The first step in the preparation for a Gospel crusade is a seminar held in the area for which it is intended to hold the crusade. This seminar will be intended for Pastors and other leaders of the Churches in the area. All pastors will be encouraged to attend the seminars and to invite other pastors to attend. Pastors are also encouraged to invite other leaders and key workers from their own church to attend. Psalm 133 verse 1 says "Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brothers to dwell together in unity." and finishes that it is in unity that "The Lord commanded the blessing - Life forever more." So often when talking together with Pastors it is said "Oh but we have unity in our town!" or "We meet together often. We understand all about unity!" and yet when living together with those brothers there is division and bitterness and criticism and party spirit and pride and envy and ….. Unity is a word and a practice that is very little understood and yet is one of the fundamental commands of Jesus. It was His most fervent prayer (John 17). In fact whether or not we live in unity it is something that we have already been given! (Ephesians 4:3 - "Keep the unity of the Spirit.") Therefore it is a necessary part of the strategy of winning people to Jesus that the foundation of unity is laid. It is vital for any town, village, city or rural area that the churches are together….. and that starts with the leaders. The teaching and practice of unity is also a strategy to build the churches that already exist rather than be a foundation for building new churches in areas where they have already been built.

The seminars will lead into an agreement for the leaders to desire to come together in unity. As an expression of that unity we will work with the leaders towards a United Gospel Crusade in the area. The remainder of this booklet is a practical help to leaders to be able to arrange and to organise such a crusade. "Africa for Jesus" will work together with the churches for this crusade. At the time of the crusade we will also hold, with the help of the churches leaders, seminars for additional teaching and training and equipping of the local church and also teaching classes for new Christians who have responded to the call of the Gospel and any other church member that would like to hear again basic discipleship teaching. Following the crusade, which will be done at a very low cost, the local churches will be asked to hold at least two further crusades without the direct help of "United Crusades for Jesus". This will be a practical exercise in building true unity amongst the churches and their leaders. It will also be a demonstration that when united, the churches in any given area have sufficient resources between them to hold full crusades. When it has been demonstrated that the churches are moving forward into a life of unity, "United Crusades for Jesus" will return and hold another pattern of teaching and crusades with the churches in that area.

The first stage in planning for a United Gospel Crusade will be for finding the agreement of Pastors and leaders at the seminars to participate in a crusade. This being done it will be necessary to set up a Crusade Committee. This will be done under the oversight of a member of the Staff of "United Crusades for Jesus" or a nominated representative. Although there is no objection to the participation of any within the five-fold ministry of Ephesians 4:11 it will be strongly recommended at this time that the Chairman of the committee will be a pastor/shepherd and also that the majority of the committee is drawn from this gifting. This is to ensure the co-operation of the whole of the church and to assure that proper follow-up of new Christians is undertaken. The Crusade Committee will consist fundamentally of five officers elected by a majority of the Pastors and leaders. (Others may be added to the committee to oversee certain responsibilities such as intercessors, ushers, etc.). No more than one person from any particular church will be able to be on the committee. The four main Offices of the committee together with the respective responsibilities are as follows: - Chairman: He is answerable directly to a member of staff of "United Crusades for Jesus". He holds the ultimate responsibility for all preparations for the Seminars and Crusades. He can enlist any willing volunteer from the household of faith to assist the committee in the fulfilling of their responsibilities. Any such volunteer is answerable to the Chairman. The responsibilities of the Chairman are: -

1. Organising Committee meetings. 2. Securing the site(s) and location(s) for all crusade and seminar meetings. 3. Overseeing the appointment of Departmental directors and ensuring that hey are drawn from a wide section of the churches involved in the crusade. 4. Obtaining all necessary permission, licences and permits for all meetings. 5. Maintaining an oversight of the budget. 6. He and the vice-Chairman are to meet with all Department Directors to be kept up to date with what is happening and to ensure that each one is performing his responsibilities correctly and efficiently.

Vice-Chairman:

He is responsible to assist the Chairman and the other Officers in carrying out the vision for the crusade and seminars. In the absence of the Chairman he will be the stand-in for all his duties.

