬ facture of automobile curtains. The design is painted on the celluloid which is fastened oyer the face of a box in which an electric light is installed. Stars, emblems, mottoes, insignia, flags, and various other designs can be used very easily. The Gideons were visiting one church and a picture of the Gideon pitcher had been transferred to such a transparency and illuminated. The emblem stood on a pedestal beside the pulpit and preached a powerful lesson throughout the entire evening. A crown of thorns were similarly portrayed on another occasion during a sermon on “The Crown of Thorns.” One advantage of such trans¬ parencies is their durability. A simple plan which made a very effective feature can be used by almost any pastor. Three elements are necessary : a baritone who can sing with real spirit and fire, a lantern operator, and a stereopticon slide whereupon are the words “Thou art weighed and found wanting.” The sermon Avas on the story of the Feast of Belshazzar and the Scripture had been read, at the close of which it was an¬ nounced that the story had been set to music. A baritone then be nan sinaimr, “At the Feast LET THERE BE LIGHT 113 of Belshazzar.” The first verse was sung with all lights burning. During the second verse the lights were extinguished, and with the be¬ ginning of the third verse the words of the text began to appear in letters of light on the white wall of the sanctuary. A stereopticon had been placed in a concealed spot, con¬ nected with the “dimmer” and as the singer began the verse the current was turned on, first gently, then stronger, until the words glowed upon the wall in letters of fire. The ordinary slide uses black letters on a white background, but in this case the order was reversed and the letters were white with the background black. Following the song came the evening prayer full of tenderness and pleading, concluding with the Lord’s Prayer to allow for the returning of the lights. The spotlight was used with great effect in a Lincoln-Day service. A fine portrait of Mr. Lincoln, draped in a silk flag, stood beside the pulpit. Following the singing of an old plan¬ tation spirituelle by a Negro choir, the lights went out and in the distance a girl’s voice was heard singing, “Steal Away to Jesus,” Sud¬ denly the spotlight was turned on a side door through which the girl appeared, entering the pulpit platform. She slowly approached the portrait of Mr. Lincoln, the spotlight narrow- 114 CAPTURING CROWDS in g to include only her and the picture. At last she knelt before the picture and kissed the flag, the choir taking up her song. She re¬ mained kneeling for some seconds, then arose quietly and retreated slowly from the area of light which continued to shine on the picture alone. This was followed by a prayer, but the audience had been moved as they had seen the Negro’s love for the flag and the great Emanci¬ pator so graphically portrayed. At the opening of one service the choir was heard singing “Holy, Holy, Holy” in the dis¬ tance. By the close of the first verse the house had gone into darkness and the choir loft was flooded with a dark-blue light. The proces¬ sional began with the second verse and the sight of the choir in white vestments moving into the blue light produced a hush and a reverence that pervaded the entire evening. During the invocation the light was changed to a deep red and the prayer was followed by “ Abide With Me,” sung by the choir in the softest tones imaginable. The spirit of wor¬ ship was present in that service from the very beginning. An evening communion service is celebrated each year during passion week with no illumination except that of the cross. The first part of the service consists of a hymn, a prayer, and a short sermon. During the first Simpson Methodist Church 28th St. and Fir*t Ave. S. EVENINGS MARCH 21 TO ,8 O’CLOCK APRIL 4TH Uniformity in advertising has some value. This drawing is used in connection with all Easter services. 116 CAPTURING CROWDS ten minutes a few lights are burned in the rear of the auditorium to assist late comers in finding seats. When the time comes for the communion service the people are invited to come forward quietly, kneel as long as they wish, confess their sins, partake of the com¬ munion and retire from the building or take their seat as may suit their taste. The people move with bated breath and men who have never taken communion before will do so with tears streaming down their cheeks as they feel the privacy of the darkness and the solemnity of the occasion. The semidarkness makes such a communion very personal in which a man forgets everyone else and faces God alone. A building committee, desirous of arousing enthusiasm for a proposed new building, en¬ gaged a scenic painter to paint a large picture of the church, five by seven feet, which could be conspicuously displayed before the people several weeks before the campaign for funds was launched. The picture stood on a low easel, banked with flowers and illuminated by means of an ordinary desk lamp concealed among the flowers. In the midst of a Sunday night service all lights were extinguished except the one which illuminated the picture and the pastor spoke for a few minutes on the increased usefulness of the church when such LET THERE BE LIGHT 117 a building should be provided. The light was turned on the picture even during daylight services and remained before the people, with great effect, for several weeks. Such a picture must be painted in water colors to avoid any reflected glare of lights. A railroad man asked for a service for the trainmen of the city, and more than one thou¬ sand received invitations through their union officials. A railroad division superintendent furnished two great “target switches” which were mounted, one on each side of the pulpit. Several dozen switchmen’s lanterns of red, green, and white, were set about the organ, pulpit, and choir loft. High up against the pipes of the organ stood a beautiful white cross which could be illuminated. The ser¬ mon subject was “Sidetracked” with the text from Isaiah 53. 6. A double male quartet of blacksmiths from a railroad shop sang several selections, displaying remarkable musical ability, a railroad man spoke for the men, and the choir rendered special music of an appro¬ priate nature. When the pastor spoke of men who had been reared by Christian mothers, oidy to drift away in later life, there were many sober faces among the five hundred rail¬ road men present. Suddenly the lights began to go out, leaving only the colored lights of the 118 CAPTURING CROWDS lanterns. Referring to the “maze of conflict¬ ing signals” before them as significant of the conflicting advices of socialism, religions fads, tempters and prejudices, attention was di¬ rected to the cross from which there suddenly flashed a brilliant white light. At the foot of the cross was a white lantern. Pointing to it, the preacher said, “There at the cross of Christ is the light of life for every man if he will but take it.” He pressed the appeal with all tenderness and earnestness until the men were visibly moved, and when the opportunity was given to make decisions several came for¬ ward to declare their purpose to lead new lives. One towering man, with his wife at his side, came to the preacher at the close of the serv¬ ice and said, “Pastor, I haven’t been in church for five years before. I came to-night to please the boys and the ‘missus.’ But I’ve told the little woman I’m goin’ back with her next Sun¬ day, and I’ll be regular after this.” A neighbor¬ ing pastor reported that two railroad men had come to him to confer about joining his church with their wives. A traveling man in a hotel four hundred miles away heard some men talk¬ ing about the service and reported it. One man said : “That preacher started something with me. I haven’t prayed since I was a kid, LET THERE BE LIGHT 119 but I prayed that night when I started on my run and I’ve prayed for him every night since.” The pastor is still getting results from that service three years afterward. When the great railroad strike was on, the men held a mass meeting and sent for the preacher saying, “Don’t talk about the strike — preach to us; we need something better than agita¬ tion.” CHAPTER X THE CHARM OF COLOR Color is nature’s favorite advertising medium. The out of doors is a riot of color in which clouds, skies, rocks, hills, forests, streams, rainbows, birds, insects, and flowers vie with one another in an effort to display the most compelling shades. Color is a powerful attention arrester. The advertiser will use brilliant spots of red, livid yellows, or a dash of royal purple to catch the eye of the public, for these colors have a mar¬ velous power over the human mind. Dealers in children’s goods display an understanding of color in painting toys and trinkets. Dull colors and drab tints would never sell any¬ thing to a child. The adult cultivates his taste for color and establishes rules by which they must be combined, but by conforming to these rules the power of the appeal becomes even stronger. The amusement house is a great user of color — costumes, scenery, lights, draperies, decorations; everything must have color. The 120 THE CHARM OF COLOR 121 more one studies the psychology of color, the more does its usefulness appear. Space will not permit a lengthy discussion of the psy¬ chology of color from a scientific viewpoint, but the observing minister who applies himself to the problem will soon recognize the ele¬ mental principles. No single method can be used independently, for each is involved in some measure as others are used, but the de¬ scriptions of services which appear in this chapter show how the addition of the color appeal makes the other elements in the service more effective. A “rose service” was suggested by Dr. Chris¬ tian F. Reisner some years ago which is capable of wide variation and always makes an effective appeal. The advertisement an¬ nounced that every person in the audience would receive a rose. The sermon subject was “The Rose of Sharon,” with a special solo by the same title. The roses were a memorial to a good woman Avho had given faithful service through the church for many years. The organ, pulpit, and platform were decorated with roses in profusion. During the singing of the hymn, just preceding the sermon, twelve young women came forward in orderly fashion and began distributing the roses to the people. Great care had been exercised in the selection 1 oo liJiJ CAPTURING CROWDS of gowns and the distribution of the roses that there should be no unpleasant color combina¬ tions. The distribution was complete as the hymn closed with one great vase of wonderful roses still left for the pulpit. As the people sat with roses in their hands, the fragrance tilling the sanctuary, there was a spirit of tenderness and sympathy in the audience which made preaching easy. One who has never seen graceful girls distributing flowers to a great audience can scarcely imagine what a beautiful and inspiring sight it is. Field daisies were used on another occasion in a similar fashion with the text, “Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.” Because of the hardy nature of the flowers they can be kept for a considerable time, and a Saturday expedition by a Sunday-school class will provide the daisies and a picnic at the same time. Violets are a far less conspicuous flower and should be combined with some other decoration, but they make unexcelled favors for distribution. Lilies of the valley are diffi¬ cult to secure in large quantities but can be used in some instances. Nothing more appro¬ priate can be found, for the Scriptures are full of allusions to these tiny beauties. This deli¬ cate flower has an appeal that few can resist. Three heads of wheat, together with a THE CHARM OP COLOR 123 green leaf, combine in an attractive button¬ hole favor, and if gathered during the harvest season can be preserved for use any time dur¬ ing the winter. Small flags can be obtained at an insignificant cost for use on patriotic occasions. A committee on decorations can be used much oftener than is realized. People who do not serve well anywhere else will frequently render large service in this work. If they can be given a vision of the possibilities of the work, they can make their talent a great asset to the services. The pastor of a country church in Illinois enlisted the services of two Sunday-school classes and transformed the sanctuary into a woodland bower with autumn leaves. The “Harvest Home Services’’ for the next three Sundays created a sensation in the town, though the program of worship was as conventional as could be. One city church in a rooming-house district was accustomed to ship in wild flowers from the country and after using them for decorations give them away to the audience at the close of the service. Sheaves of wheat, corn, autumn leaves, fruit, flags, bunting, college pennants, mis¬ sionary curios, historical relics, and a wide variety of other material can be used to advan¬ tage. On a few occasions the writer has used 124 CAPTURING CROWDS blocks of ice into which fruit and flowers have been frozen. The effect during the heated sea¬ son is very remarkable. Green palms and ferns in the winter season when the sight of green is rare are very pleasing. By featuring the decorations in the -advertisements some part of the expense can be met by the increased collections. Cakes of ice wherein are frozen fruits and flowers make a decoration that ap¬ peals to the sense of beauty as well as the curi¬ osity of the public. Any artificial ice manu¬ facturer can produce such material and will frequently do so without cost. The ice can be set up in tubs or “butcher’s pans” and when provided with a drain will stand unattended for hours. The blocks of ice can be surrounded by ferns and plants with the pans draped with green crepe paper. Flags frozen into the ice present a beautiful appearance, but care must be exercised to secure colors that will not “run.” Electric fans, mounted behind the ice, will make the room look twenty degrees cooler, which is just as important. A “Florida Night” was arranged for mid¬ winter and advertised widely. A cemetery association furnished two truck loads of palms and ferns, which were banked about the pulpit and organ until the place looked like the ever¬ glades. The entrance to each aisle was THE CHARM OF COLOR 125 through an arch of palms. As the people came in from a temperature of twenty degrees below zero they were met with the sight of palms, ferns, flowers, and girls dressed in summer Florida Night SIMPSON CHURCH 28th St. and First Ave. S. Will be tastefully decorated by ferns and Spanish Moss shipped direct from Florida for this service. Mr. Pickard, a member of our Methodist Church in Minneapolis will show views of the “Sunny South” land. An orange will be given every one who attends the service. SUNDAY EVENING, FEBRUARY 6, 1921 The sermon