Legal Update
Dear Christian friends,
For the past two months, I have been telling you about our problems getting permits at Powell and Market St. After a single complaint from a woman who sells cable car tickets, Captain Ehrlich ordered an unprecedented hearing on June 9 to determine whether Powell and Market St. is “suitable” for loudspeaker use. The Police Department got six people, mostly street vendors, to complain about us. They complained that our outreaches gathered such large crowds that people couldn’t get near their booths.
Last year, Captain Ehrlich had denied us permits at four other locations, so it seemed we had little chance of getting permits at Powell and Market. But this is the best location in the city, and we felt we needed to fight for it. We submitted a petition signed by over 1500 people, urging the Police Chief to continue to grant permits at Powell and Market. Still, we did not know if Captain Ehrlich would grant our permits.
He did in fact grant the permits, but with a condition that we could not be audible more than 100 feet from the speakers (except from 12-1 PM). Normally, we are not supposed to be audible more than 250 feet from “the periphery of the attendant audience.” Even this standard is difficult to abide by. The Police Department issues hundreds of permits each year. We have documented many instances in which the loudspeakers are audible up to 3000 feet from the apparent audience. We have complained to the police on many occasions and they have refused to enforce this law. In fact, since 1994, our ministry has been cited twice under this ordinance. No other permitted group was ever cited during this time.
There is a big difference between being audible and being understood. It is possible that our sound could be audible 100 feet away, yet people standing 10 feet from our speakers can’t understand what is being said. I told Captain Ehrlich about this, but he said he doesn’t think it is important that people understand the words of our songs. Of course, that’s the whole point!
Still, we held our first outreach under this restriction on July 11. By turning the instruments way down, we found that the people standing close to the speakers could at least hear the words. The musicians weren’t very happy, but we were able to hold the outreach. Because so many people come to Powell and Market, even at this level we were able to reach more people than we could anywhere else in the city.
Please pray that this restriction will be lifted. We think the police should allow louder music in a noisy commercial district than in a quiet residential neighborhood. But Powell and Market is the only location in the city that has this restriction. During the past year, only Christians have applied for permits at this location. Still, we are thankful that we can still get permits at Powell and Market St.
On the Streets
This letter is being written right before SOS-San Francisco. We expect to have a report on SOS next month. Right now, it appears that it will be an excellent outreach. We have gotten our permits, organized the music groups and speakers, and are hearing about groups coming from all over the U.S. and Canada.
On Friday June 26, we were witnessing near a T-shirt store on Fisherman’s Wharf. We have witnessed at this location for at least 10 years. The manager knew us and did not object to our being there. We spoke with one of the employees who said we weren’t a problem. But a security guard told us we couldn’t be there. He called the police. When they arrived, we learned that the store has a new manager who doesn’t like us. The officer ordered us to leave, refusing to tell us what law we were violating.
We moved to another location. Meanwhile, Joyce Kleinjan spoke with a woman who worked at the store. She wrote this note: “Can you take me in your prayers? I really need the Lord again. I know He’s looking for me. Thanks. God bless you. Silvia.” Please pray for Silvia. Also pray that we will be able to minister at that location again.
On July 4, I joined a group of about 80 Chinese youth witnessing in Chinatown. They were part of a conference sponsored by Zion Church of Praise and had come from all over the U.S. and even from China. They sang, preached in English and Chinese, and gave out thousands of tracts. Some of their children as young as 8 gave their testimonies over the amplifier. This church holds a conference twice a year, and we hope to do outreaches with them at these times.
Also on July 4, Scott Robbins led a team of Christians giving out tracts at the fireworks display at Fisherman’s Wharf. Scott estimates that they gave out 8000 tracts. That evening, I gave out a few hundred tracts at an unofficial (illegal) fireworks display on Aptos Beach near Santa Cruz.
Help Wanted: Evangelist
When I came to San Francisco in 1975, I looked for a church that was committed to evangelism. I found a small church of about 100 that had two full-time staff members: a pastor and an evangelist. The primary ministry of the evangelist was to train church members to evangelize and oversee outreach ministries in the church.
Today, the staff evangelist seems to have gone the way of the dinosaur. I am familiar with hundreds of churches, but do not know a single one that has on staff an equipping evangelist. Some are large churches with thousands of members and 30 or 40 full-time staff members, yet nobody on staff has as his primary ministry to equip, motivate, and coordinate outreach ministries for the church.
