P,\H. 
 
 MISC. 
 
 
 NO. 900. 
 
 How to Prepare for the 
 Visit of a Missionary 
 
 BY THE REVEREND EVERETT P. SMITH 
 
 I. Preliminary 
 
 IND out as much about him and his 
 
 field as you can Make up your 
 
 ^ mind what kind of people could be 
 permanently interested in his work, and 
 in your plans give the preference to them 
 in regard to time, place, and character 
 of meeting. 
 
 2. Call a meeting of the leaders of the 
 Church societies that you wish to inter¬ 
 est and talk to them of the unusually 
 good chance to hear of missions at first 
 
 hand from Mr. A-. When you have 
 
 interested them, ask them if they wish 
 their societies to be considered in ar¬ 
 ranging his appointments and what they 
 can do to secure a large attendance 
 
 3. Suggest your outline of meetings 
 and your general plan of preparation, 
 and then divide the work of your com¬ 
 mittee. One has influence with the local 
 newspapers and should be made respon¬ 
 sible for the press notices; another, who 
 
2 
 
 knows some one in a printing-ofiBce and 
 can secure good work at fair rates, should 
 be given charge of the printing; bicy¬ 
 clists and those who may have a carriage 
 at their disposal can be made responsible 
 for the distribution of notices and board 
 leaflets in outlying parishes. In general, 
 give each member of the committee 
 something to do. 
 
 II. Character and Number of 
 Meetings 
 
 1. Have as many different kinds of 
 meetings as you have kinds of listeners, 
 unless prevented by the shortness of the 
 missionary’s visit. Several small audi¬ 
 ences, each with its special grade of in¬ 
 telligence and interest in missionary 
 matters, offer a better opportunity for 
 a speaker than a*far larger general gath¬ 
 ering. Children are most interested to 
 hear about work among children, the 
 Woman’s Auxiliary in talks about 
 woman’s work, the Brotherhood of St. 
 Andrew and men in general are most in¬ 
 terested in work among men. Recognize 
 this fact if possible in planning for the 
 missionary’s visit. 
 
 2. Hold the meetings in places that are 
 accessible and not too large. A small 
 church or hall full of people is far better 
 than a place twice as large, but little 
 more than half filled. Have the meet¬ 
 ing where the accommodations are elas¬ 
 tic (but do not bring in extra chairs until 
 
3 
 
 they are needed), or that allows for over¬ 
 flowing, if occasion calls for it, into a 
 larger place in the same building. In 
 arranging for a meeting in a parish, first 
 tell the local authorities what you need 
 in the way of accommodations and pro¬ 
 vision for an overflow into a larger place 
 if necessary, and And out whether they 
 will be furnished, before you agree to 
 give the parish the privilege of the meet¬ 
 ing. 
 
 3. Have every meeting short. Let 
 both missionary and his listeners under¬ 
 stand that there will be an after-meeting 
 for their mutual acquaintance and infor¬ 
 mal conference. Then give the audi¬ 
 ence to the missionary, unwearied by a 
 long introduction or addresses by local 
 speakers. 
 
 4. When the reporter comes to you, 
 talk to him as a man who can be inter¬ 
 ested in missions; you will naturally pick 
 out the best points of the address as your 
 text. If you win his interest he will 
 know how to group the points so as to 
 have his article accepted by the editor. 
 Incidentally, remember that press reports 
 of the earlier meetings in a series are in¬ 
 valuable in gathering an audience for the 
 others. 
 
 5. Where possible, arrange maps and 
 charts illustrating the conditions of the 
 country from which your missionary 
 comes in such a way as to emphasize its 
 needs, and in order to fix in mind the 
 
4 
 
 work of our Church there, have a supply 
 of the best leaflets of the Mission Board 
 upon it, distributed at the close of the 
 meeting. 
 
 m. Character and Number of No¬ 
 tifications 
 
 1. Two weeks or more before the meet¬ 
 ing print a general leaflet giving full 
 particulars for Churchpeople. Do not let 
 it beg for an audience. Simply state who 
 the missionary is, what his work is, whom 
 it will interest and why. Add a list of 
 liis appointments and the names of the 
 committee representing the various so¬ 
 cieties you are especially aiming to inter¬ 
 est. If the leaflet shows that the com¬ 
 mittee believes the meeting will be ex¬ 
 cellent, that is enough. Next And out 
 how many copies can be distributed 
 among the members of each society. Add 
 to this number a liberal allowance for 
 distribution in the pews of churches. 
 Have them printed and order the printer 
 to keep the type standing, as you may 
 want more copies. You probably will. 
 
 Have your printing done early, (a) 
 You can then furnish a leaflet as mater¬ 
 ial for local parish papers, (b) You can 
 mail advance copies to clergy and others 
 with a note of comment that will secure 
 their interest. < An important point.^ (c) 
 You can mail your programme to the 
 missionary who is coming and by adding 
 the probable character of each audience 
 
5 
 
 (age, sex, and missionary intelligence) 
 you will greatly help him to choose from 
 his material such facts as will interest 
 them. 
 