subject will be: “A Warm Hearted God in a Cold Hearted World.” The Whittier School Orchestra will furnish music. The announcement of the “Florida Service” gowns acting as ushers. Oranges, shipped by fast express from Florida, were given out by more girls attired in summer gowns of deli¬ cate tints. Colored post cards showing the growing of oranges accompanied the fruit. The sermon theme was “A Warm-Hearted God in a Cold-Hearted World’’ and was an appeal 126 CAPTURING CROWDS to those who were discouraged because of the unfriendliness of men to cultivate the warm¬ hearted friendship of God. Just as modern transportation has bridged the gulf between Florida and Minnesota, so does faith bridge the gulf between the heart of God and the cold¬ ness of the world. Two modest bouquets of white flowers, one on each side of the pulpit, relieved the monotony of green, and a crate of oranges, upset on a table in the midst of the ferns, lent color to the decorations. An orchestra of thirty pieces rendered a prelude of Southern airs, and the hymns were all chosen to express the solicitude of God. An excellent display of Florida fruit and vege¬ tables was mounted on a table on the pulpit and a member of the congregation explained the exhibit to all inquirers at the close of the service. The young women took up the col¬ lection, and their delicately tinted gowns made a beautiful contrast against the green as they stood before the altar. Perhaps it was the novelty of the plan, perhaps it was the exten¬ sive advertising, perhaps it was the oranges, perhaps it was the music, but something had caught the attention of the community, for the church was packed to the doors for more than half an hour before the service began, and hundreds were turned away. A wealthy busi- THE CHARM OF COLOR 127 ness man said, some weeks after tlie service : “I went to that service, not because I wanted an orange, but because I was sure that a man who would plan such a service must have something to say that would be fresh and in¬ teresting. I came expecting to be entertained, of course, but I soon forgot the entertainment and entered deeply into the spirit of worship which I found pervading the service.” There was nothing sensational about the service it¬ self, though the advertising and the setting were unusual. The program of the evening was as dignified and stately as any morning service. There was a strong appeal to the sense of curiosity, of course, but there was also a marked appeal to contrast, Florida and Minnesota, summer and winter, February and August, palms and snow, God and trouble, religion and worldliness — all of these ideas stood as exact opposites. The oranges, palms, ferns, music, lights, songs, and crowd de¬ veloped analogies in the minds of the people of which the preacher did not dream. A railroad passenger agent telephoned the church office one day to ask if a group of American Indians could be used. Having attended the services a great deal, he had seen the use made of other features and, knowing that the Indians were to be in the city, he 128 CAPTURING CROWDS was offering their services. The announce¬ ment of “ American Indian Night” attracted a capacity house even in the midst of the sum¬ mer heat. The sermon theme was “The Great Spirit,” which presented a wonderful mis¬ sionary opportunity. The whole service was grouped around the idea of the advancement of Christianity over nature worship — an ap¬ propriate theme for the vacation time when many people had gone to the woods to “com¬ mune with nature.” The organ prelude was a weird, woodsy number suggestive of the out of doors. Girl Scouts in uniform, with long black feathers stuck in their hair, acted as ushers and collectors. A magnificent or¬ chestra of thirty pieces gave a thirty-minute concert of high-grade music preluding the service, at the close of which a choir of fifty children filed into the choir loft and the five Indian chiefs, two squaws and a papoose came to the pulpit platform together with the pas¬ tor. The chiefs were dressed in civilian clothes, but the squaws were resplendent in gayly colored shawls and ornaments. The great green blanket carried by one of the chiefs, the copper colored skins, the long, black-braided hair, the conspicuous jewelry, the Girl Scouts, the prominent American flag, and the decorations of Indian beadwork made THE CHARM OF COLOR 129 a color combination that was attractive indeed. A little fourteen-year-old girl dressed as an Indian maiden, sang “By the Waters of Minnetonka,” as a solo and the State His¬ torical Society had loaned two automobile loads of Indian relics for decorations. Three characteristics of the Indian were evident in the service : dignity, love of nature, and faith. The service opened with “Day Is Dying in the West,” which is a nature hymn. This was fol¬ lowed by “Saviour, Like a Shepherd Lead Us,” a hymn of childlike faith. The children’s choir sang an anthem arrangement of Handel’s “Largo,” which is dignified and stately. Each of the Indians was introduced by name and received his ovation with all the grace and dignity of a European diplomat. One of the most interesting aspects of the service was the attitude of the Indians them¬ selves, each one of whom was a member of some Protestant church. In their work for the railroad they appeared in blankets and paint, but they insisted upon coming to church in their civilian clothes, saying, “We are go¬ ing to worship, not to parade.” The teaching opportunity of the service was unsurpassed, for the whole work of the church for the Indian was fully surveyed. The sight of those massive bronzed men, each one a physical 130 CAPTURING CROWDS giant, sitting through the service in stoical grace and dignity, provided a background for a missionary and evangelistic appeal that was superb. Incidentally, a, great friendship for the church and the minister sprang up among the Indians of the city, most of whom were in the service. The next day a great feast was to be held in the home of one of the Indians, and the minister was the one white man invited to share the festivities of the occasion. An educational service was arranged for the purpose of inspiring young people to at¬ tend college. Announcement was made from the pulpit that college and high-school pen¬ nants were wanted for decorative purposes, as a result of which scores of pennants of every color and hue were sent in. A committee of higli-school girls arranged the pennants in a very artistic fashion across the front of the church. A college glee club from an adjoining town was secured to furnish the music. The college colors of the local denominational school were used for general decorations and a full supply of the college catalogues were ready for the young people who would attend the service. The nurses from hospitals in the city were invited to attend the services as special guests and occupy a reserved section of seats. By THE CHARM OF COLOR 131 special consent of the hospital authorities they were permitted to wear their white nurses’ uniforms and in the midst of the service occurred a delightful surprise in which light, color, and music combined. A young lady ®{{r pastor nnb profile of Paul cfKctfjobiat (SJbuvch ' corbiahg infiite you to atiertb a Special jirrfrt tt fur ^Tururs <©n J&unbag (April ZZ\$, at 7:45 p. m. Sections of seats foil! be reserbeb for eaclj training sdjooL J§pectal (iUnsic. (Conte for a Pappjj (ITtrttc. (Corbiallu, JSfertttmrc “(£f]e (®rcat pt|gsician." The personal touch in this invitation is emphasized by the signature of the pastor, thus combining formality and cor¬ diality. Nearly four hundred nurses were in attendance. harpist had been gowned as a Red Cross nurse with a beautiful silk flag draped from shoulder to waist. Her harp stood upon a platform behind curtains, at one side of the pulpit. Following the Scripture lesson, in the midst of introductory comment, the house lights suddenly went out. The voice of the. 132 CAPTURING CROWDS preacher was stilled and the audience became breathless with expectancy. Suddenly a spot¬ light illuminated a small spot of the curtain which was slowly drawn back, revealing the great gold harp and the flag-draped harpist in nurse’s uniform against a background of spot¬ less white. The gold, red, blue, and white combined in an impression impossible to de¬ scribe. After the first gasp of surprise, the young woman began playing a delicate air full of plaintiveness and pathos to which the peo¬ ple listened with almost painful attention. A Red Cross banner, made of silk, display¬ ing a red cross on a white field, suspended by a gold cord, hung from the center of the organ one night when nurses were present. The significance of the Red Cross organization was the subject of comment when the lights began to go out. When all was dark and the audi¬ ence was quiet, a stereopticon light suddenly flashed out illuminating the banner only. The brilliant white light, the shimmering silk, the deep red and the sudden appearance of the light gave the audience a genuine thrill. From the choir loft a male quartet began singing : “Must Jesus bear the cross alone, And all the world go free? No, there’s a cross for every one, And there’s a cross for me,” CHAPTER XI THROUGH THE EYE GATE The deepest impressions upon the human mind are those which originate in sensations which reach the brain through the eye. An audience may be unfamiliar with words, argu¬ ments, and historical allusions, but it can al¬ ways form conclusions concerning actions. The need of visual aids in the education of children has long been recognized, but we have largely overlooked the value of dramatic ac¬ tion in our appeal to the adult mind. The Catholic Church, through its lighted candles, mysterious rites, and brilliant robes, has made a powerful appeal to the imagination as Avell as the emotions, but the Protestant Church has made small appeal to the sight sense aside from stained-glass windows, vested choirs, and occasionally an illuminated cross. The church is the mother of the mediaeval drama, but those early moral and miracle plays, enacted for religious purposes, bear slight resemblance to the offerings of the mod- ern theater. The church has drawn apart from the theater to save its own moral stand- 133 134 CAPTURING CROWDS ards, but in doing' so it has surrendered the dramatic method of presenting a religious mes¬ sage. The recent revival of religious pag¬ eantry is a recognition of the value of the dramatic appeal and an effort to reappro¬ priate it for religious uses. It is the purpose of this chapter to indicate some ways in which dramatic action can be used in the presenta¬ tion of a message in connection with a service of worship. The church has made almost no use of dra¬ matic action in services of worship. Though the memory of action is far more accurate than the memory of words, it has depended almost entirely upon words to present its mes¬ sage. The dramatist seldom tells his audience what it must believe. He undertakes to win the sympathy or stir the prejudice of his audi¬ ence, and through action and word win ap¬ proval for his judgments. By an appeal to the emotions he guides the thinking of the audience and molds its opinions by making the characters live before their eyes. The church service does not need elaborate equipment to employ dramatic action. The stage settings, in most cases, may be sim¬ ple. In fact, the more the imagination of the audience is used, the better is the cause of wor¬ ship served. Simple lighting, minor decora- THROUGH THE EYE GATE 135 tions, well-cliosen music, consecrated actors, and a great idea are all that is needed. The church audience is not interested in a spec¬ tacle but in the presentation of an idea. Most people have heard the great religions stories often enough so that. imagination supplies the settings when they sec them enacted in a rever¬ ent manner. The story of the ten virgins had been chosen as the text for the evening service and ten young women were asked to assist. A simple recital of the story in musical form has been prepared by Lyon and Healy (Wabash Avenue, Chicago) which was used as the basis of the pageant. FolloAving a song service in which songs chosen emphasized the brevity of life, the scriptural version of the story was recited during which the lights in the sanctu¬ ary were turned out. The gradual extinguish¬ ing of the lights had the effect of quieting the audience and producing a mood of expectancy. The stereopticon flooded the pulpit platform with a dark blue light representing night. Simultaneously with the appearance of the light the organ began the music very softly, in¬ creasing slightly in volume as the ten virgins, draped in white robes and carrying lighted candles, came into the lighted area in a slow, dignified manner. They quietly grouped them- 13G CAPTURING CROWDS selves about tlie center of the platform as if preparing for the night, and at last all was still. Suddenly from a far off corner of the church a voice was heard singing, “Behold the Bridegroom Cometh.” The virgins awakened and began making preparations for the meet¬ ing of the bridegroom, when it was discovered that five of the candles had gone out. The five with unlighted candles, grouped together, sang an appeal for light and the other five urged them to go to those who sold that they might buy oil for themselves. As the five foolish virgins left the platform to relight their candles the wise virgins faced in the direction from which the voice was heard. Suddenly a door was opened, and their faces were flooded with light as they sang a song of greeting. The white light on their faces and the dark blue light on the stage made a. color effect never to be forgotten. They left the stage and the door was shut when the foolish ones returned with lighted candles, singing, a01i Let Us In.” The last sound as the foolish virgins knelt in the deep blue light, just out¬ side the door, was the singing of the wise virgins growing fainter and fainter. The audience was deeply moved as the last notes of “Too late, Too late,” died away in the distance, leaving the foolish virgins kneeling in su ppii- THROUGH THE EYE GATE 137 cation before the closed door. As the deep- blue light faded out, the pastor took the pul¬ pit and began praying. The foolish virgins extinguished their candles and under cover of the darkness, slipped from the platform with¬ out a sound. As the prayer closed with the Lord’s Prayer, the lights returned and the audience saw nothing but the pastor on the empty platform. During the singing of the next hymn the pulpit was put in place and the services proceeded as usual, but preach¬ ing a sermon on Christian preparedness was almost unnecessary after that impressive re¬ living of the story of the ten virgins. Two young men were invited into the pulpit with the pastor to assist in reading the Scrip¬ ture lesson, which was the story of Jesus’ conversation Avith Mcodemus. One of the young men read the introduction of the story and the second took the part of Mcodemus, saying, “Master, we know thou art a teacher come from God,” etc. The pastor replied in the words of Jesus, and the lesson was read thus in dialogue form to the sixteenth verse which was read by the first young man. As those beautiful words, “For God so loved the world,” were being read the pastor gazed in¬ tently at the one avIio had taken the part of Mcodemus and asked, “Do you believe those 138 CAPTURING CROWDS words?” A most intimate and personal inter¬ pretation of the great text followed in dia¬ logue form which that audience will never for¬ get, The familiar lesson had been read in their hearing many times before, but never did it make such an impression as when the con¬ versation seemed to be actually taking place in their presence. A large number of scrip¬ tural narratives can be treated in this fashion with enormous profit and effectiveness. The Gideons arranged a service which was calculated to appeal to men. An enormous urn, resembling in appearance the Gideon pitcher, stood on a pedestal on one side of the pulpit and a beautiful illuminated transpar¬ ency of the Gideon pitcher occupied a pedestal on the other side. A score of pitchers, carry¬ ing lighted candles, decorated the pulpit area, and small white pitchers were used by the collectors in taking the evening offering. At the close of the sermon one of the Gideons came forward and called for the Gideon circle. All Gideons present took their places im¬ mediately, forming a line about the audience. All Christian men were invited to join the circle, and then the invitation was extended to all men who wished to begin the Christian life. By this time the line of men completely circled the room. They were asked to join 139 THROUGH THE EYE GATE hands and sing “Blest be the tie that binds.’’ The sight of that line of men, hands joined, singing that wonderful hymn of Christian fel¬ lowship, was almost irresistible. An Episco¬ pal rector was visiting the service that night and took his place in line with the men. At the close of the service he was invited for¬ ward to pronounce the benediction. This simple manifestation of the spirit of Chris¬ tian fellowship, together with the sight of those Christian men banded together and sing¬ ing, will never be forgotten by that audience. The Last Days in Rome A Sunday evening service, absolutely different, will be presented at Simpson Church 28th Street and Firat Avenue South A DRAMATIC PRESENTATION OF A SCENE FROM THE LAST DAYS OF THE APOSTLE PAUL Sunday Eve., June 25 8:00 P. M. will be presented in costume, with special lighting effect and decorations. ’ Dr. William C. Sainsbury, pastor of Trinity Methodist Church, St. Paul will take the part of St. Paul and the Rev. Roy L. Smith of Simpson Church will take the part of St. Luke. Roman guards, special music settings and dramatic action will make of tbis a service you will never forget. SLATS FREE AS LONG AS THE LAST, Handbill announcing Sunday night dramatic service 140 CAPTURING CROWDS Two ministers whose hours of service per¬ mitted an exchange of assistance, arranged a dramatic presentation of an imaginary scene from the closing days of the life of Saint Paul. The pulpit platform was curtained and draped to give the appearance of a Roman house. The preliminaries of the service proceeded ex¬ actly as if a sermon were to follow. After the prayer a hymn was sung and the house lights were all turned off leaving only the organ loft illuminated. From the organ there came the dignified and stately music of Handel’s “Largo.” During the music the foot¬ lights were turned on and as the music closed a stereopticon flooded the platform with light from above. After a brief pause a young man, dressed as a Roman guard, with plumed helmet and sword, entered and placed two lighted candles upon the table, retiring to a position near one of the entrances. The audience heard the clanking of chains and one of the min¬ isters, garbed as an old man and chained to a Roman guard, groped his way as if half blind, and seated himself at the side of the table. The guard made his prisoner secure and took his position near another entrance, opposite his colleague. The old man, representing Paul, opened a conversation with one of the guards, who proved to be a Roman convert to THROUGH THE EYE GATE 141 m Christianity, in which he recited the story of his life since his conversion. As he closed the story, referring to his imprisonment he said, “Demas hath forsaken me, only Luke is with me.” This was the cue for the entrance of the second minister, who appeared dressed as a traveler and deposited some scrolls in a rack near by. From then on the conversation be¬ tween the two consisted largely of Scripture quotations in which the missionary journeys of Paul and Luke were described and the spir¬ itual purpose and historical background of their writings was defined. As Luke took up the recital of his visit with Mary, the mother of Jesus, he recited the story of the nativity and the organ played “Holy Night” most effectively. The whole conversation was ar¬ ranged to present the significance of Paul’s missionary work and Luke’s writings and closed with a triumphant speech from Paul which closed with the words, “The time of my departure is at hand. I have fought a good fight, I have kept the faith, I have finished my course,” etc. Supported by Luke, lie retired from the scene repeating the Ephesian prayer and the apostolic benediction. As the two dis¬ appeared, the lights went out and a beautiful illuminated cross flashed on while a woman’s voice was heard singing, “Am I a Soldier of 142 CAPTURING CROWDS the Cross?” When the hymn was completely finished the ministers returned to the plat¬ form attired in clerical garb and closed the service with a congregational hymn and a prayer. No one in that audience can ever forget the glimpse they had that night into the sufferings and labors of the two mission¬ aries of the early Christian Church. The edu¬ cational opportunity of such a service is ex¬ ceptional and the extensive scriptural quota¬ tions produce an impression that cannot be de¬ scribed. The costumes, borrowed from a Masonic lodge, and the stage furniture, ex¬ tremely simple, are available to any church. A certain amount of action during the serv¬ ice provides opportunity for resting the audi¬ ence. Standing to sing is often a real relief. The leader of the meeting, being in action most of the time, does not realize how easily the audience tires of one position. Asking the audience some questions that require answers by standing or the raising of hands helps to counteract fatigue. When groups of invited guests are present they can be asked to stand, the rest of the audience welcoming them with applause. City audiences can sometimes be studied with great profit by asking all those to stand who came to the service on street cars, or those who came “more than one mile,” etc. THROUGH THE EYE GATE 143 The audience is always as much interested in the results of these questionnaires as the leader himself. Simple expedients can be used with little trouble which will produce the element of sur¬ prise. During a sermon on “Homes and Homemakers” the audience was hushed by hearing the strains of “Home, Sweet Home/’ break in upon the discourse. The preacher turned and listened as intently as did the audi¬ ence until the last note died away, then pressed home an invitation that the audience will never forget. Of course he had it planned with the musician in a distant room. Asking the audience to read a verse of a hymn will give it emphasis that no comment could give. The switching of lights, the appearance of articles of high suggestive value, sudden con¬ trasts — all of these things carry the element of surprise. During an appeal for suffering chil¬ dren one minister suddenly drew, from be¬ hind the pulpit, a little ragged suit. That mute appeal was irresistible. Dr. Frank W. Gunsaulus once brought an audience to its feet by stooping and kissing the flag which draped the pulpit. Stationing a quartet in another room to sing antiphonally with the choir is an excellent device. One preacher who is himself a good singer frequently inter- 144 CAPTURING CROWDS rupts a service to sing a verse of some hymn instead of quoting the lines. With music, lights, and sweet-toned organ the minister has a rich treasury out of which to produce sur¬ prise and variety. CHAPTER XII ATMOSPHERE The artist will not permit his picture to be hung in surroundings which do not enhance the beauty of his canvas. The musician chooses liis numbers with the strictest regard for their fitness for the occasion. The drama¬ tist seeks to build up a state of mind on the part of the public which will assist in pre¬ senting the message of liis play. If “atmos¬ phere” is important to the artist, the musician and the dramatist, it must be of great im¬ portance to the preacher. The human mind depends largely upon the association of ideas. Therefore every asso¬ ciated idea in a service must be planned to en¬ force the central idea of the message. Much of the success of the message will depend upon a receptive state of mind on the part of the audience. Any speaker knows how difficult it is to “warm up a cold audience.” Now, the whole purpose of the early part of the service is to do this very thing. The music, the prayers, and the features of the service must develop a state of mind to which the message may make its strongest appeal. 145 14G CAPTURING CROWDS An analysis of tlie program of service will reveal many ways to create a favorable atmos¬ phere for the message. Music, prayers, decorations, ushers, features, sermon theme, souvenirs or reminders, special printed pro¬ grams, and stage settings have possibilities in the hand of the resourceful minister. If every item in the service is planned to tit into the general theme in some definite way, it will be worth all the extra work that is involved in view of the deeper impression made. A blind man came to the door of the parson¬ age one morning selling brooms. The conver¬ sation revealed the fact that the brooms were made in a factory operated entirely by blind men, under the supervision of a society for the blind. That afternoon a call was made upon the secretary of the society with the re¬ sult that a few weeks later a service for the i blind was announced. Every blind person in the city received a special letter inviting him to the service. A trio of blind musicians of remarkable ability furnished special music. The secretary of the society was given a few minutes in the service to tell about the work of the organization and to appeal for patronage for the blind peddlers. The hymns chosen were all by blind writers, such as Fanny Crosby and George ATMOSPHERE 147 Matheson. The advertisement of the serv¬ ice announced that three hundred blind people had been invited and that the pastor would speak on “Seeing Without Eyes.” Nearly one hundred blind people were present and the unusualness of the service attracted hundreds whose physical vision was unim¬ paired but who sadly needed the services of the Great Physician for spiritual vision. Great care was exercised in every detail of the serv¬ ice to avoid any expression of pity for the un¬ fortunate guests. After the music from the blind musicians, the hymns by blind poets, the Scripture story of Jesus healing the blind, and the spectacle of one hundred blind people in the service, the people had begun to preach sermons to themselves on spiritual blindness that were more effective than anything the preacher said. There was just one idea present in that service that night — the need of sight, physical and spiritual. Armistice Sunday will present an unusual opportunity for a good many years to come. The idea of peace is closely associated with the day and makes one of the most effective themes around which to build a service. The assistance of a regiment of the National Guard was secured and extensive preparations made for the observance of the day. A great piece 148 CAPTURING CROWDS of field artillery was stationed in front of the church several days before the service was to be held, attracting no small amount of atten¬ tion. Two machine guns were mounted, one on each side of the pulpit, together with stacks of arms. Ferns were grouped about the base of the guns and spider webs woven with cotton string all over the guns. White flowers were inserted into the rifle barrels further to suggest the idea of disuse. Steel helmets, in¬ verted, were used as flower baskets and hung all about the church. Artificial red roses were used in those hung at a little distance from the audience. Natural flowers appeared in the others. Steel helmets were used as collec¬ tion plates. The choir sang patriotic music. The sermon theme was “The Price of Peace.” A stack of rifles, each with a white flower in¬ serted in the barrel, stood just outside each main entrance. Flags, inside the building and out, completed the decorations, and American Legionaires were special guests. The whole effect of the decorations was to create the feeling that war was an obsolete method of settling world problems and preach¬ ing that morning was easy with all those mute sermons making constant appeal through the eye as the preacher preached through the ear. An advertisement appeared in the paper one A LOAF OF BREAD WILL BE Given to Everyone in attendance on the services of Simpson Church First Ave So. and 28th St Sunday Eve., Jan. 16 JWJIIIIIMMIIIUIM SERMON SUBJECT : “THE BREAD OF LIFE” iiywiimiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii'iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiw . . Morning Subject “THE PERSONAL REVIVAL” Souvenirs are occasionally given out in connection with the service. These handbills, distributed by the thousands, show how the announcement is made. This is a direct ap¬ peal to the spirit of curiosity. (See page 150.) 150 CArTURING CROWDS Saturday announcing that every person in the audience on Sunday evening would be pre¬ sented with a loaf of bread. The people came by the hundreds until the church was crowded to capacity. Young men were stationed at the door to give out the bread, which consisted of tiny loaves, identical in appearance, except in size, with the regular commercial loaf. Sheaves of wheat decorated the front of the church, moving pictures showing the harvest¬ ing, marketing, and grinding of the wheat and ancient methods of milling and baking strengthened the idea and the songs empha¬ sizing the thought of sowing and harvest, added to the central theme. When the pastor preached on the text, “Man shall not live by bread alone/’ he was only enlarging upon the preaching that the people had been doing for themselves. The idea that religion and science are im¬ placable foes has given rise to unfortunate misunderstanding both among religionists and scientists. Many good people look with suspicion upon the scientific laboratory. With the hope of showing God's partnership in the laboratory a sermon was announced upon the theme, “Miracle Men and Modern Magic/' in which the work of the chemist, elec¬ trician, astronomer, mathematician, and ATMOSPHERE 151 botanist was described as “thinking the thoughts of God after him.7’ The text was from the story of creation — “Let ns make man in our own image, . . . and let him have dominion” (Genesis 1. 