December 1, 1927

MAKING USE OF THE GRACE OF GOD

“By the grace of God I am what 1 am: and his-grace which was bestowed upon me was not in vain; but 1 labored more abundantly than they all: yet not 1. but the grace of God which was with me.”—1 Corinthians 15:10.

THE same thought hi other words appears in the Twentieth Century Neu-Testament, where the meaning is clearer: “It is through the love of God that I am what I am, and the love that he showed me has not been wasted. No, I have toiled harder than any of them, and yet it was not I, but the lov» of God working with me.”

In past centuries theologians have written learned volumes discussing such themes as “Once in grace, always in grace,” “Falling from grace,” etc., all to little or no purpose. In the above text the apostle shows what the grace of God is and how it is to be used.

The grace of God is the love of God, not, in this instance, our love for God, but His love for us. True, God loves all men. “God so loved the world,” but that is not the love of which the apostle here speaks.

This love is the love of a father for a duti-ful.son. It is fils love for'those who are justified, and who, in all honesty and sincerity, have pledged themselves to be faithful to Him even unto death.

It is no wonder that the Father loves such. It would be a wonder if He did not. There is a nobility, a beauty, in sdf-effacement, self-abnegation, self-immolation in the interests of the King of kings, that stirs every noble heart.

When we see brethren honestly, faithfully and with greatest zeal and industry, carrying out their covenant, making the most of their opportunities, we cannot help but love them; and it is so with our God. He loves them, too.

Looking down upon all the apostles God saw that Paul was most industrious of them all. Under the circumstances He loved Paul; :md if He loved him more than any of the rest of the apostles, it was all right. It was just that He should do so.

This love of God for Paul was not wasted. He made use of it. God was his companion in his every move; and the reason why he was able to bear such a load, and bear it with sunshine on his face and joy in his heart, is that he knew that God loved him.

God’s grace, His love, is ours to use. If we use it, joy unutterable is our portion. If we do not use it, we may even lose it altogether; for He will not force it upon us when we prefer some other way. But what a joy it is to have it, to keep it, and to know that it is ours for evermore if we use it to the best of our several ability.

INSTRUCTIONS TO DIRECTORS '

Dear Brethren :

The work in the field showed a great increase during the past year. The activity of the workers is mainly responsible for this. The work that has been accomplished by the workers in past years is bound to show some results; for the continual presentation of our message of truth does in time overcome the prejudices and twisted viewpoints of the people. Workers in the field today note the great difference in the reception they have as compared with the attitude that they had to meet years ago. The workers have overcome the prejudice. They have gone to the people directly, and have not depended upon some outside agency such as newspapers, magazines, public meetings, or other means of getting their story to the people. Each person that has been impressed has evidently told others what he had learned of the message and work of the I. B. S. A.

“Arise! Shine!”

The year 1927, then, should have been a fine year, and 1928 should be correspondingly a greater year. But to the extent to which the territory is properly canvassed' there will be a greater witness during 1928, and again the responsibility is upon the workers. The witness depends upon the same number of workers giving the same amount of time or more, if possible, to the work and more of the brethren really interested in the truth becoming actively engaged in the work. As we note the activity according to months of the year there seems to be an opportunity for a large increase in the number of friends who can engage in the service. I. B. S. A. Week was the high point. During that week there were 9398 workers in the field as compared with a weekly average of 2406 workers throughout the remainder of the year. We believe that many who were in the work during I. B. S. A. Week will render more service during the coming year. Consequently 1928 will be a great year in the work of the I. B. S. A.