There are two ways for churches to grow: conversion growth (adding new believers) and transfer growth (attracting Christians from other churches). Most church growth that has occurred in the U.S. since 1980 is transfer growth. Adding a youth pastor, singles pastor, or music minister to your staff will make the church more attractive to Christians, contributing largely to transfer growth. Adding an evangelist to your church staff should lead to conversion growth.
Many churches today experience growth by attracting self-centered, worldly Christians and false converts who like attending church. Our churches would be healthier without such people. Instead, we need to attract true believers who want to die to self and serve Jesus Christ by reaching out to the lost.
“Where there are no oxen, the manger is clean, but from the strength of the ox comes an abundant harvest” Prov. 14:4. Evangelists causeproblems for the church. They challenge complacent Christians to witness. They bring new believers into the church who have lots of problems. Often long-time church members don’t want these new people in their church.
What our churches need is a “back door revival.” We could use a few “blessed subtractions” of those who oppose the Great Commission. A good way to achieve this is to hire a full-time staff evangelist. Give him opportunities to preach on Sunday morning about the responsibility of Christians to witness and to train people in witnessing. Give him freedom to organize, facilitate, coordinate and promote various kinds of outreach in the church.
Those who do not want to witness can find hundreds of other churches to attend. Those who believe in the Great Commission will be attracted to a church that is committed to evangelism. I encourage each of you to speak with your pastor, elders, and church board. Urge them to hire an equipping evangelist. You can show them this teaching. Then pray.
Pray that God will raise up an evangelist in your church who can be on staff, or lead you to one who would work well with your church fellowship. Pray that God will move in the hearts of your church leaders to hire him. Please call or write me if I can help you with this.
Coming Events
EVERY FRIDAY 7:15 PM. Witnessing in various S.F. neighborhoods. Meet at Vineyard, 7th St. and Harrison, San Francisco. Call (510) 531-5325 for more information.
Sat. September 12 San Francisco Outreach. Powell and Market St. 12-5PM. Call (510) 531-5325 for more information.
Sat. September 26 San Francisco Outreach. Call (510) 531-5325 for more information.
October 1-3 National Conference on Street & Evangelistic Ministry, Houston, TX. Call (602) 404-9757.
Ministry Needs
Once again, I want to thank each of you for your prayers and financial support of this ministry. Thank you also for praying about our permit situation, and mailing in the petitions and letters in support of us. Last month, a brother asked me if we had any special financial needs. I told him that we seemed to have enough funds to pay for our immediate operating expenses–permit fees, tracts, etc. However, there is one need. The Bible says that “the laborer is worthy of his reward” and “the Lord [has] ordained that they who preach the gospel should live of the gospel.” These and other scriptures make it clear that those who labor in the gospel ought to be paid (see Luke 10, 1 Corin. 9, 1 Tim. 5). In today’s church, the pastor normally receives a salary, but the evangelist is rarely compensated. SOS Ministries does not receive enough income to pay a minimum wage to anyone (myself included). Those who participate in our out reaches come at their own expense, often taking time off work.
In particular, Eric Livingston serves as my “right hand man.” His work in the ministry is indispensable and I would like to be able to help with some of his expenses. In addition to participating in our weekend outreaches, Eric also loads, sets up and runs our sound system three times a month on Saturdays (an 8 or 9 hour day). He also helps with ministry work during the week, as he is able. He helps with office work as well as physical work on our house. He has spent hundreds of hours painting our house.
Eric has served in our ministry for the past five years, and intends to continue working with us. He has a full-time job to support his wife and three children, who live in our house. He wakes up about 1:30 AM and works until noon. He often helps with ministry work in the afternoons, as well as on weekends. I would like to help with some of his expenses. Perhaps we could build a fence so his children can play safely in our back yard. Ultimate ly, I would like to raise about $400 in monthly support to help him (possibly to cover his food). Of course, it would be even better if our ministry had enough funds for Eric to cut back on his outside job and dedicate more of his time to the ministry. If you want to help, please write “Eric” in the memo line on your check.
Please pray for those who have written us recently in response to tracts including Frank (AZ state prison, death row), Alfred and Norman (SF), Andrea and Liz (Daly City), and Calvin (Redwood City). Our Tape of the Month is Witnessing at Major Events. This is a teaching I did several years ago before we conducted an outreach at the Indianapolis 500 Race and Parade. I hope to see you at one of our upcoming outreaches this next month.
Yours in His love,
Larry Rosenbaum
