a billy graham center archives exhibit
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Rader was ardent in his efforts not just to evangelize but to encourage and train others to do so.

The example Rader set stimulated a new generation of leaders and was a direct influence on the explosion of evangelistic ministries in the United States after World War II such as Youth for Christ.

He was particularly eager to reach children, teenagers and young people. He brought young men like Clarence Jones and Lance Latham to the Tabernacle staff and encouraged them to go after boys and girls who had never seen the inside a church. A whole range of clubs and radio programs, and summer programs were developed, with catchy slogans and games and music to catch their interest. The Tabernacle's influence as a model can be seen in ministries to young people such as AWANA clubs and Youth for Christ.

Part of Rader's dream was of a nationwide network of laypeople who were living out and witnessing to their faith every day. In 1932 Rader began an ambitious program of stimulating grass roots evangelism. He organized the formation of small clubs of men and women that would meet together to study materials that trained them in Christian faith and evangelism. These World Wide Christian Courier clubs had elements of a fraternal order and of Bible studies, with emphasis on going out and witnessing to their faith. To become a Courier, a participant had to go through (and be tested on ) a series of lessons of Christian belief. As clubs recruited new members and grew, new groups split off. Conferences were held at the Tabernacle where the club members could tell about their experiences and encourage one another. And tabernacles were started in other cities that would be the centers for clubs in those communities.

The collapse of Rader's ministries in Chicago in 1933 destroyed the movement before it really got started. But his later ideas and methods for stimulating the people in the pews to share their faith were strikingly similar to those used by many Christian denominations and ministries today.

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