2G). The glory of hu¬ manity as the discoverer of God was empha¬ sized and deserved tribute paid to the honest scientist as one who was showing how God worked. The atmosphere of a scientific laboratory was wanted for such a service, and therefore arrangements were made by which the general manager of the Air Reduction Sales Company was secured to give a demonstration of liquid air. For twenty minutes lie performed weird experiments with the liquid air, explaining his work in untechnical terms with the result that the audience was fascinated almost to breath¬ lessness, A sermon full of allusions to the laboratory was a perfectly natural sequence, and the demonstration proved a most accept¬ able illustration from which to proceed. The interest of the young people was very keen and the evangelistic opportunity in an appeal to students unsurpassed. The service had the advantage of having had a distinct educational value. In a great rooming-house neighborhood Mother’s Day starts a train of thought alto- 152 CAPTURING CROWDS getlier different from that in a family church in a residential area. The day suggested homesickness, loneliness, and heartache, for most of the young people were away from home, struggling to get a. start in the city. Anything that could assist in building an atmosphere that would remind them of the old home would be a distinct asset. Arrange¬ ments were therefore made with a country Sunday school to send in great quantities of fresh lil aes and violets from the woods. Advertisements were sent out saying that everyone present would get fresh wild flowers from the country. There are very few mothers in a rooming-house district, and the mothers for the occasion were “borrowed'’ from an old people’s Home, and forty of them sang some of the old hymns, being advertised as a “Grandmother’s Choir.” Young girls distrib- uted the flowers at the close of the service and every homesick youth was invited to get ac¬ quainted with “some other person’s mother.” The country flowers, the kindly old faces, and the general spirit of homesickness made a combination from which the dullest preacher could get a heart-warming sermon. Theodore Roosevelt was well known as a faithful churchgoer. His birthday coming in the late fall makes an appropriate occasion 153 ATMOSPHERE for a special service, and the versatility of his life and interests furnishes many a theme. Flags are appropriate decorations and musical organizations from the public schools will be glad to assist. In observing this occasion one pastor printed a tine picture of Mr. Roosevelt on the calendar, distributed copies of the “Roosevelt Creed” to every person in attend¬ ance, and invited a troop of Boy Scouts to attend as special guests and assist in taking up the collection. Their scout uniforms gave just a touch of color, and their manly ways and well- disciplined organization fitted well into the thought of the great President, A service was planned which was to empha¬ size the importance of home life. After some preliminary songs, the lights began to go out until the house was completely dark. A harp¬ ist began to play, very softly, “Just a Song at Twilight” and a stereopticon spotlight of rich dark red was thrown over the musician as he sat at his harp near a fireplace in which there burned an “electric fire.” As he played the old tune with rare depth of feeling, the audi¬ ence sat in darkness, thinking only of the old days and the old home fireplace. The song was finished and a medley of old airs was begun which finished with “Home, Sweet Home,” As the chords of this wonderful song 154 CAPTURING CROWDS were wafted into the souls of the audience a woman stepped into the circle of light, dropped a hat on the mantle and leaning against the fireplace as if weary from a long journey, began singing the words as the harp¬ ist played. When the hymn was finished the light faded out, the pastor began a prayer, and the audience sobbed its appreciation of the tender reminders of the old home ties. There Avas little need of preaching after the singing of that song. A Methodist Conference was meeting in a city Avhich boasted of several beautiful lakes in the immediate vicinity. Announcement was made that a “Galilee Service” Avould be held on the shores of the lake on Sunday afternoon folloAving the ordination service. Inasmuch as the lake was easily accessible the croAvd Avas enormous, more than five thousand people crowding down to the water’s edge to partici¬ pate in the service. As they waited they saw a little sailboat put out from shore across the lake. All eyes were upon it as the great throng sang the old hymns of the church. When the boat came Avithin earshot five men were seen to occupy the boat beside the sailor. Four of these were singing, “O Galilee, Blue Galilee.” When the little boat came to the shore and furled its sails, the presiding bishop ATMOSPHERE 155 of the Conference stood up and using a yard¬ arm for a pulpit, began reading from the story of Jesus’ preaching beside the sea. Having finished reading the lesson he began preach¬ ing to the multitude concerning Jesus who preached to the people beside the sea of Gali¬ lee. It was a most impressive sermon and the people hung on every word. “And there were many little boats” all about the sailboat, which helped to carry out the description of that ancient service which Jesus held. At the close of the sermon the benediction was pro¬ nounced and the little boat sailed away, but there are thousands of people to whom Jesus’ preaching beside the sea has an entirely new significance. The reverence of the audience could not be surpassed. The deep religious impression it left was a complete refutation of any charge of sacrilege. The humble man¬ ner of the preacher and the simple dignity of the sermon was a quiet testimony to the gos¬ pel which had been preached on Galilee’s shore nineteen centuries ago. The announcement of a series has consider¬ able value. All features, special subjects, and dates, should be briefly set forth to be read at a glance. Pages 156, 157 show the inside of a small folder, distributed by the thousand. *T • 1 For Lovers rt Nights tt,u . || H — ► It i; — )l H — IIM— IIM— MM— MH— IIM— MM— Mil— l!ll— IIIJ— -1111^—1111—1111— -II II— »IIN— -IIM— Mil— OCTOBER SUNDAY EVENINGS —MM— MM— MII— MII— MM— Mil— llll— Mil— MU— Mil— Mil— Mil— Mil— llll^—llll^— MU— MM— Mil— Mil- Oct. 1. Sermon Subject, “The Hope of the World.” Henry J. Williams, Soloist. Harpist with the Minneapolis Symphony Orchestra. Watt’s “HOPE” in tableau and picture. Oct. 8. Sermon Subject, “The Agony of God.” Prof. William MacPhail, Violin Soloist. President MacPhail School of Music, the largest in America Hoffman’s “CHRIST IN THE GARDEN” in tableau and picture. Oct. 15. Sermon Subject, “A Visit from God.” Prof. Carlo Fischer, Soloist. ’Cellist and Manager of the Minneapolis Symphony Orchestra Holman Hunt’s “LIGHT OF THE WORLD” in tableau and picture. Oct. 22. Sermon Subject, “A Fortune Which Cost Eternity. ” Henry E. Woempner, Soloist. Flute Soloist with the Minneapolis Symphony Orchestra Hoffman’s “RICH YOUNG RULER” in tableau and picture. Oct. 29. Sermon Subject, “ Prayer and the Day's Work." Prof. Abe Pepinsky, Viola Soloist. Director of the University Symphony Orchestra. Millet’s “ANGELUS” in tableau and picture. MUSIC SUPREME No more notable group of soloists can be assembled in the "northwest than those announced in the accompanying program. To hear them here is to hear them at their best. A chorus choir and vocal soloists will offer special selections. TIME-TESTED SONGS The congregation will sing some of the best loved songs of all Christian hymnol- ogy. A sweet toned organ, a piano and an orchestra will lead the singing. The won¬ derful crowd-singing will make you hap¬ pier all week long. LIVING ART The five masterpieces of sacred art will be posed in tableaux with living actors, special setting and electrical effects. Every picture will be impressively and reverently presented under the direction of Mrs. Maude O’Connor. SOUVENIRS Beautiful reproductions of each picture will be distributed to the audience as souvenirs. The prints distributed will be suitable for framing. 158 CAPTURING CROWDS In providing “atmosphere” for the Sunday- evening service two means can be employed to excellent advantage which have not been widely used: decorations and special ushers. At the risk of repeating statements found elsewhere one final word may be said concern¬ ing these two important matters. Decorations cal‘1 for considerable work, but their contribution to the service is well worth the investment. A permanent committee on decorations can render invaluable service be¬ sides using some individuals who might be unwilling to assume more conspicuous respon¬ sibility. If decorating material is to be used, however, it should be used in sufficient quanti¬ ties to produce the desired effect. If flowers are to be used, let them be used in profusion. If flags are chosen, let there be an abundance. Flags, of course, are always in order for patriotic occasions, but there is great danger in allowing them to hang, unchanged, so long that they lose their appeal. The proper use of the flag should always be observed with scrupulous care. City churches will fre¬ quently have access to department stores from which they can borrow patriotic material for decorative purposes. These stores sometimes have stands of colors which have been used in window displays which can be secured by ATMOSPHERE 159 asking. A set of historical flags, a stand of allied flags, and several stands of regimental colors have been loaned the writer on different occasions. Patriotic societies frequently have shell-torn flags, busts of national heroes, por¬ traits, etc., which can be used to good advan¬ tage. In some instances the department stores have sent their professional window trimmers to decorate the church, supplying the material and transporting it at their own expense for the sake of the advertising that is given them. For a Lincoln Service one window trimmer secured some logs, a woodman’s ax, oak leaves, and with the addition of flags produced a decorative effect for pulpit platform and organ loft that captivated the audiences. Flowers are always acceptable. It is usually wise to use one single flower, displayed in pro¬ fusion. Small bunches of flowers distributed to the audience as favors makes a delightful addition to the service and no one who has not seen it can imagine the beautiful impression that is made upon an audience by the appear¬ ance of young women going through the audi¬ ence distributing flowers. The writer has used violets, lilies of the valley, goldenrod, lilacs, daisies, and roses in this fashion. Palms and ferns make excellent decorations during the winter season and can be secured 160 CAPTURING CROWDS at comparatively low rates. Green crepe paper can be used to supplement the ferns, giv¬ ing a better impression of profusion. The use of special ushers and collectors can be made a distinct asset to the service. Aside from the contribution they make, the plan has the additional merit of using a large number of individuals and thus enlarging popular anticipation of the service. When the Ameri¬ can Indians were present in the service a group of ten girls took up the collection, each one wearing a long black feather in her hair and dressed in khaki. When the Sliriners visited the service the ushers were chosen from that order and each wore his fez. Boy Scouts in uniform have been used for Roosevelt Sun¬ day, Boy’s Night, and patriotic occasions, and for Woman’s Home Missionary services. Legionaires in uniform have been used on Memorial Sunday, Fourth of July, Armistice Sunday, etc. Girls in summer gowns were used on “Florida Night,” white gowns with patriotic sashes added color for patriotic occasions, Chinese costumes helped in a mis¬ sionary service, etc. Souvenirs help to carry out the idea of the service. Flowers, flags, pictures, etc., serve admirably. A small hand mirror was given to each member of the congregation one night ATMOSPHERE 161 when the pastor was preaching on the text, “Like a man beholding himself in a glass and goeth straightway and forgetteth what manner of man lie is.” A series of services that combined music, art, and evangelistic appeal in such an effec¬ tive way that the attention of the entire city was arrested was announced under the title, “Art Nights.” The central idea was the use of masterpieces of sacred art. Artists from the Minneapolis Symphony Orchestra pro¬ vided appropriate musical settings and beau¬ tiful art prints were presented to each person in the audience. A dramatic coach arranged a series of tableaux in which the painting was reproduced in a “living picture” with great faithfulness to the original. A description of one service will illustrate the plan of all. The song service occupied the first fifteen minutes with hymns carefully chosen to emphasize the message of the pic¬ ture. An evening prayer introduced the ser¬ mon theme, the picture and the anthem follow¬ ing. The instrumental soloist followed with a number chosen for the theme of the evening. As he played, all lights were gradually ex¬ tinguished. When the lionse was in complete darkness, curtains about the tableau stage were drawn and lights began to “dim on” for A tableau posing Millet’s “The Angelus illustrating the sermon based on that masterpiece of sacred art. ATMOSPHERE 1G3 the tableau. As the lights grew the figures stood out more and more distinctly with the spotlight finally completing the illumination. A soloist then began an old gospel hymn which fitted the picture and at its close all lights were extinguished, prayer was ottered, and during the Lord’s prayer which followed all lights were turned on. The sermon followed im¬ mediately. The value of the idea is attested by the fact that every newspaper in the city reproduced photographs of the tableaux, artists came from far and wide to see them, and the church was utterly unable to accommodate the crowds, hundreds being turned away week after week. A second series three months afterward met with similar response, and nearly a score of churches which used the idea in other cities had the same experiences. One of the lasting effects was the hanging of sacred art in hun¬ dreds of homes which never before knew its message. CHAPTER XIII GROUP SERVICES Many men would be willing to attend church if they did not have to make the first entry alone. It is not easy for any of us to turn aside from beaten paths into untried ways, and this is especially true of working¬ men whose experience is limited. Thousands of men think of every church as an aristo¬ cratic, white-collared institution which lives in an atmosphere of artificiality, conducting its services according to an intricate and complex plan which involves great risk of embar¬ rassment. If such men can be brought into the service in company with their fellows, if they can be made to feel the spirit of hospi¬ tality and helpfulness, there is a chance to arouse such interest that they will come again of their own initiative. The writer has used the plan of “group services” for several years with most gratify¬ ing results. A study of the community reveals the fact that every man and woman is more or less closely associated with some group. 