Tent Meeting at Albany, N. Y.
By Daniel H. Kress
AFTER the close of our recent union conference committee council held at the New England Sanitarium in Melrose, I accompanied Elder K. C. Russell to Albany, where a tent effort is being conducted. It was recommended that Elder Russell spend some time in visiting the churches and isolated brethren throughout his conference. This interfered with his plans for the meeting at Albany, and naturally he felt some concern about it. It was also recommended that Elder O. F. Butcher assist in the effort at Albany if found necessary. On reaching Albany I at once went to the meeting, arriving just in time for the opening. I was surprised to see the splendid attendance of an excellent class of people. I do not know when I have attended a tent effort that impressed me more favorably than did this one. There was no rough element present; those who were there were there for a purpose, and seemed receptive. During the four days I was there, the interest was good. The location for this effort is ideal. Everything about the tent and its surroundings is in keeping with the truths we are proclaiming, and cannot help but make a favorable impression on those who attend the meetings. So well has this effort been conducted by Brother C. J. Coon and his associates17that it was thought safe to throw the responsibility upon them. Each day at 9:30 A. M. the workers meet for prayer, and then start out on their house-to-house visiting. At 12:30 they again meet for a short Bible study and counsel before starting on their afternoon calls. At four o'clock they return and rest so as to be fresh and able to meet the people at the evening service. The church members are enlisted in this effort. Each one is supposed to have a part in it. Some meet with the workers and go out with them; others make visits in the community in which they live; and those who cannot do either, spend a short time in prayer at half past twelve each day for the workers and for the people who attend the meetings. This makes the tent effort a church effort, and not an effort carried by two or three workers. We expect to see God work in the salvation of souls in Albany. Certainly the time has come for him to work, the time when we may expect great things of him.
D. H. KRESS.