A Few Thoughts About Meetings by Dudley Marvin Canright

The Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association · Battle Creek, Mich. · Oct 30, 1866

A Few Thoughts About Meetings.

By Dudley Marvin Canright

THE experience which I have had of late in attending meetings, Sabbath Schools, prayer meetings, &c., has forcibly impressed upon my mind the following thoughts, which I wish to lay before those where I labor as well as elsewhere.

1. The time to begin. Whatever hour is chosen to begin Sabbath School, or meetings of any kind, let it be strictly adhered to. In some places you can never get a congregation together till about an hour after the time appointed. Then they come straggling in one at a time, and thus disturb and spoil about half the meeting. Now who is to be blamed for this? I answer, The leader, whether he be preacher, elder, or some one else. Let him always be in his place at the hour, and the rest will be there too. “Like priest, like people.” Let him always begin the meetings promptly at the appointed hour, and all who have any interest in the meeting will soon learn to be on hand. To my satisfaction I have tried “waiting a few minutes” for the people to assemble. Every meeting I would have to wait longer and longer. Then I have tried the other way, commencing the meeting at the appointed hour, whether there were few or many present. I always find that this soon brings up the laggards. So my advice to those who lead in our meetings is, to always be prompt yourselves, and then the people will be.

2. Kneeling. We believe in kneeling down in prayer before God; and to us it looks very cold, stiff, proud, and irreverent, to sit up straight while solemn prayer is being addressed to the God of Heaven. I have seen some who even profess to be Christians, yea, even Sabbath-keepers, who will carelessly sit and look around the room in prayer time. Even in prayer meeting they can hardly humble themselves enough to kneel with the others. Can such expect God to bless them? No. They say that it is not because they are too proud to kneel, why they do not do it. But they are deceived. A proud heart and the fear of man is what keeps them off their knees. Christ, Moses, and Paul, could humble themselves enough to kneel before men; but their dignity cannot come so low.

When, before preaching, I kneel down to pray, how it chills my spirit and clouds my faith to see the brethren and sisters sit stiffly on their seats. On the other hand, when I can see them all bow with me before God, it gives me new strength and courage. I hope that in this section at least, we shall see an improvement in this thing. I believe God will bless us in doing it.

3. Singing. Generally we do not have singing enough in our prayer and social meetings. Those who can sing, are very backward about it for some reason. In selecting hymns for social meetings, care should be taken to get familiar hymns in which all can join. It is dull work to have one or two do all the singing.

4. The length of time to continue a meeting. It becomes a severe task and a dread to attend some meetings, they are so long drawn out. Hence many do not attend who otherwise would. An hour or an hour and a quarter ordinarily, is as long as a prayer or social meeting ought to last. No odds what the number of persons present is, this is long enough under ordinary circumstances. Of course if there is an uncommon interest manifested, that would justify a longer continuance of the meeting. What makes long prayer meetings? There are three things, any one of which is enough to kill the interest of a meeting. First, long prayers, second, long exhortations, and third, long silence. Avoid these, and you will have good meetings, and short ones. All can take a part, be interested and benefited.

These things look to me to be true. If others do not think so, they need not act upon them. But if these things are so, let us try to improve some in this respect. D. M. CANRIGHT. Skowhegan, Me.