164 GROUP SERVICES 165 Lodges, labor unions, professions, groups of employees from large factories and social organizations afford the easiest access. If the families are included in the invitation, there is a considerable gain in interest as well as numbers, for workingmen, particularly, are appreciative of any interest taken in their families. It is not necessary to “talk shop” in such services, though it is of some help to use some well-known expression that is current within the group as the basis for the sermon subject. Such subjects as “Fares, Please,” for street-car men, “Busy Lines” for telephone people, “Good News” for advertising men, and “My Teacher” for school teachers will suggest the possibilities of many others. Care must be used not to press analogies too far, nor must the regular audience be forgotten. Such services must give the impression to the visitors that they have a very real part in the service and that in a sense it belongs to them. The regular attendants must be made to feel an obligation to extend hospitality to the strangers. This feeling will be strength¬ ened if the visitors are referred to as “guests.” After a few such groups have visited the serv¬ ices it will be discovered that a spirit of hospi¬ tality is developing which is one of the finest 166 CAPTURING CROWDS fruits of tlie whole plan, for this attitude will be carried throughout the whole work of the church. The feeling of partnership can be developed by asking guests to furnish part of the pro¬ gram. Musical numbers provided by visitors, public introductions, brief addresses by mem¬ bers of the groups and other participation will develop this sense of ownership in the service. In some instances the collectors have been chosen from the guests when time permitted giving a few necessary instructions in advance of the service. Sections of reserved seats are saved for guests where some assurance can be had as to the number expected. In addition to the visitors who come with these groups there is usually a considerable company of outsiders who are interested in seeing them. Their musical organizations will attract a following. The novelty of seeing some of these groups in church will bring crowds of outsiders, as in the case of a church that was packed with people who came to see “two hundred policemen in church.” The presence of such groups in the service entitles them to some recognition in addition to the casual references which may occur in the sermon. It always pleases the guests, as well as the home folks, if the visitors can be GROUP SERVICES 167 introduced. It is unwise to make this intro¬ duction too early in the service, lest the sense of unity within the congregation shall be broken up. Moreover, this introduction must never cause embarrassment to the newcomers. As a general practice, it has proven most effec¬ tive to ask the visitors to remain standing at the close of the hymn just preceding the ser¬ mon while the balance of the audience is seated. If the audience will start applause in honor of the guests, it will help greatly, for each individual has the feeling that the ap¬ plause is on his own personal account and feels at home immediately. There is a possibility of the collection being viewed with suspicion. Sometimes a bit of humor in introducing it will be of value. When street-car men are present, announce the collection of the “fares.” If telephone peo¬ ple are present, collect the “tolls.” A brief story of some practical service rendered un¬ selfishly by the church to the community can be told to justify the request that visitors shall share in the maintenance of the church. Peo¬ ple are usually glad to support an institution that deserves support. A variety of methods may be used in estab¬ lishing contacts for these group services. In some cases it may come directly through labor 1G8 CAPTURING CROWDS unions. The writer is frequently invited to speak before such groups, and always watches for an opportunity to extend an invitation to the organization to attend the church services at some future date. Members of the church who are members of unions can often be induced to secure an opening for the pastor so that the invitation seems a natural and friendly evidence of interest. If the organiza¬ tion can be persuaded to appoint a committee to work with the pastor in arranging the serv¬ ice and interesting the crowd, the rest is easy sailing. Letters going out from the committee to the men can be prepared in the church office, and the labor for the committee will be com¬ paratively light. Sometimes a return card is included in the invitation letter by which those expecting to be present can reserve seats and be sure of having them waiting for them. The committee, in such cases, secures such musi¬ cal numbers as can be furnished by the group and arranges for someone to represent the visitors in the evening’s program. It is sometimes advisable to go to the man¬ agement of a factory, store, or mill and ar¬ range with them to work up a crowd of the employees. The danger with this method lies in the fact that men are liable to get the idea that the church is in league with the “boss’’ o GROUP SERVICES 169 and is his tool in “trying to put something over.” This method will work well, however, where there is a strong esprit de corps within the group and a marked loyalty to the manage¬ ment. It works best in police departments, tire departments, among school-teachers, etc., TRAINMEN'S CLUB NICOLLET STATION Miirm®apol>'3, Nov. !0, 1919. The Trainmen's Co-operative Committee of Nicollet Station unanimously accepted the invitation of Rev. Roy L. Smith, pastor of Simpson Church, (28th St and 1st Ave. So ) "The House of Happiness" to make Sunday evening Nov. 16 a great train¬ men's night. Our band will be there, our friends will be there and we will be there. This invitation is ey tended to every trainman in the Twin Cities. Come with us lor a real joy night. Bring the wile and kiddies. We ll make it the biggest )oy night of the winter. Songs, music, friends and happiness. Address by Mr. Smith. - "Fares Please" Signed JOHN J. MOGARD A. D. STEVENS OLIVER RING Committee. An invitation to street railway employees, prepared and circulated by a committee from the men. Nothing can be more effective if the committee is genuinely interested. where the head of the department is interested and willing to lend the project his personal support. It is surprising how many opportunities present themselves for organizing these group services. The church members soon become interested and offer their aid in arranging services for groups with which they are asso- 170 CAPTUKING CROWDS dated. News of the services reaches other organizations, and they ask for evenings of their own. Individuals in attendance upon the services frequently come seeking an invi¬ tation for groups in which they are interested. One pastor has secured the mailing lists of a large number of clubs and societies of his town. When services are being planned of particular interest to special groups, these lists make it possible to send advertising di¬ rectly through the mails. Thus, social themes are announced to business men’s clubs, etc. Most organizations have their mailing lists on the addressograph and envelopes can be ad¬ dressed with little trouble. A woman introduced her pastor to the superintendent of fifteen hundred telephone girls, suggesting that a service be arranged for them. The plan was immediately agreed to, and the next day the minister met twenty branch managers who pledged their coopera¬ tion in securing the attendance of the girls. A male quartet and an orchestra from the telephone employees agreed to assist, and a chime-ringer was engaged to give a concert prelude on bells — very appropriate for “tele¬ phone night.” Through the courtesy of the company a telephone was mounted on the pul¬ pit and at a given hour a long-distance mes- Listening to the “longest sermon ever preached in Minne¬ apolis,” when Dr. Frank Mason North spoke over the long distance phone to the audience in Simpson Church. Note the ordinary telephone equipment in use on the pulpit. 172 CAPTURING CROWDS sage was received from Dr. Frank Mason North, of the Board of Foreign Missions, in New York city. This message, coming across fifteen hundred miles of wire and repeated to the audience sentence by sentence, produced a profound impression upon the people. The daily papers, the next day, gave generous space in reporting the “longest sermon ever preached in Minneapolis” and in this way the message reached hundreds of thousands of people who were not in the service. The sermon consisted of a series of telephone analogies under the subject, “Number, Please,” based upon the text “Whom seek ye?” (John 18. 4-5). This is the question that every man has to face — “What is the chief objective of life — what is your aim, your goal?” Some¬ times we call and get the wrong number. The mistake may be a slight one, but it utterly de¬ feats us in our effort to reach our friend. So many a person seeking happiness gets only laughter, jollity or revelry — it is a “wrong number ” Sometimes we call our friends and find the line is busy. Sometimes God calls us to high and noble work and finds us busy with inconsequential things — he cannot reach ns. We sometimes discover some one listen¬ ing in on the wire and we are very careful of that conversation, but we may be assured that GROUP SERVICES 1 7Q 1 ( o Gocl is listening in on every conversation, a partner to every contract, a witness to every resolution and desire. Just as the telephone receiver brings our friend to our very ear, so does prayer bring the soul to God. The sermon closed with the announcement that a “long-distance call” had come to every member of the congregation — “Come unto me all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” That call came from the Father. God is waiting on the line for every penitent who is willing to call to him. A street-car man agreed to arrange for the pastor to speak to some of the employees at one of their business meetings. At the close of the meeting an invitation was extended to the men to “bring the wife and kiddies” to church on Sunday night and a committee was appointed to complete arrangements. The employees’ band was secured, printed invita¬ tions were sent to every man in the service along with his pay envelope, the president of the company was invited by the men to be present with them, and the pastor preached on the theme, “Fares, Please,” which was another way of saying, “Every man has to pay his way through the world in honest service, or be a ‘deadhead.’ ” The men at the close of a hymn were invited to remain standing that they 174 CAPTURING CROWDS might be introduced, and while they stood the people applauded and the pastor extended thanks on behalf of the public for the courte¬ ous service the men rendered day after day. A representative of the men, elected by them, occupied the pulpit with the pastor and re¬ sponded to the word of thanks in a most gracious manner, explaining some of the serv¬ ice rendered by the men of which the public was unaware, such as the clearing of the streets for traffic in times of storm. Several families have been received into the church as a direct result of that service, and hundreds of people have been directed to the church by these street-car men, every one of whom is a booster for the church that invited them to come to worship. A call was made upon “the chief of the fire department in which the plan for a service for his men was outlined. He suggested a series of services for public servants and pledged the cooperation of his department. The firemen, the policemen, the school¬ teachers, and the telephone girls were invited for successive Sunday evenings. All re¬ sponded with enthusiasm and organized to bring their people out. The firemen brought their orchestra, the police their band, the tele¬ phone people their quartet, and a high-school SIMPSON METHODIST CHURCH Twenty-three hundred school-teachers received this invitation distributed by the principals of eighty-three ward schools. Nearly five hundred teachers attended. 