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Literature in Tent Work

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Review and Herald Publishing Association · Takoma Park Station, Washington, D. C. · Jun 8, 1916

FromReview and Herald, Vol. 93, No. 29.

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Literature in Tent Work

There are three essentials in every successful tent effort,—central location, good speakers, and effective literature. The lack of any of these will always materially weaken the influence of tent meetings. In fact, if success is attained, none of these can be omitted. If the location is right, the congregation is sure. If the speakers are good, the attendance will be larger. If the literature is strong and adapted to the topics presented by the speakers, it will produce conviction relative to the subjects in which the speakers merely interested their hearers. In a tent service the literature must be attractive and topical, only one subject at a time, the subject the speaker presented from the desk. Literature of this nature will rivet the conclusions drawn by the speakers, and tend to lead to conviction, when quietly studied in the home. Without such literature the people listen, temporarily assent, perhaps, but go their way and forget what they heard. They escape conviction. Proper literature securely binds, cements, and rivets the message delivered by the speakers.

Present Truth Series in Tent Work

Elder N. T. Sutton, president of the Wyoming Conference, writes thus of the Present Truth Series in tent work:—
“We used Present Truth Series in connection with our tent meetings last year, and found them a real help. The committee will meet the first of the coming week, and I will present the matter for our summer’s campaign. I am sure we shall place our order for the amount that we deem necessary for the tent companies. I believe the Present Truth Series is filling a long-felt need in this denomination, giving an opportunity of purchasing literature at a low price.”
Elder C. S. Wiest, president of the Mississippi Conference, says:—
“It has been my plan to use the Present Truth Series in our tent efforts. We are planning to use as much of this literature as we are able. I believe it is the cheapest literature and the most valuable that can be used in tent efforts.”
Elder R. J. Bryant, president of the Northern New England Conference, makes the following statement:—
“We have 10,000 copies of the Present Truth Series on hand. You may wonder what we are going to do with them. I will tell you that it is my plan to put out 2,000 a week for five weeks here in the city of Concord, to prepare the way for the tent effort which I shall conduct. I believe this series is one of the best things that the Review and Herald has ever given us for this kind of work.
“Our first three numbers will be put out without any announcement. Then the fourth and fifth numbers will be stamped as follows: ‘Hear Pastor R. J. Bryant on great Bible subjects.’ At the same time that these are being put out with this stamped on, we shall be advertising in the newspapers and with circulars as to who Pastor R. J. Bryant is and where he will speak. We shall soon send you another order for several other numbers to use in the follow-up work in connection with our tent effort. These will not altogether take the place of tracts, as we expect to use quite a large number of them also. We are trying to do everything we can to place the Present Truth Series in the hands of the people throughout the conference, and for this reason we are endeavoring to get our churches to take clubs of them.”
Every tent company ought to have a generous supply of Present Truth Series on hand, ready to distribute after the different general topics are presented by the speakers. Numbers 1-18 have been printed and can be promptly supplied:—
  1. The Bible the Word of God.
  2. The Origin of Sin and the Plan of Salvation.
  3. A Great Prophetic Dream; or, The Kingdoms of This World and the Kingdom of God.
  4. The Second Coming of Christ.
  5. The Signs of Christ’s Coming.
  6. The Millennium.
  7. The Home of the Saved.
  8. The Four Great Beasts of Daniel 7 and the Work of Antichrist.
  9. The Papacy.
  10. A Great Prophetic Period—The 2300 Days.
  11. The Sanctuary.
  12. The Judgment and the Judgment-Hour Message.
  13. The Law and the Gospel.
  14. The Bible Sabbath.
  15. The Change of the Sabbath.
  16. The Threefold Message of Revelation 14.
  17. The United States in Prophecy.
  18. Religious Liberty.