The Pilgrim Department reports that there are 1575 classes that request pilgrim visits. Of these classes 1375 are organized for service, 866 hold regular clai/s organization methods, and 509 are organized as

sharpshooters. The majority of the classes are working their territory regularly, and consequently the witness is being given there in a thorough manner. During 1927 the Society shipped to classes in the United States 374,944 cloth-bound volumes. Reports that have been received from the classes account for distribution into the hands of the public of approximately 352,959 of the books shipped. The difference indicates to what extent reports are missing. Our class accounts, however, indicate that classes as a whole do not hold over 20,000 volumes in stock. I* this department, that is, the department of reporting, there is much to be improved upon. We feel sure that the work of the I. B. S. A. would show up greater if reports were made regularly.                    .       ■

Comparison Book and Booklet Sales

The sale of the books are distributed as follows :

Sets of eight volumes

Sets of seven volumes

Copies of Deliverance      237,695

Total sales            252,951

Booklets sold            1,098,001

A comparison of the report of 1927 with that of 1926 indicates that sales were made to 83,561 more homes during 1927 than 1926 and an increase in the number of books sold of 38,517. The difference in the sale of books as compared with the number of homes at which sales were made is accounted for in the decrease of sales of Studies in the Scriptures during 1927. During the early part of the year the impression somehow got about that booklet combinations ■were to be pushed rather than combinations of books. This impression was circulated during the period that the Society was moving the factory; and it was some time before a Bulletin could be issued to review the campaign for 1927 as outlined in the instructions sent out during the winter months. We cannot help but feel that our report of the distribution of bound books would have been much greater if this impression of the sale of booklets had not gotten about. This experience should serve to emphasize to the workers the need of following instructions sent out from head-

quarters and. to make no change in/selling methods or campaign methods until such instructions are received from the head office. I. B. S. A. Week is an indication of what might have been accomplished.

When we write about sales that are made, we wish to be thought of in terms of books, either sales of Studies in the Scriptures qt of single bound volumes. Consequently, when we say that the average sale of a worker amounts to 2.02, we mean that the total number of workers in the field generally make a little over two sales of bound-book combinations per worker per week. This appears as a fair average when we consider that most workers can give only half a day a week to the work. The average sale per worker during 1927 amounted to 2.02. The average sale per worker during I. B. S. A. Week amounted to 3.45. The explanation for this is that prior to I. B. S. A. Week many of the workers were specializing with booklet combinations, whereas during I. B. S. A. Week, because of specific instructions to canvass for Studies in the Scriptures and book combinations the sales per worker amounted to 3.45. We feel that the average of 3.45 would have been maintained throughout the year had there not been this interference with booklet combinations. Booklets are to be sold, but mainly where it has been impossible to place bound volumes.

The Colporteur Work

During the past year there has been an average of 398 regular colporteurs in the service each week, and 397 auxiliary colporteurs, or a total of 795 colporteurs as compared with 721 colporteurs in the service during 1926. The Society shipped the colporteurs 364,762 bound volumes and 470,981 booklets. Eeports from colporteurs cover the actual sale of 263,911 volumes. The sales are divided as follows:

Sets of eight volumes       11,839

Sets of seven volumes        4,866

Copies of Deliverance     135,137

Total sales            151,842

A comparison between the distribution of the 795 colporteurs and the work done by the workers indicates that there were shipped about 10,000 less books to colporteurs than to workers. In the sale of Studies in. the Scriptures colporteurs lead. They have disposed of 16,705, as compared with the class sales of 15,293. In the sale of single volumes the classes lead, the classes having sold 237,695 and the colporteurs 135,137 copies of Deliverance. Comparing the total sales in the field with those of 1926, there is a decrease in the sale of Studies in the Scriptures amounting to 15,133 sets. The total sale of sets of Studies during 1926 amounted to 47,131, and the total sales of Studies during 1927 amounted to 31,998. The sale of Deliverance shows an increase of 84,388. The total sale of books during 1926 amounted to 288,444. The total sale during 1927 amounted to 372,832. The total sale of booklets during 1927 was 1,568,932 as compared with a total sale during 1926 of 1,125,549. thus showing an increase of 443,433 over the sale of 1926. The reports as above listed are of the literature actually distributed to the people by the field force.

The reports we have received indicate that during 1927 workers and colporteurs called upon 8,136,000 homes as compared with 7,091,900 homes during 1926. Sales were made in 953,241 of the homes called upon as compared with 817,214 in 1926. This means that nearly 1,000,000 homes in the United States were reached with bound volumes and booklets during the past year.