17G CAPTURING CROWDS chorus of one hundred sang for the school¬ teachers, assisted by a public-school orchestra of thirty pieces. The chief of police, the super¬ intendent of schools, and the chief of the tire* department spoke from the pulpit in behalf of their respective groups. The newspapers quoted the sermons as well as the words of the special speakers, and the church was packed to capacity each night. Some of the results of the services were most heartening. The fire chief proved to be the son of a pioneer preacher, and his address was full of tenderness and feeling as he re¬ ferred to his father’s work. A few days after the service he called the pastor, asking him to visit one of liis men who was desperately ill, and as a result a warm friendship sprang up between the two men, the minister and the fire chief, which was of great value to each. A police captain suggested that the minister be made a special member of the pol ice depart¬ ment, and it was done. No badge means more to that preacher than his police star. Mem¬ bers of the department have come to the church for personal help on more than one occasion and the congregations had the chance of seeing these public servants as personal friends. The superintendent of the telephone girls became a member of the church and is GROUP SERVICES 177 now a department superintendent in the Sun¬ day school. Such a service is not complete without a ^display of interest in, and appreciation for, the daily work of the men. The firemen were thanked for guarding the homes of the people while they were at worship. The policemen were spoken of as “soldiers of the common peace/’ the telephone girls were thanked for their patience under difficulties. The wives of the policemen and firemen were reminded that Christian people frequently prayed God’s blessing upon their men as they faced peril and hazard in the performance of their duty. More than one man, with his wife, came at the close of the service to express his thanks for this new evidence of interest. One man said : “I have often wondered if my work in life was worth while. This service, to-night, will give me new courage for my work all the rest of my days.” Many shops and factories hold noonday meetings of an educational and religious na¬ ture. These are usually organized under the direction of the Y. M. C. A. The men of the Minneapolis Steel and Machinery Company were invited at the close of such a meeting to come to the services at the church the follow¬ ing Sunday evening. Arrangements had been 178 CAPTURING CROWDS made beforehand for the presence of their band and some vocal music from some talented young women employed in the office. The invitation was accepted, an impromptu com¬ mittee was appointed, posters were put up all over the plant, and on the stormiest night of the winter four hundred men came an average of three miles each to the church because it was their service. The storm was so heavy that street-car traffic on many lines was sus¬ pended and the drummer in the band plowed through the snow for more than two miles, dragging his drum to church ! The sermon was on the subject, “Men or Machines,” and the Y. M. C. A. secretary who had handled the arrangements inside the shop declared that the service was the subject of conversation for many weeks afterward. The men of that shop are, to-day, among the most loyal friends the pastor lias in the entire city and their calls for personal services such as weddings, funerals, baptisms, etc., are matters of almost weekly occurrence. Several families were brought into church membership as a direct result. Lodges frequently ask for special evenings. Commercial organizations which are to hold conventions in the city frequently extend invi¬ tations to their visiting members to attend the o GROUP SERVICES 179 services of the church while in the city. De¬ partment store employees, industrial groups, business and professional schools, social clubs, and all such organizations can be persuaded to come en masse with very little trouble. Pastors in rural communities or country towns will find lodges, granges, schools, geo¬ graphical divisions, etc., offer opportunities. One ingenious preacher held a service for the farmers, another for the dairymen, another for the “hired hands/’ another for the school children, etc. The services of county officials, county agents, school directors, etc., can be secured. In another instance a series of serv¬ ices were announced just before the election on “Who Should the Democrats Nominate?” “What if the Republicans Win?” “Would a Socialist Victory Make Any Difference?” etc., all the subjects emphasizing the moral signi¬ ficance of elections as expressions of the ideal¬ ism. Great care must be exercised in such a series not to make the discussions political. Many such groups are to be found in every community. Simpson Methodist Church, Min¬ neapolis, lias entertained the following typical groups during the space of two years : Street¬ car employees, telephone employees, steel shopmen, railway trainmen, G. A. R., frater¬ nal orders, liigh-school groups, business col- 180 CAPTURING CROWDS lege groups, department-store employees, Min¬ neapolis Fire Department, Minneapolis Police Department, Rotary Club, Iviwanis Club, Min¬ neapolis Business Men’s Association, Min¬ neapolis School-Teachers, Letter Carriers’ Association, American Legion, Sons of Veterans, W. C. T. U., Gideons, United Com¬ mercial Travelers, The Scotch Clansmen, the city aldermen, the State Legislature, the Min¬ neapolis Society for the Blind, the Advertis¬ ing Association, Civic and Commerce Trade Tourists, State Hardware Dealers, etc. CHAPTER XIV SEASONAL SERVICES The first problem in successful salesman¬ ship is to secure friendly interest. This is best done by proceeding from some established interest somewhat related. In the salesman¬ ship of preaching the problem is the same — interest is most easily developed by proceed¬ ing from some established interest. In appealing to the masses it is necessary to know the interests that occupy the public mind and appeal for a hearing by promising to make some contribution to that popular interest. At least two methods are open to the alert preacher: he may preach on topics of the day, giving them a Christian analysis and treatment, or he may preach sermons which have a peculiar seasonal interest. The danger in the first instance lies in the fact that the search for some topic of timely inter¬ est frequently leads to discussions of scandal, crime, outlawry, or social disturbances con¬ cerning which the preacher lias no expert in¬ formation. His opinions, in such case, have 181 182 CAPTURING CROWDS little value. The safest, arid more profitable method is the one which adapts the message to the season. Seasonal interests are usually grouped about certain days, such as Armistice Day, New Year’s, Independence Day, etc. In running through a year’s calendar a large number of such days appear which are of universal inter¬ est, and local history and custom furnish addi¬ tional occasions which can be appropriated by the pulpit with great profit. The various seasons present special opportunities when certain themes are appropriate. One highly successful pastor has preached a series of ser¬ mons each spring on “The Great Love Stories of the Bible.” Another has used summer Sun¬ day evenings for “Nature Sermons” illustrated by stereopticon slides and moving pictures. To get the full advantage of the seasonal opportunities a preaching program must be planned to cover the entire year. A city pas¬ tor who has been unusually successful in attracting great audiences week after week attributes a large part of his success to the fact that lie plans his preaching program in great detail for at least six months in advance. All special days are taken into consideration and features, appropriate to the occasion, are arranged months ahead. Such planning in- SEASONAL SERVICES 183 sures a better-balanced pulpit policy as well as adequate preparation and attractive fea¬ tures. A study of the anniversaries of one year which attract widespread attention reveals the following days which can be profitably ob¬ served by any church, metropolitan or rural : New Year’s, Burns’ Birthday, Lincoln’s Birth¬ day, Valentine’s Bay, Washington’s Birth¬ day, Inaugural Sunday (on years when a new President is inaugurated), Saint Patrick’s Day, April Fool’s, May Day, Mother’s Day, Memorial Sunday, Bastile Day, Flag Day, Independence Day, Labor Sunday, Thanksgiv¬ ing, Roosevelt’s Birthday, International Bible Sunday, Good Literature Sunday, besides the great Christian Festivals of Easter and Christ¬ mas. Each denomination has its own special days including Children’s Day, Rally Sun¬ days, Educational Day, Luther Sunday, etc. Pentecost Sunday is not widely observed by the non-liturgical denominations though it has peculiar significance in the Christian calendar and can be made very popular. In addition to these special days — not all of which can be observed in any one year, of course — there are local occasions which can be made very popular. School night on the first Sunday following the opening of school 184 CAPTURING CROWDS in the fall, Anniversary Sunday in com¬ memoration of the founding of the local church, “Harvest Home Sunday’7 during the autumn for agricultural communities, Home¬ coming Sunday, Election Sunday and serv¬ ices in commemoration of local history are among the special days that have local asso¬ ciations. Many special occasions can be developed which will have a popular appeal. A “Mothers and Sons Night” can be arranged when boys are urged to “make a date with mother.” A “Fathers and Daughters Night" could follow a few weeks later. If there is a foreign constituency in the community, an “International Night” will he an interesting and profitable occasion. If the city is electing a mayor or other public officials, the success¬ ful candidates can be invited as special guests for the first Sunday evening following the elec¬ tion. Such a service presents a fine oppor¬ tunity to preach on Christian citizenship and its responsibilities. The opening of a new school building or other public building can be made to serve the purpose of the church if those in charge of the building, or those who are to occupy it, are the invited guests of honor in a Sunday-evening service. The selec¬ tion of a new school superintendent, chief of SEASONAL SERVICES 185 police, or other public servant can be made significant by the preacher who invites the official to appear with him in the pulpit and make a public statement to the people concern¬ ing his new responsibilities. The moral effect on such an official in making his first public statements from a pulpit cannot be other than good. A presidential election always stirs up great interest and on one occasion a pastor an¬ nounced an “Election Service” on the Sun¬ day evening immediately preceding. The ser¬ mon subject was “My Candidate,” in which the preacher undertook to nominate Jesus Christ for the mastery of every man’s life. A saxo¬ phone band was engaged to render special patriotic music and a male quartet sang the anthems. A young college woman spoke for four minutes on the right of suffrage. Each Presidential and vice-Presidential candidate, as well as the gubernatorial candidates, had been asked to send a telegram to the pastor which would be read to the congregation. No candidate is going to miss an opportunity to speak to fifteen hundred church people on the eve of election, and that pastor has a fine collection of telegrams from the candidates which he is saving as a souvenir of the service. The newspapers were greatly interested as well 186 CAPTURING CROWDS as the people and gave the service considerable space, with the result that long before the service opened every seat was filled and crowds were turned away. An invitation was extended to the labor unions of the city to attend a service on Labor Sunday. A band from an industrial plant fur¬ nished the music, a laboring man sang special solos, the decorations were significant, includ¬ ing an anvil, carpenter’s bench, and several banners from labor headquarters, and a promi¬ nent labor leader spoke for five minutes repre¬ senting the men. Every laboring man in the church membership was urged to go before his union and extend a personal invitation, and the pastor appeared before several in which the church had no representation. The ser¬ mon, “The Church’s Message to Modern In¬ dustry/’ supplemented by this show of hospi¬ tality, made many friends for the church and resulted in the regular attendance of a number of families. In every case the invitation urged the men to “come without dressing up/’ and the pastor was careful to see to it that the service had little of formality and stiffness in it. In 1908 Anne Jarvis, of Philadelphia, began agitating the observance of Mother’s Day, and in the brief space of fifteen years the SEASONAL SERVICES 187 second Sunday in May has come to be inter¬ nationally observed. The success of a Mother’s-Day service depends largely upon the variety that enters into the program. There is a certain sameness in the message that must be presented and the variety must be provided through other features. Music, of course, offers the best opportunity. A group of forty aged women from an old people’s Home were present in one service, lending charm and tenderness to the occasion. One of these dear old ladies, ninety-three years of age, recited a poem. Another, with years of choir experience from an early day, sang a solo ; another recited one of the psalms as a Scripture lesson, and the entire group sang some old hymns like “There is a land of pure delight Where saints immortal reign, Infinite day excludes the night And pleasures banish pain. There everlasting spring abides And never withering flowers. Death like a narrow sea divides That heavenly land from ours.” The entire audience Avas in tears when the singing finished. Another pastor secured two choirs, one com¬ posed of the daughters of the other. The mothers Avere stationed in the choir loft 188 CAPTURING CROWDS and the daughters in the gallery singing antiphonally. A mothers-and-sons choir could be made up the same way. One pastor ar¬ ranged a mother’s service in the morning and a father’s service in the evening. Mothers were asked to “sit with their children” in one such service, and in another the church endeavored to have “every family present and sitting together.” A mother and two daughters have been accustomed to fur¬ nish instrumental music for a Mother’s-Day service in one church and their music has be¬ come a regular feature, without which the pro¬ gram would be incomplete. Nothing could be more beautiful than the sight of this talented mother and her two brilliant daughters en¬ trancing the audience with their music. A feature appropriate to Mother’s Day but useful any time was presented one Sunday evening as an evangelistic appeal. A fireplace had been built on the platform with an electric fire, a “rag rug” in front, an old family Bible on the mantle, and some old-time photographs for decorations. The lights were turned out and a red spotlight turned on the homelike setting as a gray-haired woman with a beauti¬ ful soprano voice, dressed in a house-gown, slipped into the area of light, took down the Bible and a photograph of a boy from the SEASONAL SERVICES 189 mantle and seated herself in an old-fashioned rocking chair. A few leaves of the Bible were turned and then she began to read aloud one of the psalms as if in evening prayer. The Scripture finished she began singing with ex¬ quisite tenderness. When the song was fin¬ ished she rose quietly, knelt beside her chair as if in prayer, and the pastor’s voice, coming from the darkness began the evening petition. The light faded out as he prayed and the woman slipped silently off the platform un¬ noticed. When the prayer was finished and the lights turned on the singer had disap¬ peared but many a lonely girl and indifferent lad had been deeply touched by the sight of this praying mother. There is no lack of songs for the mother for such an occasion, but “For You I Am Praying” seems very appropriate. Lincoln Sunday has unusual interest for the public. On one occasion it was possible to secure the help of an old soldier who had served in the telegraph corps of the Union army and was the telegraph operator who had notified Mr. Lincoln of his election. He told his story with rare artistry and the announce¬ ment that he would speak crowded the church until it would not hold half the people who sought an entrance. Any man who ever saw or heard Lincoln will make an acceptable 190 CAPTURING CROWDS feature in a brief talk. Old soldiers, if prop¬ erly coached, frequently make very popular speakers for a Lincoln service and are usually glad to participate. Negro choirs or soloists are unexcelled if obtainable. One pastor secured a thousand cotton pods from Georgia as souvenirs for the audience; another gave away printed portraits suitable