The Radio Read­ing Room

The Radio Read­ing Room at 540 West 6th Street in downtown Los An­geles is proving a blessing to the city, and a great help in personally contacting radio interests. It is fostered by the South­ern California Con­ference, and is affili­ated with the "Voice of Prophecy" coast-­to-coast broadcast, and two local broad­casts (B. R. Spear's "Prophecy S peak s," over KGER, Long Beach, and A. H. Johns' "Beyond To­morrow," over KPAS, Pasadena, California).

A very choice location has been obtained in the heart of the city. We are surrounded by numerous large business establishments, churches, and Bible schools, and are only one block from the much-frequented Pershing Square. Some fifteen to twenty thousand people pass by our door daily.

The room is opened daily at 10 A. M., and closed at 9 P. M., except on the week end, when it is closed two hours before sunset Friday, and opened again Sunday at i P. M. Sunday has proved to be an excellent time thus far for literature sales and contacts with visitors.

A pictured Bible class is conducted by Mrs. Curran each day at 12:15 P. M. Monday through Friday for half an hour, and Sunday and Wed­nesday evenings at 7. All of these classes have been very well attended—in fact, so well at­tended that we had to enlarge our room. After only one month of this work, a number have started keeping the Sabbath and attending church, and several of these are preparing for immediate baptism.

The window display at the front makes an excellent outside attraction. This window is filled with numerous Bibles, books, and plaques, placed on a rich-looking colored material draped in the center. The display is changed every two or three weeks. Literally hundreds of people stop and look over the entire window during the course of the day, sometimes as many as eight or ten at a time. Great care and forethought are given to this feature, to make it simple, attractive, and appealing. Dozens of people come in to read, and for counsel, help, and prayer, many of them from the profes­sional and business class.

The first room, as you enter, is a fair-sized display room, a branch of the local Book and Bible House, where we have on display a fine selection of Bibles, some two hundred of our denominational books, the Crisis Series, and children's books, all attractively placed on two specially constructed bookracks. These racks each have nine sets of holders, and are five and a half feet high, and seven and nine feet long, respectively. Another rack, four feet wide with fifteen holders, contains the entire "Pocket Companion Series," together with numerous other booklets, pamphlets, and miscellaneous inspirational reading matter. The Bibles are placed in the center of the room on a table two and a half by six feet in size, covered with beautiful red velvet. There is also a table three by eight feet near the front of the room, with religious plaques and assorted cards bear­ing Christian sentiments, pictures, writing material, seals, etc. Still another table has free copies of our magazines, and radio logs of the three broadcasts already mentioned.

The reading room itself (15 feet square), is separated from the front display room by a partition and a doorway hung with a soft red velvet drape. Above the door there is a sizable notice which reads : "For your conveni­ence. Step in, rest and read." This room has a bookrack with numerous books, a settee, upholstered seats, several end tables, a floor lamp, and table lamps, as well as a reading table. No overhead lights are used in any part of the building at any time. The floor is com­pletely carpeted with a fine-quality wine-col­ored rug.

Upstairs we have a room 15 by 25 feet. A carpeted stairway leads up to it from the reading room. This room is used for prayer, counsel, and the daily Bible class. It has already proved to be a true "upper room," for God has manifested His presence both in the prayer seasons and in the Bible lectures. Very often interested people stay after the class period is over to ask questions, and have prayer over their personal problems and needs. Some of these contacts are very touching, and are producing results.

The reading room (see page 26 for view of the main reading room) is constantly adver­tised over the air by the three broadcasts, dur­ing the regular program, and from time to time a small ad is placed in a daily paper, drawing attention to the location and features of the place, and the time of the broadcasts. These have brought immediate response in a number of cases. A pictured handbill, advertising the various features of the place, has been handed out in the local churches, and used by the various broad­casters in circulariz­ing their listeners.

We feel sure that as the room becomes better known the sales will continue to in­crease, and this will help in the financial upkeep of the place. In the few weeks the reading room has been open, our total cash sales have amounted to over $460, which includes 45 Bibles valued at $150, and 250 plaques valued at $125. Nearly 325 Crisis books have been sold, and 175 other message-filled books have gone out to the public.

Truly the Southern California Conference has spared no expense in making the Radio Reading Room attractive, appealing to the eye and heart, a quiet, restful place where our message-filled literature and books may be placed in the hands of the public. I am more than ever convinced that we as a people ought to have at least one reading room in every sizable city. The Christian Scientists are away ahead of us in this matter. It is part of their religion that each church must support a reading room, which is generally located very close to their church. They have thirty-seven churches in Los Angeles, and thirty-nine reading rooms.

Federal Council Radio Control

We should keep fully acquainted with the Protestant broadcasting situation in North America, and the Federal Council of Churches' control of free religious time on the three great networks. The strongly liberalistic or non-evangelical character of all such programs, and the fact of pressure against all independent broadcasts, should never be forgotten. Here is a resume by W. W. Ayer, in the Baptist Watchman-Examiner of May 14:

In the field of radio, the Federal Council of Churches controls the free radio time upon the three great networks and is endeavoring to control the religious time upon local stations. Almost without exception, they sponsor nongospel programs on the time allotted to them. There is not an outstanding evangelical broadcasting under the direction of the Federal Council who without fear or favor preaches Christ and Him crucified. In a recent conference on radio broadcasting, held under the auspices of the National Conference of Christians and Jews, at which the Federal Council of Churches was represented, it was decided that all religious programs should be addressed to a cross section of the public, to Protes­tants, Catholics, Jews. and nonbelievers, and not to members of any one faith. It was recommended that religious programs should not appeal for contribu­tions, either directly or indirectly, for the support of the radio program itself, nor should printed sermons, pamphlets, or religious objects distributed through religious programs be used by the sponsor as a means of raising funds.

Now, there is some virtue in these attitudes, but the result of the execution of such a program will be the complete elimination of Protestant evangelical broadcasting. Under the present setup, free time is given to the liberals alone. Gospel broadcasters must pay for their time. Access to free time on the radio chains is not possible. There is a strong effort being made to hinder us from buying time to preach the gospel.