f you’re looking for a large urban area, search no farther than Los Angeles. It’s huge. Until the recent spike in gas prices, Angelenos (along with most southern Californians) thought little of driving across town—or farther—for a favorite meal or even for a church service.
That’s where my wife and I were nearly a decade ago. We lived on the west side of Los Angeles, in a little section known as Marina del Rey. Our apartment was 300 yards from Venice Beach. Sundays would find us strolling the Venice canals.
But in January of 1999 an evangelist named John Carter advertised a series of meetings. I’d been familiar with Adventism before, but I also knew that Jean, at that point, wasn’t as enamored with the church as I might have been. So I used a “half-truth” to bring her along: “Honey, this fellow is lecturing about biblical archaeology and the pharaohs,” I said, knowing these were among her favorite topics. “Would you like to see this?”
She did, we went, and we kept going. The result: two baptisms, two new Adventists, and today, by God’s grace, two workers for the world church. We might well have been “reached” by someone at our door, or through some other means, but it was public meetings, “mass” evangelism, that brought us in. (Ironically, we’d both driven past a Seventh-day Adventist church daily for two years before that time, but never stopped in.)
Recently, there’s been some discussion online about a forthcoming effort—again in Los Angeles—that will marshal hundreds of volunteer workers, and about $1 million from the Southern California Conference, to “Claim LA” for Christ. Some believe that such a grand expenditure is a waste, better to divvy it up among the 136 congregations in that conference and let them do their own evangelism. (Forget, for a moment, that this works out to about $7,300 per church, which isn’t a princely sum.)
Is there a place for mass evangelism? The Billy Graham organization thinks so: they’re still sending Franklin Graham, one of Billy’s sons, out to hold large campaigns. Luis Palau, an Argentinean attorney who was converted, is also in that camp: he holds “festivals” that feature skateboarding competitions, loud music, and, yes, a gospel message.
Those who would have the Seventh-day Adventist Church retreat from the front lines, and practice only “covert” evangelism, seem to be oblivious to the fact that many religious groups rely on public meetings, and large ones, to convey their message. “Mass” evangelism has its place, especially in big cities. It’s not the only way, but it’s an important way.
I’d like to propose that it is particularly useful for Adventism. Though there’s less of it today than in previous years, we still have to fight misperceptions about our commitment to basic Christian beliefs such as the Trinity and sometimes “prove” that we are, indeed, Christians. When we hold a public campaign, we’re out there for the entire world to see. Anyone can come in, anyone can listen, and anyone can make up their mind. They can see that we don’t have horns growing out of our heads, or cloven hooves instead of feet. As Jean and I discovered long ago, they can find Adventists who are friendly, outgoing, and genuinely concerned about their spiritual welfare.
True, public outreach, especially in a high-priced media market such as Los Angeles, isn’t inexpensive. Also, some who come in the front door leave the church because they aren’t being nurtured properly; Jesus talked about weeds choking the new plants that spring up. So, I’ll grant that we need a variety of approaches.
However, I still believe that public meetings, well advertised and promoted, are unquestionably a part of that mix, if for no other reason than they work!
Yes, we can find friendly people at a local church—and we should! Yes, a local church can hold evangelistic meetings—and it should! Yes, helping our communities will draw some people in—and, God willing, it shall!
But there’s still room for the big tent. And I know at least one person besides myself who’s glad for that!
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Mark A. Kellner is news editor of the Adventist Review.
