Six Days in September

Bill Glass, an all-pro tackle turned evangelist, shared the “secret” of the Green Bay Packers’ three successive championships as revealed by a member of the team: “We love each other.”

Glass, in an appearance before the U. S. Congress on Evangelism, did not insist that love is the only ingredient of victory—either on the gridiron or in the pulpit. But he did maintain that the demonstration of love is a singularly effective means of witness in our day. And most of the 5,000 delegates from ninety-five denominations gathered in the Minneapolis Auditorium last month seemed to agree.

Without a doubt, the need for more compassion among evangelicals was the dominant theme of the historic six-day meeting. “Evangelism must be love with flesh on,” said the Rev. Leighton Ford. “Our message has got to combine the prophets, who called for repentance and justice, with the apostles, who called for repentance and faith in Jesus Christ.”

Such statements startled certain nonevangelicals. Billy Graham, honorary chairman of the congress, noted that “it has come as a surprise to many that evangelicals have social concern.”

In many respects, of course, the evangelical movement has always had a social conscience and a compassionate spirit. But in recent times, as liberals have involved themselves deeply in corporate pronouncements on current problems, many evangelicals have reacted by withdrawing to the point that serious blind spots have developed. The spirit of Minneapolis may have been a major corrective (see editorial “A Turning Point?,” page 32).

The Rev. Tom Skinner, a black evangelist from New York, urged his predominantly white audience to make significant sacrifices to combat racism. “The role of the Church is to live oblivious to public opinion,” he noted, adding that it must be willing to “lose its shirt,” in standing against racism.

Skinner, a 27-year-old former Harlem gang leader, eloquently traced the history of the oppression of blacks in America, and noted that Negroes nonetheless continued to uphold American ideals in war as well as in peace.

“You must remember,” he said, “that it is not the black soldier who is burning his draft card and running off to Canada.” Skinner was repeatedly interrupted by applause and at the close was given a standing ovation.

About 1,000 white delegates engaged in a dialogue with the blacks who were present.A number of black denominations were represented, though a date change by officials of the two biggest black Baptist conventions produced a conflict with the congress. The largest black delegation (sixty-one) came from the African Methodist Episcopal Church. In response to an appeal from whites as to “what we can do,” blacks drew up a list of eleven recommendations for white churchmen eager to improve race relations (see story following).

The congress opened with a stirring procession of fifty state flags followed by the singing of the national anthem and a prayer by Rear Admiral James W. Kelly, U. S. Navy chief of chaplains. Dr. Oswald C. J. Hoffmann’s keynote address was a vibrant plea to “get with Christ, and go with him.” At least one observer noted that Hoffmann, a Missouri Synod Lutheran clergyman who is the preacher on radio’s “Lutheran Hour,” sounded strangely like Reformer Martin Luther speaking his salty prose to the twentieth century.

Hoffmann presided over most of the plenary sessions and was chairman of the congress national committee. Graham, the honorary chairman, also presided several times.

Each day began with a prayer service followed by a Bible study. The first two studies (on Ephesians) were conducted by Anglican Archbishop Marcus Loane of Sydney, Australia. The others were led by Editor Harold Lindsell of CHRISTIANITY TODAY, who underscored the need for the power of the Holy Spirit. Lindsell also used the occasion to make a public appeal to President Nixon to call for a national day of prayer for an end to the Viet Nam war.

“We’ve tried everything else,” he said. “We’ve tried force, we’ve tried diplomacy, and we’ve tried psychology. But we haven’t tried prayer.”

Author Keith Miller, an Episcopal layman, urged delegates to be “vulnerable” for the cause of Christ. And the Rev. Ralph David Abernathy, head of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, challenged “you evangelists to join hand in hand and heart in heart in solving the three great evils of our time: war, racism, and poverty.” Senator Mark Hatfield said he takes issue with “those who reject any responsibility for overcoming the obstacles to peace simple because sin is a reality.”

The congress, however, was much more than a series of speeches. Forty-six workshops were held simultaneously each day. They covered everything from “doing your thing” and leisure evangelism, to dialogical retreats and ministering through the use of the secular theater.

Other highlights included student responses to each of six study papers; a “turn-on” for young people led by Pat Boone; a women’s luncheon with Mrs. Billy Graham; and an evangelistic rally with Graham and Hoffmann. A varied musical program featured traditional gospel music as well as a generous sampling of folk and rock. One group premiered a new missionary cantata by John W. Peterson, So Send I You.

The congress was not structured for legislation, and no attempt was made to draft resolutions except for an informal expression of concern for a group of Chippewa Indians who took the stage following an evening service. The only other disruptive incident took place when a University of Minnesota student and his wife, both clad in hippie garb, were evicted from the auditorium for squatting in front of the stage and refusing to be seated. Congress officials apologized to the pair and readmitted them a few minutes later.

The congress program included provisions for caucuses by delegations from denominations and special-interest groups. More than one hundred persons attended a luncheon sponsored by the leaders of the “Key Bridge” consultations, which are aimed at furthering evangelical cooperation and are now focusing on an interdenominational evangelistic thrust for 1973.

A service of commitment climaxed the congress. On the closing day, delegates stood together in response to Graham’s appeal for a new spirit of consecration.

DAVID E. KUCHARSKY

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