Small rural congregations recruited seminarians to preach revival services

Evidence

Despite my participating in this ritual thousands of times growing up, its power was not fully impressed upon me until my seminary days. During spring break one year, I accepted an appointment to preach a set of five “revival” services at a small church in rural southern Illinois. I was greeted by an enthusiastic pastor who was splitting his time among multiple churches in the small towns that dotted the area’s cornfields. When he picked me up from the airport, I noticed he had taken the initiative to blow up my seminary yearbook picture to fill a grainy 8” x 10” black-and-white page, which he had prominently taped to both the left and right backseat car windows, complete with the words “Robert Jones—Evangelist.” — Robert P. Jones, White Too Long, 270