Books Placed in Million Homes

The report of the year’s work serves two purposes: It indicates what has been done, and in a way it points out what it is yet possible to do. For instance, the last figure indicates that it is quite possible that over a million homes can be reached with the publications of the Society. True, there have been many million homes reached with free literature. Free literature cannot be said to have gotten into the homes of the people in the same sense that bound volumes have gotten into their homes. The report of the year’s work by the classes will soon reach us in regular form ; and we can then ascertain to what extent quotas have been reached, the advance information that we have indicating that in most instances the quota the class set has been exceeded.

When beginning the year it is good for a class to set a quota of literature they estimate they will distribute, especially when the quota is constructed by the individual quotas the members will set for themselves. Those who set individual quotas should-keep in mind that 1928 will effect a wider distribution of books especially because of the two-volume combination of Deliverance and Creation to retail at 78 cents, and the three-volume combination of the Harp, Deliverance and Creation to sell at $1.18. Then, too, concentrating on the sale of Studies in the Scriptures during the winter months should quite widely increase the distribution of books. Because of the drop in the sales of Studies in the Scriptures during 1927 there was actually a decrease in the number of bound books circulated as compared with 1926. The great number of Studies in the Scriptures sold in 1926 brought the grand total of bound books to 639,736 as compared with 616,870 sold during 1927. There were more homes reached in 1927; there were more workers and colporteurs in the service during 1927; but there were actually fewer bound volumes sold during 1927 than during 1926. Every department of reporting, aside from the bound books distributed, shows an overwhelming increase over the work during 1926.

Notably Active

The following list names the classes that are the first thirty in activity during 1927. The basis for this grouping is: First, the number of class members and the proportion of class members who are workers; second, the sales per class member. We have already outlined how the sales per worker are arrived at. For the first thirty classes the sales are figured on the basis of the number of class members. We have taken the total sales made by the class during the past fiscal year, that is, from October to October, and averaged the sales with the number of class members, not the number qf workers. It can be seen that with this wide consideration there are three classes whose average of sales exceed the general a-»eragc of the sales per worker during 1927. Since in this grouping there is a number of classes that are tied for a position, the list considers the fiast thirty positions rather than the first thirty classes:

• 7 Bristol, Tenn.

• 8 New Brunswick, N. J.

• 9 Johnstown, N. Y.

• 10 Miami, Fla.

• 11 Muncie, Ind.

• 12 Paterson, N. J.

• 13 Fresno, Calif.

• 14 Cambridge Springs, Pa.

• 15 Morgantown, W. Va.

• 16 Atoka, Okla.

• 17 Butler, Pa.

• 18 Philadelphia, Pa. (Colored) .98 19 Topeka, Kans.

• 20 Schenectady, N. Y.

• 21 Duluth, Minn.

• 22 Memphis, Tenn.

• 23 Detroit, Mich. (White)

Springfield, Mo.

South Norwalk, Coun.

• 24 Fargo, N. Dak.

• 25 Bethel Family

• 26 Youngstown, O.

St. Paul, Minn.

Indianapolis, Ind.

Mansfield, O.

• 27 Allentown, Pa.

• 28 Waterbury, Conn.

New London, Conn.

• 29 Passaic, N. J.

• 30 New York, N. Y. (White) .76

We trust that in considering this report of the field activities during 1927 workers will find that it contains a number of things to be improved upon: First, strict adherence to the instructions that outline the campaign as issued by this office; second, the necessity of reporting regularly to the director and to the Society; third, the need for regularity in field work; and fourth, the need for quotas, both class quotas and individual quotas. The field for activity will be better prepared because it has been marked with such things as set forth above that need improvement. We trust that 1928 will be a great year of witnessing for the truth and a bountiful year in blessing for those who are serving the interests of the kingdom.

With Christian greetings, we are

Your brethren in the Lord’s service, Watch Tower Bible & Tract Society

• P. S. To Directors. Arrange to drop all totals on the report cards January 1, 1928, and begin anew.