Secretary: The responsibilities of the secretary will be: -

1. To record the minutes of the meetings of the committee and to make them available to the committee at each meeting. 2. To ensure that Departmental Directors keep records of their meetings and to keep records of the progress of Departments for the committee. 3. To be responsible for all correspondence and paperwork necessary for the committee. 4. To keep a copy of all letters and communications in respect of the crusade and seminars. 5. To keep on file a copy of all relative accounts as submitted and agreed by the committee,

Treasurer: The responsibilities of the Treasurer will be: -

1. To keep an accurate record of all income and expenditure. All such transactions to be validated by official receipts. 2. To make such payments only as within the agreed budget and as authorised by "United Crusades for Jesus" and released by the committee. 3. To make the records of income and expenditure available for inspection at any time by other members of the committee or the staff of "United Crusades for Jesus". 4. To prepare an Account of Income and Expenditure for all meetings at the end of each seminar or crusade and to submit these to the committee for their inspection. 5. To give a copy of the accounts to the Secretary to keep with all papers relating to the crusades and seminars.

Follow-up Director: The responsibilities of the Follow-up Director will be:-

1. To work in close co-operation with the Director of Counselling. 2. To ensure that all Crusade Response Cards that are filled in by the counsellors are collected and delivered to himself. 3. To keep a record of all names and addresses from the Crusade Response Cards. 4. To keep a record of all Pastors involved in the Crusade. 5. To sort and distribute geographically all Crusade Response Cards to the Pastors and to keep a record of which Pastor received which cards. In this distribution it is essential that a fair and just approach is used. 6. To ensure that each person who filled up a Response Card is followed up and to receive back a report from the Pastors for each Card. 7. To maintain follow-up sheets that will be provided to him by "United Crusades for Jesus". 8. To send a list of all souls saved together with follow-up records to an appointed member of "United Crusades for Jesus" staff.

It is anticipated that every church that takes part in a United Gospel Crusade will release at least a tithe (10%) of their total membership to work for the crusade. It is also anticipated that every church member will be encouraged to support the Crusades and seminars by their prayer and attendance.

The Committee will be responsible for appointing the following Departmental Directors. These Directors will be responsible for the recruiting, training and working of those who volunteer: - · Director of Intercessors · Director of Counselling · Head Usher · Site Director · Publicity Director Each of these Directors shall be directly responsible to the committee for the area of responsibility for which they are appointed. They shall be the link between the committee and the workers. They will be responsible for coordination and training so that each worker knows exactly what is expected of them before during and after each meeting. Those for whom they are responsible will be volunteers drawn and encouraged from the participating churches by the Pastors who will ensure that only those physically and/or spiritually suitable for the job are recruited.

E. Intercessors

Intercessors need to be men and women who are known for their praying. (Daniel 6:5-10). They should already be active in their prayer lives.

Isaiah 66:8 "Who hath heard such a thing? Who hath seen such things? Shall the earth be made to bring forth in one day? Or shall a nation be born at once? For as soon as Zion travailed, she brought forth her children"

There will be a threefold edge to the ministry of the Intercessors.

They will devote at least one hour every day praying for: -

· Spiritual unity and love for all Christians in the city, town village or area in which they live
· Peace with and for all people in Government, in business and in their homes
· All workers in the meetings
· Many souls to be saved during the crusades
· Spiritual anointing and growth in both the seminars and the crusades
· The gifts of the Holy Spirit to flow freely and abundantly in the meetings
· Signs and wonders to follow the preaching of the WORD OF GOD.

They will use their authority in the Name of Jesus in warfare to: -

· Cast down principalities and powers, rulers of darkness and spiritual wickedness in high places
· Pull down spiritual strongholds and religious spirits
· Command hindering spirits to loose those who have been spiritually blinded

They will attend the Crusade meetings and will either: -

· Be stationed for prayer underneath the platform throughout the meeting
· Be stationed for prayer throughout the crowd

The intercessors will be responsible to the Director of Intercessors. When appropriate they will report any spiritual insight to the Director of Intercessors or to the Committee Chairman.

The Director of Intercessors will be responsible for training the intercessors and also for their prayer station at the Crusade meeting.

F. Counsellors

Counsellors are to be men and women well versed in scriptures who are capable of leading someone to Christ. They must have a clear understanding of the Gospel. They must be able to give biblical answers to unusual questions. They must also be able to write clearly.

Their main areas of responsibility will be to: -

· Pray for the crusade and its' workers
· Become familiar with the Crusade Response Cards
· Be watchful for raised hands when invitations are given for the lost to be saved or for the sick to be healed
· Encourage people to come to Christ to be saved or healed
· Fill out a Crusade Response card for every man, woman and child that responds to the call of salvation
· If while filling out a card for someone who responds to healing, they are to wait until they have been prayed for and then continue to fill out the card
· Deliver immediately any notable miracle (blind, deaf, lame etc.) to the Testimony Committee which will be located near the platform steps
· Deliver anyone who still seems to be troubled to the intercessors at their assigned location
· Deliver all Crusade response Cards to the Director of Counselling or his appointed representatives immediately after finishing counselling

Counsellors will be directly responsible to the Director of Counselling. If they have any difficulties in answering a question or feel in any way unable to handle a counselling situation they are to report their difficulty immediately to the director of counselling.

