A Brief History of Gospel Meetings - Part 1 In the first century the apostles boldly preached to assemblies of men and women that Jesus Christ is Lord, and that his word is the power of God unto salvation to both Jew and Gentile (Romans 1:16-17). Preaching is essential to the salvation of those who believe (1 Corinthians 1:21). ''Gospel Meeting'' refers to assemblies of people who have come together for the purpose of hearing the gospel of Christ preached unto them. Gospel is the "good news" of salvation in Christ. Philip, one of the seven chosen to minister to the needy widows (Acts 6:3-5), was sent by the Holy Spirit to the city of Samaria where he preached Christ in a gospel meeting. His preaching was very successful in that city in that "both men and women" were baptized, and it produced great joy in that city. Such meetings are recorded all through the New Testament where the apostles and inspired men led the way in preaching the gospel of Christ to multitudes of people who "gladly heard" them. Where the church existed, such efforts continued down through the ages by those who knew the mission of the church as "the pillar and ground of the truth" (1 Timothy 3:15). Churches of Christ have engaged in "meetings" where the gospel was preached on some regular basis since the middle of the last century. The nature, purpose and duration of these meetings have changed over the past one hundred years. Some of these changes are for good, and some are for bad. Over the past few years, a number of young men who intend to devote their lives to preaching the gospel of Christ have asked me why churches of Christ are becoming more like the denominational world each day, and why it is so hard to convert people to Christ today. I do not have all the answers, but I know some reasons for the change in the church and the loss of interest in the pure gospel. Some of them are: The inclination to appeal more to the social gospel. Some History of Gospel Meetings I do not have an abundance of recorded historical information of the early practice of "gospel meetings" among churches of Christ after New Testament times. The nature of this article must depend upon my own experience and the information I have gathered from some gospel preachers of the generation before me. As a young man I spent hours talking to older preachers about their experiences in preaching the gospel. That was the delight of my life. I have especially benefitted from talking with such men as Ben F. Taylor, H. Leo Boles, Foy E. Wallace, Jr., Roy E. Cogdill, Charles M. Pullias, C. E. W. Dorris, H. C. Shoulders, N. B. Hardeman, B. C. Goodpasture, and some others. I read history books on what is called the restoration period, and the work of preaching among churches of Christ. For more than fifty years I read the "news reports" in most of the religious journals among us. That should give a cross section of the general practice of "Gospel Meetings" through the years. From these sources I shall try to construct some historical information regarding gospel meetings. I offer you my understanding of the information gleaned from these sources. You must judge whether this article is of any value to you. Such meetings as I am discussing were not always known as "Gospel Meetings." They were sometimes referred to as "Protracted Meetings" because they continued over a period of time. They were sometimes designated "Evangelistic Meetings" because the main purpose was to reach denominational people and those who belonged to no church. They were sometimes called ''Tent Meetings" in some localities because they were conducted under tents year after year. After the Civil War and just before World War I, some "Meetings" were arranged by more than one church "cooperating" to provide the place and the preachers for the meeting. Most preachers of that time, including David Lipscomb, E. G. Sewell, and others associated with the Gospel Advocate, opposed this practice. Occasionally, a debate on doctrinal differences developed from gospel meetings. During the days of J. D. Tant, C. R. Nichol, J. Early Arceneaux, Foy E. Wallace, Jr., Roy E. Cogdill, Franklin T. Puckett, Yater Tant, W. Curtis Porter, and others, many debates with denominational preachers were conducted. Most of these debates developed from gospel meetings in those days. During the 1930s and 1940s some churches were established in communities where debates were conducted as the result of "gospel meetings." Between World War I and World War II gospel meetings were conducted in school houses, court houses, barns, in brush arbors, tents and occasionally in denominational buildings. The purpose in those meetings was to convince and convert alien sinners to Jesus Christ. Usually large numbers were baptized during the course of each gospel meeting, because the preaching was true to the word and plainly spoken. To be continued.
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