What they taught him about citywide campaigns
By Roscoe Barnes III, PhD
Copyright © 2019
#FFBosworth
#OswaldJSmith
Reminder: "F.F. Bosworth History" is now on
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F.F. Bosworth may not have been a great orator or a
preacher with a silver tongue, but he was still able to teach Oswald J. Smith a
few things about divine healing and large citywide crusades.
In Douglas Hall’s book, Not Made for Defeat: The
Authorized Biography of Oswald J. Smith (Zondervan Publishing House, 1969), he
writes about the ministry of the F.F. and his younger brother, B.B. Bosworth,
and their impact on Smith. The brothers, who were known for their salvation
healing meetings, had become known as “two of America’s leading evangelists” in
the 1920s, notes Hall. “They had a unique ability for drawing crowds over a
sustained period of time,” he writes.
In addition to notable miracles of healing, the thing
that caught Smith’s attention was the success and sustained growth of the evangelistic
meetings in Toronto, Canada. Hall writes about Smith’s experience as follows:
“It was really my first
experience with large campaigns,” Smith recalls. “F.F. Bosworth was not what
you would call a great preacher but he had something. Night after night he
would address the people in his quiet manner. His message was Salvation and the
Deeper Life. The results were above average as the people responded to the
invitation. I was more interested in the mechanics of the crusade than in the
actual preaching. I watched and listened carefully. I can honestly thank them
for teaching me how to hold extended evangelistic campaigns. I’ve used some
their techniques down through the years.”
Watching the success of the Bosworths, Smith apparently
felt inspired to step out in faith and hold his own large evangelistic campaigns.
What he saw in the ministry of the Bosworth brothers “whetted” his appetite and
broadened his vision for greater ministry opportunities, according to Hall. Details of the lessons/techniques are not presented in the book.
“He had tasted the thrill of being on a platform and in
charge of services which attracted capacity audiences,” Hall writes. “When he
saw the crowds being turned away at the doors he knew that his was the ministry
he wanted and had no intention of ever being satisfied with anything less.”
The lessons that Smith learned became an integral part of his ministry for many years. He learned to “capitalized
on the revival which had begun under the ministry of the Bosworth Brothers,”
but he didn’t stop there, according to Hall. Building on his experience in the Toronto meetings, Smith experimented, devised new
methods and adapted to changing times and situations.
Related articles:
“What Oswald J. Smith Discovered in the Revival Meetings
of the Bosworth Brothers.” See here.
“'These Things No One Can Deny': What Oswald J. Smith
said About the Healing Ministry of the Bosworth Brothers.” See here.
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Note: My book, F.F. Bosworth: The Man Behind
"Christ the Healer," can be purchased here with
a 25% discount. Use the discount code: bosworth25.
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For more
information:
Visit the F.F. Bosworth page here.
Questions about the research and commentary on F.F. Bosworth may be directed
to Roscoe Barnes
III, Ph.D., via email at doctorbarnes3@gmail.com or
roscoebarnes3@yahoo.com. For updates on F.F. Bosworth history, simply follow
this blog or @bosworth_fred and @Roscoebarnes3 on Twitter.
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