for framing; another used flags. The American Legion in one community arranged for automobiles to transport the veterans to and from the service. In Minneapolis there lives a man who bears a striking resemblance to Mr. Lin¬ coln, and he was invited to occupy a seat of honor in one service. It seemed that the great Emancipator himself was present, so perfect was the likeness in feature and dress. A pastor in a State capital invited the State Legislature to attend the service in a body and sent cars to their hotels after them. The announcement of this feature attracted a record audience and the opportunity to preach to this body of men was significant. Washington’s birthday does not furnish so many intimate features but many opportuni¬ ties can be made by the alert preacher. The Daughters of the American Revolution will always assist and their cooperation will sug¬ gest many ideas. A number of patriotic mov- SEASONAL SERVICES 191 ing pictures of an historical character are available which make excellent aides. School children in drills, songs, tableaux, recitations, and pageants can add much to such a serv¬ ice. Patriotic societies will welcome a special invitation, and foreign-born citizens can be fea¬ tured in testimonies to the way in which Wash¬ ington’s dream for America has been realized. Sermonic material is abundant. Historic flags and other relics can be displayed to better * advantage on this occasion than almost any other. A Fourth-of-July service was arranged with a fireman’s band to furnish the special music. The city council, recently elected, was invited to attend the service and occupy reserved seats. The governor of the State was given half of the time for an address on the mean¬ ing of American principles and ideals of gov¬ ernment, the pastor taking the other half of the time in a discussion of the obligations of citizenship. The audience could not be accom¬ modated even though the service was held in the heated season when automobiling was extremely alluring. As a simple object lesson through which to preach the true significance of Independence Day a giant firecracker can be constructed. The comment should undertake to draw the 192 CAPTURING CROWDS mind of the people away from the idea of the day as one dedicated to noise and powder. Inside the firecracker the preacher can find a school book, symbolical of the right of the American child to an education, a folded ballot as symbolical of the right of suffrage in a true democracy, a Bible as a reminder of our free¬ dom of conscience, and a variety of other symbols. The loosing of a pure white pigeon from the firecracker, emblematic of our desire for peace, would be a distinct surprise and an impressive feature. American Legions will furnish ushers and collectors, as well as occasional musicians. A high-scliool student can be persuaded to sketch a picture of the Liberty Bell as part of the decorations. A chorus composed of repre¬ sentatives from every racial group in the com¬ munity would create wide interest. Muni¬ cipal or State officers would be appropriate guests. The life of Saint Patrick, regardless of his Roman Catholic connections, holds many les¬ sons for the use of the Protestant pulpit, and the Irish green can feature the decorations. Something of the history of Protestant Ulster would be an appropriate feature of the sermon. April Fool’s Day was recognized in one pul¬ pit as the preacher talked on the text, “I have SEASONAL SERVICES 193 played the fool” (1 Samuel 26. 21). Interna¬ tional Bible Sunday was featured by the use of a giant book, so constructed that certain symbols could be taken out of it. As the preacher talked he drew from the Bible a lighted candle, indicative of the light that comes into the world through the Bible, a pair of smoked glasses betokening the new vision given to men through reading its pages, a silk flag representing the Christian ideals of citizenship, a wedding certificate symbolical of the new standards of home life taught by Jesus, a purse symbolizing Christian generos¬ ity, etc. CHAPTER XV THE NEW CHURCH BELL Church advertising is the modern successor of the old-fashioned church bell that called us to worship in the days of our youth. It is a highly developed instrument of modern busi¬ ness appropriated by the church for the ex¬ tension of the kingdom of God. Just as adver¬ tising is known to the business man as sales¬ manship on paper, so, to the minister, it is evangelism on paper. The scientific principles of advertising are identical whether the printed appeal is in be¬ half of furniture or ideas. The Avhole purpose of the advertisement is to influence the cus¬ tomer to buy. If printer’s ink can break down prejudice against oleomargarine, sell automo¬ biles and talcum powder, attract crowds of tourists to unheard-of summer resorts, or turn the tide of elections, then there must be some power in advertising through which the min¬ ister may capture a crowd for the most won¬ derful message ever given from human lips — the “ gospel ” means “ good news ” 194 195 THE NEW CHURCH BELL The first principle by which the minister must be guided is this : The advertisement must be written for the man who reads it. His prejudices, training, preferences, interests, vocabulary, social connections, and personal psychology must have the most careful con¬ sideration. Seasoned churchgoers will be attracted by one type of advertisement, but the man on the street must be reached through an appeal to his interests. It is not always true that the thing most interesting to the preacher will be most inter¬ esting to the people. The discussion of some problem of theology might be the most attrac¬ tive theme for him, while the man on the street is interested in life. The preacher can discuss theology from the pulpit, but if he wants crowds to hear him, lie must make them think he is solving some deep problem of life. In other words, in writing an advertisement, that phase of the sermon must be emphasized which will be most interesting to the common 'people . The second rule is immediately apparent : A church advertisement must make the church service appear interesting . This may be done by appealing to popular curiosity, love of beauty, need of sympathy, desire for knowl¬ edge, some special or seasonal interest, or directly to the reason. All men are more or CAPTURING CROWDS 196 less susceptible to each of these appeals, but it is probable that the first three will awaken a more general response on the part of the multitudes. The preacher who sits down care¬ fully to analyze his service in order to make the most effective appeal to the interests of the people through advertising, will soon find that the study is having a very humanizing effect on his preaching. It is sometimes a question as to which grows the more through advertising, audience or preacher. Comparatively few ministers have had busi¬ ness training that would fit them as adver¬ tisers. An earnest layman, familiar with advertising principles, may be able to render timely assistance, but lie must have the co¬ operation of the preacher. The two, working together, make an ideal combination. But whoever does it, the church must be advertised. Every piece of church advertising should en¬ deavor to burn three facts into the conscious¬ ness of the community : ( 1 ) the name of the church, (2) the location of the church, and (3) some phrase descriptive of the church, generally called a slogan. Too many churches take it for granted that everyone knows where the building is to be found, whereas it would be humiliating to know how few people are able intelligently to direct strangers how to THE NEW CHURCH BELL 197 find it. Saint Paul Methodist Church, Chicago, used a “Trade-mark” design which gave the address of the church, its name and the slogan, “In the Heart of the Great West Side.” Simpson Church, Minneapolis, has used a drawing representing the church lighted up at night, with the words, “The House of Happiness” stand¬ ing out against the sky. The phrase “We Specialize in Helpfulness” is featured on every piece of advertising that goes out. These two p h r a s e s have completely transformed the attitude of the entire city toward this particular church. Church advertising should do two things : (1) develop good will toward the church and (2) attract people to particular services. In view of the prejudice, suspicions, indiffer¬ ence, and misunderstanding that exists toward the church in an average city (if not equally so in the country), the problem of good-will advertising is difficult and important. Multi¬ tudes of people have mistaken our modesty for indifference, our seriousness for joyless- This small cut, il¬ lustrating the church lighted for evening service, is used much like a “trade mark,” on advertising, bul¬ letins, letterheads, etc., with fine effect. Start the New Year Right Miiiffliiiiiiiiiimiiiiiiiiiiimiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiim A Happy Sunday Night, December 28th at SIMPSON CHURCH ■ THE HOUSE OF HAPPINESS” 28th Street and 1st Avenue South Church Decorated with Hundreds of Lighted Candles. Beautiful Candle Lighting Service. JOY JOY Chorus Choir : r Heartwarming Singing : ; Happiness KARL SCHEURER, Violinist Former Concert Master with the Minneapolis Symphony Orchestra, now Head o( the Violin Department of the University of Minnesota SERMON SUBJECT: "If I Had Last Year To Live OVER AGAIN" SUNDAY MORNING — Communion Service — Special Music. SERMON SUBJECT: "Heaven's Tragedy." ROY L. SMITH, Minister HOW SIMPSON SERVES Two Helpful, Happy services every Sunday. A High Grade School of Religion with a corps of expert teachers every Sunday. Classes for all ages and interests. A Men*s Brotherhood with a real community program. A splendid chorus choir of thirty voices with room for a few more. A Gymnasium with classes every night in the week, open free. A ‘‘NEIGHBORHOOD NIGHT” of moving pictures every Friday at 3 45 and 8 :00 P. M. Songs, community .singing. Always Free. A place to find friends. People Without church homes are invited to come with us and help us serve this community. We need your help. We can help you. This illustration shows both sides of a distribution card, five thousand of which were distributed on Saturday. Note the “good will advertising” under the title, “How Simpson Serves.” THE NEW CHURCH BELL 199 ness, and our religious doctrines for spiritual tyranny. The community must be convinced, first, that the church has a deep and unselfish interest in every phase of community life; second, that the church can offer help in solv¬ ing the most intimate problems of life; and, third, that there is something interesting and helpful in every service that the church holds. “Good-will advertising” produces few im¬ mediate results, and yet it is essential to the task of building the church into the life of the community. Simpson Church used twenty- four great poster boards within the parish boundaries to emphasize just two ideas — the Sunday-evening service and the willingness to help. The Sunday evening following the post¬ ing of the boards there was no great increase in attendance, and some disappointment was expressed, but those boards did more to create a spirit of good will toward the church than any other single piece of advertising used. The whole city talked about them, the Sunday¬ evening services became a topic of common conversation, and the church suddenly became recognized as a great institution eager to serve its community. Letters, telephone calls, per¬ sonal visits, and expressions of appreciation streamed into the church office for weeks. Scores of new service opportunities opened up, 200 CAPTURING CROWDS strangers volunteered their help to “a church that advertises its desire to be helpful/’ and the Sunday-evening services gradually took on new significance. That one piece of adver¬ tising gave the church the name throughout the city of “The church that helps people.” No amount of personal visitation could have accomplished so valuable a result for so small an expenditure of time and money. A small handbook of sixteen pages, showing the various social and recreational activities of one church, was distributed by thousands in a house-to-house canvass of the community. This booklet undertook to picture the services rendered by an institution of unselfishness. It was a direct appeal for the privilege of serv¬ ing, and the result was an increment of com¬ munity good will impossible to evaluate. Good-will advertising can be mingled with feature advertising throughout the year by in¬ serting kindly phrases into regular copy. A series of handbills scattered by thousands dur¬ ing one month, carried a brief statement under the caption, “How Simpson Serves,” in addi¬ tion to the announcement of services. “We Specialize in Helpfulness” is carried on thou¬ sands of pieces of advertising material scat¬ tered from door to door. One such piece came into the hands of a family recently arrived THE NEW CHURCH BELL 201 from the country. A ’phone call to the church office secured a reliable nurse girl together with important information concerning per¬ sonal matters. The service rendered to these homesick people brought the entire family A CURE FOR THE BLUES Discouraged, lonesome, or hard-working, folk will find a Cure for the Blue* in the services at ST PAUL METHODIST CHURCH, Ashland and Harrison, to-morrow, Sunday, January 19, 1919 10:45 A. M. An hour of Worship and Good Cheer. 4:30 P. M. Lecture by James F. Pershing, brother of General John J. Pershing. 5:45 P. M. Fellowship Luncheon (fifteen cents). 