Great Soul-Winning Churches - Elmer Towns

12 buses, paying between $1295 and $1495 each. Since that time there has been constant growth
in the Sunday School so that today they bring in a total of almost a thousand riders each week.
“The church was one of the first to institute the deaf ministry,” according to Dr. Fleming,
“simply because there was a great need in our city.” Also, the church was one of the first to work
with retarded children. A mother of some retarded children came to Pastor Fleming in tears,
indicating there were many such children in Dayton. For many years the Sunday School class for
the retarded averaged 25.
The church supports 156 missionaries in 28 countries around the world in its total
ministry. The 5,000 members contribute almost a half million dollars a year.
In 1968 a three-story Sunday School building was completed to handle the 300 students
now enrolled in Temple Christian School, Kindergarten and grades 1 through 8.
During the fourth year of existence, when the Sunday School was averaging about 500 in
attendance, an evangelist challenged Pastor Fleming to the largest attendance in the history of the
church. Brother Fleming then worked for a large Sunday crowd to close out the revival. A prayer
chain link was used for a promotion, and 1,152 attended Sunday School, an unheard-of crowd in
those days. Only four or five well-known churches had such large numbers, at least as far as
most Dayton folk knew, but the crowd made the people of Dayton sit up and take notice of
Dayton Baptist Temple.
A few years ago Dr. John R. Rice indicated that only about twenty churches were
baptizing 200 a year, but Dayton Baptist Temple has been baptizing that many almost since its
beginning. Dr. Fleming has not made a habit of “tooting his horn,” with the result that the church
has grown steadily without the crowd applause from the American public. Last year Pastor
Fleming baptized 587 and, according to him, “Anybody who is doing anything ought to baptize
200 a year.” As a matter of fact, Fleming baptizes approximately 200 each year from his own
visitation alone.
The church has a 51-acre farm and youth camp located in Bellbrook, Ohio, that can
accommodate 400 campers a week. Many Fellowship churches in the area participate in the
camp program.
Dr. Fleming broadcasts a quarter hour daily, in addition to both Sunday services. Cassette
tape ministry provides all of his sermons on tape for those who write in and request them.
The well-rounded church offers five junior churches in addition to a complete music
program under Mr. Duard Bowron, who has been with the church since 1952. For the first few
years he was a layman, working with the Journal Herald, a Dayton newspaper, before being
called as Minister of Music in 1955.
Two of the keys to the success of Dayton Baptist Temple are: first, an aggressive
visitation program that’s geared to winning souls to Jesus Christ; and second, strong biblical
preaching with enthusiasm. In the beginning years, Pastor Fleming made 200 visits a week.
Although he has been in the ministry for over 20 years, he still gets excited when God does
something and he still sheds tears when touched with the feelings of his people. He doesn’t give