Charles Reign Scoville - The Man And His Message

Text extracted from opening pages of book: Charles Reign Scoville I The Man. and His Message By H. H. PETERS State Secretary, Illinois Christian, Missionary Society Published by BETHANY PRESS ST LOUIS, MO Charles Reign Scovtlle DEDICATED TO THE HERALDS OF THE GOSPEL Foreword It has been my pleasure to tell the story of Charles Reign Scoville: The Man and His Message. In the course of life, one who takes, an aggressive interest in affairs will have many opportunities for service. Among the privileges that have come my way, there has been none more enjoyable than the preparation of my part in this book. Charles Reign Scoville has been an outstanding figure among the Disciples of Christ for a number of years. His friends have felt for some time that the story of his career should be told that a grateful Brotherhood might know more of the details of his work than is possible otherwise. Dr. Scoville finally consented to have it done. He was kind enough to extend an invitation to me to help in the preparation of such a volume. I visited his meetings at Decatur, Carbondale and Marion, all in Illinois, and spent six weeks with him in Mfancie, Indiana, to study at first hand. One of the prerequisites to the writing of a book is to have a good subject, and that I have had. I solicit an earnest reading of the volume. Dr. Scoville has won souls for Christ. One of his maxims is, We are working for results, not reports.'' I have not taken the time to give a summary; but have made a suffi cient investigation to know, that thos'e of us who have been associated with him would be surprised at the total num ber of people he has won for Christ and the church. One comparison will illustrate the whole story.There are 700 churches in Illinois with 130,000 members. Dr. Scoville has taken into the church more people than we have mem-7 8 FOREWORD bers in Illinois. The first part of this book is an honest effort to tell how he did it The latter part contains a few of the sermons he has used in some of his greatest cam paigns. H. H. PETERS. Contents PART I PAGE Charles Reign Scoville. The Man and His Message Introduction 11 Charles Reign Scoville The Man and His Message 15 A Cloud of Witnesses ... 48 Arlene Dux Scoville 76 The Technique of a Campaign 87 The Committees of a Campaign 108 A County-Wide Campaign 144 Union Evangelism 159 Scovillegrams 168 Two Human Interest Stories 187 PART TWO Sermons and Addresses by Charles Reign Scoville Scoville as a Preacher 195 The Power of the Cross 200 Yc Must Be Born Again 221 The Purpose of the Ages 241 How to Restore the Old Evangelistic Fervor in the New Age 263 The Plumb-Linc 279 Conversion of a Government Official .... 303 Twelfth Chapter of Ecclesiastes 3' 32 Hebrew Poetry 363 Prayer 376 Introduction BY HARRY G KNOWLES, PASTOR OF THE FIRST CHRISTIAN CHURCH, LITTLE ROCK, ARKANSAS It is with sincere personal delight I accept responsibility for writing a few lines giving my impressions of Dr. Charles Reign Scoville, the man and his message. My first close association with him was in 1907, and from that time to this I have been in touch with him and his work. Strong of body and mind, Brother Scoville is a great lover of men. He loves to be where men are. He loves to do what men ought to do. The outdoor life that appeals to most men claims an ardent follower in him Hunting, fishing, tramping the woods offer great delight to his soul. During our moststrenuous Little Rock campaign when Brother Scoville was throwing himself without reserve into the work, on four different occasions we drove all night that we might be in a duck-blind by daylight. Following four hours of shooting we drove back again to Little Rock where he preached that night. I have been with him when he was spattered with mud from spinning auto wheels and I have been with him when he was covered with the glory of most marvelous spiritual presence as he appealed to men and won them for Christ. Personally, I am convinced that one secret of his power