The director of Counselling is responsible for the appointment and training of all counsellors.

An usher must be an established Christian with a servant's heart. He or she must be capable of dealing with demonic manifestations. They will be required to be at the crusade site at least thirty minutes before the scheduled starting time to assist in any last minute preparations.

The Head Usher will assign them to their post where they will: -

· Watch the crowd to maintain order. This they will do in a courteous and Christian manner
· Watch out for the safety of all people present
· Assist the site and platform workers if requested and give assistance to the Crusade Equipment Team as required
· Ensure that the ministry area in front of the platform is kept clear for those responding to the call of the Gospel or for healing or prayer. ( This should be bounded by a rope which can be let down at the time of response)
· Direct children to a specially appointed area where children's workers are able to minister to them
· Be watchful for raised hands when invitations are given for the lost to be saved or the sick to be healed
· To encourage people who raise their hands to come forward when requested from the platform to do so
· When seeing a Minister (Pastor, evangelist, etc.) arriving at the crusade to invite them to be seated with the participating ministers. To introduce visitors to the Committee Chairman who will welcome them to be seated
· Help to watch over all crusade equipment while it is on the site and to assist if requested in loading it for transport

The ushers are directly responsible to the Head Usher. The Head Usher is responsible for recruiting, assigning tasks and training the ushers.

The Head Usher will assign two ushers to the platform steps throughout each meeting. They will be responsible for the safety of those climbing and descending the steps and also to ensure the security of the platform by making certain that only those entitled to be on the platform are allowed to do so.

H. Site and Platform Workers

These are Christian labourers who will help with the construction and/or assembling of the crusade platform and speaker stands etc. They will work under the supervision of the site Director.

They will have the following responsibilities: -

· To ensure that the platform is constructed in a way that is safe to those who will use it - whether on top, below or around it.
· To be responsible for the maintenance of the platform and speaker stands throughout the crusade
· To be responsible for the safety and security of the crusade site before, during and after the crusade and all aspects of upkeep and maintenance
· To take down and transport the platform to its' storage place

All site and platform workers are to be responsible to the Head usher who will recruit and train them.

The publicity workers will work under the leadership of the Publicity Director. Their responsibilities will be: -
· To place all posters in good visible positions - more densely in all areas within one mile around the crusade site and less densely in areas further away
· To distribute handbills to all church leaders willing to publicise the crusade whether they are participating churches or not
· To distribute handbills to businesses and shops who are willing to display them at their counters etc.
· Where permission is given by the Pastor, to visit churches to make a public announcement inviting members to bring the lost, the sick, the infirm and the bound to the meetings and to give handbills where appropriate

The recruitment and training of Publicity workers is the responsibility of the Publicity Director.

J. Follow-up Workers

The Follow-up workers will preferably be Pastors, Elders or Church Leaders who will visit the home of all those who fill in a Crusade response Card.

The responsibilities of the follow-up workers are to: -
· Confirm that the person has truly received Christ as Lord and saviour and to lead them to Christ if they have not
· Establish whether there are other members of the household that have not responded to the Gospel and to give them an opportunity to receive Christ
· Ask if there are any special prayer needs in the household
· Establish if the household are regular church attenders. If yes then encourage the new Christian to go with them (This may mean that the new Christian will not attend your church!). Unity is the TOP PRIORITY.
· If no church attenders are in the household then invite them to attend with you. Make any preparations and arrangements to assist them to attend
· Assign a spiritual family to look after them for at least the first three months. This family will welcome them when they arrive at church. Sit with then and visit them. Continue with this until the Follow-up Worker is satisfied that they are soundly planted in Christ and in the church.
· Report back all results to the pastor and the Follow-up Director

The Follow-up Director is responsible to report all results of the follow-up together with the statistics on Crusade Response cards to the appointed member of the "United Crusades for Jesus" staff.

Finally, it is the goal of "United Crusades for Jesus" to build relationships between themselves and the leaders of the local churches and of course the relationships between local church leaders.

However, this handbook has been written not that there might be control of seminars and crusades but that there might be order within them. The principles are guidelines for the smooth and effective running of meetings based on many years of experience in this field.

Any suggestions of omissions or additions that you would like to make concerning any meeting - either seminar or crusade will be welcomed.
Let us work together in Unity to see the Kingdom of God advanced by the addition of many new souls converted and Christians encouraged in their walk with Him