Another highlight of the convention came on Friday, July 25, when Brother Rutherford read an indictment, a bold proclamation against the clergy. In the style of a legal document, the indictment charged political, religious, and commercial leaders with “keeping the peoples in ignorance of God’s provisions for blessing them with life.” Additionally, the indictment noted that these men had “endorsed the League of Nations and declared it to be ‘the political expression of God’s kingdom on earth.’” The Bible Students would need bold persistence to take this message to the people.

In October, the Bible Students began distributing millions of copies of the tract Ecclesiastics Indicted, the printed version of what Brother Rutherford had presented. In the small town of Cleveland, Oklahoma, Frank Johnson finished distributing the tracts 20 minutes before he was to be picked up by other publishers. He couldn’t just wait in the open because men from the town who were angered by his preaching work were looking for him. Brother Johnson decided to hide in a nearby church. Finding it empty, he left copies of Ecclesiastics Indicted in the preacher’s Bible and at each seat. He exited the church as quickly as he had come. He still had some time, so he visited two more churches, following a similar pattern.

Frank rushed back to the spot where he was to be picked up. He hid behind a fuel station, keeping an eye out for the men who were after him. The men drove by, but they didn’t see him. As soon as they were gone, Frank’s fellow preachers, who had been witnessing nearby, arrived to pick him up and they all drove off.

“As we were leaving town,” one of the brothers recalled, “we passed by the three churches. There were as many as 50 people standing out in front of each church. Some of the people were reading the tract, others were holding it up for the preacher to see. Well, we had a very close call! But we thanked Jehovah our God for his protection and the knowledge to outwit these enemies of the Kingdom.”