Great Soul-Winning Churches - Elmer Towns

On Safari Sunday an elephant was brought to the church and Ray rode him around the
parking lot, as did his evangelist, Jack Garner, who that day concluded a successful meeting. Ray
has also used the Treasure Chest and Friend Day to reach thousands in Huntington Beach who
have no church affiliation.
Visitors to the church note that kids are all over the place: in the buses, in the kitchen—
everywhere. Some rooms are too crowded for chairs to be used, so pupils sit on the floor. Classes
meet in the hallways, outside on the playgrounds, and on the buses. It is hard to get from one
building to another because hundreds of kids are scattered over the walks. If a growing church is
made up of people, then Central Baptist Temple is one of the most dynamic in America because
people are what the church has plenty of. Visitors are not impressed with its buildings. When a
teacher came to Ray and said, “Where’s my class going to meet?” he answered, “How about a
bus?” The teacher said, “We can’t meet on a bus,” but the pastor replied, “Yes, you can,” and
they did.
It is a simple auditorium with folding chairs, no pulpit furniture or padded pews; even
though the building holds only 400, there have been 658 adults on a high day.
All of the ushers wear a red blazer and black pants and stand at the sidewalk greeting
visitors as they approach the building.
A dynamically growing Sunday School needs teachers, and Ray announced, “Since you
haven’t volunteered, we’ll just draft you; the work of God must go forward.” Ray makes his
people feel more important and successful than some other pastors do. He points out to his
Sunday School workers that “you are reaching more people than most pastors and you bus
workers bring more people to Sunday School than many pastors reach in an entire week.” Then,
with people standing around the walls, he announces to his congregation, “We’ve got to double
our attendance, double our buses, double our facilities, double our staff; but it will all cost
money—we’ve got to double our giving.” If any disagree at first, they shout out Amen when he
concludes, “But reaching lost people is worth the money.”
THE FUTURE
Many years ago Dr. Walter Meier, world-famous preacher on the Lutheran Hour, knelt on
the property and dedicated it to the Lord; the site had been offered to the Lutherans. Later, when
they didn’t take it, it was sold to the Baptist church.
During the early days of Ray’s ministry he walked out one day and found a “For Sale”
sign in the middle of his parking lot. Through an oversight, six lots had not been included in the
original purchase. Ray phoned the number listed on the sign and found out they wanted $15,000.
At the time he was running 150 in Sunday School and didn’t have 15 cents. He responded, “Tell
the owner to give it to us and I’ll pay you the realtors’ fees.” A few days later he received a letter
offering the property to the church, another sign of God’s hand of blessing on the ministry.
Ray testifies, “When I came to Huntington Beach, I wanted to be the biggest church in
town; now I want to be the biggest in Orange County.” (There are two larger in the county.)
After that, Ray testifies, “Finally, I want to be the largest church in California and perhaps one