By Larry Rosenbaum
100,000 Souls!
Recently, I met with Pastor Tim Zemanek from Glad Tidings Temple in San Francisco. He gave me a book called Looking Back to Our Future, a history of Glad Tidings and of San Francisco. San Francisco was “discovered” in 1775 by a Spanish Captain Juan Manuel de Ayala. Soon after, Franciscan friars founded Mission Dolores, seeking to convert the local Indians. In 1847, only 459 civilians lived in San Francisco. After the discovery of gold in 1848, thousands came to the city. By 1882, 300,000 people were living in San Francisco.
“`Shanghai,’ `hoodlum,’ `hatchetman,’ and `gangster’ are terms born in the Barbary Coast [of San Francisco]. So violent and criminal was San Francisco in its early days that there was an average of 230 homicides each year. Today with the city seven times larger, there were 75 murders…. God was nevertheless at work in those years to touch the city with His saving grace. The Salvation Army was active in conducting street meetings and distributing literature.” On April 9, 1906, the Azusa Street Revival began in Los Angeles. Nine days later, a great earthquake devastated San Francisco. Hundreds of people died and 250,000 were left homeless.
Five years later, Robert J. Craig founded Glad Tidings Temple, which began meeting in a Congregational Church and later in Corbett’s saloon. Brother Craig’s passion was for souls: “Pray that we might have restored to us the real fervor of the early days of the Church….Then the love for souls such as we have not had would fall upon us. [Then we would] have a passion for souls.” A prophecy was given to the church in the early 1920’s that “If we would dig deep into God and would proclaim the Word on every corner of the city, that God would give us 100,000 souls…” According to the book, at least this many people have been saved through the ministry of Glad Tidings and those sent out from the church. The church grew rapidly, along with the Glad Tidings Bible Institute, which is now Bethany Bible College in Santa Cruz. Evangelistic crusades were held by Smith Wigglesworth, Aimee Semple McPherson, and William Booth-Clibborn (grandson of the Salvation Army founder.)
(According to a book by Albert Hibbert, when Wigglesworth “visited San Francisco, so many people wanted to hear him that he preached and ministered by walking the streets. The people brought out their sick and laid them on mattresses so that the shadow of Wigglesworth could pass over them. As it did, the sick were healed” [Smith Wigglesworth: The Secret of His Power, p. 69]).
“There are few parks or street corners in San Francisco that have not had a service conducted there by ardent soul winners from Glad Tidings.” The book includes photos of outdoor street meetings held in various parts of the city from 1920-1950.
It also tells about how homosexual activists in the 1980’s failed to stop the church from purchasing some land owned by the city. “Homosexual activists were falsely accusing the church of holding meetings `to continue their assault on gays.’ Further, they alleged the church was publishing literature that `homosexuals should be coupled with murderers.’ Pastor Johnson was likened to Hitler and said to believe like the KKK….Approximately 100 people, who could have crowded the hearing chamber, gathered at the church engaged in a `hearing’ with a higher Authority…. The vote was 7- 0 in our favor.” At the time, we were holding our summer outreaches at Glad Tidings, and they were being persecuted because some homosexuals did not want us to witness in “their” neighborhoods. Despite the pressure, the church continued to support us.
The 1960’s brought a dramatic cultural change. It began largely in San Francisco and quickly spread around the world. God’s people were not very well prepared to reach out to this new “counterculture.” Many evangelical churches lost members as Christians moved to the suburbs. After several decades of decline, some churches are once again starting to grow. And several new churches have been planted in this city. For example, Vineyard Christian Fellowship in the South of Market district has about 700 members. The Hosanna Foursquare Church in the Castro district has several hundred members. And the Providence Christian Center has two hundred street people attending each Sunday in the Tenderloin district.
Will San Francisco again experience judgment as in 1906? A devastating earthquake interrupted the World Series here in 1989. The damage was great, but not comparable to the 1906 earthquake. I don’t know how much time we have left before Jesus returns. However, I do know that God wants us to do everything possible to reach as many people as we can for Jesus. “Pray that we might have restored to us the real fervor of the early days of the Church….Then the love for souls such as we have not had would fall upon us. [Then we would] have a passion for souls.” God, give us a greater burden for the lost!