7:45 P. M. Happy Sin&in&, Cheerful Crowds, Heartening Sermon “Whose World Do We Live In?" MISS VERA POPPE Cellist with the London Symphony Orchestra will play at the evening service. YOU WILL BE SINCERELY WELCOMED Advertising must be adapted to the crowd we are trying to reach. This card was distributed in Chicago’s great rooming- house district. Note the appeal that is made to lonely young people away from home. into the church. Words like “happy,” “home¬ like/’ “welcome/’ etc., with heart and per¬ sonality in them, will create good will for the church when sincerely used in advertising. Securing crowds for particular services is a rather more difficult matter. Results must be produced for a given occasion or the ex¬ penditure is wasted. The choice of medium will 202 CAPTURING CROWDS be determined by “reader-cost” which means “the cost of the advertisement per reader.” The location and constituency of any particu¬ lar church will determine the medium that can be most profitably used. Downtown city churches and those in smaller cities and towns will find newspaper advertising cheapest and best. There is no way by which so many peo¬ ple can be reached at so low a cost per reader. Suburban churches appealing to a limited con¬ stituency in a restricted parish will probably find some other method less wasteful, for news¬ paper rates are figured on the basis of city- wide circulation. Rural churches will un¬ doubtedly find direct-by-mail advertising cheapest, for a letter or post card goes directly to the home and is certain of a reading. Hand¬ bills distributed from house to house, window cards and posters, street-car advertising in some cases, billboards occasionally, calendars, bulletins, and illuminated signs have their place in a, general program. Every church needs a mimeograph, multi- graph, or some duplicating device. A con¬ siderable number of churches issue a multi- graphed news letter which goes through the mail, arriving in the home in time for Satur¬ day. This is an unexcelled opportunity to an¬ nounce the week’s program before the family THE NEW CHURCH BELL 203 plans for the week have been made. A care¬ fully organized mailing list of the membership, Sunday school, constituency, communicants, and friends will permit this news letter to carry the announcements in the most effective manner to the largest number of interested people. A mimeograph, addressograph, and mailing permit will greatly reduce the labor involved in such publication. Many churches prefer this type of “announcer” to the regular Sunday bulletin. A mailing list is absolutely essential to a church that deals with large numbers of peo¬ ple in a systematic way. Simpson Church has a classified mailing list, including (1) the church membership listed according to fami¬ lies, (2) children of the Sunday school, accord¬ ing to families, who are not members of the church, (3) unchurched parents of Sunday- school children, (4) nonmember attendants, (5) unchurched parents of children enrolled in social and recreational activities. A care¬ ful system of registration in the Sunday school and social activities enables the church secretary to make up card tiles for classes 2, 3, and 5. The simple “I Was There” card is used about once per month in the following manner : Every person in attendance upon the service is given a blank card. At a given time 204 CAPTURING CROWDS every person is asked to sign the card because strangers do not hesitate to sign np if every¬ one else is doing so. The cards of those known to be already associated with the church are discarded and the rest are given to church visitors who call upon them in their homes. If good reason is found for doing so, the cards are then placed in the permanent mailing list with all available information noted on the back. House to house distribution of handbills and cards is an effective means of reaching a limited community though generally con¬ sidered a cheap form of advertising. Efficient distribution is the biggest problem unless a troop of Boy Scouts can be persuaded to assume the responsibility. One church has used a handsome picture of the church building, printed on a, post card. On the reverse side appears the announcement of a sermon series, musical features or other specials with a blank line at the bottom for a personal signature. These cards are distri¬ buted to the audience and each person is asked to address one to some friend not present, signing the same. These cards are dropped into the evening collection, and turned over to the church secretary. Some names are copied into the permanent mailing lists while THE NEW CHURCH BELL 205 others are useful in correcting addresses. The cards are stamped and mailed out during the week and serve as a personal invitation from the person who signed the card. It is diffi¬ cult to conceive a more effective piece of advertising. In preparing copy for any type of adver¬ tising six factors must have consideration : (1) Interest, (2) Brevity, (3) Illustration, (4) Quantity, (5) Quality, (6) Reason why. No advertisement has any value which is not read. Something must be put in that will arrest attention. This may be done by bold type display, color, illustration, or arresting words. The most compelling argument of the whole advertisement should be incorporated in one word, phrase, or sentence for the catch line. This can be supported by the illustra¬ tion but if the reader does not read the first line, he will read no other. In arranging the type display all essential facts should be stated in such a way that a glance at the bold face lines will tell the story even if the reader is not interested enough to read the entire advertisement. The essential facts include, (1) place, (2) date, (3) hour, (4) star attrac¬ tion. The common fault of the inexperienced advertiser is “crowded copy.” The best adver- 206 CAPTURING CROWDS tisement is the one which expresses the idea in the fewest words. In the interest of brevity it is often advisable to list the features in some such form as the following: SONGS FOR THE LONELY An evening planned for the encouragement of lonely, hardworking people. Songs, stories and sermonettes that will CURE YOU OF THE BLUES (1) Male Quartet singing “The Wayside Cross.” (2) Dr. William Sainsbury — pianist— makes you forget trouble. (3) The Wide-Awake Girts Quartet in winsome melodies. (4) Songs Like Mother Used to Sing — illustrated by a chalk artist. (5) William Isenberger, violinist — always a favorite. (6) The wonderful organ prelude — restful and heartening. SIMPSON CHURCH 28th St. and 1st Ave., S. Sunday Night 8:00 o’clock “We Specialize in Helpfulness.” No other one thing will do more to insure a reading of the advertisement than an illus¬ tration. Pictures of church activities, espe¬ cially of children, have great value. Beauti¬ ful cuts can often be borrowed from com¬ mercial advertisers and adapted for church use. The writer once found an advertisement of “Postum” showing a sunrise and a break- fast table. By substituting a phrase about THE NEW CHURCH BELL 207 Sunday morning services instead of the Postum copy the cuts were as appropriate to the church as to the Postum Company. A simple request brought an immediate reply, the plates were shipped, the kindness of the company was recognized by a line in the adver¬ tisement, and the church had the service of an advertising artist which would have cost hun¬ dreds of dollars. It is better to put out too much advertising rather than too little. In buying newspaper space, buy enough to attract attention. Then put something into it that will make it distinc¬ tive. In putting out handbills and window cards a sufficient quantity should be used to give the impression of profusion. The theaters are masters of the art of advertising and a cursory study of their methods reveals the fact that they sow a city down with advertising. The cost of a few extra hundreds or thousands of pieces is so slight after the job is once set up that it is wasteful to put out less than enough to make an impression on the community. The best printing is none too good. Cheap, tawdry, inartistic printing does more harm than good. The paper stock should be well chosen with the assistance of the printer or an expert paper man. The appearance of every 208 CAPTURING CROWDS piece of printed matter gives some impression of the personality of the advertiser. No church can afford to give a false impression through the use of second-class printing. Better to advertise less frequently, if neces¬ sary, that the quality may be of the very best. Every advertisement should carry some argument, or “reason why,” to convince the reader. In the advertisement above the six features contain the reason why. A simple announcement that services are to be held is not enough — there must be some reason why people should attend these services — some promise of profit, some assurance of benefit. This “reason why” cannot be mere bombast but should be the clearest statement of fact. There is no advertising equal to the per¬ sonal word passed from friend to friend. A “telephone brigade” was organized for the pur¬ pose of stimulating church attendance. The entire parish was districted with leaders over each district. Two captains passed a simple announcement down to the district leaders who in turn passed it to group leaders. These spread the announcement farther and farther until every person on the mailing list had been reached. The last person was asked, in each case, “Please ’phone two friends.” More than two thousand telephone calls have been put THE NEW CHURCH BELL 209 through in the interest of a single service by means of this organization. Appeals are made through the pulpit an¬ nouncements, the weekly news letters, and every other medium for the people to “Talk the Church.” Stories of the achievements of the church appear each week in the news letter, reports are made to the Sunday audi¬ ences and in every way conceivable the peo¬ ple are made to feel such a pride in their con¬ nection with the church that they will “talk it up” wherever they go. This personal com¬ mendation from the people who “patronize the church” is the best advertising in the world. It costs nothing but enthusiasm. The preacher must kindle that enthusiasm. APPENDIX No device is more useful in a Sunday-eve- ing service than a spotlight. Any church equipped with a stereopticon can have a spot¬ light by simply removing the slide carrier. An operator who is familiar with the lantern will be able to enlarge or reduce the area of light as the action requires. If a colored light is desired, it is necessary to use a material called “light medium,” a substance similar to cellu¬ loid, which is stained in a variety of shades. The “medium” is held in front of the light which is tinted as it passes through. Much better results are obtained when the spotlight is operated from a considerable elevation. Colored lights are frequently wanted for decorative purposes. These can be prepared in a number of ways but the most satisfactory is the method used by the theater. A “dip” called “Red Devil” can be obtained through any theater supply house in more than twenty tints. An ordinary lamp globe, dipped in this stain, will dry quickly, last well and be perfectly tinted. A good varnish, stained with oil color, will work rather well, but it is diffi- 211 212 CAPTURING CROWDS cult to apply the color evenly. Lights may be wrapped in thin tinted paper, but there is al¬ ways the danger of fire and the paper shuts off most of the light. A “dimmer” is very valuable for decreasing or increasing lights gradually. The profes¬ sional mechanism is rather expensive, but a useful and inexpensive one can be made by any high-school boy. The first requirement is an ordinary galvanized iron pail holding about two gallons. An insulated copper wire should be attached near the top of the pail by a stove bolt serving as a “binding post.” Across the top of the pail is laid a thin board in which has been cut a narrow slit somewhat shorter than the diameter of the bucket. A “V-¬ shaped piece of zinc, long enough to reach al¬ most to the bottom of the pail, and wide enough across the top to wedge in the slit of the board, has attached to it a second piece of insulated copper wire by means of which it is to be connected with the current. The board should entirely insulate the zinc from the pail. The light circuit to be illuminated is con¬ nected, through an ordinary lamp cord, to a lamp socket. One strand of the cord is severed at a convenient point and the free ends of the two copper wires of the “dimmer- con¬ nected with the ends of the cut cord and APPENDIX 213 “taped” to avoid a short circuit. The current is now turned on and the bucket filled with water almost to the top. If the zinc is com¬ pletely insulated from the pail, the lights will not burn. A small amount of table salt is now stirred into the water and the lights are seen to glow a dull red. As more salt is added the lights become more brilliant until they have reached normal. The “dimmer” is now com¬ plete. Removing the zinc slowly from the water will cause the lights gradually to go out and inserting it again into the water will cause them to glow. Not more than two table spoons of salt are needed. Too much salt makes it difficult to control the illumination. If a section of the house lights is to be dimmed the free ends of the copper wire are connected with the posts of the open “knife switch” and the “dimmer” is operated as before described. Care should be exercised in connecting any large circuit of lights that the copper wires used with the dimmer are as heavy as those which feed the circuit from the switchboard. Illuminated crosses can be made in a variety of ways. Any manufacturer of leaded glass windows can make up a beautiful cross of translucent glass with a wooden back upon which the lights are mounted. This is the best type of cross obtainable but is somewhat ex- 214 CAPTURING CROWDS pensive, though its superior appearance justi¬ fies the cost, A simpler plan calls for a wooden back with lamps fastened on the face. The wiring and wooden back can be covered with cardboard or painted white. The chief difficulty with such a cross is the eye strain that is caused by the exposed globes, though it is the best type for outside use. A wooden box, cross shaped, faced with “frosted glass” (ground or painted) makes an effective cross. The interior of such a box should be painted white to reflect the light. The exterior can be painted white and presents a fine appearance even when not illuminated. Other designs and emblems can use this same type of construc¬ tion. The simplest plan of all is to paint a design on glass or celluloid, filling in the back¬ ground with some opaque color and “frosting” the design in white or any other tint desired. A transparent color can be used, but it should be applied by an experienced painter or it will appear untidy and crude. An “electric fire” consists of an ordinary lamp globe concealed under red paper. A few sticks of light wood or light bits of ash over the paper make a more realistic appearance. “Footlights” can be constructed by mounting lamp sockets on a board of the desired length, using cheap tin sauce pans or bended tin for APPENDIX 215 reflectors. If footlights are to be used fre¬ quently it is advisable to have a long box, lined with tin, in which the lamps are mounted. These can then be connected by an electrician, equipped with plug connections and ready for lighting through an ordinary lamp socket. Desk lamps with wide reflectors can be used to advantage if a limited number of footlights are desired. A complete “sun¬ rise” can be produced by the use of red, blue, and white lights. Each series of lights should be connected with a separate zinc plate in the dimmer. The circuit of blues come on gradually, first, then followed by the red. When the reds are burning at maximum the “blue” plate should be slowly removed. This leaves a full red glow. With the removal of the “blue” plate the “white” plate is inserted, and when the “white” circuit is at maximum the “red” plate is removed. Such an effect is very beautiful on a number of occasions, and this equipment serves admirably for Easter, Christmas, and New Year’s pageants. / Princeton Theologies Seminary Libraries 012 01231 9887 Date Due d$ 3 4£ /if* 9 V Vi <§> t.