 This general leaflet should be distrib¬ 
 uted through the churches and societies 
 early. People have many engagements, 
 and ten days or two weeks is not too 
 soon, for your general leaflet is not to be 
 your only notification. 
 
 2. Two or three kinds of leaflets from 
 the Church Missions House should be 
 distributed carefully but generously in 
 the churches on the Sunday after the 
 distribution of the general leaflet, and 
 just before the series of meetings. These 
 leaflets should have pictures and descrip¬ 
 tion of some one place or kind of work. 
 As you will be the best judge of what 
 will interest your neighbors, write to the 
 Secretary of the Church Missions House 
 for a sample of all leaflets on the given 
 country that are available for general 
 distribution. Select from these the best 
 one for each class of people you are 
 working to interest and order the quan¬ 
 tity you will need. At the same time 
 order from a local dealer some rubber 
 stamps, each giving subject, time and 
 place of one of the meetings. Then 
 when your supply comes, stamp the 
 children’s leaflet with the notice of the 
 children’s meeting and distribute among 
 Sunday-schools, stamp the ' Woman’s 
 Auxiliary leaflet with the notice of the 
 
6 
 
 Liieeting you specially wish women to 
 attend, and the leaflet for the general 
 public with the notice of the general 
 meeting, etc. Distribution of leaflets 
 must be according to the meetings ’they 
 advertise, and they will both sort your 
 audiences and largely prevent the at¬ 
 tendance from being unequal at the 
 different meetings. Men and boys of 
 the Brotherhood of St. Andrew will 
 help in this distribution, and the leaflets 
 not taken home at the first opportunity 
 should be collected for distribution after 
 the final meeting. 
 
 3. For special notices use existing ma¬ 
 chinery and send through the secretaries 
 of Church societies a notice to their 
 members that their organization will 
 
 hold its next meeting at -, and 
 
 that it will be addressed by -. 
 
 Having found out definitely at the first 
 committee meeting from the leader of 
 each society whether this notification of 
 the secretary will be by postal to each 
 member or merely by a general notice, 
 you will know how far to supplement 
 this notification by your own printed 
 leaflet or the Mission Board leaflet. 
 
 4. Notices by the clergy. Eemember 
 that the average clergyman dislikes to 
 add to his usual long list of announce¬ 
 ments, and therefore (a) try to interest 
 him personally in the meetings before 
 you ask him to give out any notice. If 
 you succeed in this the missionary notice 
 
7 
 
 will be clear and emphatic. (6) When 
 you have not had the opportunity to 
 have a clergyman informed personally 
 or by letter of the meetings, ask him to 
 call attention to the general leaflet when 
 it is distributed in the pews, and later, 
 just before the actual visit of the mis¬ 
 sionary, to read the list of his appoint¬ 
 ments. 
 
 5. On the day of meetings put a line 
 in the newspapers, giving their subject, 
 time and place. 
 
 6. Reminders by personal note or tele¬ 
 phone on the days of meeting are very 
 useful in securing attendance. See that 
 the Churchpeople of most influence in 
 the community, and upon whom you 
 rely for missionary support, get this re¬ 
 minder from some friend. It is not wise 
 to beg for even the most desirable lis¬ 
 tener. “ Shall I see you at the meeting ? 
 It is going to be a capital one”; or 
 “Shall I call for you on my way?” is 
 enough. 
 
 IV. Is It Worth While ? 
 
 Yes, good missionary meetings do not 
 happen, any more than good political 
 meetings or good concerts. They must 
 be planned to suit their audience, and 
 the people who are to make up their 
 audience must be informed and brought 
 together. There is much at stake when 
 a missionary visits a parish. People ex¬ 
 pect to hear of the needs and progress of 
 
9. 
 
 the Kingdom of God. If the address 
 treats them as children to be amused, or 
 if it is far above their heads, they do not 
 put it down to a lack of care on the part 
 of the committee of arrangements or to 
 ignorance of local conditions on the 
 part of the missionary, but they think 
 the dulness a necessary part of missions. 
 
 The visit of a missionary is the oppor¬ 
 tunity for telling men the facts of mis¬ 
 sions. They are the seed thoughts of 
 world-wide Christianity. Is it worth 
 while to see that they are carefully 
 planted ? 
 
 Every unsuccessful missionary meet¬ 
 ing hinders, and every successful one 
 helps, the coming of Christ’s Kingdom. 
 
 Pamphlet 900. 
 
 Copies of this paviphlet may be obtain* d from 
 The Corresponding Secretary, Church Missions 
 Hoitse, SSI Fourth Avenue, New York. 
 
 All offerings for missions should be sent to Mr. 
 George C. Thomas, Treasurer, Church Missions 
 House, SSI Fourth Avenue, New York. 
 
 Second Edition, August, 1905, S.P., 2M.